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Like all public utility, swimming pools had been treated with special procedures during the COVID19 pandemic. In addition to the basic rules (social distance + hand disinfection + masks), applicable to all citizens, the managers of swimming pools were obliged to reduce the number of swimmers and to increase the effects of water treatment. Monitoring, control and rapid response to unfavourable changes in the quality of swimming pool water are the basis for minimizing the risk of disease transmission or exposure of bathers to pathogens. The main purpose of this work is to analyse and compare the quality of swimming pool water in a municipal outdoor swimming pool complex, before (2018-2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021). Water samples taken from a paddling pool for children (CP), a recreational pool (RP), and a sports pool (SP) were analysed. The results of the research, based on real case studies, were compared with the documents on water quality in swimming pools in force at the time. An analysis was carried out to determine the relationships between swimming pool water quality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The tested parameters determining the quality of water were physico-chemical parameters (temperature, pH, redox, and bacteriological parameters (colony forming units CFU of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Legionella sp.). Based on the results of the analysis of the parameters mentioned-above, the validation of the procedures applied during the COVID-19 hazard and their impact on the quality of swimming pool water were evaluated. The results of the pool water quality tests were discussed with particular emphasis on disinfection by-products (THM and combined chlorine). Detailed analysis showed better water quality in the first year of the pandemic (2020) compared to 2018-2019 (before COVID-19) and 2021 (the second year of COVID-19 pandemic). The following parameters were found to be significantly different: THM (before 0.069 mg/L and during 0.034 mg/L), free chlorine (before 0.86 mg/L and during 0.66 mg/L), and redox potential (before 667 and during 713 mV).
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This study was conducted with the aim of empirically analyzing the impacts of the pandemic of the Covid-19 on the Quebec tourism industry, with a particular focus on the outdoor sector, given that the latter seems to have been a form of escape in several countries and for many citizens. Based on a quantitative approach and a self-administered survey in the summer of 2020 (n = 1210), this study made it possible to analyze the organizational situation of this industry, the tourism performance of the organizations surveyed, their human resources concerns, their short- and medium-term development prospects, as well as the structural and organizational elements where the organizations are the most vulnerable. Overall, it can be seen that the outdoor sector, thanks to its 40 intrinsic characteristics, stands out very positively in this industry, in particular in contrast to organizations located in large urban centers that depend on clients from outside Quebec.
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PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has impacted 222 countries across the globe, with millions of people losing their lives. The threat from the virus may be assessed from the fact that most countries across the world have been forced to order partial or complete shutdown of their economies for a period of time to contain the spread of the virus. The fallout of this action manifested in loss of livelihood, migration of the labor force and severe impact on mental health due to the long duration of confinement to homes or residences.Design/methodology/approachThe current study identifies the focus areas of the research conducted on the COVID-19 pandemic. s of papers on the subject were collated from the SCOPUS database for the period December 2019 to June 2020. The collected sample data (after preprocessing) was analyzed using Topic Modeling with Latent Dirichlet Allocation.FindingsBased on the research papers published within the mentioned timeframe, the study identifies the 10 most prominent topics that formed the area of interest for the COVID-19 pandemic research.Originality/valueWhile similar studies exist, no other work has used topic modeling to comprehensively analyze the COVID-19 literature by considering diverse fields and domains.
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Outdoor Recreation (OR) provides the benefits of physical activity and traditional leisure placed in an outdoor environment. Motivation, self-efficacy, and autonomy can increase depending on the physical and social environment. This study explored the relationship between self-efficacy and autonomy on OR behaviors and identified barriers and facilitators to OR during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey information was collected from 995 U.S. adults (93.6% white, 64.0% female) regarding OR behaviors, changes in OR during COVID-19, and OR self-perceptions. Significant positive correlations existed between autonomy and self-efficacy (r = 0.138, p < 0.01), and self-efficacy and pre/post pandemic OR behaviors 2020 (r = 0.158, p < 0.01), (r = 0.129, p < 0.01) respectively. Qualitative data implied barriers and facilitators to OR as: social, mental health, and increased or changed OR/physical activity. Implications from this research are beneficial to OR and health professionals to promote overall physical and mental well-being for OR participants.
