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People spend more than 90% of their time indoors, and, as such, improving indoor lighting quality can enhance their quality of life by positively influencing both physiological and psychological aspects. Numerous studies suggest that perceptions of a space vary depending on a number of lighting attributes present. Significant effort has been made across various fields to identify the spatial lighting conditions and attributes that impact human perception, although we lack studies that explore the impact of these conditions in tandem. This paper investigates how interior lighting conditions influence human impressions of room ambiance. The study examines 16 different interior scenes, considering factors such as sky condition (sunny vs. overcast), shading blinds position (open vs. closed), presence or absence of electric light (on vs. off), and Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) (2700 K, 4000 K, and 6500 K). The evaluation is conducted within an office environment at Carnegie Mellon University, using a combination of objective lighting metrics and subjective assessments. In total, 26 participants, consisting of 11 females, 14 males, and one undisclosed, aged between 18 and 50, evaluated the office ambiance under various lighting conditions using semantic differential scales. The analysis showed that the variation of blinds and CCT levels significantly influenced the participants' impression of light. The study also identified statistically significant interactions between "blinds and CCT" and "blinds and sky" conditions, highlighting the combined influence of these variables on shaping indoor light impressions. This research offers valuable insights into the complex interplay of different lighting factors in shaping human perceptions, and underscores the importance of optimizing indoor lighting conditions for creating healthy and sustainable indoor environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic shading devices are widely employed in office buildings to enhance daylight comfort and reduce electricity consumption. However, conventional blinds control methods rely heavily on numerous sensors to monitor indoor daylight conditions, posing challenges in implementing automated control systems. A novel blinds control approach based on dynamic radiance and solar radiation energy prediction is proposed to address this issue. Instead of relying on illumination sensors, the method utilizes the Bidirectional Scattering Distribution Function (BSDF) and a sky model-based three-phase approach to calculate indoor illumination. Artificial neural networks are employed to predict transmitted solar radiation energy, thereby minimizing energy consumption. Furthermore, the multiple criteria decision-making model is applied to determine the optimal angle for the blinds. Simulation experiments demonstrated that this approach achieved a significant reduction of approximately 17% in energy consumption compared to a fixed angle of 90° in the cooling season. And the average illumination of the indoor work plane can be effectively maintained at the recommended level, as ensures improving occupants' comfort. Practical Application: The proposed blinds control approach has practical applications in building automation control systems. By effectively reducing building energy consumption, it offers an efficient alternative to traditional control methods. Notably, this approach minimizes reliance on sensors, making it a cost-effective and sustainable solution for optimizing building energy usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aim to explore the mutual correlations between mindfulness, and Academic Engagement among blinds and normal university students. Addition the difference blinds and normal university students in mindfulness, and Academic Engagement. The descriptive comparative correlative method is used to answer for the research questions. The sample consisted of 83 (28 males and 55 females) undergraduate teenagers. Addition 70 of blind students divide to (23 males and 47 females) undergraduate teenagers. Their age ranged between 18 and 21 years old. To collect data, mindfulness scale (Ahmed Mohamed saleh,2018), academic Engagement scale (marwa Bogdadi,2020). The procedures of the study took one month from 27/5/2021 to 1/7/2021. Data were analyzed through SPSS and used many statistical ways as means, standard deviations, correlation Pearson, T-test,multiregression analysis. The quantitative analysis of data revealed statistically significant differences for normal students compare to blind students in mindfulness, and academic engagement. Also there are relationship between mindfulness and academic engagement among blinds and normal university students. The results showed that mindfulness was effective in predicting high academic engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aim to explore the mutual correlations between emotional regulation and Academic Engagement among blinds and normal university students. Addition the difference blinds and normal university students in emotional regulation. The descriptive comparative correlative method is used to answer for the research questions. The sample consisted of 83 (28 males and 55 females) undergraduate teenagers . Addition 70 of blind students divide to (23 males and 47 females) undergraduate teenagers. Their age ranged between 18 and 21 years old . To collect data, academic Engagement scale (marwa Bogdadi,2020) and emotional regulation scale (preparation by the researcher) were used to measure the variables in this study. The procedures of the study took one month from 27/5/2021 to 1/7/2021. Data were analyzed through SPSS and used many statistical ways as means, standard deviations, correlation Pearson, T-test,multi- regression analysis. The quantitative analysis of data revealed statistically significant differences for normal students compare to blind students in