Optimizing Presence Sensing Lighting for Energy Efficiency and User Behavioral Needs in Small Swedish Homes

A hybrid workstyle is becoming more common post-COVID-19, and longer occupancy hours at home are increasing household electricity consumption. Small homes are regarded as a potential for improving energy efficiency in the residential sector, and a home consists of mixed-function spaces with dynamic occupancy behaviors. These underpin the opportunity to optimize presence sensing lighting in small homes for energy efficiency and user-behavioral needs. A comprehensive overview of presence sensing approaches, comparing four types of non-wearable sensors connected to home lighting is made. A bibliometric mapping of the reviewed literature visually reinforces a significant research gap that presence sensing studies were not connected to home lighting but inclined toward the commercial and institutional context. Next, a non-exhaustive example of commercially available presence sensing products applicable to residential lighting for small homes is analyzed, and their general characteristics and technologies are synthesized. The literature and product overview identified five significant product knowledge gaps. Incorporating the gathered information leads to the proposal of a conceptual flexible radar-based sensor (prototype design), addressing a wish list with three important criteria to optimize future presence sensing lighting in a mixed-function small home. Future radar sensing studies are expected to develop an anticipatory lighting system that processes real-time multi-user vital signals for smarter localized and personalized lighting options for (small) living environments.

Getting it right first time: what have we learnt?

Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) is a national programme of improvement to identify and reduce unwarranted variation and non-evidence-based practice in healthcare. It aims to improve patient care, increase productivity and reduce costs. Professor Tim Briggs, an orthopaedic surgeon, began the programme with a pilot review visiting every orthopaedic surgery department in England. He used publicly available data to illuminate variation, and worked with the clinicians and management to develop improvements. The impressive initial report in 2015 led to NHS Improvement investing £60m to expand the programme to 40 medical and surgical specialties. The follow-up Orthopaedic report detailed savings of £696m to the NHS. GIRFT is now sharing its data with the CQC and leading the charge with elective recovery following COVID-19. GIRFT differs from previous programmes of improvement through its peer led, supportive approach to promoting change with early engagement of both clinicians and management. Common themes run through the almost 40 specialty reports published to date: variation in procurement and litigation costs, huge variations in patient treatment options (often with a lack of evidence base) and poor data quality. Successfully applied in orthopaedic surgery, it has been taken on enthusiastically by other specialties. Whether it can deliver its objective of £1.4bn savings whilst improving patient outcomes is yet to be seen, but its approach is changing the culture of the NHS.

Savings groups and the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe: Critical assessment of the informal social protection scheme

The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged nations and people's lives throughout the globe across multiple dimensions. Measures to curtail the spread of the disease in Zimbabwe have stifled the capacity of the majority of the population, relegated to the informal sector, to source a living. In the absence of robust social protection interventions from the state, these measures pose a more immediate threat to the lives of marginalised and vulnerable communities than the pandemic itself. Savings groups (SGs), which have providedfinancial relief andprotection from economic shocks and stressors to such population groups, have been entrapped by the preventive and containment measures employed by the Zimbabwean authorities. It is unclear how and to what degree such conditions leave underserved populations exposed to socioeconomic shocks as such vital informal social protection alternatives have been rendered ineffectual. Using documentary review, this study examines the fate of SGs in such socially restricted and economically debilitating circumstances. In addition, the authors discuss strategies for improving the sustainability of such grassroots micro-finance initiatives under COVID-19 induced contraptions. Programmatic andpolicy measures necessary for retaining and protecting the viability of (SGs) as alternatives for informal social protection for marginalised and vulnerable groups under COVID-19 are advanced.

Coping with COVID-19 shocks in rural Nepal

We examine shocks experienced by rural Nepali households during the COVID-19 pandemic. Households primarily experienced income and price shocks during a government-imposed lockdown. During this time, households managed to effectively protect consumption, and mostly relied on credit (26%), asset sales (10%) and savings (8%). Debt levels nearly doubled, with limited changes to savings. We then leverage a long-term randomized control trial (RCT) to assess whether beneficiaries of a livestock livelihood program are more resilient. Program beneficiaries are 6 percentage points less likely to take out new loans.