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From satellites to ground-based sensors, as well as mobile networks of monitors, the availability of massive data sets has increased the need for educating students in data literacy in order to ensure their competency in the global market (Bluhm et al. 2020;Gibson and Mourad 2018). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines environmental justice as, "... the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." According to Lacombe, more individuals die yearly from car exhaust (53,000) in the United States than road casualties (37,400). Students worked in groups to discuss their assumptions about factors they perceived to have an impact on air pollution levels (e.g., affluence, traffic, and vegetation).
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This study aims to make an investigation on the relationship between ecotourism motivation (EM), satisfaction (SA), place attachment (PA), and environmentally responsible behavior intention (ER) based on the analysis of camping tourism andstudy the mediating roles of SA and PA in the relationship between EM and ER. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted on 400 camping tourists who visited the Yunnan Province of China within the last year. The distribution of survey questionnaires range from 12 February 2023–24 February 2023. The results reveal that EM positively influences SA, PA, and ER, whereas, although SA positively impacts PA, it does not significantly affect ER. In contrast, PA positively affects ER. Furthermore, PA has a positive mediating impact on the relationship between EM and ER, whereas, SA does not significantly mediate this relationship. Finally, SA and PA act as chain mediators between EM and ER. The findings contribute to the tourism literature by shedding light on the complex relationships between EM, SA, PA, and ER in the context of camping tourism, thereby, enhancing tourist satisfaction and promoting environmentally responsible behavior, thus, contributing to the growth of a sustainable camping industry.
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This study investigates the decision-making process for outdoor leisure activities of the Chinese people in the context of COVID-19. An online survey of residents of Heilongjiang Province was conducted in September and October 2020. In total, 441 questionnaires were returned for empirical analysis. The results reveal that fears of contamination and compulsory checking/reassurance-seeking have had a significant impact on the respondents' goal-directed behavior for nature-based outdoor leisure activities during the pandemic. The theoretical contribution is that extended goal-directed behavior expands with the inclusion of emotional variables and can be used to predict individual outdoor activity intention and decision-making process in the COVID-19 situation relating to leisure. This study provides useful insights for public health ministries and local governments in any country to encourage nature-based outdoor leisure activities as a public health policy for the mental health of the people.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of incorporating nature-based solutions in urban design, in order to create sustainable and resilient cities. Inspired by these events, the present study aims at exploring the mental health benefits of nature exposure during the outbreak. Secondarily, we investigate changes in use patterns towards urban green spaces (UGS) and urban blue spaces (UBS) and whether extreme conditions, such as these of a lockdown, can lead to an increase in people's appreciation of urban nature. Through an online survey, we observed that the pandemic resulted in a decrease in the frequency of visitation to UGS/UBS (p < 0.001). Significant differences were found for exercise (p < 0.001) and socialization (p < 0.05) as main drivers for visiting urban nature pre- and post-lockdown. Accordingly, visitation rates for forests (p < 0.05), playgrounds (p < 0.001), and the sea (p < 0.001) differed significantly when comparing the two periods. In people's perception, UGS/UBS are important for the urban fabric (89%). Our structural equation model indicated that nature exposure had a beneficial effect on participants' mental health (p < 0.001). Pathways that explain the relationship between nature exposure and post- lockdown value were nature relatedness, motivation, and perceived importance of UGS/UBS. No mediation could be extracted for nature exposure and mental health. Our findings show the positive association between nature exposure and mental health improvement, especially in times of crisis, as well as a shift in the "value domain” towards urban nature.
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After the Second World War, camping and camping sites in forests have developed and increased significantly from the 1980 s to 1990 s in Japan, relying on the laws and institutions established from the 1950 s to 1970 s across multiple administrative sectors, obtaining social approval as a legitimatized outdoor activity and forest use. Since the 2000s, the management of these camping sites has deteriorated mainly owing to economic recession, which caused the movement of camping site renewal by the private sector. This movement directed the diversification of forest use by camping sites in recent years. Camping facilities have been developed in many ways to meet the needs of campers, including organized group camps that promote education and experience in forests, solo camps, glamping, and workcations under the spread of the COVID-19 that demand relaxing or productive environment, and leisure camps that require enrichment of outdoor activities. As a result of this diversification, possibilities for effective utilization of forests and regional revitalization through the management of camping sites have been observed. Many camping sites have utilized forest lands, standing trees, and forest spaces to develop facilities and services, and there are cases where firewood production for campers has promoted the reorganization and development of local forestry and securing of personnel for forest management. In addition to securing local employment brought by reorganization, local revitalization in rural and mountainous areas has been promoted through the linkage of the needs of campers to positive economic effects, increase of the visitors who deeply connected to local people, and comprehensive and sustainable use of resources in local societies. © 2023 Nihon Ringakkai. All rights reserved.