emotional regulation. The results revealed that significant correlations between emotional regulation and academic engagement among blinds and normal university students. The results showed that emotional regulation was effective in predicting high academic engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Trombe wall with thermal catalytic blinds (TC-Blind/TW) for indoor heating/cooling, air purification and shading was proposed. In this paper, we has fully explored the advancement and feasibility of the system from thermal catalytic material preparation and performance testing, system construction and system steady state experiment testing, system heat-mass transfer model establishment and verification, and finally to the analysis of system operation strategy. The main conclusions are as follows: Firstly, thermal catalytic material MnO x -CeO 2 behaved excellent heating and purification performance, the formaldehyde degradation followed L-H model. Secondly, the thermal efficiency and formaldehyde single-through conversion of system during the daytime were between 35%-55% and 32%–42%, respectively. Thirdly, the established heat-mass transfer model had the high accuracy, with the maximum RSMD of 0.8%. Finally, the blinds turning angle has a great influence on the system performance, then the optimal annual operation angles in four cities were suggested. Take Beijing as an example, the annual generated clean air was 11355.6 m3/m2, the reduced heating and cooling loads were 341.2 and 318.3 MJ/m2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background of the study: Information experience is a complex and multidimensional perpspective that sees the relationship between human and information. Purpose: The aim of the research is to understand the experience of person with visual impairment of Braille’iant Indonesia community when they use audiobook as information sources. Method: The research methods used was qualitative method, data collected using interview and informant were recruited through purposive sampling. Findings: Four themes emerged related to the information experience of people with visual impairment when using audiobook. The first theme is motivation which ilustrate the motivation to use audiobook, the second themes is awareness of people with visual impairment to choose information sources. The third one is access contraints that describe how they find obstacle to find the right information sources, the last theme is determining actions of participants to take actions after obtaining information from audiobook. Conclusion: The fourth theme shows information experience influenced by various factors and by the experience audiobook are not the main information sources used by participants.

This research is entitled Student Management for Children with Special Needs: Case Study of Blind Students at SLB-A PRPCN Palembang. This research aims to understand the management of students with special needs who are blind in depth and discover strategic factors and problems. This research is a Collective Case Study which breaks down several scopes and finds strategic factors for student management. Data collection methods are interviews, observation and documentation, while data analysis techniques are carried out by data collection, data reduction, data presentation and data verification. Data validity techniques use source triangulation and technical triangulation. Based on the research results, 12 important factors were found in student management at SLB-A PRPCN Palembang, 3 of which were strategic factors, namely student acceptance, training and self-development and alumni tracking. First, student acceptance is carried out openly. The school prepares for the meeting, new students fill out forms and complete the requirements and take a self-assessment. Early assessment aims to obtain clear information regarding prospective students, both physical and mental readiness. Second, training and personal development are carried out effectively. The school carries out religious training such as recitations and tahfidz of the Koran as well as training in music, computers, massage and scouting. Third, the school implements the alumni tracer program well. A group of alumni who have established alumni ties. These three things are strategic factors in student management for children with special needs who are blind.

Many high-rise office buildings in the tropics have a full-glazed façade and a deep open-plan space. Without any external shading, the office space has a non-uniform daylight distribution and glare problem. A deep open-plan space design also causes insufficient daylight levels in the area distant from the building perimeter. Previous studies about Horizontal Light Pipe (HLP) mainly focused on system improvement in capturing, transporting, and distributing daylight into deep space. Integration of HLP as a light transport system that can deliver daylight deeper into building interiors and shading systems consist of Light Shelf (LS), blinds that can redirect and reduce the excessive daylight level near the side window are proposed and studied. The research objective is to explain the daylight performance of the integration of HLP and shading systems. The research method is experimental with Radiance-based simulation as a tool. Surabaya (latitude 7.38° S and longitude 112.79° E), a typical city in the Tropics, was chosen for the simulation. Daylight level, daylight distribution, and Daylight Glare Probability (DGP) of office room with East-facing window are compared with office room with HLP and shading systems. The results showed that the integration of HLP and shading systems increased the average illuminance level in the deep area to reach 135 % and reduced the average illuminance level in the area near the side window reached 55 %. HLP and shading systems also increase the daylight distribution inside space and slightly improve the DGP but still in the range of imperceptible for building users.

