Spatial Environment Research Articles

Comparative analysis of spatial ability in immersive and non-immersive virtual reality: the role of sense of presence, simulation sickness and cognitive load

This study investigates the effects of immersion on spatial ability in virtual reality (VR) and the influence of sense of presence, simulation sickness, and cognitive load. Participants performed a spatial ability task using a head-mounted display in an immersive or non-immersive VR condition. Contrary to expectations, immersive VR did not enhance spatial performance compared to non-immersive VR. Interestingly, cognitive load was positively associated with spatial ability in immersive VR but negatively associated with it in non-immersive VR. A higher sense of presence was associated with increased spatial ability for both conditions. Predictably, simulation sickness negatively impacted spatial ability in the more immersive condition. Sense of presence and simulation sickness correlated in the immersive condition but not in the non-immersive condition, indicating the importance of immersion as a covariate. These findings highlight a complex interplay of factors in immersive environments, challenging existing assumptions and providing insights for designing spatial environments in immersive and non-immersive virtual environments.

Regeneration of industrial heritage: a study on the feasibility of expanding into campus space

With the rapid pace of urbanization, campuses are confronted with the challenge of increasingly limited land resources. Traditional campus planning has proven inadequate in meeting the growing educational demands. In this context, exploring the feasibility of repurposing industrial heritage sites for campus space has emerged as a crucial research topic, offering valuable opportunities to expand campus facilities. This paper takes the regeneration design of industrial heritage along the Jiangsu Canal as an illustrative example and analyzes its potential value, modes of reuse, and design strategies. It further investigates how these sites can be transformed into educational spaces within a campus setting. Through practical applications in industrial heritage regeneration design, this paper explores three dimensions: adaptive integration with external spatial environments, functional replacement within internal structures, adaptive reconstruction of space layouts, and renewal of architectural forms. Ultimately, feasible strategies for regenerating and expanding industrial heritage into campus spaces are summarized herein, providing novel ideas and methodologies for future campus expansion endeavors. Concurrently, we hope to raise awareness among all sectors of society regarding the protection and reuse of industrial heritage while collectively promoting sustainable development in this field.

Emantic Aspect of the Formation of the Identity of the Architectural and Spatial Environment of New Capital Cities

emantic Aspect of the Formation of the Identity of the Architectural and Spatial Environment of New Capital Cities

Assessing the effectiveness and student perceptions of synchronous online flipped learning supported by a metaverse-based platform in medical English education: A mixed-methods study

Understanding the potential transformation brought about by integrating the flipped classroom methodology with rich and dynamic learning platforms like the Metaverse, in terms of usability, students’ academic performance, and intrinsic motivation, holds critical importance for adopting innovative strategies in the field of education. This study describes an attempt to integrate flipped learning method into a medical English course by using an active learning strategy supported by a Metaverse-based environment. Therefore, the present study aims to compare the synchronous online flipped medical English classroom supported by a Metaverse-based platform and the conventional medical English classroom supported by the synchronous distance education and to examine the effectiveness of Metaverse-powered synchronous online flipped learning on medical students’ academic achievement. For this purpose, a mixed method was used to conduct the study. A quasi-experimental design was adopted for the quantitative dimension of the research. The students in the experimental group engaged in the activities with the help of the Spatial AR environment, a Metaverse platform enhanced with three-dimensional (3D) objects and allowing peer interaction, In the qualitative aspect of the study, the data were collected through a focus group interview, in which a semi-structured interview form was used. The participants of the study consisted of 100 first-year medical students at a state university in Türkiye. The results revealed that the experimental group students outperformed the control group students regarding academic achievement. In addition, the mean score of male students was higher than that of female students in the experimental group. As a result of the qualitative data analysis, eight themes emerged from the created codes. Students stated that learning medical English through the flipped classroom supported by Metaverse-based technology was enjoyable and that it increased their interest. Regarding learning outcomes, the most prominent benefits were permanent learning, comprehending the subject easily, deep learning, and embodying abstract concepts. Concerning language skills, students expressed that synchronous online flipped learning assisted by Metaverse-based technology helped develop their reading and listening skills as well as to learn new vocabulary. On the other hand, some students reported negative thoughts about the Metaverse platform due to technical problems and about flipped classroom activities because they found some of them time-consuming. The present study suggested that synchronous online flipped medical teaching model assisted by the Metaverse could positively affect the academic achievement of students. However, it is recommended to investigate the most effective practices that will meet the needs of students in different contexts.