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"5 However, more recent findings, such as the presentation of joint swelling without EM in Black children, are the result of research efforts to identify differences among racial and ethnic groups in presentations of disease symptoms, with the aim of greater diagnostic accuracy and reduced health care disparities.4 Treatment of Lyme disease Although most resources, such as the CDC's website,1 published articles and sites,2,3 and the Red Book,5 recommend that pediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients with Lyme disease receive an antibiotic, such as doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime (for penicillin-allergic patients), these publications differ in recommended dosage and duration of treatment. [...]PHCPs who are unfamiliar with antibiotic treatments for Lyme disease should consult with infectious disease specialists. Children who have evidence of Lyme carditis, Lyme arthritis, cranial neuritis, Lyme meningitis, or radiculoneuritis should immediately be referred to infectious disease and the appropriate pediatric specialists.2 Respiratory infections and health care inequities Although researchers have reported studies on racial and ethnic inequities among children related to respiratory diseases over the last 20 years, few randomized controlled trials have scientifically investigated the problem or have identified and rigorously investigated evidencebased interventions. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a new focus in pediatric health care on the inequities experienced by Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Pacific Islander children living in poverty, who regularly experience a disproportionate number of respirator y illnesses and infections.6 Several studies have shown increased hospitalization rates for Blac k and H ispan ic children who contracted COVID-19.6 One team of researchers studying children from birth to 4 years old reported a hospitalization rate of 55% for Black and Hispanic children.7 For years, PHCPs have observed and treated children for asthma in all health care settings. Bhavnani et al reported that Black children had a 7-fold higher rate of emergency department visits compared with White children in 2019, 1 year before the pandemic began.8 However, the difference decreased to a 2-fold increase for Black children compared with White children in 2020, when COVID-19 measures such as masking, social distancing, and school closures were in place.8 Researchers are continuing to investigate why Black and Hispanic children are more vulnerable to upper respiratory infections with viruses such as influenza, rhinovirus, and adenovirus.8 Summertime prevention of respiratory infections Talking about prevention strategies with families is the first step toward reducing asthma episodes and exacerbations.
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Air pollution is one of the major causes of health risks as it leads to widespread disease and death each year. Countries have invested heavily in fighting air pollution, arguably without convincing results. The outbreak of the highly infectious disease COVID-19 in December 2019 has been declared a pandemic and a worldwide health crisis by World Health Organization (WHO). Countries resorted to city lockdowns that sternly curtailed personal mobility and economic activities to control the spread of this deadly coronavirus disease. This paper examines the impact of Covid-19 city lockdowns on air quality. The researchers adopted a comprehensive interpretative document analysis for this study, which guided the careful but rigorous examination of air quality and coronavirus data. This method affirmed the authenticity of the information examined and interpreted in the US, Italy and China, the study areas. The study found that Covid-19 city lockdowns have contributed to a significant improvement in air quality within the first four months of the outbreak of Covid-19. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had reported that NO2 concentrations in the study areas had reduced significantly using evidence from their Sentinel-5P instrument. Air quality in Covid-19 cities' lockdowns also improved because of the enforcement of other types of measures enacted to battle the virus. WHO still believes that the amount of NO2 concentration in the atmosphere is still high per their standards and regulations. Based on this, the researchers recommend that governments and other stakeholders put in much effort in terms of legislation to "win the war” against air pollution.
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PurposeThis study aims to review the role of green training and green work life balance (GWLB) on sustainable organizational performance (SOP) with a moderating variable "Emotional Intelligence” (EI).Design/methodology/approachFor the development of the construct of the present study, a Scopus database was selected and research papers published in indexed journals were considered. Relevant keywords were selected and literature was searched on green training, EI, SOP, GWLB. The literature was reviewed to find out the linkage and possibility of development of integrated model. The main focus was on highlighting the relevance of green training on GWLB and its influence on SOP.FindingsSOP can be achieved with the intervention of EI and GWLB;further green training is one of the influential practices of human resource development (HRD) which helps to develop the green behavior.Research limitations/implicationsIt can give new insight to the organization for application of green human resource practices for SOP. Development and designing the cohesive environmental work culture and willingness to protect environment through green training can be implemented by HRD. Perhaps, the application of green training encourages GWLB.Practical implicationsQuantitative research and cross sectional study is required to find out the intervening role of EI and work–life balance between green training and SOP across a broader range of sectors.Originality/valueThis research extends the literature review and developed a new integrated model which shows the link between green training and SOP.