The Blind are a group of people who have lost their sense of sight. Their moments with tenderness. Whereas the art of Notan has been an integral part of Japanese art,, as it is based on the idea that the elements of darkness and light are equally important and need each other to exist where you cannot have negative space without positive space, vice versa.The research was conducted with the aim of presenting innovative design proposals for the art of Note and applying it to Islamic motifs while presenting it with modern artistic visions to improve the artistic sense of the blind, by training the blind blind category on clothing designs for the art of the notes with different materials and techniques in thickness and texture that were specially created for them, using rough touches To express darkness and dark color, and soft touches to express light and light colors, with a variety of colors that are suitable for non-blind people as well, by applying them to innovative clothing designs to improve their artistic sense by training them to recognize the touches of materials and technologies and know their names and also recognize the art of the notes and touches and their meaning In terms of shade and light, and identifying the opinions of specialists in the proposed research designs, and also identifying the degree to which the target group of blind women accepts the research designs carried out.

Researches of the possibilities of creating a lunar navigation and communication system have revealed features of the sun's illumination of near-lunar orbits: the annual passage of orbits through a long cycle of about 55 days, containing shadow sections of the orbit from the Moon and a pause of up to 185 days with possible overlays of penumbra and shadow sections of the orbit from the Earth. At the same time, the penumbra and shadow zones from the Earth near the Moon have significant differences in size and can cover the entire orbital grouping of the lunar navigation and communication system. As a result, the problem arises of calculating the energy resources of a circumlunar satellite for passing long-duration shadow zones and maintaining the spacecraft's thermal regime for the period of passing the shadow section of the orbit from the Earth. The energy balance of the spacecraft is modeled for various modes of its operation during the passage of long-duration shadow zones: regular, duty, storage. It is proposed to use blinds to regulate the heat radiation from the spacecraft radiators when passing the shadow sections of the orbit in the considered modes. To reduce the cost of spacecraft mass it is recommended to switch the spacecraft to storage mode, which reduces power consumption in comparison with standby mode. The efficiency of the proposed scheme for passing the shadow zones of the lunar navigation and communication system spacecraft was evaluated for three spacecraft sizes according to the criterion – the minimum amount of mass spent on increasing the energy intensity of the battery and installing blinds.

As the conceptual system of the human mind, based on which human thought and action is formed, is metaphorical in its essence and rooted in the conceptual system of language, metaphor is considered as a salient category in linguistic studies. The present study investigates the embodiment pattern of conceptual metaphors in the congenital blind in comparison with their vision counterparts from cognitive semantics perspective based on Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) conceptual metaphors. The present quantitative-qualitative study was comparatively done between two groups of blind people and their counterparts. A total of 48 male and female blind men and women with graduate and postgraduate education aged 18- 28 years were evaluated. The participants were asked to describe the 30 selected words based on Bitley and Peggy’s (1991) procedures. In so doing, the study initially investigated image schemas as the source domain in metaphorical mappings and then conceptual metaphors used by the participants. Results show that the blinds, due to lack of vision, use more lexical descriptions and far more image schemas than their counterparts. Moreover, postgraduate female blinds were reported as the most users of image schemas.

