Our preliminary experiments showed the potential of a biomechanical model with fluorescent fiducials to propagate the deformation of solid organs' surface to their inner structures including tumors with good accuracy and automatized robust tracking.

To recognize the significance of indigenous cultures and their landscapes as well as to appraise these places, identification and evaluation have to focus on indigenous worldviews rather than on the deeply embedded Western civilization ideals and values of the design. Australian Aboriginal and New Zealand’s Maori cultures are genuinely rooted in experiential interrelationships with land with a particular orientation toward relationship and time entrenched in cosmology, narrative, and place. This article explores a participatory design strategy that facilitates and benefits indigenous cultures in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Using a design-led research approach, this study endeavors to nurture capacity building within “traditional custodians” in order to contribute to the sustainability of rural communities as well as caring for landscape. The article also introduces a framework better suited to nurturing and managing cultural landscapes. This framework demonstrates the potential to simultaneously empower indigenous cultures to protect things that matter but also to enhance their economic, political, and social freedom as they understand it through the lens of their own cultural values.

The connection the Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa-New Zealand, have to the land is threatened by the effects of colonisation, urbanisation and other factors. In particular, many Māori suffer significant health and wellbeing inequalities compared to the non-Māori population. In an effort to reduce such inequalities, there is a growing consciousness of the need to better understand the cultural and place-specific determinants that affect the health and wellbeing of population groups in different environments. This article explores how environmental and cultural connections to land enable the development of place-specific and culturally-driven principles that promote the health and wellbeing of Māori populations. It argues that concepts of place, belonging, landscape and wellbeing play an important role in linking environment and culture as well as in contributing to creating therapeutic spatial environments that promote both human health and ecosystems. A set of principles is developed that allows for the landscape design of such therapeutic environments while accommodating the socio-cultural and environmental values that promote health and wellbeing of both Māori and non-Māori people.

Academic research has long established that interaction with the natural environment is associated with better overall health outcomes. Notably, the area of therapeutic environments has been borne out of the recognition of this critical relationship, but much of this research comes from a specific Western perspective. In Aotearoa-New Zealand, Māori (the Indigenous people of the land) have long demonstrated significantly worse health outcomes than non-Māori. Little research has examined the causes compared to Western populations and the role of the natural environment in health outcomes for Māori. The present study aimed to explore the relationship between Māori culture, landscape and the connection to health and well-being. Eighteen Māori pāhake (older adults) and kaumātua (elders) took part in semi-structured interviews carried out as focus groups, from June to November 2020. Transcribed interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis and kaupapa Māori techniques. We found five overarching and interrelated key themes related to Indigenous knowledge (Mātauranga Māori) that sit within the realm of therapeutic environments, culture and landscape. A conceptual framework for Therapeutic Cultural Environments (TCE) is proposed in terms of the contribution to our understanding of health and well-being and its implications for conceptualising therapeutic environments and a culturally appropriate model of care for Māori communities.

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© Copyright 2017 NCEUB. The morbidity rates in populations of older persons are rising in parallel with increases in life expectancy. Increases in the numbers of older persons, many of whom will be physically dependent, will challenge communities both economically and socially. To compensate for this health loss and the subsequent demands placed on the health care system, there is a growing demand for effective preventative public exercise interventions to enable the ageing population to maintain independence and enjoy a healthier lifestyle. The provision of age-appropriate playground and exercise equipment for older persons has been gaining international popularity and is expected to become increasingly popular among local governments as a direct result of rhetoric relating to the development of age-friendly cities. Using a multidisciplinary lens, this project maps desired rehabilitation outcomes with exercise equipment design and landscape architecture. It seeks to identify both physical and motivational strategies that are most successful in maintaining good health and well-being in old age. Findings suggest that there is demand for open public space interventions that can safely train balance, muscular strength, and cardiovascular fitness. However, there is a lack of health research examining the usefulness and the sustainability of currently available equipment. There is also a necessity to address participation barriers and manage potential adherence issues that prohibit older persons from engaging in beneficial physical activity.

Abstract-This paper discusses the concept of sustainable architecture, seeking to discuss more accurately the theme of recycling, optimization and lifecycle of building materials, and their importance in saving natural resources, energy performance, building construction, and to what extent experience and training can influence the practice of a more sustainable architecture. Thus, the paper intends to make a small contribution regarding the awareness of those involved in the construction sector, encouraging them to adopt new attitudes and develop new practices, since the current ones are hopelessly unsustainable.Index Terms-Sustainability, constructive materials, optimization of resources in construction.