Does personal experience with COVID-19 impact investment decisions? Evidence from a survey of US retail investors.

This paper explores the link between personal experience with COVID-19 and US retail investors' financial decision-making during the first COVID-19 wave. Do retail investors that have personally experienced COVID-19 change their investments after the pandemic outbreak, and if so, why? We use a cross-sectional dataset from an online survey of US retail investors collected in July and August 2020 to assess if and how respondents change their investment decisions after the COVID-19 outbreak. On average retail investors increase their investments during the first wave of COVID-19 by 4.7%, while many of them decrease their investments suggesting a high heterogeneity of investor behaviours. We provide the first evidence that personal experience with the virus can have unexpected positive effects on retail investments. Investors who have personal experience with COVID-19, who are in a vulnerable health category, who tested positive, and who know someone in their close circle of friends or family who died because of COVID-19, increase their investments by 12%. We explain our findings through terror management theory, salience theory and optimism bias, suggesting that reminders of mortality, focussing on selective salient investment information, and over-optimism despite personal vulnerable health contribute to the increase in retail investments. Increased levels of savings, saving goals and risk capacity are also positively associated with increased investments. Our findings are relevant to investors, regulators, and financial advisors, and highlight the importance of providing retail investors with access to investment opportunities in periods of unprecedented shocks such as COVID-19.

Aggregate health shock and retirement decision

The retirement of old workers increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and health concerns are considered to be a critical factor. To understand the effect of pure health concerns during the pandemic, we analyze the impact of the aggregate health shock on retirement decisions using a life cycle model. The aggregate health shock changes the economy from the normal state to the pandemic state, where the probability of adverse idiosyncratic health shock increases, especially if agents are working. Simulation results suggest that the shock accelerates the retirement of agents aged over 60. The increase in retirement is significant even though the shock is expected to be temporary. Also, the effect hinges on the assumption that working poses a greater risk of receiving a negative health shock than retiring. Even accounting for the large income and wealth changes that US households experienced in 2020, a counterfactual experiment suggests that the aggregate health shock plays a prominent role in increasing retirement.

Variability of Thermal Comfort and Energy Consumption by Introducing Working from Home

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have introduced working from home to avoid the risk of infection. In this study, we conducted questionnaire surveys and analysed the building energy management system (BEMS) in an office building where the number of employees working from home increased after the onset of the pandemic. The influence of working from home on the indoor environment satisfaction and the variability in energy consumption at home and office was determined. The indoor environment satisfaction was significantly higher when working from home than when working at the office. In 2020, the total energy consumption at home and office decreased by 30% in April and increased by 22% in August compared to the previous year. To work from home while saving energy regardless of the season, it is necessary to reduce office energy consumption by decreasing the number of workers present at the office. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.

Household Savings and Negative Interest Rates

This paper analyses determinants of household savings in a model based on an extension of the disequilibrium savings theory. These extensions follow from the life-cycle, permanent-income and Ricardian-equivalence theories. Based on panel data of 20 countries from the period 2000–2020, fixed-effect least squares estimation procedures are used. The analysis provides evidence that negative interest rates lead to a statistically and economic significant increase in savings. This implies that stimulating household consumption with a monetary policy of negative interest rates is counter-productive. The positive effect of income uncertainty and lagged saving rates gets smaller for negative interest rates, weakening the support for the disequilibrium-savings theory. Larger government deficits increase savings even more when rates are negative, strengthening the Ricardian equivalence effect. The effect of negative interest on the predictions of the life-cycle and permanent-income theories is mixed.