Determining Military Resistance in the Republic of Armenia's Border Settlements Within Spatial Planning

Due to the military operations conducted by the opponent during and after the 2020 Artsakh war, as well as potential future risks and threats, the Republic of Armenia faces the challenge of ensuring the secure livelihoods of border settlements and implementing programs aimed at territorial development. Therefore, raising the issues regarding the resistance of these settlements to possible military operations is of strategic importance and demands immediate attention. The research examines normative and technical documents adopted from both international and local experiences to mitigate the impact of military attacks. It delves into the potential for reducing casualties and material damage by organizing the spatial environment of settlements. Furthermore, it emphasizes the necessity of defining new terminology and formulating key assessment criteria. The proposed solutions can be the basis for proposing a new scientific theory in architecture and contributing to the development of new resistance solutions in architecture along with military technologies.

EXPERIMENTING TIN DATA STRUCTURE FOR REPRESENTING PLANE SURFACE AND SUBSURFACE SPATIAL OBJECTS - PRELIMINARY WORK

Abstract. Understanding and analyzing complex spatial objects involves the integration of surface, terrain, and subsurface data into 3D spatial models. However, describing and efficiently analyzing the connections between these data model is particularly challenging. This study aims to generate TIN data structure that enable the 3D representation of surface terrain subsurface integration. Furthermore, to ensure accurate representation within a unified 3D model, spatial relationships between the TIN data model could be obtained. Consequently, three – dimensional Triangular Irregular Networks (3D TIN) mesh of spatial objects representations and indexing structures were created. The integration of spatial objects, encompassing surface, terrain, and subsurface elements, is realized through a unified model. This synergy is achieved by combining the distinct 2D and 3D topology structures of each component. The resulting comprehensive model captures the intricate relationships and interactions within the spatial environment. This study provides additional insight into the representation and analysis of surface, terrain, and subsurface management in 3D spatial models. Hence, better decision making, resource management, underground utility installations, and evaluation of spatial objects will be made possible in our future work.

Spatio-temporal microbial regulation of aggregate-associated priming effects under contrasting tillage practices

Tillage intensity significantly influences the heterogeneous distribution and dynamic changes of soil microorganisms, consequently shaping spatio-temporal patterns of SOC decomposition. However, little is known about the microbial mechanisms by which tillage intensity regulates the priming effect (PE) dynamics in heterogeneous spatial environments such as aggregates. Herein, a microcosm experiment was established by adding 13C-labeled straw residue to three distinct aggregate-size classes (i.e., mega-, macro-, and micro-aggregates) from two long-term contrasting tillage histories (no-till [NT] and conventional plow tillage [CT]) for 160 days to observe the spatio-temporal variations in PE. Metagenomic sequencing and Fourier transform mid-infrared techniques were used to assess the relative importance of C-degrading functional genes, microbial community succession, and SOC chemical composition in the aggregate-associated PE dynamics during straw decomposition. Spatially, straw addition induced a positive PE for all aggregates, with stronger PE occurring in larger aggregates, especially in CT soil compared to NT soil. Larger aggregates have more unique microbial communities enriched in genes for simple C degradation (e.g., E5.1.3.6, E2.4.1.7, pmm-pgm, and KduD in Nitrosospeera and Burkholderia), contributing to the higher short-term PE; however, CT soils harbored more genes for complex C degradation (e.g., TSTA3, fcl, pmm-pgm, and K06871 in Gammaproteobacteria and Phycicoccus), supporting a stronger long-term PE. Temporally, soil aggregates played a significant role in the early-stage PEs (i.e., < 59 days after residue addition) through co-metabolism and nitrogen (N) mining, as evidenced by the increased microbial biomass C and dissolved organic C (DOC) and reduced inorganic N with increasing aggregate-size class. At a later stage, however, the legacy effect of tillage histories controlled the PEs via microbial stoichiometry decomposition, as suggested by the higher DOC-to-inorganic N and DOC-to-available P stoichiometries in CT than NT. Our study underscores the importance of incorporating both spatial and temporal microbial dynamics for a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying SOC priming, especially in the context of long-term contrasting tillage practices.