The study aimed at identifying the personal characteristics which distinguish people of hearing disability at Um Khalthoom Institution for Teaching the Deafs and people of visual disability at Gezira Institute for teaching the blinds in relation to certain variables (gender, age, birthday order), besides knowing the differences in personal characteristics between the hearing disabled people and the visually disabled ones. The study adopted the descriptive analytical method. Primary data form and Ezenk character measure scale, which was adjusted to the Sudanese environment, were used for data collection. The sample, which was (40%) of the study population, was chosen randomly and consisted of (60) disabled people, (30) of them were of hearing disability from (Um Khalthoom Institution for Teaching the Deafs). The statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. The study has reached a number of findings; the most prominent are the personal characteristics for people of hearing disability and people of visual disability are characterized by positivity. There are significant statistical differences concerning extrovert characteristic between people of hearing disability and people of visual disability in favour of people of visual disability The study recommends the necessity of cooperation and coordination between the authorities in concern in order to provide integral care to people of hearing disability and people of visual disability, besides focusing on strengthening the personal characteristics of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blind and visually impaired (BVI) users often have interface accessibility problems while using mobile applications. This study was conducted to reduce the cognitive effort required for interface navigation by identifying the accessibility issues according to the user's mental model. The study evaluated the accessibility of smartphone screens to solve organizational, presentation, and behavioral (OPB) problems of using mobile applications. Usability evaluation of an application was conducted and validated with a specific focus on BVI user experience. A total of 56 BVI participants were included in the evaluation. Overall, four tasks to assess organization, avoidance of redundant information, serialization of content, and style and text presentation were assigned to the selected participants for a newly developed smartphone application. Ethnography, task completion within a specific time, and system usability scale (SUS) techniques were used for analysis and post-task evaluation. The results showed that the organization of the application was 100% effective for both blind and visually impaired participants. The efficiency of visually impaired participants was better than blind participants. The highest level of satisfaction among the blind participants was with the presentation (with a score of 87.62), and the highest level of satisfaction among the visually impaired participants was with the organization and presentation (with a score of 89.21 in each category). Overall, this study indicated the application reduced the severity of OPB problems, offering higher usability with increased satisfaction level and enhanced effectiveness and efficiency for BVI users. Furthermore, the calculated results were provided a significant solution of OPB for BVI users. Hence, this study provides design and development guidelines based on a practical evaluation to overcome the smartphone application accessibility problems of BVI users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While buildings are designed with expansive windows to allow for abundant daylight and views, in practice, they are frequently occluded to control for heat and glare. Electrochromic glass windows are a solution designed to maximize occupant access to daylight and views throughout the day, and previous research has demonstrated the benefits they can impart on sleep and cognition. We extend this research to quantify its impacts on the perceived physical and emotional wellbeing of occupants in an office environment. 30 office workers spent 5 days working in each of two West-facing offices that were identical with the exception of the window treatment: one with dynamic electrochromic windows and the other with functionally standard windows partially occluded by a fixed roller shade. When working in the office with electrochromic glass, participants were 8-fold more likely of report satisfaction with daylight conditions and 6.5-fold more likely to report satisfaction with views of the outside, were 48% less likely to report eyestrain, perceived a significant benefit to positive affect and were 77% less likely to report feeling depressed. This study adds to the growing body of research demonstrating the importance of daylighting strategies in designing spaces that support the physical and mental health of occupants.

Purpose: Visual impairment affects all movement aspects of children. Furthermore, moving, as the primary means of physical education, is essential for promoting health in disabled children. Therefore, the present study determined the effect of core stability exercises on the risk of falling and the quality of life in blind individuals. Methods: In this quasi-experimental research, 30 blind male and female students were purposively selected and randomly divided into the experimental and control groups. After selecting the students and obtaining their consent to participate in the training program, Functional Reach Test (FRT) and 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36) were conducted before and after the intervention. The experimental group participated in a 6-week training program for three weekly 45-minute sessions. The obtained data were analyzed by univariate analysis to determine intergroup differences. Moreover, the Paired Samples t-test was applied to determine within-group differences at a significant level (α=0.05). Results: The achieved results suggested that after 6 weeks of training, there was a significant improvement in the risk of falling and the quality of life of the experimental group, compared to the pre-training scores of the core stability (P˂0.05); however, there was no significant change in the control group. The Independent Samples t-test revealed a significant difference between the control and experimental groups. Conclusion: The core stability exercises affected the risk of falling as well as the quality of life in the studied blind individuals. Considering the importance of mobility, especially in children with visual impairments, it is recommended that core stability exercises be used as an effective method to maximize physical mobility in this group.