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Air quality and environmental justice To introduce how socioeconomic status affects the physical aspects of exposure to differing air-quality levels, students used an anthropological technique of comparison to "make the strange familiar and the familiar strange." Students analyzed a New York Times story revealing the air-quality inequities of two teens residing in India: "Who Gets to Breathe Clean Air in New Delhi?" For 25 minutes, students interact with the website and reflect on paper: * One new and interesting fact that they encountered in the article about air quality, * How they think the information might relate to air quality in the United States, and * What, if anything, they think we could do to help increase awareness about these types of environmental disparities. For the next 35 minutes, students search online for articles about air quality and environmental justice in the area near our school's location. The data from real-time air quality index reports are available on every cell phone, and students decided to record it on a calendar to chart in Excel.
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A first-stage moderated mediation model consisting of general risk awareness of COVID-19, perceived risk of playing golf, and revisit intention was introduced to specify when and how political orientation influences an individual's decision to play golf again. Findings are discussed in the context of a dual process model of political identity, and the implications for practice as well as future research are presented. Consumers consciously or subconsciously conduct risk-benefit analysis for consumption choices, whether it is a careful piecemeal examination or a heuristic probe (Hespanhol et al., 2015). [...]golf was considered a safer recreational activity with relatively little risk of transmission than other activities where social distancing was either difficult or impossible (Robinson et al., 2021). [...]it is worth exploring the relationship between general risk awareness of the disease and domain-specific risk and how they influence individuals' decisions to play golf.
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Developing a sustainable and reliable photovoltaic (PV) energy system requires a comprehensive analysis of solar profiles and an accurate prediction of solar energy performance at the study site. Installing the PV modules with optimal tilt and azimuth angles has a significant impact on the total irradiance delivered to the PV modules. This paper proposes a comprehensive optimization model to integrate total irradiance models with the PV temperature model to find the optimal year-round installation parameters of PV modules. A novel integration between installation parameters and the annual average solar energy is presented, to produce the maximum energy output. The results suggest an increase in energy yields of 4% compared to the conventional scheme, where tilt angle is equal to the latitude and the PV modules are facing south. This paper uses a real-time dataset for the NEOM region in Saudi Arabia to validate the superiority of the proposed model compared to the conventional scheme, but it can be implemented as a scheme wherever real-time data are available.
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Childhood obesity is highly prevalent among certain populations of New York. This cross-sectional pilot study examined the associations between parental attitudes about outdoor activities and body mass index (BMI). A questionnaire was distributed among parents of 1 to 13 aged children at ambulatory pediatric clinics. Of 104 children included in the study 57 were of normal weight and 47 were overweight or obese. Most parents of children with BMI <85% reported frequent playground utilization, considered longer hours to spend outside on weekdays, reported a larger total temperature range for outdoor playground utilization and a lower tolerable minimum temperature compared to parents of children with BMI ≥85%, p < .05. Only having a parent born outside of the United States remained a significant predictor of overweight and obesity in the final model. Parents of children with BMI < 85% are more willing to spend time outdoors, regardless of weather. Immigrant parents are protective against overweight.
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Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many previous studies using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) have focused on the dynamics of air masses, which are believed to be the carriers of respiratory diseases, in enclosed indoor environments. Although outdoor air may seem to provide smaller exposure risks, it may not necessarily offer adequate ventilation that varies with different micro-climate settings. To comprehensively assess the fluid dynamics in outdoor environments and the efficiency of outdoor ventilation, we simulated the outdoor transmission of a sneeze plume in "hot spots" or areas in which the air is not quickly ventilated. We began by simulating the airflow over buildings at the University of Houston using an OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamics solver that utilized the 2019 seasonal atmospheric velocity profile from an on-site station. Next, we calculated the length of time an existing fluid is replaced by new fresh air in the domain by defining a new variable and selecting the hot spots. Finally, we conducted a large-eddy simulation of a sneeze in outdoor conditions and then simulated a sneeze plume and particles in a hot spot. The results show that fresh incoming air takes as long as 1000 s to ventilate the hot spot area in some specific regions on campus. We also found that even the slightest upward wind causes a sneeze plume to dissipate almost instantaneously at lower elevations. However, downward wind provides a stable condition for the plume, and forward wind can carry a plume even beyond six feet, the recommended social distance for preventing infection. Additionally, the simulation of sneeze droplets shows that the majority of the particles adhered to the ground or body immediately, and airborne particles can be transported more than six feet, even in a minimal amount of ambient air.
