Résumé
The SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants and COVID-19 disease have affected every aspect of society. The US National Academy of Sciences has been providing scientific insights and advice to aid policymakers and researchers in their quest to respond to the pandemic. Since 2020, it has produced numerous reports and workshop proceedings intended to integrate science into national preparedness and response decision-making, to explore lessons learned and best practices from previous preparedness and response efforts, and to consider strategies for addressing misinformation (NASEM, 2021). Among these was a 2021 symposium series that analyzed engineering's role in catalyzing COVID-19 response, recovery, and resilience, examining topics including the mitigation of exposure in public transit systems, engineering solutions to managing pathogens indoors, and the factors influence the transmission of infectious diseases in cities. Speaker presentations addressing these indoor environment topics are summarized here. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.
Résumé
As the operation of buildings accounts for around 30% of global CO2 emissions, reducing their energy consumption is considered crucial for climate change mitigation. Aware of this significance, the sustainable HCI (SHCI) community has conducted research on energy consumption for over 15 years. However, compared with domestic environments, commercial organisations are comprised of complex mixed-use buildings, and the socio-technical understanding of space and resulting energy use are relatively under-explored. In this late-breaking work, we present the initial findings of a longitudinal analysis that uses building energy data from a period covering the COVID-19 lockdown measures to help identify the energy associated with these buildings and their users. Viewing the pandemic as a unique, grand-scale 'energy intervention', the resulting consumption patterns are used to inform questions about leverage points for achieving change, stakeholder agency vs. infrastructure demand;and highlight the importance of putting energy data in context. © 2023 Owner/Author.
Résumé
During the COVID-19 pandemic, essential workers such as waste collection crews continued to provide services in the UK, but due to their small size, maintaining social distancing inside waste collection vehicle cabins is impossible. Ventilation in cabins of 11 vehicles operating in London was assessed by measuring air supply flow rates and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the driver's cabin, a proxy for exhaled breath. The indoor CO2 indicated that air quality in the cabins was mostly good throughout a working day. However, short episodes of high CO2 levels above 1500 ppm did occur, mainly at the beginning of a shift when driving towards the start of their collection routes. This data indicated that the ventilation systems on the vehicles were primarily recirculating air and the fresh air supply made up only 10-20 % of the total airflow. Following recommendations to partly open windows during shifts and to maintain ventilation systems, a second monitoring campaign was carried out, finding on average, an improvement in ventilation on board the vehicles. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.
Résumé
This book focuses on understanding biomimetic architecture and its role as a sustainable design tool. It presents the role of biomimicry in mitigation and adaptation to climate change and examines how biomimetic architecture can provide healthy solutions to limit the spread of COVID-19 in buildings and cities. Coverage includes global examples of biomimetic approaches and buildings, an evaluation of the performance of biomimicry applications in architecture to illustrate best practices, and an exploration of how nature can offer inspiration in building design to conserve resources and save energy use as well as curb carbon emissions - a reaffirmed goal of COP 26 and an outcome of Glasgow Climate Pact. Finally, the book presents guidelines to enhance urban areas and healthier spaces in buildings to meet COVID-19 social distance regulations and beyond. • Examines global applications of biomimicry in architecture;• Highlights the importance of biomimicry in driving livability in cities and buildings;• Explores the role of biomimetic architecture in mitigating climate change. "The line of argument developed is highly relevant to the present, in addition to being original and pertinent to research on urban regeneration, especially in regard to the exploration of the use of biomimicry architecture in response to changing urban demands.” -Alessandra Battisti, Ph.D., Professor of Architecture, University of Rome La Sapienza. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
Résumé
