Search

The deterioration of the environment in the 21st century has made environmental issues one of the most severe tests for modern society. With this comes a change in energy structure from high-carbon to low-carbon direction, and electric vehicles are gradually developing into the darling of a city with low-carbon transportation and safe travel. This paper carries out a systematic analysis of landscape design and environmental protection in the development of new energy electric vehicle charging facilities in urban habitat. By categorizing the content and provisions of published domestic and international standards, new requirements for standardization are obtained, including barrier-free design, electromagnetic radiation, child safety protection, and urban landscape integration. Among them, ecological landscape public charging facilities can enhance the overall quality of urban environment. This paper analyzes the necessity of landscape design in charging facilities, explores the ecological concepts extended by macroscopic landscape design principles and the problems of public charging facilities, and proposes a design and evaluation method of ecologically landscaped public charging facilities based on hierarchical analysis and neural networks. The hierarchical analysis method is introduced to establish a landscape design assessment index system, and then a neural network is introduced to describe the characteristics of electric vehicle charging, and the landscape design assessment learning samples are trained to establish a landscape design assessment model. Finally, a comparison experiment is conducted with other landscape design assessment methods using specific examples, and the results show that the proposed method has more obvious advantages in ecological landscape public charging facility design assessment with high accuracy, faster landscape design assessment, charging efficiency, and environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology‐dependent children are a sub‐population of seriously ill children with life‐limiting conditions who are being cared for at home by their families. Although home‐based care has been the model of care for these children since the late 1980s, there is a paucity of literature about parents' experiences of having home adaptations made to enable their home to be a place of care for their child. Using the findings from auto‐driven photo‐elicitation interviews conducted between August 2017 and June 2018 with 12 parents (10 mothers and 2 fathers) who have a technology‐dependent child (aged 5–25 years) living in England, Scotland and Wales and David Seamon's five concepts of at‐homeness (appropriation, at‐easeness, regeneration, rootedness and warmth) as a conceptual framework, this paper addresses how parents' experienced home adaptations. Thematic analysis generated a meta‐theme of 'Home needs to be a home for all family members' and the three key themes: (1) 'You just get told' and 'you're not involved'; (2) It's just the 'cheapest', 'quickest', 'short‐term' approach; (3) Having 'control' and 'thinking things through.' The need to involve parents in decision‐making about adaptations that are made to their home (family‐informed design) is clear, not only from a cost‐saving perspective for the state, but for creating an aesthetic and functional home that optimises health, well‐being and feelings of at‐homeness for the entire family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing elderly population, the information intellectualization demand also rises substantially. At the same time, intelligent information interaction system- (IIIS-) controlled wheelchair's automatic obstacle avoidance techniques have become extremely important in an intelligent social context. Therefore, this paper proposes an IIIS to help disabled groups and some older people enjoy the barrier-free information design and improve product information manipulation experience. Firstly, the functional requirements of the IIIS are analyzed, and the overall scheme of the IIIS is designed. Then, the control mode of IIIS is determined. Secondly, following research on the obstacle avoidance algorithm (OAA) based on fuzzy control, the obstacle avoidance control strategy is formulated for the elderly accessible wheelchair IIIS. Finally, experiments are designed to verify the control performance and simulate the automatic OAA of the designed IIIS. The experimental results indicate that the touch screen control system (TSCS) of mobile phone (MPHN) is more sensitive for the elderly accessible wheelchair control information system. By comparison, the joystick control system (JCS) is more straightforward to manipulate than the touch screen. The practicability of these two control methods is very strong. These two independent control methods meet the control performance requirements and improve the automatic obstacle avoidance performance of IIIS. The proposed IIIS based on TSCS and JSC can respond to input commands in real time, help the IIIS avoid obstacles, and acquire images, among other functions. Therefore, the proposed intelligent wheelchair design improves the interactive performance of the intelligent operating system, facilitates the travel of the elderly and the disabled, and has good practical value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. In the South African context, there are no specific guidelines regarding how to prepare and support adolescents for the transition from a health care to a high school setting post TBI. This raises questions about the relevance and responsiveness of the current transition practices in occupational therapy in terms of adequately preparing and supporting these adolescents to participate in school and