scholarly journals Using an Internet of Behaviours to Study How Air Pollution Can Affect People’s Activities of Daily Living: A Case Study of Beijing, China

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (16) ◽  
pp. 5569
Author(s):  
Guangyuan Zhang ◽  
Stefan Poslad ◽  
Xiaoping Rui ◽  
Guangxia Yu ◽  
Yonglei Fan ◽  
...  

This study aims to quantitatively model rather than to presuppose whether or not air pollution in Beijing (China) affects people’s activities of daily living (ADLs) based on an Internet of Behaviours (IoB), in which IoT sensor data can signal environmental events that can change human behaviour on mass. Peoples’ density distribution computed by call detail records (CDRs) and air quality data are used to build a fixed effect model (FEM) to analyse the influence of air pollution on four types of ADLs. The following four effects are discovered: Air pollution negatively impacts people going sightseeing in the afternoon; has a positive impact on people staying-in, in the morning and the middle of the day. Air pollution lowers people’s desire to go to restaurants for lunch, but far less so in the evening. As air quality worsens, people tend to decrease their walking and cycling and tend to travel more by bus or subway. We also find a monotonically decreasing nonlinear relationship between air quality index and the average CDR-based distance for each person of two citizen groups that go walking or cycling. Our key and novel contributions are that we first define IoB as a ubiquitous concept. Based on this, we propose a methodology to better understand the link between bad air pollution events and citizens’ activities of daily life. We applied this methodology in the first comprehensive study that provides quantitative evidence of the actual effect, not the presumed effect, that air pollution can significantly affect a wide range of citizens’ activities of daily living.

2021 ◽  
pp. 71-71
Author(s):  
Caner Taniş ◽  
Kadir Karakaya

Background/aim: Air pollution is having a positive impact on the spread of the SARS-COV-2 virus. The effects of meteorological parameters on the spread of SARS-COV-2 are a matter of curiosity. The main purpose of this paper is to determine the association between air quality indexes (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, CO, and O3) and weather parameters (temperature, humidity, pressure, dew, wind speed) with the number of SARS-COV-2 cases, hospitalizations, hospital discharges. In this paper, we also focused on determining the impact of air pollution and weather parameters on the number of daily hospitalizations and daily discharges. Materials and methods: It is gleaned daily cases, hospitalizations, hospital discharges, meteorological, and air quality data in Istanbul from Turkey between July 15, 2020, and September 30, 2020. We performed the Pearson correlation analysis to evaluate the effects of meteorological parameters and air quality indexes on the variables related to SARS-COV-2. Results: It is determined a statistically significant positive relationship between air quality indexes such as CO, SO2, PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and the number of daily confirmed SARS-COV-2 cases. We also observed a negative association between weather parameters such as temperature and pressure and the number of daily confirmed SARS-COV-2 cases. Conclusion: Our study proposes that high air quality could reduce the number of SARS-COV-2 cases. The empirical findings of this paper might provide key input to prevent the spread of SARS-COV-2 across Turkey.


Author(s):  
Anbu Clemensis Johnson

<p>Air pollution is a worldwide problem affecting not only the source location, but the globe as a whole. The current study aims to analyse the standard six air pollutants and air quality index (AQI) in Beijing, China. Air quality data was collected from 2014 to 2020 for temporal analysis. The average maximum values of the air pollutants and AQI during the period analysed were, PM2.5: 74.4 µg/m3, PM10: 107.3 µg/m3, SO2: 20.7 µg/m3, CO: 1.5 mg/m3, NO2: 56.3 µg/m3, O3: 173.1 µg/m3 and AQI: 118. Maximum and minimum values of the primary pollutants occurred predominantly during winter and summer months, while O3 exhibited an opposite trend. All air pollutants and AQI declined over the years. Significant reduction of over 50 % was archived for PM2.5, PM10, SO2, CO and less than 5 % for O3. The air pollution trend in Beijing has shown substantial improvement. In 2020, all air pollutants except PM2.5 achieved the national ambient air quality standard. This realisation can be credited to the effective policies implemented by the Chinese government.</p>