Subject(s)
Air Pollution, Indoor , COVID-19 , Humans , Air Pollution, Indoor/analysis , Pandemics , COVID-19/epidemiology , Computer Simulation , WindABSTRACT
Dust or condensed water present in harsh outdoor or high-humidity human breath samples are one of the key sources that cause false detection in Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) gas sensors. This paper proposes a novel packaging mechanism for MEMS gas sensors that utilizes a self-anchoring mechanism to embed a hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filter into the upper cover of the gas sensor packaging. This approach is distinct from the current method of external pasting. The proposed packaging mechanism is successfully demonstrated in this study. The test results indicate that the innovative packaging with the PTFE filter reduced the average response value of the sensor to the humidity range of 75~95% RH by 60.6% compared to the packaging without the PTFE filter. Additionally, the packaging passed the High-Accelerated Temperature and Humidity Stress (HAST) reliability test. With a similar sensing mechanism, the proposed packaging embedded with a PTFE filter can be further employed for the application of exhalation-related, such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), breath screening.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems , Humans , Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems/methods , Reproducibility of Results , Humidity , PolytetrafluoroethyleneABSTRACT
Over four thousand portable air cleaners (PACs) with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters were distributed by Public Health - Seattle & King County to homeless shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of these HEPA PACs in reducing indoor particles and understand the factors that affect their use in homeless shelters. Four rooms across three homeless shelters with varying geographic locations and operating conditions were enrolled in this study. At each shelter, multiple PACs were deployed based on the room volume and PAC's clean air delivery rate rating. The energy consumption of these PACs was measured using energy data loggers at 1-min intervals to allow tracking of their use and fan speed for three two-week sampling rounds, separated by single-week gaps, between February and April 2022. Total optical particle number concentration (OPNC) was measured at 2-min intervals at multiple indoor locations and an outdoor ambient location. The empirical indoor and outdoor total OPNC were compared for each site. Additionally, linear mixed-effects regression models (LMERs) were used to assess the relationship between PAC use time and indoor/outdoor total OPNC ratios (I/OOPNC). Based on the LMER models, a 10 % increase in the hourly, daily, and total time PACs were used significantly reduced I/OOPNC by 0.034 [95 % CI: 0.028, 0.040; p < 0.001], 0.051 [95 % CI: 0.020, 0.078; p < 0.001], and 0.252 [95 % CI: 0.150, 0.328; p < 0.001], respectively, indicating that keeping PACs on resulted in significantly lower I/OOPNC. The survey suggested that keeping PACs on and running was the main challenge when operating them in shelters. These findings suggested that HEPA PACs were an effective short-term strategy to reduce indoor particle levels in community congregate living settings during non-wildfire seasons and the need for formulating practical guidance for using them in such an environment.
Subject(s)
Air Pollutants , Air Pollution, Indoor , COVID-19 , Humans , Particulate Matter/analysis , Air Pollution, Indoor/prevention & control , Air Pollution, Indoor/analysis , Washington , Pandemics , COVID-19/prevention & control , Dust , Air Pollutants/analysisABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected people's social habits, especially those related to outdoor activities. We intended to understand the effects of the two national lockdowns in Portugal on the presence and activity of a wild population of red deer (Cervus elaphus) by analysing data from camera traps installed at Lousã mountain, in the central part of Portugal. The cameras were set between 2019 and 2021, and a total of 2434 individual contacts of red deer and 182 contacts of people were recorded. Results showed a higher human presence in the mountain area during the COVID-19 outbreak, especially during the first lockdown in 2020 (0.05 ± 0.17 individuals/day), compared to the same period of the year before the pandemic (0.02 ± 0.05 individuals/day), which resulted in an increase of people by 150%. The increase in human presence did not have a significant direct effect on the presence of red deer. Despite the low overlap of activity patterns between people and red deer, deer showed avoidance behaviour in the 24 h after the detection of human presence on camera traps, as well as an increase in daily activity during the 2020 lockdown, showing red deer's awareness of human visitation. These results showed that people's increased search for cultural services in wild environments during COVID-19 lockdowns, such as hiking and biking, seemed to influence the population of red deer, albeit momentarily.