Following the success of 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2021 International Conference on Science & Technology Applications in Climate Change (STACLIM), the Institute of Climate Change (IPI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) is proud to extend our promotion of research and education for the advancement of climate change studies. The 2022 International Conference on Science & Technology Applications in Climate Change (STACLIM 2022) with the theme "Climate change mitigation action through the lens of science and technology” is the fifth in the series of conferences organized by IPI. This year the conference was carried out in virtual form through the Webex platform (29 – 30 November 2022) due to the COVID-19 travel restriction. Through the virtual form, the science community is able to share their research findings in time.The aim of this conference is to bring together researchers in fields of Environmental Science, Health Sustainability, Mathematics, Sustainable Energy, Economic Sustainability, Socio-Cultural Studies, Social Science, Atmospheric Science, and related fields, to present their research findings as well as create new opportunities for future research collaborations. This event is envisaged to witness active participation from various eminent environmental and earth scientists, engineers and students from academia, industry and government sectors for addressing complications associated with climate change and to draw forth novel and ground-breaking initiatives and solutions for climate resilience.The plenary sessions in the main room were opened by two keynote speeches from leading experts including Prof. Dr. Lisa Stein from University of Alberta, Canada on "Microbial Solutions to Mitigating Climate Change”, Prof. Dr. Haruko Kurihara from University of Ryukyus, Japan, on "Ocean acidification impacts on marine ecosystem and its potential mitigation solutions”. As the keynote session was open for public registration, we had participants joining the event. It was then followed by the invited speaker sessions consisting of Prof. Dr. Fredolin Tangang (UKM), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rawshan Ara Begum (Macquarie University, Australia), Dr. Shantanu Kumar Pani (National Central University, Taiwan) and Mr. Saud Aldrees (University of Oxford, England). The program was then continued with oral presentation of 72 papers in 3 parallel breakout rooms. Each presenter was given up to 15 mins for presentation and Q&A sessions. There were additional 13 non-presenters who joined in during the presentation session. Presenters and participants have attended the conference from their respective countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, USA, China, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Algeria, India, and Ukraine.The conference went well with great support and synergy of the staff and personnel from Institute of Climate Change, UKM. To document and promulgate the research findings and ideas shared, we are very pleased to publish the accepted research papers of STACLIM 2022 in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (EES).The EditorsList of Organizing Committee is available in this Pdf.
Résumé
This study contributes to a better understanding of the airborne transmission risks in multizone, mechanically ventilated buildings and how to reduce infection risk. A novel modeling approach combining the Wells-Riley and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) CONTAM models was applied to a multizone whole building to simulate exposure and assess the effectiveness of different mitigation measures. A case study for the US Department of Energy large office prototype building was conducted to illustrate the approach. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.
Résumé
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on MSMEs, especially in the food and beverage sector, creative industries and agriculture, both in terms of sales, financing, distribution of goods and the difficulty of raw materials. In 2019, the Creative Economy Agency established Denpasar City (the capital city of Bali Province) as one of ten Creative Regencies/Cities in Indonesia with the leading sub-sector of fashion. The development of the leading fashion sub-sector in Denpasar City is certainly inseparable from the role of MSMEs in the fashion sector, where MSME fashion in Denpasar City is the largest compared to other sectors. The purpose of this study was to analyze the mitigation strategy of fashion SMEs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This research is exploratory research, where data is collected through FGD instruments. Furthermore, the collected data is analyzed using prospective analysis techniques with MULTIPOL tools that can help develop a policy path based on scenarios, policies, criteria, and actions. The scenario of fashion SMEs in Bali is divided into ethnic fashion SMEs and non-ethnic fashion SMEs. In ethnic fashion SMEs, the superior policy is the policy of strengthening capital, followed by establishing partnerships. use of digital technology, and finally market orientation outside Bali. Meanwhile, for non-ethnic fashion SMEs, what is superior is the policy of establishing partnerships, followed by market orientation policies outside Bali, the use of digital technology and strengthening capital. Online marketing action excels in all policies, followed by product development and forward and backward integration.
