Topological networks lie at the heart of our cities and social milieu. However, it remains unclear how and when the brain processes topological structures to guide future behaviour during everyday life. Using fMRI in humans and a simulation of London (UK), here we show that, specifically when new streets are entered during navigation of the city, right posterior hippocampal activity indexes the change in the number of local topological connections available for future travel and right anterior hippocampal activity reflects global properties of the street entered. When forced detours require re-planning of the route to the goal, bilateral inferior lateral prefrontal activity scales with the planning demands of a breadth-first search of future paths. These results help shape models of how hippocampal and prefrontal regions support navigation, planning and future simulation.

In maritime settings, effective communication between vessels and land infrastructure is crucial, but existing technologies often prove impractical for energy-sensitive IoT applications, like deploying sensors at sea. In this study, we explore the viability of a low-power, cost-effective wireless communication solution for maritime sensing data. Specifically, we conduct an experimental assessment of the Azorean Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) coverage. Our tests involve positioning the gateway at the island’s highest point and installing end nodes on medium-sized fishing vessels. Through measurements of received signal strength indicator (RSSI), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and lines of sight (LOS), we showcase the potential of LoRaWAN transmissions to achieve communication distances exceeding 130 km in a LOS-free scenario over the ocean. These findings highlight the promising capabilities of LoRaWAN for reliable and long-range maritime communication of sensing data.

Built environments have a profound effect on public health as they provide the background on which individuals make decisions to address their mobility, resulting in the adoption of varying degrees of physical activity. This is a logical adjunct to the natural environment that may or may not be conducive to physical activity (PA). Because microclimates influence the use of outdoor space, the built environment is crucial in creating conditions that are amenable for PA. A sample of 1359 participants declared activity levels during summer and winter over two years, via the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. The results, presented in this paper: a) estimate that 39% of all physical activity takes place outdoors, denoting dependence on indoor environments; b) test the measurement of PA in a standard, expedited way, allowing for seasonal monitoring; c) measure the seasonal difference between outdoor walking, thus quantifying the role of the weather. The study is the first on the topic in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It creates awareness for the relationship between built environment and public health, establishes directions and a foundation for future research, and baselines that may influence policymaking.

Some parks suffer from overuse, which raises safety issues. Municipalities introduced access-control policies such as entrance fees and women-only days. We studied the impact of these policies on the volume of visitors in one park and the consequent reduction of physical activity. A year-long timestamped categorized visitor log allowed for before/after comparisons tested for statistical significance at a 99% confidence level. We used the International Physical Activity Questionnaire to quantify physical activity at the park and estimated the amount lost due to the new admittance policies. The number of park visitors declined 86% after the introduction of entrance fees, with a consequent loss of 24% of an individual’s weekly physical activity, reducing the efficiency of the park. Unexpectedly, women-only days are associated with an increase in the ratio of children per woman from 1.4 to 2.33, reflecting a change in parental behavior, which suggests an increased sense of security.

New building materials and design technologies such as design parameterisation allow for the creation of unusual architectural elements composed of spatially repetitive patterns. Images with specific spatial properties, as from repetitive patterns, may cause psychological and physiological reactions, in some cases leading to severe discomfort, headaches or seizures. Clusters of roughly circular shapes, often hollow, are also known to create reactions such as sickness and vomiting in certain individuals. The phenomenon is known as trypophobia. Because trypophobia has only recently been described and is not widely recognised, we undertook a survey of the public reaction to trypophobic images, as well as to patterns that are known to have a neurological effect, viz. patterns of stripes. The study investigates whether the two types of pattern are similarly aversive and examines the extent of the aversion to find out whether trypophobia needs to be considered when designing buildings. We showed a variety of images to 405 members of the public to gauge their reaction. In some instances, the reaction was profound: one person vomited. The findings suggest that reactions to stimuli in the built environment are significant enough to provoke a debate on the role of visual discomfort in architecture and sustainable urbanism. It seems important to further investigate the properties of architectural shapes that induce discomfort so as to avoid a public health concern in contemporary urban environments.