Introduction: In cognitive linguistics, the study of linguistic meaning is not the aim by itself. Instead in this field of linguistics, the focus is on understanding the nature of conceptual system of human's mind. Noting that image schema due to its importance in understanding of abstract concepts are an important category in linguistic studies. This paper studies the embodied patterns of image schemas in the absolute congenital blind compared with their counterparts based on Johnson's embodied cognition theory (1987) in cognitive semantics. Method: The methodology of this quantitative research is comparative between two groups of blind and non-blinds. Thus, 48 male and female blinds and non-blinds with diploma and graduate education aged 18- 28 years, due to the study of such variables as gender, education and age, were evaluated, and they were asked to describe 30 selected words based on Ricci Bitty and Poggi's procedures (1991), then their image schemas were investigated. Results and Findings: The results showed that the blinds, due to lack of vision, use more lexical descriptions and more image schema than their counterparts, in a way, graduate female blinds were reported as the most frequent users of image schema. The statistics also prove that the path and cycle schema, among different types of schema proposed by Johnson (1987), have the most and the least amount of usage in both groups respectively. Also, the study showed that age, gender, education variables as influential factors had no effect on understanding blind people and their counterparts from the image schema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A visually impaired person typically faces countless challenges throughout their daily activities. These challenges can include medication safety and efficacy. Few studies have addressed the issues of safety and pattern of medication usage in visually impaired patients, or the need to apply Braille labeling to medications dispensed to these patients. To explore the medication use pattern in severely visually impaired and blind patients living in Saudi Arabia, and to evaluate the need for Braille labeling on medication dispensed to these patients. The merits of the proposal and its alignment with national regulations were evaluated and the study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). This cross-sectional study was conducted through open- and closed-ended questionnaires that were distributed to 215 visually impaired people, aged 18 years and above, dispersed throughout different cities within the kingdom. The sample population was equally distributed in terms of sex. The majority of the participants were young with a college degree. More than half of the participants were unable to identify the name, dose, expiry date, instructions and interactions of their medication, and the respondents usually relied on their caregivers. 91% of the respondents agreed that application of Braille labeling on their medications would improve the quality of their therapy and help them overcome some of their difficulties. This study investigated medication usage patterns in the visually impaired in Saudi Arabia. These patients face considerable challenges to any efforts to self-administer their own medication and are heavily reliant on caregivers. The current methods for dispensing medications to this population, (and current regulations) do not sufficiently meet their health information needs. The study highlighted the necessity of applying Braille labeling to medicines prescribed to the visually impaired. A reconsideration of the current regulations regarding the application of Braille labeling to medications is warranted. The use of Braille labeling on medications may improve drug treatment regimes, minimize medications errors, and promote independence in these individuals (through self-administration of medications). The addition of technology to the printed Braille labeling can advance the pharmaceutical care services provided and improve the life quality of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims: Identification of the muscular abilities of the arms (characteristic strength of speed, carrying force, explosive power of the arms), which affect the accuracy of the performance of skill in foil. Identify the percentage of the contribution of muscular abilities to the arms that affect the accuracy of the performance of the skill With a gun. The researcher used the descriptive method in the method of correlative relations to his suitability to the nature of the problem. The sample of the research was selected from the community of origin, represented by the dueling team of the students of the College of Physical Education and Sports Science for Girls/University of Baghdad. The number of (20) And the number of (4) students became the sample research (16) from the original community. Appliedtestswereconductedfor the capabilities of muscle and Performance evaluation skills in foilon Wednesday in the Fencing Hall Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Sciences. Through the statistical treatments and the results obtained by the researcher, the following conclusions were reached: The existenceof a significantcorrelationrelationship with muscularcapacity performance skills in foil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overheating in the indoor environment, specifically in domestic homes, schools and healthcare settings has become of great concern to us in the UK. This is due to frequent hot weather events as a result of the continually rising global average temperatures. Overheating is a result of the heat gains associated with occupancy and solar heat gains trapped