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Studies involving subjective evaluation require feedback from human participants to assess the performance of a system or an environment. A participant is typically presented with a set of metrics to be observed and they present their assessment accordingly. Investigator-led in-situ soundscape evaluation in ISO 12913-2 collects perceptual responses along with other acoustical and locale information. This is a labor intensive and time-consuming processes. To alleviate and complement investigator-led evaluations, a portable and compact feedback system with an e-ink display and capacitive buttons was designed, and is undergoing field tests to address the aforementioned requirements. The system employs a low-cost, low-power microcontroller unit (MCU) with necessary hardware interfaces to enable capacitive sensing. Capacitive buttons provide an intuitive interface and avoid the inherent wear and tear of mechanical buttons. This digitized feedback interface affords the flexibility to synchronize (wired or wirelessly) with a playback system to evaluate an augmented soundscape, and is suitable for both supervised and unsupervised subjective assessments.

This study examined the relationships of parental stress and racial discrimination to the psychological distress of Korean Americans (both US- and foreign-born) during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also explored whether racial discrimination moderated the effect of parental stress on psychological distress. Using primary data collected between May 24, 2020, and June 14, 2020, via an online questionnaire, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models were conducted on 339 Korean American parents. Results indicated that parental stress and racial discrimination were associated with parental psychological distress. However, when the sample was divided by parental sex, racial discrimination played as a moderator, the interaction of discrimination, and parenting stress was associated with more psychological distress only for mothers. Based on the study results, we recommended that policymakers should consider policies and programs that can reduce racism to make up for the public health crisis associated with COVID-19; clinical practitioners also need to provide appropriate virtual mental/physical health services and interventions that can decrease parental stress and psychological distress amid COVID-19.

Bisphosphonates are well-known drugs as inhibitors of bone resorption acting on inducing programmed cell death of osteoclasts. However, many in vitro studies report that optimal concentration of the bisphosphonate affects not only osteoclasts but also osteoblasts, that is, it induces the anabolic effects of osteoblasts. Recently reported 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2) is an endogenous ligand of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma, with an inhibitory activity on bone loss. Researchers have also suggested that 15d-PGJ2 has the ability to reduce bone destruction and as the possibility of regeneration of bone. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the anabolic effect of two anti-resorptive materials, alendronate and 15d-PGJ2, in a critical sized segmental defect model of rat fibula. The regenerated bone on the operative site was assessed through gross, radiographic (plain X-ray, and micro-computed tomography), histomorphologic evaluation, and statistical analysis. Consequently, the locally applied alendronate prevented resorption of grafted materials, and had a positive effect on bone regeneration with positive micro-architectural modification of the surrounding bone, although this study did not verify a significant capacity of bone regeneration of 15d-PGJ2 and instead only shed a light on its possibility.

Traditional decibel-based measures in predicting annoyance from construction activities are limited to reflect high acoustic variability of construction machinery noises. Hence, a multidimensional approach based on perceptual attributes and psychoacoustic parameters is proposed. In-situ audio-visual recordings of 16 construction machinery in operation were evaluated subjectively on both perceived annoyance and a 12-item semantic differential perceptual attribute scale. The 16 machinery noises formed three clusters based on four perceptual components (Incisiveness, Strength, Intermittency, and Periodicity) derived via principal component analysis of the perceptual attributes. Notably, individual perceptual components strongly correlate with mean values of psychoacoustic parameters (loudness, sharpness, roughness, and fluctuation strength) over time, which we use to develop an annoyance model for construction noise. Both loudness and fluctuation strength were critical parameters to discriminate between clusters. The model can be used to automatically categorize construction noises by cluster and manage it based on known cluster characteristics. Ministry of National Development (MND) National Research Foundation (NRF) Submitted/Accepted version This work was suported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (NRF-2022R1C1C1008066 and NRF-2021R1A2C1095819). This research was also supported by the National Research Foundation, Singapore, and Ministry of National Development, Singapore under its Cities of Tomorrow R&D Program (CoT Award: COT-V4-2020-1).

