Case Studies of Environmental Visualization

The performance gap between simulation and reality has been identified as a major challenge to achieving sustainability in the Built Environment. While Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) surveys are an integral part of better understanding building performance, and thus addressing this issue, the importance of POE remains relatively unacknowledged within the wider Built Environment community. A possible reason that has been highlighted is that POE survey data is not easily understood and utilizable by non-expert stakeholders, including designers. A potential method by which to address this is the visualization method, which has well established benefits for communication of big datasets. This paper presents two case studies where EnViz (short for “Environmental Visualization”), a prototype software application developed for research purposes, was utilized and its effectiveness tested via a range of analysis tasks. The results are discussed and compared with those of previous work that utilized variations of the methods presented here. The paper concludes by presenting the lessons drawn from the five-year period of EnViz, emphasizing the potential of environmental visualization for decision support in environmental design and engineering for the built environment, and suggests directions for future development

New nanomicelle curcumin formulation for ocular delivery: improved stability, solubility, and ocular anti-inflammatory treatment

<p><b>Context:</b> A stable topical ophthalmic curcumin formulation with high solubility, stability, and efficacy is needed for pharmaceutical use in clinics.</p> <p><b>Objectives:</b> The objective of this article was to describe a novel curcumin containing a nanomicelle formulation using a polyvinyl caprolactam–polyvinyl acetate–polyethylene glycol (PVCL–PVA–PEG) graft copolymer.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> Nanomicelle curcumin was formulated and optimized and then further evaluated for <i>in vitro</i> cytotoxicity/<i>in vivo</i> ocular irritation, <i>in vitro</i> cellular uptake/<i>in vivo</i> corneal permeation, and <i>in vitro</i> antioxidant activity/<i>in vivo</i> anti-inflammatory efficacy.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> The solubility, chemical stability, and antioxidant activity were greatly improved after the encapsulation of the PVCL–PVA–PEG nanomicelles. The nanomicelle curcumin ophthalmic solution was simple to prepare and the nanomicelles are stable to the storage conditions, and it had good cellular tolerance. Nanomicelle curcumin also had excellent ocular tolerance in rabbits. The use of nanomicelles significantly improved <i>in vitro</i> cellular uptake and <i>in vivo</i> corneal permeation as well as improved anti-inflammatory efficacy when compared with a free curcumin solution.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> These findings indicate that nanomicelles could be promising topical delivery systems for the ocular administration of curcumin.</p