in the internal environment. The continuing rise in global average temperatures and improved insulation standards necessary to mitigate heat losses during the winter, in conjunction with poorly planned ventilation strategies, are exacerbating overheating during warmer weather conditions. In the last decade, there has been a considerable improvement in reducing heat gains associated with occupancy (from lighting and equipment), thus making solar heat gains more prominent in contributing to overheating. With the rise in the number of buildings that overheat and the rise in the number of associated deaths these contribute to, it is now crucial that passive measures are utilised appropriately, and for building occupants to be educated in how to safeguard their homes against overheating. This research is centred around a real-world monitoring case study and investigates how the proposed passive measures can mitigate overheating risk. These measures include the use of different internal and external solar shading devices combined with a night-time natural ventilation strategy. This study was conducted in a south-west facing, single aspect retrofit apartment building in London between August and October 2016 and 10-min interval data were collected during the daytime over 20 days. Throughout the monitoring period, a controlled window opening strategy was applied in rooms where differing shading strategies were implemented. In the absence of night-time measurements, the rooms were evaluated according to CIBSE TM52 Overheating Criteria to assess the frequency and the severity of overheating and mitigation methods were statistically compared to analyse the difference in internal operative temperature increase according to the type of passive mitigation scenario implemented. The combination of opening windows at night and the closure of shading devices during the day can provide a significant thermal benefit to occupants. The inter-relationship between glazing, shading, ventilation amongst other variables needs to be collectively evaluated at the building design stage to ensure the appropriate design of an effective façade management strategy. Practical application : This study aims to add to the body of knowledge surrounding overheating by investigating the impact that the combination of shading and night-time ventilation strategies can have on a newly refitted, urban apartment. It demonstrates how the frequency, severity and the absolute maximum temperature can be identified using existing industry criteria and then uses this methodology alongside inferential statistics to compare the effectiveness of differing shading strategies when combined with night purge ventilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this work is to improve the understanding of the role of venetian blinds as a part of a building energy system. This is valuable for both designing automatic control of blinds and advising occupants towards energy-efficient use of manual blinds. A new strategy to control venetian blinds developed in the work aims at minimizing energy consumption by controlling blinds in a way that takes into account not only the effect of blinds on both solar transmission but also the effect on heat loss through windows. Annual computer simulations were performed to calculate the effect of blind use patterns on heating, cooling and lighting demand in four European climates in three single-family houses. The results show that the use patterns of blinds have a significant effect on energy consumption and that the new control strategy leads to lowest total energy consumption in all of the simulated buildings in all four climates. In contrast, a completely passive strategy—although very common in reality—consumes the most; depending on the climate and window size, total consumption is highest either when the blinds remain continually lowered and closed or continually raised. Occupants should be advised about the potential to save energy by changing blind use behaviours, also in the heating season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of olfaction, audition and tactile senses in mobility and orientation of blinds. Methods: The statistical sample of this research included 100 blind persons aged between 16 and 75 years (61 males and 39 females) with different level of education (16 persons lower than the diploma, 26 persons diploma, 46 persons bachelor, 12 person MA), were randomly selected from most regions of the country. Analysis of obtained data were done by Friedman statistical method and using the SPSS software. Results: It shows the close relationship between the senses, and according to the null hypothesis, based on senses role from the blind's opinion, audition sense has a highest rating and tactile sense has a lowest rating in mobility and orientation of blinds. Discussion: Telemetry senses, especially audition, are more important in mobility and orientation of blinds. Thus, with proper training of blinds to use their existing capabilities and also with organizing the environments around in a way to increase their ability, they can have mobility and activity in environment easily

