While having the appearance of a small or slim face is considered a desirable trait among Japanese people, the factors that influence perceived facial size are unclear. The present study aimed to examine which facial features impacted the perceived size of the whole face. First, we measured the width and height of 20 facial features based on the images of 132 women and men, and then calculated correlations between the measured size and the apparent size of the face （Study 1）. The results showed that the apparent facial size was strongly correlated with the feature size in the lower facial region （e.g., cheek width, jaw length）, compared with the upper facial region （e.g., forehead length）, regardless of the sex for face images. We also demonstrated that the perceived facial size was altered when the size of the lower facial features was obscured by a sanitary mask, which was used to manipulate observation of the lower facial region （Study 2）. These results suggest that feature size in the lower facial region serves as a critical cue when judging the apparent size of faces.

This study investigates how the type and order of creative tasks may influence the affective states and group work satisfaction of people engaged in creative group work. The experiment was a mixed design, with the type of creative tasks and the order of the task as fixed factors, and the students nested in groups as random factors. Groups of five to six participants performed two kinds of conventional creative tasks: the alternative uses test as a divergent task and the remote associates test as a convergent task. Five groups started with the divergent task and then performed the convergent task, while the other five groups started with the convergent task and then performed the divergent task. The affective states and group work satisfaction were measured repeatedly after each of the two tasks. The results show that the convergent task produced a more positive effect on the affective state and group work satisfaction than did the divergent task. Furthermore, the task order had an impact on affective experience. The second task induced a higher valence than the first task. This study provides a better understanding of the design of creative group tasks to yield better affective experiences.

The main purpose of this study is to verify the effect of a new re-opening/closing button designed to enhance the ease of discrimination under conditions where misjudgments are likely to occur. For this purpose, we conducted an experiment with university students as subjects. The following three designs were compared as elevator re-opening/closing buttons. The first is the general design. The second is a partially optimized design for the size and color of objects using illustrations of common designs. The third is an overall optimized design including illustrations. The rate of correct answers, required time, and rate of gazing time was used as evaluation indices for ease of discrimination. As a result, among the re-opening/closing buttons of general design, the re-opening/closing button expressing the open/close in a triangle direction in particular caused about 30% of erroneous answers. On the other hand, with the fully optimized design, we were able to significantly reduce errors in pushing. Furthermore, the partially optimized design and the fully optimized design shortened the hesitation time. From the above, in this study, it was clarified that the decision of opening and closing of the elevator can be made easily by partial optimization and overall optimization aiming at making the decision of the re-opening/closing button of the elevator easy.

We investigated the gait motion during the use of a wearable walking assistance device that supports hip joint flexion and the perceived effectiveness of the device over time. Twenty-eight healthy young adults were included in the study conducted with three experimental conditions as follows: free gait without wearing the device （F）, gait while wearing the device but with the power turned off （N）, and gait with assistance （A）. Each gait on a treadmill for approximately 5 min was assessed using a motion analysis system and subjective evaluation indexes. Compared with the other conditions, condition A, which was assisted gait, increased the range and maximum flexion of the hip joint angle. However, the increase in double support duration implied that gait might have been adjusted to improve stability. Furthermore, some of the effects on gait motion tended to become more noticeable over time. On the other hand, the subjective rating of the amount of gait loading reduced by the device was improved over time. Taken together, while the effects of walking assistance were observed in the gait motion and the subjective efficacy of the device increased over time, some side responses were observed.

As an infection measure against the new coronavirus （SARS-Cov-2）, it becomes mandatory to wear personal protective face shields for all healthcare workers at Yamashita Hospital during their workday. After the mandatory, subjective complaints of headaches and dizziness seemed to be increasing among the healthcare workers. Therefore, an online cross-sectional survey was conducted among all doctors and nurses engaged in the hospital, to compare the frequency and degree of subjective complaints of headache and dizziness before and after mandatory to wear the face shields. Twelve doctors and 89 nurses responded to the questionnaire. The results showed a significant trend （p＝0.056） toward an increase in headache frequency among healthcare workers after the mandatory compared to before. Furthermore, wearing a face shield also significantly increased the frequency of dizziness complaints （p＜0.01）. These results suggested that prolonged usage of the face shield may induce headache and dizziness, suggesting that further research on ergonomic face shield design and its management guidelines is warranted.