ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN 4th International Conference on Environmental Design 9-11 May 2024

Progress necessitates a proactive approach, one that involves researching and understanding our environment with a view toward shaping future outcomes. We often find ourselves immersed in discussions about environmental issues such as pollution, traffic, and consumption, yet active participation is not always as prevalent. The Environmental Design Conference serves as a platform for shedding light on the outcomes of research efforts across various fronts. It fosters scientific discourse among researchers, making visible both theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence. Moreover, it aims to raise awareness among public institutions and businesses about the necessary steps for a sustainable future, ultimately enhancing personal well-being and community welfare. Engaging in discussion, analysis, and proposal is imperative in navigating the challenges that lie ahead. By inviting scientific luminaries from diverse backgrounds and distinguished research institutions, the conference facilitates the exchange of ideas, fostering innovation and driving progress. It provides an invaluable opportunity for emerging scholars to showcase their research on an international stage, fostering collaboration and enriching the collective vision of the MDA community, dedicated to enhancing the quality of life. MDA periodically hosts conferences open to researchers worldwide who share an interest in contributing to the ongoing dialogue on improving quality of life. The 2024 Conference held in Ginosa saw participation from researchers from different disciplines. The outcomes of this event have been documented in a volume accessible on the association's website (mda. center), serving as a testament to the collective efforts toward a better future

Food Insecurity and Mental Health Correlations and Barriers on a College Campus

Food insecurity is defined by the U.S Department of Agriculture as “the uncertain or limited ability to get adequate food due to lack of financial resources” (Watson, Malan, Glik, & Martinez, 2017, p. 130). It tends to go unnoticed, and the size of the vulnerable population cannot be fully depicted because of stigma in seeking help. One study could only estimate from findings that 14% to 59% of students will be food insecure at some point throughout their college years (Henry, 2017). Food insecurity is affecting students’ social and mental health, diet choices, and physical well-being. Food insecurity is only one of many possible mediating factors on mental health and vice versa. There is an underwhelming amount of research on correlations between the two. This study is a mixed methods exploratory survey study investigating a convenience sample of young adults attending Hardin-Simmons University (HSU) within the 2018-2019 school year. The research utilizes quantitative data to analyze the following: frequency for the desire for a food pantry, prevalence of food insecurity, levels of food insecurity on campus per individual, and symptoms of mental health. Qualitative data is used to examine various participants’ perspectives on food insecurity on campus from students’ perspective. Descriptive statistics were done for main components of demographics, level of food insecurity, frequency, and correlations between mental health and food insecurity. Significant data were found between depression and the amount of times students were food insecure over the semester. Qualitative interviews also were examined for multiple themes. While there are limitations present within the study, specifically the self evaluation and small sample size, implications for HSU were provided. The main recommendations for the study are using the responses as a guide to the possible creation of a student led food pantry, how to address specific target area needs for students that may have gone under the radar, and the size of the food insecure vulnerable population. HSU can decide further action to better address their student population needs, and university goals

Israel coordinates for all static spherically symmetric spacetimes with vanishing second Ricci invariant

Static spherically symmetric spacetimes with vanishing second Ricci invariant constitute an important class of solutions to Einstein's equations and more generally as archetypes of regular black holes. When studying completeness one is most often presented with the Kruskal - Szekeres procedure. However, this procedure only works if the spacetime admits a single non-degenerate Killing horizon (a single bifurcation two-sphere). Here we generalize the Israel procedure to examine a constructive approach to completeness based entirely on the static spherically symmetric nature of spacetimes with a vanishing second Ricci invariant. It is shown by "block gluing" that the Israel procedure can cover two bifurcation two-spheres, but can fail with three. No coordinate transformations are used in this work.Comment: 5 pages. Revised focus. No mathematical change

SITOGEO: A geographic database used for GIS applications

This contribution aims to present the geographic database “SITOGEO” developed with GIS technology. This database manages data of different nature, source and resolution (land images, digital elevation model, cartographic maps and vector data) covering the whole of Italy. In this paper we show that our database can be used for the assessment, management and mitigation of risks regarding the preservation of cultural heritage and as valid support for the remote-sensing technologies

Key-Drivers to design urban mobility services for silver age and age-friendly cities.

The vision regarding ageing is often influenced by negative stereotypes, which lead to considering the over-55 user only in need of targeted assistance and care. Observing the current situation, this view should be no longer exhaustive: they are active users, capable of exercising agency, with needs and desires beyond care and assistance, and bearers of experience and knowledge. It is therefore clear that design strategies to develop services for this user group must necessarily broaden their horizons and begin to consider areas that have been scarcely explored. The contribution focuses on the topic of urban mobility and proposes a preliminary analysis process, based on the scientific literature and on the analysis of case studies to highlight good design practices, and carried out within a joint research platform, whose structure, functions, and role is also highlighted. Lastly, it proposes a mapping of design directions to be applied to implement age-friendly solutions

Made in Italy. Values, identity, and relationships

The interpretation of “Made in Italy” values and their relationship with consumer perception are deeply intertwined with cultural and social aspects. With its strong connection to places of origin, the Made in Italy brand carries a profound symbolic value that resonates with our shared cultural heritage. Over the years, Made in Italy has evolved into a powerful collective brand, uniting numerous companies and embodying qualities, style, and historical culture. It stands as a beacon of design leadership, conjuring images of diverse productions, boundless creativity, and innovative prowess that we all contribute to. Yet, the perception of the current Made in Italy is a nuanced interplay of current production transformations and more profound shifts in the global, sociological, and cultural context. Understanding this dynamic can give us a richer perspective on the brand’s evolution