Although hospitals are notorious for poor acoustics, the acoustic environment is usually evaluated in silos, without considering other indoor environmental quality (IEQ) factors. In the absence of qualitative evidence, it is important to first establish a holistic baseline perception of the hospital acoustic environment before commissioning costly measurement campaigns. A psychometric questionnaire based on the industry-standard IEQ survey and ISO 12913-2 soundscape standard was administered to examine the perceived indoor acoustic environment quality across major occupant groups (i.e. staff, patients, visitors) in an acute hospital in Singapore. Of the 16 IEQ factors examined, all occupant groups expressed the greatest dissatisfaction with noise levels and sound privacy. Notably, the staff were significantly more dissatisfied than the other groups in terms of sound privacy and overall IEQ. When assessing the overall quality (OQ) and appropriateness (OA) of the acoustic environment, OQ was similarly neutral across all groups, whereas the staff expressed significantly lower OA than both patients and visitors. The dissatisfaction in the acoustic environment could be attributed to the perceived dominance and annoyance of vocal and operational sounds across all occupant groups, as well as the environment set-up with most being housed in cohort rooms. Particularly, the staff were significantly more annoyed with vocal and operational sounds than patients and visitors. This study also yielded evidence that challenges the validity of the 5-item Weinstein noise sensitivity scale when used in an Asian context, as well as the applicability of the perceived affective quality circumplex model in ISO 12913-3 for indoor environments.

This study aims to assess various perceived adverse effects of noise on construction sites according to the different stages and machinery used in the stages, and to examine whether or not personal-situational factors affect the judgment of managers regarding the adverse impact of noise at work through a self-reported survey method. Four primary construction stages and twenty-four types of construction machines were evaluated. The effects of personal (noise sensitivity) and situational (types of jobs, and years of working) factors on the adverse impacts of noise on annoyance, work performance, work safety, and speech interference at work were examined. The results show significant differences in perceived noise annoyance in the various construction stages. The demolition stage is the most annoying, followed by the foundation, earthwork, and concrete framing stages. In addition, the annoying equipment differs for each construction stage. A breaker, pile driver, and hammer compactor are rated as the most annoying construction machines in the demolition, foundation, and earthwork stages, respectively. Individual noise sensitivity appears to have the most significant influence on the adverse impacts of noise on annoyance, work performance, work safety, and speech interference. A high noise sensitivity group tends to judge construction noise to be more adverse than the rest. In addition, different interrelationships between the adverse items of noise are found across their types of jobs: building construction, civil construction, and safety management. The findings of this study will provide further knowledge to facilitate better noise management planning on construction sites. Accepted version This work was supported by a 2017-Research Grant from Youngsan University (2018000288), Republic of Korea.

With the advent of virtual reality (VR) technology, spatial audio has been increasingly adopted to evaluate the acoustic environment in soundscape research. It is therefore imperative to assess the quality of commonly used spatial audio reproduction methods to determine their ecological validity. Through subjective evaluations with 30 participants, the same participant evaluated four outdoor in situ locations vis-à-vis its corresponding audio-visual recording in VR on a separate day. A total of three spatial audio reproduction methods were assessed in VR, and they were all down-mixed from the first-order ambisonics (FOA) recordings to headphone-based FOA-static binaural, FOA-tracked binaural; and FOA 2-dimensional (2D) octagonal speaker array. The participants evaluated the acoustic environment in terms of the overall soundscape quality and perceived spatial qualities at each location. Regarding overall soundscape quality, there were no significant differences in evaluating the sound-source dominance and affective soundscape qualities between in situ and all VR methods. However, significant differences were found in the perceived spatial qualities between three reproduction methods and in situ. Among the source-related spatial attributes, the perceived distance of the dominating sounds was farther in the virtual than in the in situ evaluations. In the localization of sound sources, both the FOA-tracked binaural and the FOA-2D speaker array exhibited higher spatial acoustic fidelity than FOA-static binaural. Regarding the environment-related spatial quality attributes, the 2D speaker array reproduction was perceived as more immersive and realistic than other reproduction methods. Overall, the FOA-tracked binaural appears to exhibit sufficient fidelity for cinematic VR evaluation of soundscapes. NRF (Natl Research Foundation, S’pore) Accepted version

To investigate the effect of augmenting natural sounds in noisy environments, an in-situ experiment was conducted using a mixed-reality head-mounted display (MR HMD). Two outdoor locations close to an expressway were selected for the experiment. A natural sound (birdsong or stream) along with a hologram (sparrow/fountain or loudspeaker) was projected through the MR HMD. Participants were asked to adjust the natural sound levels to their preferred level under ambient traffic noise conditions at each location. Participants also assessed the perceived loudness of traffic (PLN) and overall soundscape quality (OSQ) in conditions with and without the augmented natural sounds. The results showed that both natural sounds significantly reduced the PLN and enhanced the OSQ. No significant differences in subjective responses were found between the loudspeaker and visual representations of the natural sound source as holograms. Analysis on the preferred signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), i.e. ratio of natural sound to traffic levels, indicated a strong negative correlation between the preferred SNRs and ambient traffic noise levels. Overall, the preferred SNR of the birdsong was significantly higher than that of the water sound. Among the acoustic parameters tested, the A-weighted traffic noise level was the strongest predictor for the preferred SNR of both the birdsong and water sound. However, the correlation for the water sound was relatively higher than the birdsong. This was due to the larger variance in the subjective evaluation for the birdsong. Ministry of National Development (MND) National Research Foundation (NRF) Accepted version This research/project is supported by the National Research Foundation, Singapore, and Ministry of National Development, Singapore under its Cities of Tomorrow R&D Programme (CoT Award: COT-V4-2020-1). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the view of National Research Foundation, Singapore and Ministry of National Development, Singapore.