hence exercise their right to a quality education. Method. This study explored adolescents and other key role players' perspectives on and experiences of the high school transition (i.e., school reentry and continued school participation) post TBI. It was anticipated that this would provide an increased understanding of the enablers and barriers to high school reentry and participation post TBI. This served as a basis to explore the main aim of this study which was to help occupational therapists identify where efforts in terms of service delivery are needed. This study was situated in the interpretivist qualitative paradigm and used a multicase study design, which included semistructured interviews with eight adolescent learners with TBI, their primary caregivers, teachers, and principals as well as observations and documentation review. Results. This paper will focus on a central theme in the research, namely, the nature and extent of support needed to facilitate the high school transition of adolescents with TBI within a developing context. Similar to the findings of studies conducted in developed contexts, participants highlighted that they felt that adolescents need support at various stages of the school transition. Participants further alluded to support that should be collaborative, coordinated, flexible, and monitored to ensure it is relevant and responsive to these adolescents' changing needs. Conclusion. The study findings conclude that occupational therapists have a crucial role in fostering an enabling environment (directly and indirectly) through fulfilling various roles including that of a facilitator, intermediary, coach, collaborator, supporter, and advocator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This perspective paper was intended to raise awareness and the urgency of needing additional evacuation-related, hospital building design policies. We addressed the challenges to maintain the integrity of exits and inadequate hospital design considerations for individuals with restricted mobility. Hospitals are occupied by people who may have restricted mobility and visitors who are likely unfamiliar with their surroundings. A hospital fire threatens all people in the building, but especially patients in the intensive care unit who are frail and have limited mobility. Evacuating immobile patients is complex, involving horizontal and vertical evacuation approaches. Hospital design must consider the needs of individuals with restricted mobility, who are the most vulnerable in case of a hospital fire. Consequently, we urge that acutely ill patients and others with restricted mobility should occupy units located on the ground floor or Level 2. In addition, when configuring the physical environment of hospitals, providing step-free ground floor access (indoor or outdoor ramps) and evacuation aids for vertical evacuation is crucial. Step-free ground floor access between Level 2 and the ground floor should be wide enough to allow transporting patients on their beds. A standard revision to include these recommendations is desperately needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY This paper focuses on integrated operation of signal timings and bus speed to provide priority to buses at isolated intersections when real-time adjustment of bus speed is available (e.g., through Connected Vehicle). Most previous work assumes that the speed of a bus is given as an exogenous input and focuses merely on optimization of signal timings. The bus-passing window and the bus-arriving window are defined with respect to the real-time signal status and bus arrivals to capture explicitly the interaction between bus speed and transit priority signal timings. A set of integrated operational rules is developed on the basis of these windows for buses with and without schedule deviation with the objective of minimizing bus schedule deviation, bus fuel consumption, and emissions. Four subsets are included: impacts of preceding bus analysis rules, priority requests generation rules, priority passing rules, and speed adjustment without priority rules. A VISSIM-based simulation platform was designed and used for simulating and evaluating the proposed method. Extensive experimental analyses have shown that the proposed rule-based integrated operational approach outperforms the no priority and conventional priority strategies (no bus speed adjustment) in terms of reducing bus delays, improving schedule adherence, saving energy, reducing emission, and minimizing the impacts on general traffic. The sensitivity analysis has further demonstrated the potential of the proposed approach to be applied in real-time bus priority control system under different levels of transit and traffic demand. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of occupation-based community rehabilitation on activity daily of living and health-related quality of life of people with disabilities after stroke at home. Method. In this study of three people with disabilities after stroke living at home, A-B-A single-subject design was used. The occupation-based community rehabilitation was implemented during the intervention phase. It included task oriented and feedback, related information education, home environment modification, and community resource network. After applying the intervention, changes in activities of daily living and health-related quality of life were evaluated by the Modified Barthel Index (MBI), the EuroQol-5 dimension (EQ-5D), and the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). Result. After applying the occupation-based community rehabilitation program, all three participants' daily life activities and quality of life improved. In addition, the occupational performance