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Aims: numerous studies have delved into the intricate connection between the built environment of communities and human beings in various aspects. Researchers have shown a keen interest in understanding the social dynamics of residents and the role of open and public spaces. despite the abundance of research, a comprehensive consensus regarding theoretical foundations, measurement techniques, and evaluation tools is yet to be reached. This article aims to address this gap by proposing potential paths for future studies that seek to examine the relationship between public and open spaces and residents' individual and social indicators.
Methods: Using a descriptive-exploratory approach, theories and approaches that can be relied upon in studies in this field, as well as methods, variables, and components that can be used to evaluate the public and open spaces, are introduced and limitations are discussed.
Findings: The investigations have shown that a combination of several theories can form the basis for research that addresses the relationship between human beings and the public and open spaces, and models have also been introduced to interpret the relationship between these two variables. The study categorizes the variables of the public and open spaces into three distinct categories and presents indicators for measuring each category.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the evaluation of public and open spaces in a quantitative manner can be accomplished through diverse methods and approaches. The selection of a specific path, as outlined in this article, should be based on the objectives and research questions at hand.
 

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Aims: Indoor comfort is affected not only by dwellings architecture, but also by physiological adaptation and behavioral settings. Since the human behavior plays an important role in their thermal balance with the environment, the subject of this research is adaptive behaviors of the occupants due to environmental, architectural, and individual-demographic variables and the role of factors affecting the occupant thermal satisfaction.This research aimed at investigating the thermal adaptation of residential dwellings occupants of Rasht in winter to save energy.

Methods: The research is an applied type, collection of required data is an in-situ method and the main question is,"Which behavioral patterns of villa and apartment dwellings occupants affect thermal comfort and reducing energy consumption in cold periods of the year?"The required data gathered through questionnaires and field surveys, and data analysis based on bivariate, multivariate regression models.

Findings: According to ASHRAE (±1), the occupants in comfort zone were 88.8% and 84.3% for villa and apartment units. The adaptability of villa house occupants is -4.9 and +1.9, and apartment unit occupants -2.1 and 0.8 C from the lower and upper limits of the comfort standard range (21-25). Occupants used many adaptive behaviors, indicating the priority of using passive solutions over active solutions to achieve thermal comfort.

Conclusion: The results of the multiple regression model showed that environmental factors in villa houses and individual-demographic in apartments have the greatest effect on thermal comfort.The research results can be useful in designing more suitable and flexible residential spaces, leading to an energy consumption reduction.

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Back extrusion testing was used to evaluate the rheological properties of probiotic quark cheese. Effect of probiotic strain type including L.acidophilus (LA) and L.casei (LC) was studied on sensory and textural characteristics of quark cheese upon storage time. Results showed that LC quark cheese had firmer and harder texture (higher σ_max, Young’s modulus) compared to that of LA sample in all storage days. Increasing storage time to 7 days, led to a significant (p<0.05) increase in the firmness of all samples. After 7 days, the firmness and hardness decreased again. There was no significant difference between LC and LA samples in terms of firmness from 14 to 21 days of storage. Sensorial results showed that there was no significant difference in sensory attributes of all samples in day 1. By increasing storage time differences in sensory properties appeared and LC sample obtained higher sensory scores compared to LA cheese. For all samples increasing storage time led to significant decrease in all sensory properties except for surface color and appearance. Especially between 14 and 21 days interval the greatest decrease in sensory scores occurred. The results of this study revealed probiotic quark cheese can be kept unchanged in terms of sensory properties for 14 days. Quark cheese supplemented with L.casei provided better sensory and textural properties compared to those of L.acidophilus.
 

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The aim of this study was to investigate the viability of free and encapsulated forms of L. acidophilus (LA) and L. casei (LC) in probiotic quark cheese and comparing their effect on chemical and sensorial properties of the obtained cheese during 21 days of storage. Results showed that pH values and titratable acidity of all samples decreased and increased, respectively upon storage time. The decrease of pH was more enhanced in the LC-free samples compared to those of LA-free and capsulated forms of both bacteria, and control sample. Titratable acidity changes in cheese samples was similar to pH change. There was a significant increase in soluble nitrogen of LC-free sample upon storage time. However, this increase was not significant for control, LA-free, LA-cap and Lc-cap samples. Free fatty acid content (lipolysis index) of all samples were the same in the first week. It was increased for control, LC-cap, LA-cap compared to those of LC-free and LA-free after 14^th day of storage. For all samples increasing storage time led to significant decrease in all sensory properties except for surface color and appearance. Between probiotic strains, LC-free provided higher scores for flavor and overall acceptability attributes during 2^nd week of storage. Increasing storage time up to 14 days did not significantly (p<0.05) decrease the number of free forms of lactobacilli. However, after 14^th day, the number of free forms of bacteria were declined. Nevertheless, the viability of capsulated forms was preserved upon all storage days.