Résumé
Resumen Introducción El síndrome post-UCI (PICS, por sus siglas en inglés) es un síndrome que cada vez más cobra importancia debido al creciente número de pacientes sobrevivientes a la enfermedad crítica, fenómeno que se ha visto acentuado especialmente luego de la pandemia del COVID-19. El enfoque de la práctica médica que atiende a estos pacientes debe estar orientado en las mejores intervenciones disponibles para prevenir y rehabilitar las secuelas del PICS. Objetivo Sintetizar la evidencia sobre la eficacia y la efectividad de las estrategias para la prevención y rehabilitación del PICS en pacientes adultos. Métodos Revisión de revisiones sistemáticas (CRD42022321610). Se buscaron en PubMed, Scopus, Ovid (Cochrane) y LILACS las revisiones sistemáticas que evaluaran cualquier intervención para prevenir o rehabilitar el PICS y su efecto en algunas de las esferas del PICS (es decir, desenlaces mentales, cognitivos o físicos). Resultados Se incluyeron 20 estudios, 10 catalogados como de baja y muy baja calidad metodológica, por lo que no se incluyeron en la síntesis de resultados. Las terapias a nivel de las esferas mental y cognitiva parecen tener un efecto benéfico, pero con evidencia limitada. Las intervenciones analizadas en la esfera física son muy heterogéneas y tienen resultados contradictorios, igualmente con calidad de evidencia muy limitada. Conclusiones Teniendo en cuenta las revisiones sistemáticas incluidas en este trabajo, esta investigación permite concluir que hay información de baja calidad y contradictoria sobre la eficacia de las intervenciones para la prevención o rehabilitación del PICS. La práctica futura debe centrarse en desarrollar estudios de alta calidad. Introduction Post-ICU syndrome (PICS) is a syndrome that is becoming increasingly important due to the growing number of patients surviving critical illness, a phenomenon that has been accentuated especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of the medical practice that cares for these patients should be oriented toward the best available interventions to prevent and rehabilitate the sequelae of PICS. Objective To synthesize the evidence on the efficacy and effectiveness of strategies for preventing and rehabilitating PICS in adult patients. Methods Umbrella review (CRD42022321610). PubMed, Scopus, Ovid (Cochrane), and LILACS were searched for systematic reviews evaluating any intervention to prevent or rehabilitate PICS and its effect on any of the PICS domain(s) (i.e., mental, cognitive, or physical outcomes). Results 20 studies were included, and 10were classified as of low or very-low methodological quality, so they were not included in the summary of results. Therapies at the mental and cognitive levels seem to have a beneficial effect but with limited evidence. The interventions analyzed in the physical sphere are very heterogeneous and have contradictory results, with little quality of evidence. Conclusions Considering the systematic reviews included in this work, this research allows us to conclude that there is low-quality and contradictory information on the efficacy of interventions for the prevention or rehabilitation of PICS. Future practice should focus on developing high- quality studies.
Résumé
This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using low-cost solutions to monitor and mitigate PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations in nursery and primary schools in Porto (Portugal). Three periods were considered: i) early 2020 (before COVID-19 pandemic), ii) early 2021 (during COVID-19 pandemic, with mitigation measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 spread);and iii) in the middle of 2021 (additionally using a low-cost portable air cleaner). PM2.5 and PM10 were continuously monitored with a low-cost sensing device for at least two consecutive days in five classrooms. In general, the lowest PM concentrations were observed in the third period. Concentrations reduced up to 63% from the second to the third period. The application of low-cost solutions for monitoring and mitigating PM levels seems to be an effective tool for managing indoor air in schools. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.
Résumé
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for effective ventilation control in public buildings. This study develops and evaluates a smart ventilation control algorithm (SIREN) that dynamically adjusts zone and system-level HVAC operation to maintain an acceptable COVID-19 infection risk and HVAC energy efficiency. SIREN uses real-time building operation data and Trim & Respond control logic to determine zone primary and system outdoor airflow rates. An EnergyPlus and CONTAM co-simulation framework was developed to assess its performance across various control scenarios and US climate zones. Results show that SIREN can flexibly control infection risk within a customized threshold (e.g. 3%) for every zone, while traditional controls cannot. At the building level, SIREN's HVAC energy consumption is comparable to a fixed 70% outdoor airflow fraction scenario, while its infection risk is lower than the 100% outdoor airflow scenario, illustrating its potential for safe and energy-efficient HVAC operation during pandemics.
Résumé
The aim of this article was to use an interpretivist approach to analyse the state–citizen nexus in general and the conflict between civil and social rights imposing restrictions on people's freedom of movement during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Nordic countries: Sweden (restrictions were voluntary and relied on nudging and individual implementation), Norway (restrictions of movement were for everyone and was enforced by authorities), and Finland (restrictions of movement were for the capital region and was enforced by authorities). Sweden focused more on upholding the civil rights vis-à-vis social rights whereas in Norway and Finland social rights have trumped civil rights in the face of the pandemic. Thus, the analysis suggests that the Nordic countries cannot be understood as monoliths in all respects. The article thereby contributes to a greater understanding of how the Nordic governments prioritise civil and social rights differently when they are forced to choose.