skills in all participants were maintained. Conclusion. It was confirmed that individual occupational-based community rehabilitation had a positive effect on the activities of daily living and quality of life improvement of the people with disabilities after stroke at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to provide more orderly and convenient urban planning ideas for the fast-paced life in the complex urban environment. The current sign design is analyzed according to the needs of urban residents for barrier-free sign design, and the sign design based on urban space color is established. An urban landscape visual communication optimization method is proposed based on hue saturation value (HSV) technology. The multiscale retinex (MSR) algorithm is used as a reference for simulation experiments. The experimental results show that the designed optimization method is significantly better than the traditional method in the expression effect of visual communication. First, the attention time of the sign design can be reduced by more than 3 seconds, which can effectively improve the lives of urban residents and tourists and improve their browsing efficiency. Next, 94% of the citizens believe that optimized urban signs are more prominent than traditional ones. Finally, the sign design optimization method proposed provides an image with a higher definition than the traditional sign design method. The proposed sign design and optimization scheme can effectively coordinate the relationship among urban landscape design, guided objects, and cities, help busy urban life, and provide new ideas for the development direction of visual communication design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assistive technology (AT) is often required to facilitate the performance of occupations and promote inclusion and reduction of dependency among persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). However, only 5-15% of individuals in developing countries have access to AT. This study is aimed at exploring the experience of Filipinos with SCI as they use AT and understand these from an occupational justice (OJ) perspective. This study utilised a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to explore the participants' experiences with AT usage. Ten participants were recruited from a hospital and communities within Metro Manila, Philippines, and interviewed last January 2020. Hermeneutic analysis was done to interpret the shared meaning embedded within their experiences and was informed by an occupational justice perspective. Exploring the experience of the participants in using AT yielded four themes, namely, (1) engaging in occupations despite limited opportunities, (2) going to various locations amidst an inaccessible environment, (3) striving towards inclusion in spite of attitudinal barriers, and (4) securing needs in light of unfavourable life conditions. Filipinos with SCI deal with numerous structural and contextual factors in daily life. There has been partial enablement of OJ as they incorporate AT in their daily lives as occupational rights are far from being recognised and respected. In infusing an OJ perspective to understanding AT use, OT practitioners are bound to identify problems and courses of action that go beyond traditional service delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The onset of disability in bathing may be followed by disability in other daily activities for older adults. A bathing adaptation usually involves the removal of a bath or inaccessible shower and replacement with a level, easy access shower. The purpose is to remove the physical environmental barriers and restore older adults' ability to bathe safely and/or independently. The aim of this study was to explore the views and experiences of older adults and their carers who had received a bathing adaptation in order to examine how the adaptation had affected them and identify mechanisms of impact and outcomes from their perspectives. The study was nested within a feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) (BATH‐OUT) conducted within one local authority housing adaptations service in England. Semi‐structured interviews were completed between 21 December 2016 and 19 August 2017 with 21 older adults and five carer participants of the feasibility RCT. Interview participants were purposively sampled on living arrangement and gender. Interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed in seven stages using framework analysis. Findings were presented thematically. Five themes were identified: ease of use; feeling safe; feeling clean; independence, choice and control; and confidence and quality of life. The removal of the physical barriers in the bathroom led to older adults re‐mastering the activity of bathing, having an improved sense of physical functioning which gave a sense of 'freedom'. This appeared to impact a range of areas contributing to a wider sense of increased confidence consistent with constructs underpinning social care‐related quality of life. We suggest that future research should examine housing adaptations from a person–environment fit approach, and that timely restoration of bathing ability is especially important as it can affect confidence and perceived competence in other areas of daily living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing older population worldwide means there is a need to ensure there are sufficient housing options to meet a broad spectrum of need and aspiration. There is little understanding of the relative importance of the "pull factors" that might attract older people to relocate to a new environment. Older people's views of the relative level of attractiveness of potential features