Efficiency and Sustainability: The Role of Digitization in Re-Inhabiting the Existing Building Stock

Cities are complex and constantly evolving systems where changing social needs have always reshaped the built environment. Considering recent evolutionary trends in housing emergencies, amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, and environmental sustainability goals, a rethinking of the building heritage is fundamental. This article aims to promote the conversion of buildings designed initially for nonresidential uses as a process and project strategy based on energy efficiency and a holistic and integrated vision of the circular economy. The methodological approach is based on two main phases: definition of evaluative parameters for the potential reuse of a building, and integration of the evaluation system in a BIM and GIS environment. The result is a tool for rapid automatic pre-evaluation of the potential conversion of a building into a residential space. Applying the developed methodology allows for a practical approach to the significant issue of sustainable construction, with particular attention to energy improvement and the reduction of environmental impact related to the construction of new buildings. The originality of the contribution lies in the systematization of various digital technologies to provide fundamental support for managing and transforming the varied and widespread unused real estate assets in a state of abandonment and degradation. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Energies (19961073) is the property of MDPI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

THE MICROPRUDENTIAL STRESS TESTING FOR BANKING SYSTEM. A STUDY CASE ON ALGERIAN PRIVATE BANK, USING ACCOUNTING APPROACH

The aim of this article is to highlight the importance and effectiveness of stress testing as part of microprudential policy. We focus on microprudential stress testing to assess financial stability, the resilience and solvency of one important private bank in Algeria in the face of liquidity risk. Our empirical analysis adopts a bottom-up approach based on an accounting method. It studies the relationship between the bank solvency ratio (ratio cook) and bank portfolios, such as loans to the construction, trade, industry, and automotive sectors. Microeconomic stress tests assess the credit risk of a bank's loan portfolio by bottom-up accounting approach, applying eleven pessimistic and plausible multi-variable scenarios with potential risks. The tests introduce several types of microeconomic shocks into the scenarios, which are designed to replicate those that occurred during the global financial crisis. The tests results show that this private bank is highly resistant to liquidity risk, despite significant losses on its investment portfolio. The stress tests prove once again, and especially after the 2008 financial crisis, that they are indispensable tools in the management of banking risks and against systemic risks.

Redefining investors' goals in the post–normal world

PurposeThe purpose of the article is to show the changing behavior of investors in the post-pandemic period, the continued development of "emotional communities” in the financial market, as well as the factors contributing to their formation and the role of such communities in the elaboration of investors' decisions.Design/methodology/approachThe research includes an analysis of the popularity of various terms searched in the US segment of Google in the financial category from 2004 to 2022, their correlation with financial market indicators and theoretical observations around these data.FindingsThe results obtained by the author allow him to draw the following conclusions: (1) the change in investors' behavior indicates the formation of the new distributed community-centric model of the financial market;(2) the main distinguishing feature of the behavior of many retail investors is gamification;(3) the networking of investors contributes to a significant change in their priorities in the elaboration of investment decisions;(4) the fundamental indicators of the financial market play an ever decreasing role in the decision-making of individual investors.Originality/valueTo the best of the author's knowledge, the formation of emotional communities of investors and their role in the elaboration of mass investor decisions is not widely covered in the literature. The paper develops a framework for further studies on the role of emotional communities in the financial market and in changing behavior of retail investors.

Impact of COVID-19's supply and demand shocks on the household economy of tilapia smallholder farmer

PurposeThis study aims to verify the impact of the supply shock (fall in harvested output) and demand shock (fall in household income) due to the pandemic on the consumption of necessities and household savings of tilapia's smallholder farmer.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers randomly chose 144 households as research samples using the proportional random sampling technique in Padang Jaya District, North Bengkulu Regency. Researchers collected data on household income, farm losses, household consumption for basic needs, labor demand, use of production inputs, the amount of output sold and saving both during and before the pandemic. The data were collected from the sample using a questionnaire prepared by the researchers. This study used a simultaneous equations system for arranging tilapia's smallholder farmer household economic model.FindingsThis study verified that the demand shock phenomenon makes households more severe than the supply shock phenomenon. The demand shock phenomenon made worse-off tilapia smallholder farmers because it caused their household savings to drop during the pandemic. The fall in savings will disrupt the stability of consumption of household necessities (health, food, education and clothing) in the future.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this study was providing empirical evidence about the impact of the demand and supply shock of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable entities in the Indonesian freshwater aquaculture industry, namely, smallholder farmer households of freshwater aquaculture fish.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2022-0554.