The current study examined the predictive ability of discrimination-related variables, coping mechanisms, and sociodemographic factors on the psychological distress level of Korean immigrants in the U.S. amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Korean immigrants (both foreign-born and U.S.-born) in the U.S. above the age of 18 were invited to participate in an online survey through purposive sampling. In order to verify the variables predicting the level of psychological distress on the final sample from 42 states (n = 790), the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) analysis, which is able to examine complex non-linear interactions among variables, was conducted. The most critical predicting variables in the neural network were a person’s resilience, experiences of everyday discrimination, and perception that racial discrimination toward Asians has increased in the U.S. since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We previously reported the potential anti-proliferative activity of 3-(5,6,7-trimethoxy-4-oxo-4H-chromen-2-yl)-N-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl) benzamide (TMS-TMF-4f) against human cancer cells, however, the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been investigated. In the present study, TMS-TMF-4f showed the highest cytotoxicity in human cervical cancer cells (HeLa and CaSki) and low cytotoxicity in normal ovarian epithelial cells. Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide (PI) double staining revealed that TMS-TMF-4f-induced cytotoxicity was caused by the induction of apoptosis in both HeLa and CaSki cervical cancer cells. The compound TMS-TMF-4f enhanced the activation of caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 and regulated Bcl-2 family proteins, which led to mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) loss and resulted in the release of cytochrome c and Smac/DIABLO into the cytosol. Also, TMS-TMF-4f suppressed both constitutive and IL-6-inducible levels of phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3) and associated proteins such as Mcl-1, cyclin D1, survivin, and c-Myc in both cervical cancer cells. STAT-3 overexpression completely ameliorated TMS-TMF-4f-induced apoptotic cell death and PARP cleavage. Docking analysis revealed that TMS-TMF-4f could bind to unphosphorylated STAT3 and inhibit its interconversion to the activated form. Notably, intraperitoneal administration of TMS-TMF-4f (5, 10, or 20 mg/kg) decreased tumor growth in a xenograft cervical cancer mouse model, demonstrated by the increase in TUNEL staining and PARP cleavage and the reduction in p-STAT3, Mcl-1, cyclin D1, survivin, and c-Myc expression levels in tumor tissues. Taken together, our results suggest that TMS-TMF-4f may potentially inhibit human cervical tumor growth through the induction of apoptosis via STAT3 suppression.

Nuts have been used globally as health foods. However, because nuts cause allergies, people need to be careful when eating food. Mostly foods are labeled, but sometimes intentional or unintentional mixing might occur. In the present study, we report DNA based on marker for the detection of four nuts almond, peanut, pine nut, and walnut using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Species-specific primer sets for four species were designed based on the single-nucleotide polymorphisms and insertion/deletion of the chloroplast gene, matK. The sensitivity of primer sets for the four species studied was assessed by analyzing DNA dilutions at concentration of 0.001–10 ng and binary mixtures of 0.1–100% of heat-treated and non-heat-treated samples. The four primer sets developed in the present study indicated appropriate amplification efficiency and correlation coefficients of the standard curves. In addition, to verify the applicability of these molecular markers, we performed a qRT-PCR with 14 commercial products and successfully detected the matK genes in several commercial food products that were declared to contain nuts. Thus, markers developed could be useful tools for confirming the presence of the four nut species in commercial products.

This study presents a new perspective on interrelationships among spatiotemporal patterns in soundscape, acoustic and urban morphological indicators. Spatiotemporal characteristics of soundscapes in a multifunctional urban area of Seoul, Korea were analyzed. Physical acoustic and perceived soundscape data were collected during three different daytime sampling periods. Urban morphological indicators representing building, road, open public space, and water feature components, were analyzed to quantify urban textures. Spatial and temporal factors were found to play critical roles in urban soundscapes. Regarding spatial patterns in soundscapes, urban soundscapes were characterized based on the main function of spaces. The temporal variability of soundscapes in urban spaces depended on diurnal patterns in perceived sound sources. Particularly, the perception of birdsong and sounds from human activities showed considerable variation across urban spaces. In addition, significant correlations were found among the spatiotemporal patterns in soundscape, acoustic and morphological factors. Based on the acoustic and morphological indicators, pleasantness and eventfulness models were proposed and the results indicated that the pleasantness model explained 50% of the variance, while the eventfulness model only predicted 13% of the variance. The results from the present study showed that urban morphological factors could be useful indicators for better understanding soundscapes in urban environments.