Résumé
Urbanization of coastal areas worldwide has increased due to an increase in the global population. The production of sustainable aquaculture is greatly impacted by a surge of this urbanization. In certain countries, particularly for individuals with more limited space in metropolitan areas, such as along Johor's coastal area, aquaculture might well be a good strategy to maintain food availability (continuous production plus high-quality meals). Consequently, the adoption of aquaculture along the Johor's coastal area has lead to Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB). This paper examines the evolution of the aquaculture industry of Malaysian Johor coastal areas in relation to HABs. In addition to HABs, the aforementioned metropolitan regions confront diverse economic and geographical obstacles when attempting to increase their aquaculture production sustainably. Those problems are therefore addressed using a variety of operations as well as surveillance techniques in this brief overview. Lockdowns and border prohibitions caused by the continuous COVID-19 infection have had a global impact. These logistical difficulties in the seafood industry have increased dependency on imported supplies. It is suggested that international decision- making, supervision, and knowledge exchange can successfully solve the challenges urbanized areas have in ensuring sustainable food security through the evolution within the aquaculture sector.
Résumé
Intro: The outbreak of COVID-19 has affected global mobility through various travel disruptions and restrictions. In lieu of the increased cases globally and variants of concerns escaping immunity, the government of Pakistan as an immediate response and as part of a risk mitigation strategy implemented a revised inbound passenger policy to filter the importation of virus through on arrival Rapid antigen Testing (RAT) on all the operational Airports from 5th May 2021. This study was done to analyze the effectiveness of the RAT testing at the points of entry (airports) across Pakistan. Method(s): A cross-sectional study was conducted and 1700 RAT positive cases were enrolled from 5 th May 2021 to 5 th November 2021 on all operational eight airports. RAT-positive nasopharyngeal samples were confirmed by Real-Time PCR for SARS-CoV-2. Finding(s): Out of the total l700 RAT positive cases enrolled in this study, the prevalence of SARS CoV-2 among inbound passengers during the period from 5 th May-5 th November 2021 was 0.3%. Among selected subjects, 72% were males, 26 % were females and 2% were children. The mean age was 45+/-10.6 years (range 6-65). The RT PCR analysis was reactive for SARS-CoV-2 in 95% of the cases. All the confirmed cases were shifted to state-maintained quarantine facilities as per policy. Conclusion(s): There is a dire need for rapid SARS COV 2 diagnostics in a limited time frame. In resource- limited countries like Pakistan RAT kits can serve as an effective tool for disease mapping as part of a comprehensive mitigation strategy and surveillance of the entry points for the filtration of imported cases to prevent further disease spread.Copyright © 2023
Résumé
When the Covid-19 pandemic began, music therapists moved quickly to adapt services across many clinical settings. Many music therapists shifted their service delivery model to telepractice. Music therapists also worked to adapt in-person services to integrate the emerging risk mitigation strategies required or recommended by various public health bodies and healthcare organizations. When public health circumstances are changing rapidly, how do music therapists make decisions regarding service delivery and risk mitigation, while balancing the requirements of public health directives and organization policies? Considering evidence-based practice and ethical thinking, we propose a risk mitigation decision-making model for providing clinical music therapy services during the Covid-19 pandemic. We consider the intersection of public health guidelines and orders, service delivery options (i.e. telepractice), and risk mitigation strategies for in-person services. Case studies follow, as well as discussion of how to use this model in future public health crises.