A Prediction Model for Remote Lab Courses Designed upon the Principles of Education for Sustainable Development

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a cease to the physical-presence operation of many laboratory-based university courses. As a response, higher education courses turned into distance learning. Distance education can foster sustainability through resource savings offered by the benefits of technology use. Therefore, there is a necessity to establish a pathway for sustainability practices concerning the increasing distance education enrollment and technological progress. Under the previous concept, this research paper presents a remote lab for the "Data Acquisition Systems” course, delivered during the pandemic as the digital twin of its respective conventional lab. This remote lab was designed on the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) principles to help students develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration competencies. This paper aims to develop a concrete framework for identifying factors that critically affect students' performance during remote lab courses. The analysis is based on students' engagement data collected by the NI-ELVIS remote lab measurement system during the spring academic semester of 2020 at the University of West Attica, Greece. Furthermore, the paper develops a competent prediction model for students at risk of failing the lab. The findings indicate that content comprehension and theory-exercise familiarization were the main risk factors in the case of the specific remote lab. In detail, a unit increase in content comprehension led to a 2.7 unit decrease in the probability of the risk occurrence. In parallel, a unit increase in theory familiarization through exercises led to a 3.2 unit decrease in the probability of the risk occurrence. The findings also underlined that risk factors such as critical thinking were associated with ESD competencies. Besides this, the benefits of delivering distance-learning labs according to the proposed methodology include environmental benefits by contributing to resource and energy savings since students who are about to fail can be located early and assisted. © 2023 by the authors.

Remote patient monitoring to facilitate same-day discharge after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy: a pilot evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Limited hospital inpatient capacity, exacerbated by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and associated staffing shortages, has driven interest in converting surgeries historically done as inpatient procedures to same-day surgeries (SDS). Remote patient monitoring (RPM) has the potential to increase safety and confidence in SDS but has had mixed success in a bariatric population. OBJECTIVES: Assess the feasibility of and adherence to a protocol offering patients same-day laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (SG) supported by RPM with an updated wearable device. Secondary outcomes were readmissions, costs, adherence, and clinical alarm rates. SETTING: Academic, military tertiary referral center (United States). METHODS: A single-center, retrospective case control study of patients undergoing SG, comparing SDS with RPM to patients admitted to the hospital for SG during this time. Patients for SDS were selected by set inclusion/exclusion criteria and patient/surgeon preference, and perioperative management was standardized. RESULTS: Twenty patients were enrolled in the SDS group, then compared with 53 inpatients. Inpatients were older (46 versus 39, P = .006), but with no significant differences in sex, preoperative body mass index, or co-morbidities. RPM wearable and blood pressure adherence was found to be 97% and 80%, respectively. Readmission rates were similar (10% versus 7.5%, P > .05). RPM alarm rates were .5 (0-1.3) per patient for each 24-hour home monitoring period. SDS patients also demonstrated the potential for cost savings over inpatient SG, depending on the number of patients monitored per day as well as the healthcare setting. CONCLUSIONS: SG as SDS with RPM was a feasible approach. It should be evaluated in other surgical procedures and higher-risk patient populations.

THE ROLE OF HOUSEHOLD SENTIMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS: EVIDENCE FROM THE SPECIAL SURVEY OF ITALIAN HOUSEHOLDS

We study the role played by household expectations on own economic prospects and sentiments on general economic conditions in shaping their actual and planned consumption behavior. Using data from the Special Survey of Italian Households collected by the Banca d'Italia, we implement a latent class analysis to cluster households into homogeneous groups based on their sentiments. Then, we study the relation between these clusters and household expectations with consumption and saving behavior. Our results show that sentiments and expectations are not statistically related to shopping behavior during the pandemic. On the other hand, they are significant determinants of consumption plans and expected savings. In particular, pessimistic households are more likely to plan a reduction in consumption in the near future;nonetheless, they are less likely to expect positive savings in the 12-month period following the interview. The share of pessimistic households decreases throughout 2021, and if we impute consumption expenditure levels from an external source we find that the share of aggregate consumption of pessimistic households is low. Overall, our results suggest that this group of households may play a limited role in affecting the overall economic situation in the future. © SOCIETÀ EDITRICE IL MULINO.