This study investigates Korean immigrants' parental stress amid the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when they experience difficulties trying to meet their children's educational needs. Korean immigrant parents residing in the U.S. were invited to complete an online survey through purposive sampling. The final sample included a total of 341 Korean immigrant parents from 42 U.S. states. Three models of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions were conducted to examine the associations between parent-reported difficulties meeting the children's educational needs, parental stress, and the immigrant parents' resilience and social support. Findings indicate that parents' difficulties meeting their children's educational needs in general as well as language barriers were associated with increased parental stress. Moreover, parents' resilience and social support also significantly decreased parental stress levels. Implications for practice, policy, and future research are presented.

Noise maps based on sound pressure levels are limited in accurately representing how people perceive the sound environment. As a complementary approach to noise maps, soundscape maps can be useful tools for urban planning and design because they provide more information than conventional noise maps to reflect perceived acoustic environments. This study provides an overview of soundscape maps and explores the influence of spatial contexts on soundscapes in urban spaces. Physical, acoustic, and perceptual data were collected on sound environments in various urban areas in Seoul to create soundscape maps. Sound source types (traffic noise, human sounds, water sounds, and birdsongs), psychoacoustic parameters (loudness and sharpness), and perceived soundscape quality maps were generated and it was found that soundscape characteristics were varied in accordance with the primary functions of a space. Based on the collected soundscape data, global and local spatial regression analyses were conducted to examine the spatial autocorrelation on prediction on soundscape quality, and spatial dependency of soundscape quality was found in both models. In particular, a local spatial regression model based on geographically non-stationary relationships in variables was found to be more effective in understanding soundscape quality in multi-functional urban spaces. These findings could provide useful knowledge for soundscape planning strategies.

Chrysanthemum boreale is a plant widespread in East Asia, used in folk medicine to treat various disorders, such as pneumonia, colitis, stomatitis, and carbuncle. Whether the essential oil from C. boreale (ECB) and its active constituents have anti-proliferative activities in lung cancer is unknown. Therefore, we investigated the cytotoxic effects of ECB in A549 and NCI-H358 human lung cancer cells. Culture of A549 and NCI-H358 cells with ECB induced apoptotic cell death, as revealed by an increase in annexin V staining. ECB treatment reduced mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), disrupted the balance between pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins, and activated caspase-8, -9, and -3, as assessed by western blot analysis. Interestingly, pretreatment with a broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor (z-VAD-fmk) significantly attenuated ECB-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, gas chromatography&ndash, mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis of ECB identified six compounds. Among them, &beta, caryophyllene exhibited a potent anti-proliferative effect, and thus was identified as the major active compound. &beta, Caryophyllene induced G1 cell cycle arrest by downregulating cyclin D1, cyclin E, cyclin-dependent protein kinase (CDK) -2, -4, and -6, and RB phosphorylation, and by upregulating p21CIP1/WAF1 and p27KIP1. These results indicate that &beta, caryophyllene exerts cytotoxic activity in lung cancer cells through induction of cell cycle arrest.

Introducing pleasant natural sounds to mask urban noises is an important soundscape design strategy to improve acoustic comfort. This study investigates the effects of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between natural sounds (signal) and the target noises (noise) and their temporal characteristics on the perceived loudness of noise (PLN) and overall soundscape quality (OSQ) through a laboratory experiment. Two types of urban noise sources (hydraulic breaker and traffic noises) were set to A-weighted equivalent sound pressure levels (SPL) of 55, 65, and 75 dB and then augmented with two types of natural sounds (birdsong and stream), across a range of SNRs. Each acoustic stimulus was a combination of noise and natural sound at SNRs from -6 to 6 dB. Averaged across all cases, the subjective assessment of PLN showed that augmenting urban noise separately with the two natural sounds reduced the PLN by 17.9%, with no significant differences found between the birdsong and stream sounds. Adding natural sounds increased the OSQ by on average 18.3% across the cases, but their effects gradually decreased as the noise level increased. The OSQ of the birdsong and stream sounds were similar for traffic noise, whereas the stream sound was rated higher than the birdsong for the breaker noise. The results suggest that increasing the dissimilarity in temporal structure between the target noise and natural sounds could enhance the soundscape quality. Appropriate SNRs were explored considering both PLN and OSQ. The results showed that the SNR of -6 dB was desirable when the A-weighted SPL of the noise rose to 75 dB. Ministry of National Development (MND) National Research Foundation (NRF) This research is supported by the Singapore Ministry of National Development and the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office under the Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge (L2 NIC) Research Programme (L2 NIC Award No. L2NICCFP2-2015-5). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of the Singapore Ministry of National Development and National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore.” The first author is currently supported by the 2017 Lee Kuan Yew Postdoctoral Fellowship (Grant No.: 50025000).