Subicular neurons encode concave and convex geometries

Animals in the natural world constantly encounter geometrically complex landscapes. Successful navigation requires that they understand geometric features of these landscapes, including boundaries, landmarks, corners and curved areas, all of which collectively define the geometry of the environment1–12. Crucial to the reconstruction of the geometric layout of natural environments are concave and convex features, such as corners and protrusions. However, the neural substrates that could underlie the perception of concavity and convexity in the environment remain elusive. Here we show that the dorsal subiculum contains neurons that encode corners across environmental geometries in an allocentric reference frame. Using longitudinal calcium imaging in freely behaving mice, we find that corner cells tune their activity to reflect the geometric properties of corners, including corner angles, wall height and the degree of wall intersection. A separate population of subicular neurons encode convex corners of both larger environments and discrete objects. Both corner cells are non-overlapping with the population of subicular neurons that encode environmental boundaries. Furthermore, corner cells that encode concave or convex corners generalize their activity such that they respond, respectively, to concave or convex curvatures within an environment. Together, our findings suggest that the subiculum contains the geometric information needed to reconstruct the shape and layout of naturalistic spatial environments.

Incorporating temporal information during feature engineering bolsters emulation of spatio-temporal emergence.

Emergent biological dynamics derive from the evolution of lower-level spatial and temporal processes. A long-standing challenge for scientists and engineers is identifying simple low-level rules that give rise to complex higher-level dynamics. High-resolution biological data acquisition enables this identification and has evolved at a rapid pace for both experimental and computational approaches. Simultaneously harnessing the resolution and managing the expense of emerging technologies-e.g. live cell imaging, scRNAseq, agent-based models-requires a deeper understanding of how spatial and temporal axes impact biological systems. Effective emulation is a promising solution to manage the expense of increasingly complex high-resolution computational models. In this research, we focus on the emulation of a tumor microenvironment agent-based model to examine the relationship between spatial and temporal environment features, and emergent tumor properties. Despite significant feature engineering, we find limited predictive capacity of tumor properties from initial system representations. However, incorporating temporal information derived from intermediate simulation states dramatically improves the predictive performance of machine learning models. We train a deep-learning emulator on intermediate simulation states and observe promising enhancements over emulators trained solely on initial conditions. Our results underscore the importance of incorporating temporal information in the evaluation of spatio-temporal emergent behavior. Nevertheless, the emulators exhibit inconsistent performance, suggesting that the underlying model characterizes unique cell populations dynamics that are not easily replaced. All source codes for the agent-based model, emulation, and analyses are publicly available at the corresponding DOIs: 10.5281/zenodo.10622155, 10.5281/zenodo.10611675, 10.5281/zenodo.10621244, respectively.

Reversible modulation of the local environment around metal centers bearing multifunctional carbenes

Abstract This Highlight Review provides examples of external-stimuli-driven reversible modulations of the spatial, electronic, and magnetic environment around metal centers that bear multifunctional N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). In particular, recent reports on Lewis-base- or Lewis-acid-mediated reversible molecular transformations of Ni(0) complexes that bear N-phosphine-oxide-substituted imidazolylidenes (PoxIms) and the corresponding imidazolinylidenes (SPoxIms) are spotlighted. We also discuss the utility of using X-ray absorption spectroscopy to examine the synthesized (S)PoxIm–Ni complexes to gain spectroscopic insight into the changes in the local environment and electronic state of the metal centers induced by these reversible transformations. Overall, this review highlights the multipurpose utility of multifunctional NHCs as a key to designing and reversibly modulating the local environment of metal centers, which paves the way for accomplishing hitherto challenging molecular transformations and developing unprecedented reactivity of multimetallic compounds.