of a specialist housing development offering care and support were investigated using Q methodology. Forty‐one participants aged 53–89 living in a locality in Northern England rank‐ordered 70 statements from April to August 2016. The analysis revealed four viewpoints: adaptation and care seekers, comprising prioritisation of care provision, specialist accommodation and accessibility; care‐indifferent luxurians, which encompasses attraction to some "luxury" features and less emphasis on care provision; connected separatists, emphasising a distinct environment with good public transport connections; and independent engagers, comprising attraction towards social opportunities and remaining independent. Broad agreement was found on some topics, such as the generally high prioritisation of safety and security. The research provides a deeper understanding of differences in views towards housing options among older people which developers, planners and funders will need to recognise. While providing high‐quality care may be a key objective for some organisations, this may not be the most important concern for some older people contemplating relocation, with many other features considered more attractive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessibility has become an important focus in software development; the goal is to allow as many people as possible, regardless of their capabilities, to use software. We have investigated the methods that software teams prefer when testing the accessibility of their software. We conducted a large-scale study to evaluate six methods, using a sample of 53 people who work on various software teams. We present a detailed breakdown of the results for each testing method and analyze the differences between the methods. Our findings show that there are statistically significant differences in team members' preferences, particularly for those with different roles. This implies that a software team should not choose a single method for all team members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modifying the home environments of older people as they age in place is a well-established health and social care intervention. Using design and construction methods to redress any imbalance caused by the ageing process or disability within the home environment, occupational therapists are seen as the experts in this field of practice. However, the process used by occupational therapists when modifying home environments has been criticised for being disorganised and not founded on theoretical principles and concepts underpinning the profession. To address this issue, research was conducted to develop a design and construction process protocol specifically for home modifications. A three-stage approach was taken for the analysis of qualitative data generated from an online survey, completed by 135 occupational therapists in the UK. Using both the existing occupational therapy intervention process model and the design and construction process protocol as the theoretical frameworks, a 4-phase, 9-subphase design and construction process protocol for home modifications was developed. Overall, the study is innovative in developing the first process protocol for home modifications, potentially providing occupational therapists with a systematic and effective approach to the design and delivery of home modification services for older and disabled people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Play, specifically outdoor play, is crucial for a child's development. However, not all playgrounds are designed to provide usable space for children with disabilities. The aim of the study was to gain an understanding of the experiences of playground use for children with disabilities and their caregivers. Using a qualitative descriptive design, interviews were conducted with children with disabilities and their caregivers. Interview transcripts were reviewed and coded. The analysis process resulted in three overarching themes. Playground Experiences addressed the sensory experiences that children seek at playgrounds, the importance of creating environments that promote imaginative play and the need to provide an appropriate level of challenge. In the second theme, Playground Usability, participants described barriers that prevent access and features that promote use. The third theme, Inclusivity, focused on equal access and the importance of providing options in design. The Person-Environment-Occupation model was used to frame the findings and to identify practice and research recommendations. Outdoor play is a key occupation of children, and occupational therapists have a role in promoting usable environments for all children. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to better understand how children with different abilities use playgrounds to engage in creative play and interact socially with their peers. Twenty children aged between 7 and 12 years, with different abilities, participated in interviews. The findings showed that playgrounds served as a reference point for all the children, they challenged a child's physical abilities and provided opportunities for role-playing and social interactions. However, for children with disabilities, playgrounds had limited accessibility, usability and did not support interaction with peers. A methodological limitation of the study was that the interviewer only met the children once. Further research should be carried out to investigate if creating playgrounds according to universal design principles and adapting them to the needs of children with disabilities would improve social interactions and provide more opportunities for play. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]