Persea americana Mill, cv. Hass, also known as avocado, has been reported to possess hypolipidemic, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, cardioprotective, and photoprotective potencies. However, few studies have reported its anti-colitic effects. In this study, we investigated anti-colitic effects of ethanol extract of P. americana (EEP) in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitic mice and the involved molecular mechanisms. EEP effectively improved clinical signs and histological characteristics of DSS-induced colitis mice. In DSS-exposed colonic tissues, EEP reduced expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1&beta, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-&alpha, Moreover, EEP suppressed DSS-induced activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-&kappa, B) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). Consistent with in vivo results, EEP also suppressed protein and mRNA expression levels of iNOS, COX-2, and pro-inflammatory cytokines via NF-&kappa, B and STAT3 inactivation in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages. Taken together, our data indicate that ethanol extract of avocado may be used as a promising therapeutic against inflammatory bowel diseases by suppressing the NF-&kappa, B and STAT3 signaling pathway.

This study investigates the effect of vegetation for noise reduction and the changes in the soundscape of an access road to a religious space in Seoul. The noise propagation was investigated by performing field measurements before vegetation covered with soil, one month after, and four years after vegetation, and the overall soundscape perception was studied by conducting a social survey. The vegetation was added to the access road of the Myeong-dong Catholic Cathedral precinct, which is responsible for religious and social functions. As the vegetation became established, the sound pressure level tended to be reduced more, with particularly significant decreases in the 1 kHz and higher bands. Furthermore, before vegetation covered with soil and immediately after vegetation, the reverberation time varied between 1 and 2 s; however, as the planted trees grew and their leaf canopies became thicker, the reverberation time was reduced to 1.2 s or less. Consequently, the speech transmission index was improved four years after vegetation. The survey results showed that the participant perceptions of the overall quality and acoustic quality increased at statistically significant levels, but the increase in the perceived visual quality was not statistically significant. Accepted version

The aim of this study was to explore the relationships among the particle number concentration (PNC), noise, and traffic conditions. Field measurements were conducted to measure the temporal variabilities of the noise levels and PNC over 24 h in a location adjacent to three main traffic roads in Seoul, Korea. The PNC was measured in the range of 0.3 to 10 &micro, m. The noise data was measured by utilizing both the overall levels and spectral characteristics. Traffic data including volumes and speeds of vehicles on the roads were also collected. The results showed that the correlations among the three key parameters varied depending on changes in the noise frequency and particle size. The noise levels at 100&ndash, 200 Hz were positively correlated with traffic volume and submicron particles. In contrast, they exhibited inverse correlations with the traffic speed and the number of larger particles (&gt, 2.5 &micro, m). Compared to noise levels at 100&ndash, 200 Hz, noise levels at 1&ndash, 2 kHz exhibited reverse relationships between the traffic and PNC. Submicron particles (0.3&ndash, 1.0 &micro, m) tended to be more strongly associated with noise levels during the daytime, while those greater than 2.5 &micro, m maintained relatively stable correlations with the noise throughout the day. The findings address the importance of temporal and spectral-specific monitoring of air and noise pollutants for a better understanding of the exposure of the community to air and noise pollution.

Persea americana Mill, cv. Hass, also known as avocado, has been reported to possess hypolipidemic, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, cardioprotective, and photoprotective potencies. However, few studies have reported its anti-colitic effects. In this study, we investigated anti-colitic effects of ethanol extract of P. americana (EEP) in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitic mice and the involved molecular mechanisms. EEP effectively improved clinical signs and histological characteristics of DSS-induced colitis mice. In DSS-exposed colonic tissues, EEP reduced expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Moreover, EEP suppressed DSS-induced activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). Consistent with in vivo results, EEP also suppressed protein and mRNA expression levels of iNOS, COX-2, and pro-inflammatory cytokines via NF-κB and STAT3 inactivation in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages. Taken together, our data indicate that ethanol extract of avocado may be used as a promising therapeutic against inflammatory bowel diseases by suppressing the NF-κB and STAT3 signaling pathway.