Analysis of collision avoidance in honeybee flight.

Insects are excellent at flying in dense vegetation and navigating through other complex spatial environments. This study investigates the strategies used by honeybees (Apis mellifera) to avoid collisions with an obstacle encountered frontally during flight. Bees were trained to fly through a tunnel that contained a solitary vertically oriented cylindrical obstacle placed along the midline. Flight trajectories of bees were recorded for six conditions in which the diameter of the obstructing cylinder was systematically varied from 25 mm to 160 mm. Analysis of salient events during the bees' flight, such as the deceleration before the obstacle, and the initiation of the deviation in flight path to avoid collisions, revealed a strategy for obstacle avoidance that is based on the relative retinal expansion velocity generated by the obstacle when the bee is on a collision course. We find that a quantitative model, featuring a controller that extracts specific visual cues from the frontal visual field, provides an accurate characterization of the geometry and the dynamics of the manoeuvres adopted by honeybees to avoid collisions. This study paves the way for the design of unmanned aerial systems, by identifying the visual cues that are used by honeybees for performing robust obstacle avoidance flight.

HUMANITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL AVAILABILITY OF LIVING

The article considers the development of the concept of accessibility of the living environment as a need of every person and the entire population as a whole. Aspects of barrier-free formation by urban planning means, which is a set of objects of the spatial, social, and informational environment and characterizes the presence or absence of certain favorable and comfortable conditions for the successful full-fledged life of all members of the community, testify to the degree of civilization of society and the development of the country as a whole. An important characteristic of our environment is the accessibility of objects and services, a barrier-free environment that provides the opportunity to visit places, buildings and premises, the opportunity to receive services, use devices for everyone: both for ordinary people and for citizens with limited mobility, including people with special needs of different categories. We need to take a broader view of barriers and shape a worldview based on human rights and rejecting discrimination that automatically assumes that a person cannot do something because of their physical, mental, personal or ethnic characteristics. Today, we realize that in addition to people with certain needs and limited opportunities due to their health, the population with limited mobility also includes pregnant women, parents with strollers and small children, temporarily disabled and elderly people, cyclists. Therefore, low mobility is a life cycle for almost every person. And this is a serious reason and argument in favor of the indisputable need of the entire population to organize an accessible environment. The construction of a barrier-free environment for post-war reconstruction, the development of barrier-free building standards and a mechanism for monitoring their implementation are especially relevant. As a result of the conducted analysis, the presence of radical changes in the principles of urban planning related to the creation of a comfortable and humane space accessible to all and reflecting the evolution of views on the quality of the living environment was revealed.

The resources related to the CPC's heritage of the "Little Long March" are used to raise students' awareness of courses on political philosophy teaching in colleges and universities

Raising students' awareness is an important goal of the teaching reform of courses on political philosophy in colleges and universities. Resources related to the heritage of the Communist Party of China (CPC or Party) have rich revolutionary cultural connotations, carry the spiritual state of firm ideals and beliefs, and show the glorious course of the CPC in leading the Chinese people to continuously realize their aspiration for a better life. Among them, the "Little Long March" resources related to the Party's heritage of the Seventh Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army are a typical representative. Raising students' awareness with the resources related to the Party's heritage of the "Little Long March" has become an important path for the teaching reform of courses on political philosophy in colleges and universities. However, in order to give full play to the role of the "Little Long March" resources related to the Party's heritage in raising students' awareness, it is necessary to have the support of basic conditions such as academic research support, the creation of a suitable spatial environment, and a team of teachers who have firmly faith in science. Ideological and political teachers integrate the resources related to the Party's heritage of the "Little Long March" into the teaching of political philosophy courses in colleges and universities by mastering scientific theories, correctly interpreting the resources related to the Party's heritage of the "Little Long March", guiding students to carry forward our revolutionary traditions in the process of understanding and telling the revolutionary story of the "Little Long March", and nourishing the spiritual "calcium" of teachers and students in the process of field investigation of the historical resources of the "Little Long March".