Résumé
The World Health Organization (WHO) officially announced COVID-19 as a global pandemic in March 2020 which in effect transformed the society, economy, the politics and indeed our everyday life. Such a transformation of power geometries across all manner of spaces and their geographies disrupted the finite balance and wellbeing and continues to displace norms of equanimity, sanity, and hope amidst the catalogue of errors, blunders and inactivity. In India the first COVID-19 case was registered on January 30, 2020. The response of 29 States and 7 Union Territories of India has varied depending on their health, community, law and order and legislative infrastructure. This chapter will attempt to situate an analysis of coronavirus pandemic within the demographic transition framework of India. We examine the critical role of civil societies across the states, divergence of policies and practices relating to social distancing, contact tracing, and differential Public Health Agency infrastructures in operation across the States of India. What began as a stigma, followed by populist rhetoric quickly faded into intense struggle for survival even as oxygen, essential medicines and of course hospital beds became a premium in the most affluent parts of any given city. The grim reaper became a great leveller cutting across socially constructed boundaries of class, gender, age, caste and religion. The management of this pandemic and the established protocols for treatment remain tentative even as we learn lessons from yet another mutant strain. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
Résumé
This article provides an initial assessment of the many risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic on the conduct of genuine and transparent elections in Manipur. It begins with explaining why elections are a vital part of democracy and then using the notion of the electoral cycle, constructs a risk matrix that assesses the relative impact and likelihood of risks to the cycle, as well as proposes a number of potential mitigations to these risks. The root cause of the by-elections in Manipur is to be the election of the Rajya Sabha which held on June 19, 2020 by indulging in cross voting in favour of BJP candidate. There is a clear that the rise of Covid-19 cases be increased during the democratic process of by-elections such as, mass rallies, congregation etc. without maintaining SOPs. The number of elections dimensions of the electoral cycle that can be disrupted and the need for solution raises significant questions about the future of democracy itself.Copyright © 2020 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.
Résumé
The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in northern Taiwan led to the implementation of Level 3 alert measures during 2021 and thereby impacted the air quality significantly, which provided an unprecedented opportunity to better understand the control strategies on air pollutants in the future. This study investigated the variations in sources, chemical characteristics and human health risks of PM2.5 comprehensively. The PM2.5 mass concentrations decreased from pre-alert to Level 3 alert by 49.4%, and the inorganic ions, i.e., NH4+, NO3- and SO42-, dropped even more by 71%, 90% and 52%, respectively. Nonetheless, organic matter (OM) and elemental carbon (EC) simply decreased by 36% and 13%, which caused the chemical composition of PM2.5 to change so that the carbonaceous matter in PM2.5 dominated instead of the inorganic ions. Correlation-based hierarchical clustering analysis further showed that PM2.5 was clustered with carbonaceous matter during the Level 3 alert, while that clustered with inorganic ions during both pre-alert and post-alert periods. Moreover, 6 sources of PM2.5 were identified by positive matrix factorization (PMF), in which secondary nitrate (i.e., aging traffic aerosols) exhibited the most significant decrease and yet primary traffic-related emissions, dominated by carbonaceous matter, changed insignificantly. This implied that secondary traffic-related aerosols could be easily controlled when traffic volume declined, while primary traffic source needs more efforts in the future, especially for the reduction of carbonaceous matter. Therefore, cleaner energy for vehicles is still needed. Assessments of both carcinogenic risk and non-carcinogenic risk induced by the trace elements in PM2.5 showed insignificant decrease, which can be attributed to the factories that did not shut down during Level 3 alert. This study serves as a metric to underpin the mitigation strategies of air pollution in the future and highlights the importance of carbonaceous matter for the reduction in PM2.5.
Résumé
Catastrophic disruptions in care delivery threaten operational efficiency and potentially the validity of clinical research efforts, particularly randomized clinical trials. Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic affected essentially all aspects of care delivery and clinical research conduct. While consensus statements and clinical guidance documents have detailed potential mitigation measures, few real-world experiences of cardiovascular clinical trial adaptations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic exist, particularly among, large, global registrational trials. We outline the operational impact of COVID-19 and resultant mitigation measures in the Dapagliflozin Evaluation to Improve the LIVEs of Patients with Preserved Ejection Fraction Heart Failure (DELIVER) trial, one of the largest and most globally diverse experiences with COVID-19 of any cardiovascular clinical trial to date. Specifically, we address the needed coordination between academic investigators, trial leadership, clinical sites, and the supporting sponsor to ensure the safety of participants and trial staff, to maintain the fidelity of trial operations, and to prospectively adapt statistical analyses plans to understand impact of COVID-19 and the pandemic at large on trial participants. These discussions include key operational issues including ensuring delivery of study medications, adaptations to study visits, enhanced COVID-19 related endpoint adjudication, and protocol and analytical plan revisions. These findings may have important implications for establishing consensus on prospective contingency planning in future clinical trials.