Before introducing natural sounds to potentially improve the soundscape quality, it is important to understand how key contextual factors (i.e. expected activities and audio-visual congruency) affect the soundscape in a given location. In this study, the perception of eight natural sounds (i.e. 4 birdsongs, 4 water sounds) at five urban recreational areas under the constant influence of road traffic was explored subjectively under three laboratory settings: visual-only, audio-only, and audio-visual. Firstly, expected socio-recreational activities of each location were determined in the visual-only setting. Subsequently, participants assessed the pleasantness and appropriateness of the soundscape at each site, for each of the eight natural sounds augmented to the same road traffic noise, in both audio-only and audio-visual settings. Interestingly, it was found that the expected activities in each location did not significantly affect natural sound perception, whereas audio-visual congruency of the locations significantly affected the pleasantness and appropriateness of the natural sounds. Particularly, the pleasantness and appropriateness decreased for water sounds when water features were not visually present. In contrast, perception with birdsongs was unaffected by their visibility likely due to the presence of vegetation. Hence, audio-visual coherence is central to the perception of natural sounds in outdoor spaces. Ministry of National Development (MND) National Research Foundation (NRF) Accepted version This research is supported by the Singapore Ministry of National Development and the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office under the Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge (L2 NIC) Research Programme (L2 NIC Award No. L2NICCFP2-2015-5). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of the Singapore Ministry of National Development and National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore.” The first author was supported by the 2017 Lee Kuan Yew Postdoctoral Fellowship (Grant No.: 50025000).

This study focuses on how urban functions influence the soundscape in streets by exploring associations among human behaviors, soundscape, acoustic indicators. On-site soundscape assessments were conducted in eight urban streets located in Seoul employing a soundwalk method. The eight streets were classified into two place functions: central business district (CBD) and commercial areas. Through the soundwalks, acoustic recordings and perceptual responses to soundscapes in the streets were collected. As a human behavioral indicator, crowd density was calculated in the streets. The results showed that place function plays a critical role in soundscape evaluation in urban streets. Pleasantness decreased with increasing Eventfulness on streets in CBD. In contrast, Pleasantness had a positive correlation with Eventfulness on commercial streets. This difference in the correlation could be attributed to the difference in the compositions of sound sources between central business and commercial areas. Traffic noise was the most dominant sound source in CBD, which increased Eventfulness and decreased Pleasantness of the soundscape in the streets. Meanwhile, sounds from human activities contributed to an increase in both Pleasantness and Eventfulness in commercial streets. Predictive models of soundscape reflecting the contexts of CBD and commercial streets were developed using acoustic parameters and crowd density. In the context of CBD, acoustic parameters describing spectro-temporal characteristics of traffic noise were important indicators, whereas crowd density was found to be a critical indicator to predict soundscape in the commercial streets. These findings could help in better understanding the relationships between the soundscape and place functions in urban streets.

Classifications of heavy-weight floor impact sounds based on subjective responses were suggested by conducting two experiments. First, statements describing perceptual acoustic qualities related to floor impact sounds in residential buildings were collected and assessed with respect to the degree of annoyance levels. Equal-appearing interval scaling for indicating level of annoyance caused by floor impact sounds was then created using these statements. As a next step, heavy-weight floor impact sounds with different LA,Fmax and temporal decay rates (DRs) were evaluated in terms of annoyance using both the Likert scale and the equal-interval statement scale in laboratory conditions. Five categories for heavy-weight floor impact sounds were suggested based on the annoyance responses. The extent of acoustic comfort in each class was clearly captured by the statements related to the range of LA,Fmax for each class. Effects of DR and noise sensitivity on the classifications were significant. Differences between the class criteria for impact sounds with DR 60 dB/s and 30 dB/s were approximately 5 dBA. In addition, significant differences were found between the high and low noise sensitivity classification groups for impact sounds in the 50–60 dBA range.

It is necessary to consider not only annoyance of interior noises but also speech privacy to achieve acoustic comfort in a passenger car of a high-speed train because speech from other passengers can be annoying. This study aimed to explore an optimal acoustic environment to satisfy speech privacy and reduce annoyance in a passenger car. Two experiments were conducted using speech sources and compartment noise of a high speed train with varying speech-to-noise ratios (SNRA) and background noise levels (BNL). Speech intelligibility was tested in experiment I, and in experiment II, perceived speech privacy, annoyance, and acoustic comfort of combined sounds with speech and background noise were assessed. The results show that speech privacy and annoyance were significantly influenced by the SNRA. In particular, the acoustic comfort was evaluated as acceptable when the SNRA was less than -6 dB for both speech privacy and noise annoyance. In addition, annoyance increased significantly as the BNL exceeded 63 dBA, whereas the effect of the background-noise level on the speech privacy was not significant. These findings suggest that an optimal level of interior noise in a passenger car might exist between 59 and 63 dBA, taking normal speech levels into account.