Author(s):  
Shwet Ketu ◽  
Pramod Kumar Mishra

AbstractIn the last decade, we have seen drastic changes in the air pollution level, which has become a critical environmental issue. It should be handled carefully towards making the solutions for proficient healthcare. Reducing the impact of air pollution on human health is possible only if the data is correctly classified. In numerous classification problems, we are facing the class imbalance issue. Learning from imbalanced data is always a challenging task for researchers, and from time to time, possible solutions have been developed by researchers. In this paper, we are focused on dealing with the imbalanced class distribution in a way that the classification algorithm will not compromise its performance. The proposed algorithm is based on the concept of the adjusting kernel scaling (AKS) method to deal with the multi-class imbalanced dataset. The kernel function's selection has been evaluated with the help of weighting criteria and the chi-square test. All the experimental evaluation has been performed on sensor-based Indian Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) dataset. The proposed algorithm with the highest accuracy of 99.66% wins the race among all the classification algorithms i.e. Adaboost (59.72%), Multi-Layer Perceptron (95.71%), GaussianNB (80.87%), and SVM (96.92). The results of the proposed algorithm are also better than the existing literature methods. It is also clear from these results that our proposed algorithm is efficient for dealing with class imbalance problems along with enhanced performance. Thus, accurate classification of air quality through our proposed algorithm will be useful for improving the existing preventive policies and will also help in enhancing the capabilities of effective emergency response in the worst pollution situation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Westervelt ◽  
Celeste McFarlane ◽  
Faye McNeill ◽  
R (Subu) Subramanian ◽  
Mike Giordano ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;There is a severe lack of air pollution data around the world. This includes large portions of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as rural areas of wealthier nations as monitors tend to be located in large metropolises. Low cost sensors (LCS) for measuring air pollution and identifying sources offer a possible path forward to remedy the lack of data, though significant knowledge gaps and caveats remain regarding the accurate application and interpretation of such devices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Clean Air Monitoring and Solutions Network (CAMS-Net) establishes an international network of networks that unites scientists, decision-makers, city administrators, citizen groups, the private sector, and other local stakeholders in co-developing new methods and best practices for real-time air quality data collection, data sharing, and solutions for air quality improvements. CAMS-Net brings together at least 32 multidisciplinary member networks from North America, Europe, Africa, and India. The project establishes a mechanism for international collaboration, builds technical capacity, shares knowledge, and trains the next generation of air quality practitioners and advocates, including domestic and international graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here we present some preliminary research accelerated through the CAMS-Net project. Specifically, we present LCS calibration methodology for several co-locations in LMICs (Accra, Ghana; Kampala, Uganda; Nairobi, Kenya; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Kolkata, India), in which reference BAM-1020 PM2.5 monitors were placed side-by-side with LCS. We demonstrate that both simple multiple linear regression calibration methods for bias-correcting LCS and more complex machine learning methods can reduce bias in LCS to close to zero, while increasing correlation. For example, in Kampala, Raw PurpleAir PM2.5 data are strongly correlated with the BAM-1020 PM2.5 (r&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; = 0.88), but have a mean bias of approximately 12 &amp;#956;g m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt;. Two calibration models, multiple linear regression and a random forest approach, decrease mean bias from 12 &amp;#956;g m&lt;sup&gt;-3 &lt;/sup&gt;to -1.84 &amp;#181;g m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt; or less and improve the the r&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; from 0.88 to 0.96. We find similar performance in several other regions of the world. Location-specific calibration of low-cost sensors is necessary in order to obtain useful data, since sensor performance is closely tied to environmental conditions such as relative humidity. This work is a first step towards developing a database of region-specific correction factors for low cost sensors, which are exploding in popularity globally and have the potential to close the air pollution data gap especially in resource-limited countries.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;


