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This study aims to investigate the relationships between the perceived neighborhood walkable environment (PNWE), neighborhood interaction (NI) and residents’ mental health, with a focus on examining differences among residents of different age groups.

Using an electronic survey questionnaire, data on PNWE, NI and mental health were collected from 1,159 residents across 205 communities in Shanghai, China. Our study utilized a structural equation modeling (SEM), employing the maximum likelihood estimation method. The structural equation model was fitted using the MPLUS software.

The mental health of young and middle-aged adults is generally poor, and they are at higher risk of depression than children and older adults. The effects of PNWE and NI on the mental health of residents varied among different age groups. As residents get older, their mental health is more affected by the PNWE. In addition, the influence of the PNWE on children and older adults’ mental health is direct and not mediated by NI. For young and middle-aged adults, the influence of the PNWE on their mental health needs to be mediated by NI.

This study marks the first examination of the relationship between PNWE, NI and mental health among different age groups of residents in China. The findings of this research can assist policymakers in gaining a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms by which PNWE affects mental health. Furthermore, it can contribute to the development of more targeted walkable environment designs aimed at enhancing mental health among various age groups.

This paper aims to develop a new robotic ultrasound system for spine imaging with more anthropomorphic scanning manipulation in comparison with previously reported techniques.

The system evaluates the imaging quality of ultrasound (US) B-scans by detecting vertebral landmarks and groups the images with relatively low quality into several sub-optimal types. By imitating the scanning skills of sonographers, the authors defined a set of adjustment strategies for certain sub-optimal types. In this way, the robot can recollect the US images with high quality by adaptively adjusting the pose of the probe like a sonographer.

The results from phantom experiments and in vivo experiments showed that the proposed method could improve the quality of B-scans during the scanning. The 3 D US volume reconstruction has also verified the feasibility of the proposed method.

This paper demonstrates how to adapt a robotic spinal ultrasound scanning using a preliminary anthropomorphic approach.