A pharmacogenomics-based pathway represents a series of reactions that occur between drugs and genes in the human body after drug administration. PG-path is a pharmacogenomics-based pathway that standardizes and visualizes the components (nodes) and actions (edges) involved in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes. It provides an intuitive understanding of the drug response in the human body. A pharmacokinetic pathway visualizes the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) at the systemic level, and a pharmacodynamic pathway shows the action of the drug in the target cell at the cellular-molecular level. The genes in the pathway are displayed in locations similar to those inside the body. PG-path allows personalized pathways to be created by annotating each gene with the overall impact degree of deleterious variants in the gene. These personalized pathways play a role in assisting tailored individual prescriptions by predicting changes in the drug concentration in the plasma. PG-path also supports counseling for personalized drug therapy by providing visualization and documentation.

Many studies have investigated the effects of water sound on soundscape with an assumption that target noise coincides with the masker (co-location), while no attention has been paid to spatial separations between target noise and water sound sources. This study aims to explore the effects of spatial separations between target noise and water sound on perceived loudness of target noise (PLN) and overall soundscape quality (OSQ) through laboratory experiments. Traffic noise (target) and a water sound (masker) were recorded as acoustic stimuli and a spherical panoramic video recording of a water fountain was also used as visual stimuli. The audio-visual stimuli were reproduced through a virtual reality head-mounted display and a multichannel ambisonic loudspeaker setup. The traffic noise and water sound were played simultaneously at various azimuthal separations and were combined with a panoramic recording of a water fountain as visual stimulus. Participants assessed the audio-visual stimuli in terms of PLN and OSQ. The effect of the spatial separation between the traffic noise and water sound was significant in both PLN and OSQ. Specifically, the PLN increase at 135° separation was equivalent to an estimated target noise level increment of ~1–2 dB. Similarly, the OSQ decrease at 135° and 180° separation was equivalent to an estimated target noise level increase of ~2–5 dB. Since the typical field of view of users in space is less than 135°, the results suggest that placing water features within a user's field of view could achieve better soundscape.

Cancer still represents a major global health problem. All currently available anticancer agents have disadvantages like resistance or side effects. Therefore, introduction of novel anticancer agents is needed. Intrigued by the high success rate for natural products-based drug discovery, we designed and synthesized antiproliferative chemical entities as hybrids of two natural products; 3,5,4′-trimethoxystilbene and 5,6,7-trimethoxyflavone. To probe the spectrum of the synthesized compounds, in vitro evaluation was conducted against nine panels representing major cancer diseases. The results revealed the hybrid analogs 4f, 4h, 4k and 4q as promising broad-spectrum anticancer lead compounds eliciting high growth inhibition of several cell lines representing multiple cancers diseases. Evaluation of the promising lead compounds against normal human cell lines suggested a selective cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. Mechanistic investigation of the cytotoxic activity of compound 4f in human cervical cancer HeLa cells showed that it triggers cell death through induction of apoptosis. As a whole, this study presents the natural products hybrid analogs 4f, 4h, 4k and 4q as potential lead compounds for further development of novel anticancer therapeutics.

This study aims at examining the effect of socio-cultural context, including language, on soundscape assessments in urban parks. In total, 95 persons took part in three laboratory experiments, conducted in France (30 participants), Korea (30 participants) and Sweden (35 participants). Twenty-eight audio-visual excerpts from recordings conducted in five urban parks were used as stimuli. The participants evaluated soundscape quality using attribute scales provided in their own native languages. Principal Components Analysis produced two principal components of perceived affective quality, Pleasantness and Eventfulness. There were high levels of similarity in attributes associated with the Pleasantness among the three countries, whereas some differences were observed in the attributes related to Eventfulness. Two hierarchical cluster analyses were conducted based on perceived dominance of sound sources, and component scores of perceived affective quality. There were no significant differences in clustering results based on perceived dominance of sound sources among the different nationalities. In contrast, discrepancies were found in the clustering results based on perceived affective quality. In particular, perceptual responses to human sounds, birdsong, and water sounds, which are closely related to Eventfulness, were significantly different across the three cultural backgrounds. These findings provide empirical evidence of socio-cultural differences in soundscape assessment. Accepted version