Exceptional Magnetocaloric Responses in a Gadolinium Silicate with Strongly Correlated Spin Disorder for Sub-Kelvin Magnetic Cooling.

The development of magnetocaloric materials with a significantly enhanced volumetric cooling capability is highly desirable for the application of adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators in confined spatial environments. Here, the thermodynamic characteristics of a magnetically frustrated spin-7/2 Gd9.33[SiO4]6O2 is presented, which exhibits strongly correlated spin disorder below ≈1.5K.A quantitative model is proposed to describe the magnetization results by incorporating nearest-neighbor Heisenberg antiferromagnetic and dipolar interactions. Remarkably, the recorded magnetocaloric responses are unprecedentedly large and applicable below 1.0K. It is proposed that the S = 7/2 spin liquids serve as versatile platforms for investigating high-performance magnetocaloric materials in the sub-kelvin regime, particularly those exhibiting a superior cooling power per unit volume.

Confined space of a nickel-triazole metal–organic framework responsible for high product selectivity and enantiospecific yield of lactic acid converted from sugar in a water-based system

Abstract Enantioselective production of lactic acid from xylose sugar in the constrained pore space of the Ni-triazole metal-organic framework (MOF) is demonstrated. A robust hydrophilic structure with a confined nano-pocket is constructed from the [Ni3(µ3-OH)(Tz)3(OH)2(H2O)4]n secondary building unit (SBU). At elevated temperature, the de-coordination of water and hydroxide species on the Ni node can generate accessible an open metal site (OMS) possessing Lewis acidicity, acting as catalytic center for the catalysis of xylose to lactic acid. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggests that an enantiospecific yield of lactic acid is realizable by a preferential interaction between any pair of SBUs and the interlocked trans-pyruvaldehyde intermediate. This work highlights the unique spatial and chemical environment of MOFs as an advantageous platform for specific processes in catalysis.

Exploring the non-linear relationship and synergistic effect between urban built environment and public sentiment integrating macro- and micro-level perspective: a case study in San Francisco.

Public sentiment can effectively evaluate the public's feelings of well-being in the urban environment and reflect the quality of the spatial environment to a certain extent. Previous studies on the relationship between public sentiment and urban built environmental factors have yielded meaningful results. However, few studies have focused on the effect of micro-built environment on public sentiment at the street level, which directly shapes people's perceptions. In addition, the nonlinear relationship and synergistic effect among urban built environmental factors have been commonly disregarded in previous studies, resulting in an incomplete understanding of the impact of urban built environment on public emotions. Therefore, this paper takes San Francisco as a study case to explore the complex relationship between urban built environmental factors and public emotions. Specifically, this paper measures the polarity of public emotions through sentiment analysis on Twitter data, establishes a comprehensive built environment index system from both macro- and micro- perspectives, and subsequently explores the complex relationship between the urban built environment and public sentiment through the OLS model and Shapley Additive Explanation algorithm. Results show that: (1) micro-built environmental factors have a significant influence on public emotion, although they have been frequently ignored. (2) Public sentiment tends to be more positive in areas with recreation facilities, mixed land use, rich street view visual environment, suitable thermal and acoustic environment, balanced income, and a suitable degree of high population density. (3) A nonlinear relationship and threshold effect exist between the built environmental variables and the semantic orientations of public emotion. Environment improvement strategies based on the synergic effect between variables can effectively promote the generation of positive emotions. Our empirical findings can offer valuable insights to promote feelings of well-being and foster an urban development approach through strategic interventions within the urban built environment.

Direct and indirect effects of mother's spatial ability on child's spatial ability: What role does the home environment play?