The residential sector is responsible for 29% of the total energy consumption of the UK, with 62% of this energy being used for space heating. Heat loss through the fabric of building elements is a crucial factor in the energy efficiency of homes, and a wide number of studies have looked at physical interventions to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings, commonly called retrofit. This research considers the impact of window coverings on reducing heat loss from homes, a measure that is not commonly considered an energy efficiency intervention. Although the amount of glazing varies widely between homes, all windows are a significant factor contributing to heat loss. While physical changes such as double and triple glazing can improve the energy performance of buildings, the impact of curtains and blinds is not well characterised. Previous research into window coverings has been undertaken using laboratory tests, such as hotbox and small climatic chamber environments. This study presents the impact of window coverings on heat loss within a unique whole house test facility. This allows for a better replication of a real heating system and the effects that it has on localised heat transfer. This gives a more detailed picture of in situ performance, similar to that which may be found in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shading devices installed on windows are designed to reduce solar radiation transmission into the space by absorbing and reflecting radiation rays. This study investigates the effect of shading and day-lighting controls when applied on fully-glazed facades on the annual energy savings in hot climates. For this reason, a dynamic simulation model of a space containing brise soleil and venetian blinds added to the façade exterior surface was developed on EnergyPlus and validated experimentally for office spaces located in Doha, Qatar. Comparison between the experimental and simulation models showed maximum discrepancies of 11.8% and 13.5% in surface temperature and peak space thermal load, respectively. Upon validation, the simulation model was used to evaluate the annual energy savings associated with the use of shading devices on both south and north-oriented façades in Qatar. For the south-oriented façade, brise soleil and fixed blinds with 90° with the vertical were found to save 18.6% and 20.6% of the space energy demands respectively, while mitigating glare risks. As for the north façade, the addition of brise soleil and blinds saves 7.7% and 9.1% of the space total energy demands respectively and removes all risks associated with glare. The adoption of a shading control for the blind angle and day-lighting control for the electric lights was found to save 26.1% of the space total energy without compromising the comfortable glare limit. This control strategy allows the occupants to benefit from the fully-glazed façade while still upholding the indoor space requirements in terms of outdoor visual comfort and day-lighting entrance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the CommONEnergy project the interoperation and optimization of active systems in shopping malls is performed by using an intelligent Building Energy Management System (iBEMS) which integrates open communication protocols for speaking with several industrial systems. The iBEMS assures the communication of several systems using open communication protocols in order to transfer the required information while on the same time provides a Human to Machine Interface (HMI) for the control and monitoring of the connected systems. In parallel the iBEMS stores historical values for future comparison of the performance. With the operation of the iBEMS the energy manager of a building can overview in real time the operation of all the systems’ components and take decisions which can assist with the proper operation. In parallel the programming routines of the iBEMS adjust automatically the operation of the systems using inputs from the installed sensors and from external data (e.g. weather forecast). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the light-switch and blinds use behaviours in ten private offices were analyzed with concurrent solar irradiance, ceiling illuminance, and occupancy data. Upon this analysis, an adaptive lighting and blinds control algorithm was formulated. The algorithm learns occupants' illuminance preferences from their light switch-on and blinds closing behaviours, and employs this information to determine the photosensor setpoints to switch off lighting and to open blinds. The algorithm was implemented inside controllers serving five private offices and a controls laboratory – a shared office space with a standalone controls network. Alternative control scenarios were analyzed through integrated daylighting and occupant behaviour simulations. The results indicate that the use of an adaptive lighting and blinds control algorithm developed in this paper can substantially reduce the lighting loads in office buildings – without adversely affecting the occupant comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In this research a new design of shoes was proposed to help blind people recognize the obstacles while walking. This can be a proper replacement for white cane. Furthermore, white cane has some deficits and we tried to remove them while designing this shoe, such as problem in recognizing depth and height. Materials and Methods: The mechanism informs while the person about the obstacle in the way through vibration on the personchr('39')s ankle. In the new structure the area around persons will be scanned (3D), and constantly, there are some information about the area. And if the person reaches to an obstacle, a decrease in height, or an obstacle on the way of his body or his head, there will be warning via some vibrator motors. The main idea of producing such a device was from the mechanisms that use ultrasound waves to measure the distance, and they are widely used in radars and such devices. Results: Making and using such waves are not harmful for health at all, I addition this shoe can make the electricity which needs with a small power generator so it does not need any external battery charge.