Soundscape refers to the acoustic environment perceived by humans within a given context. This chapter introduces the assessment of urban soundscapes based on recent research conducted in Seoul, South Korea. This chapter begins by describing soundscape data collection and analysis. A participatory soundwalk approach concentrating on the experiences and impressions of each participant is discussed. The conceptual models for soundscapes that are developed from social surveys are also examined. These approaches are used to collect and analyze the soundscape components of an environment. The chapter then discusses soundscape design with natural sounds under laboratory conditions. Various natural sounds such as water sounds are introduced in order to enhance soundscapes and to clarify their acoustical characteristics. This discussion is followed by an examination of the interrelationship between audio-visual components, specifically highlighting the soundscape design of urban streets. Finally, this chapter considers soundscape maps as well as the spatial relationship among soundscape variables.

Bisphosphonates are well-known drugs as inhibitors of bone resorption acting on inducing programmed cell death of osteoclasts. However, many in vitro studies report that optimal concentration of the bisphosphonate affects not only osteoclasts but also osteoblasts, that is, it induces the anabolic effects of osteoblasts. Recently reported 15-deoxy-Δ

Because the acoustic environments of construction sites include multiple noise sources from various construction machines, it is necessary to consider the influence of combined noise on annoyance. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of the acoustic characteristics of combined construction noise on annoyance. Six construction machines, including machines for foundation work (pile drivers, earth augers, and payloaders) and demolition work (breakers, bulldozers, and excavators) were selected as noise sources in construction sites, and auditory experiments were designed to quantify the annoyance caused by the machines' individual and combined noise. The results show that both individual and combined noise correlate well with the equivalent sound level (LAeq), but that the annoyance caused by combined noise is significantly higher than the annoyance caused by individual noise when LAeq increases over 65 dBA. Among the psychoacoustic measures, loudness is the most important in determining the annoyance caused by individual noise, whereas both loudness and roughness significantly impact the annoyance caused by combined construction noise. Ranges of an optimum stationary-to-mobile machine noise ratio between two construction machine noises are suggested to minimize the annoyance caused by combined noise. Optimum stationary-to-mobile machine noise ratio ranges usually include 0 dBA when reference construction noise levels (e.g., pile driver or breaker) are lower than 60 dBA, whereas the stationary-to-mobile machine noise ratio should be greater than 5 dBA as construction noise levels exceed 65 dBA. These findings provide useful information to establish effective noise management plans for combined noise sources in construction sites.

This study aims to investigate relationships between soundscapes and landscapes within various functions of space, and to examine the influence of functional aspects of places on soundscape perceptions in urban environments. Surveys were conducted to assess soundscape and landscape perceptions in 25 locations in Seoul. Urban contexts were classified into four categories based on main functions, activities, and visual properties of the spaces: commercial, residential, business and recreational. A structural equation model of urban soundscape was constructed using seven factors, namely sound sources (traffic, human, and natural), pleasantness and eventfulness, visual quality, and the harmony of the environment. The model appropriately fit the data measured in the survey. The results showed that dominant factors affecting soundscapes differed in accordance with the main functions of the place. In commercial areas, sounds from human activities played a significant role in evaluating soundscapes. For residential and business functional areas, traffic noise was a dominant sound source influencing the soundscape quality. In addition, human sounds from leisure activities played an important role in constructing a relevant soundscape in urban recreational areas. The findings of this study provide an empirical evidence for understanding the holistic relationships among soundscape factors in urban contexts and demonstrate that functions of place should be taken into consideration as an important context for soundscape design.

The aim of this study is to classify the soundscape characteristics in urban parks based on perceptions of acoustic environments and to examine useful acoustic indicators to identify soundscape classifications. Both acoustic measurements and subjective evaluations of the soundscape were conducted at various locations in three urban parks. Using hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), the soundscape perceptions in urban parks were classified into three clusters characterized by the dominance of sound sources, such as traffic noise, natural and human-made sounds. Both discriminant function analysis (DFA) and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis were performed using various acoustic parameters to discern which of them best differentiate the soundscape classifications in urban parks. It was found that the indicators representing sound strength (LAeq), perceived pitch sensation (τ1) and strength of the pitch components (Φ1) of sound scenes could effectively identify the clusters. In particular, autocorrelation function (ACF) parameters τ1 and Φ1 were significantly correlated with identification of traffic noise and human sounds. It was revealed that sounds caused by various human activities in parks play an important role to influence eventfulness of soundscape perception. Soundscape perceptions were also closely correlated with esthetic quality, simplicity and sense of enclosure of landscape. Despite the fact that the results might be limited to the local conditions in Seoul, the findings could provide useful information for designing appropriate soundscapes in urban parks.