Individual differences in spatial thinking are predictive of children's math and science achievement and later entry into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Little is known about whether parent characteristics predict individual differences in children's spatial thinking. This study aims to understand whether, and to what extent, mother's intrinsic (i.e., mental rotation) and extrinsic (i.e., spatial scaling) spatial ability directly and indirectly, via the variation in home spatial environment, predicts children's intrinsic and extrinsic spatial ability. A total of 165 mothers and their 4-6-year-old children were recruited to participate in a remote video session with an experimenter. Mothers were administered a forced-choice Intrinsic Spatial Toy Preference Task gauging their preference for highly spatial versus less spatial toys and asked questions with the Home Intrinsic Spatial Environmental Questionnaire about the frequency with which they engage their child in spatial activities at home. Mothers completed a Mental Rotations Test and a Spatial Scaling Task adapted for adults. Children were administered the Picture Rotation Task, the Spatial Scaling Task, and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Structural equation modeling was used to examine direct and indirect, via home spatial environment and toy choices, influences of mother spatial ability on child spatial ability. Contrary to our predictions, we did not find direct, nor indirect, relations between mother and child spatial ability. These findings suggest that researchers should consider alternative conceptualizations of the early home spatial environment beyond the frequency of spatial play in the home. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: The identification of factors that predict individual differences in children's spatial ability is important in order to maximize STEM learning outcomes. Data collection was conducted remotely rather than in traditional preschool or laboratory settings. Contrary to our pre-registered hypotheses, no significant relations between mother spatial ability, the early home spatial environment, and children's development of spatial skills were found. Future research should consider examining the amount of spatial language used in the home or the quality of parent-child interactions during spatial play as potential explanations for individual differences in children's spatial ability.

The complex dynamical study of a UAI epidemic model in non-spatial and spatial environments

The complex dynamical study of a UAI epidemic model in non-spatial and spatial environments

Design Management of Environmental Access Security in Priority Spatial Spaces for Green Open Space (OGS) Tropical City Surabaya - Indonesia with CPTED Approach to Reduce the Impact of Visitor Vandalism

This research examines environmental and social problems with a security design solution approach for green open spaces in tropical city parks related to negative visitor behavior, especially in the form of vandalism which can cause damage to facilities and vegetation in areas with dense and varied visitor activities. This research was conducted in priority spatial environments popular and paid parks in the tropical city of Surabaya, Indonesia. The classification of visitor access security detection uses the Crime Prevention through Environment Design (CPTED) vandalism management strategy theory to determine the access security model applied to spatial behavior. The results show that spatial areas with high levels of visitor density and management’s low level of application of CPTED attributes have an effect on increasing the impact of visitor vandalism on park facilities.

Numerical analysis of the SIS infectious disease model with spatial heterogeneity

PurposeThe susceptible-infectious-susceptible (SIS) infectious disease models without spatial heterogeneity have limited applications, and the numerical simulation without considering models’ global existence and uniqueness of classical solutions might converge to an impractical solution. This paper aims to develop a robust and reliable numerical approach to the SIS epidemic model with spatial heterogeneity, which characterizes the horizontal and vertical transmission of the disease.Design/methodology/approachThis study used stability analysis methods from nonlinear dynamics to evaluate the stability of SIS epidemic models. Additionally, the authors applied numerical solution methods from diffusion equations and heat conduction equations in fluid mechanics to infectious disease transmission models with spatial heterogeneity, which can guarantee a robustly stable and highly reliable numerical process. The findings revealed that this interdisciplinary approach not only provides a more comprehensive understanding of the propagation patterns of infectious diseases across various spatial environments but also offers new application directions in the fields of fluid mechanics and heat flow. The results of this study are highly significant for developing effective control strategies against infectious diseases while offering new ideas and methods for related fields of research.FindingsThrough theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, the distribution of infected persons in heterogeneous environments is closely related to the location parameters. The finding is suitable for clinical use.Originality/valueThe theoretical analysis of the stability theorem and the threshold dynamics guarantee robust stability and fast convergence of the numerical solution. It opens up a new window for a robust and reliable numerical study.