Hedgehog Signalling in Androgen Independent Prostate Cancer

Objectives: Androgen-deprivation therapy effectively shrinks hormone-naïve prostate cancer, both in the prostate and at sites of distant metastasis. However prolonged androgen deprivation generally results in relapse and androgen-independent tumour growth, which is inevitably fatal. The molecular events that enable prostate cancer cells to proliferate in reduced androgen conditions are poorly understood. Here we investigate the role of Hedgehog signalling in androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC). Methods: Activity of the Hedgehog signalling pathway was analysed in cultured prostate cancer cells, and circulating prostate tumour cells were isolated from blood samples of patients with AIPC. Results: AIPC cells were derived through prolonged culture in reduced androgen conditions, modelling hormone therapy in patients, and expressed increased levels of Hedgehog signalling proteins. Exposure of cultured AIPC cells to cyclopamine, which inhibits Hedgehog signalling, resulted in inhibition of cancer cell growth. The expression of the Hedgehog receptor PTCH and the highly prostate cancer-specific gene DD3PCA3 was significantly higher in circulating prostate cancer cells isolated from patients with AIPC compared with samples prepared from normal individuals. There was an association between PTCH and DD3PCA3 expression and the length of androgen-ablation therapy. Conclusions: Our data are consistent with reports implicating overactivity of Hedgehog signalling in prostate cancer and suggest that Hedgehog signalling contributes to the androgen-independent growth of prostate cancer cells. As systemic anti-Hedgehog medicines are developed, the Hedgehog pathway will become a potential new therapeutic target in advanced prostate cancer.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Performance modeling of ultraviolet Raman lidar systems for daytime profiling of atmospheric water vapor

We describe preliminary results from a comprehensive computer model developed to guide optimization of a Raman lidar system for measuring daytime profiles of atmospheric water vapor, emphasizing an ultraviolet, solar-blind approach

Measuring Conceptual Understanding Using Comparative Judgement.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The publisher's final version of record can be found by following the DOI link.The importance of improving students’ understanding of core concepts in mathematics is well established. However, assessing the impact of different teaching interventions designed to improve students’ conceptual understanding requires the validation of adequate measures. Here we propose a novel method of measuring conceptual understanding based on comparative judgement (CJ). Contrary to traditional instruments, the CJ approach allows test questions for any topic to be developed rapidly. In addition, CJ does not require a detailed rubric to represent conceptual understanding of a topic, as it is instead based on the collective knowledge of experts. In the current studies, we compared CJ to already established instruments to measure three topics in mathematics: understanding the use of p-values in statistics, understanding derivatives in calculus, and understanding the use of letters in algebra. The results showed that CJ was valid as compared to established instruments, and achieved high reliability. We conclude that CJ is a quick and efficient alternative method of measuring conceptual understanding in mathematics and could therefore be particularly useful in intervention studies

The culture of the project in view of new synergies for the (r)evolution of the healthcare sector

The contemporary era, defined by Schwad (2015) as the "Fourth Industrial Revolution '' is the era that is outlined on the theme of major innovations and a growth of technologies of exponential type. At the social level, we are witnessing a progressive aging of the population, aging or rejuvenation, as some would argue (OECD, 2020). Technological growth and innovation is evolving the standards of health in which the population falls, is reshaping life expectancy and with it, also the age of seniority. Technological growth and population increase bring with them clear concerns about health management: we will face an increasing number of chronic diseases, and the demand for higher standards of personalized care, precision medicine, regenerative medicine, all of which will increase demands and put great stress on our health systems. The two years marked by the Covid-19 pandemic have already provided us with a demonstration of the consequences associated with extremes of demand for care. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, which holds the advent of Information Technologies and Artificial Intelligence, tells us of a future that will see an increasing interaction between humans, machines and computational intelligences, to alleviate us and empower our existence. This era will also speak about the increasingly imperative need to assert in the design treatment the component of acceptance and exaltation of human values in order to mitigate the possible outcomes of human alienation in the face of indefinable technological availability. Also in this case we can refer to the examples of degenerations resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, with generalizing crisis phenomena and dismissive visions from the surrounding reality, such as the No-Vax, movements or other phenomena of technological alienation as in the case of the increase in the percentage of adolescents now in a cycle of self-induced isolation. Considering the areas of light and shadow of the challenges of our future, it is clear how we will need the increasingly synergistic action of the various disciplines of human knowledge, in order to arrive at the delineation of a correct exploitation of human values. With regard to this, the discipline of design, understood as that discipline useful to generate with efficiency, a bridge between technological innovation and human interaction, will be fundamental as able to bring positive and empathic elements to the design, to derive a generalized improvement in the quality of life, and in the case of healthcare, of care. Our research highlights the etymologically new figure of the "Medical Designer" and asserts in the design process new functions on the theme of medical devices: among them, the theme of autonomy and automation. In full response to the "trend" and aimed at assimilating to the already established potential of industries, they will be crucial elements of designs and investments of new devices. The research that derives from it has had practical implications arriving at the definition of forms of care that subjugate in a single device both the function of reading parameters, and the function of administration of care