OPTIMIZED HVAC AIR DISTRIBUTION FOR IMPROVED AIR QUALITY USING CFD ANALYSIS

The energy consumption of Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems accounts for a large proportion of global energy usage so even a small percentage of energy savings in these systems will account for important absolute value savings. One such saving can be realized by better designs as well as optimizing existing air distribution system. The indoor air quality (IAQ) is also greatly impacted by the air distribution system. In this work, the task of optimizing both the placement and the design of diffusers is investigated so acceptable Air Changes per Hour (ACH) numbers are attained with less energy consumption and good thermal comfort. The ANSYS Fluent software was used to optimize the design and placement of a newly developed diffuser. The proposed air distribution system is design to produce conditions like what one would experience while standing outside in a small breeze while experiencing perfect weather (room temperature, uniform air temperature distribution, air speed less than 2 m/s) [1]). This work is an extension of a previous study where a new diffuser design was proposed, which takes advantage of the Coanda effect [2]. The numerical analysis includes realistic models of a 9 × 9 × 3 m (width × length × height) classroom, which is occupied by students and a teacher. To be more realistic, it includes furniture, a door and windows. The simulated Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system complies with ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) standards for acceptable air quality. This investigation proposes a template on how anyone can optimize the location and placement of the air diffusers while achieving both thermal comfort and good IAQ. While this work was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic this is foreseen to be an important ongoing issue and could lead to future advances in HAVC system that improve IAQ and produce better thermal comfort with improved energy savings. Copyright © 2022 by ASME.

First Look at the Secure Act 2.0 of 2022: Certified Public Accountant

Employers may now hand out de minimis financial incentives (e.g., a small cash payment or gift card) that are not paid for with plan assets in order to encourage employees to contribute to their plan. Secure Act 2.0 provides a safe harbor from the minimum distribution rule for employers offering a qualified longevity annuity contract, into which a participant may allocate up to $200,000 from their account to make guaranteed payments at the end of an individual's life expectancy. [...]plan sponsors that want to offer catch-up contributions to participants whose earnings exceed $145,000 must offer Roth catch-up contributions. [...]plan sponsors may treat qualified student loan repayments as employee elective deferrals for purposes of matching contributions in a retirement plan.

Segmenting with big data analytics and Python: A quantitative exploratory analysis of household savings

According to the national balance sheets of the most advanced economies, despite a recent sharp decline in per capita net wealth, Italian private households present a higher rate among the wealthiest and least indebted in Europe. Recently, the COVID-19 outbreak caused a new leap in households' savings worldwide, particularly in advanced economies and Italy. This study underlines that using advanced analytics tools, household saving behaviour information, and big data analytics may support data-driven decision approaches addressing the management of complex relationships in the financial arena. More specifically, using exploratory and predictive analyses based on big data analytics and machine learning, this study aims to provide extensive customer profiling in the household saving sector in Italy, supporting a data-driven decision-making approach. A profiling of household savings has been defined using the information provided by big data analysis. To proceed in this direction, the hardware and software requirements necessary to perform data processing were considered in the first phase of the study. Data collection was performed according to the so-called extract, transform, load (ETL) process. The contribution of this study lies in the results obtained in terms of data analytics over a dataset that accounts for the purchasing behaviour of almost 20 million postal savers. The clustering algorithm is highly efficient and scales well for large datasets. K-means clustering can be implemented within the MapReduce computational framework. Therefore, the overall procedure proposed here can be easily extended to big data using parallel computing and software implementing MapReduce, such as Hadoop and Spark. © 2023 Elsevier Inc.

Community diagnostic centres: what, where and why?

The British Journal of Healthcare Management's editor discusses the potential benefits of community diagnostic centres for patients and the wider NHS, along with key considerations to drive this model forward.