Environments ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 114
Author(s):  
Jiří Bílek ◽  
Ondřej Bílek ◽  
Petr Maršolek ◽  
Pavel Buček

Sensor technology is attractive to the public due to its availability and ease of use. However, its usage raises numerous questions. The general trustworthiness of sensor data is widely discussed, especially with regard to accuracy, precision, and long-term signal stability. The VSB-Technical University of Ostrava has operated an air quality sensor network for more than two years, and its large sets of valid results can help in understanding the limitations of sensory measurement. Monitoring is focused on the concentrations of dust particles, NO2, and ozone to verify the impact of newly planted greenery on the reduction in air pollution. The sensor network currently covers an open field on the outskirts of Ostrava, between Liberty Ironworks and the nearby ISKO1650 monitoring station, where some of the worst air pollution levels in the Czech Republic are regularly measured. In the future, trees should be allowed to grow over the sensors, enabling assessment of the green barrier effect on air pollution. As expected, the service life of the sensors varies from 1 to 3 years; therefore, checks are necessary both prior to the measurement and regularly during operation, verifying output stability and overall performance. Results of the PMx sensory measurements correlated well with the reference method. Concentration values measured by NO2 sensors correlated poorly with the reference method, although timeline plots of concentration changes were in accordance. We suggest that a comparison of timelines should be used for air quality evaluations, rather than particular values. The results showed that the sensor measurements are not yet suitable to replace the reference methods, and dense sensor networks proved useful and robust tools for indicative air quality measurements (AQM).


Author(s):  
Pedro Lucas ◽  
Jorge Silva ◽  
Filipe Araujo ◽  
Catarina Silva ◽  
Paulo Gil ◽  
...  

With the raising of environmental concerns regarding pollution, interest in monitoring air quality is increasing. However, air pollution data is mostly originated from a limited number of government-owned sensors, which can only capture a small fraction of reality. Improving air quality coverage in-volves reducing the cost of sensors and making data widely available to the public. To this end, the NanoSen-AQM project proposes the usage of low-cost nano-sensors as the basis for an air quality monitoring platform, capa-ble of collecting, aggregating, processing, storing, and displaying air quality data. Being an end-to-end system, the platform allows sensor owners to manage their sensors, as well as define calibration functions, that can im-prove data reliability. The public can visualize sensor data in a map, define specific clusters (groups of sensors) as favorites and set alerts in the event of bad air quality in certain sensors. The NanoSen-AQM platform provides easy access to air quality data, with the aim of improving public health.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivo Suter ◽  
Lukas Emmenegger ◽  
Dominik Brunner

&lt;p&gt;Reducing air pollution, which is the world's largest single environmental health risk, demands better-informed air quality policies. Consequently, multi-scale air quality models are being developed with the goal to resolve cities. One of the major challenges in such model systems is to accurately represent all large- and regional-scale processes that may critically determine the background concentration levels over a given city. This is particularly true for longer-lived species such as aerosols, for which background levels often dominate the concentration levels, even within the city. Furthermore, the heterogeneous local emissions, and complex dispersion in the city have to be considered carefully.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this study, the impact of processes across a wide range of scales on background concentrations over Switzerland and the city of Zurich was modelled by performing one year of nested European and Swiss national COSMO-ART simulations to obtain adequate boundary conditions for gas-phase chemical, aerosol and meteorological conditions for city-resolving simulations. The regional climate chemistry model COSMO-ART (Vogel et al. 2009) was used in a 1-way coupled mode. The outer, European, domain, which was driven by chemical boundary conditions from the global MOZART model, had a 6.6 km horizontal resolution and the inner, Swiss, domain one of 2.2 km. For the city scale, a catalogue of more than 1000 mesoscale flow patterns with 100 m resolution was created with the model GRAMM, based on a discrete set of atmospheric stabilities, wind speeds and directions, accounting for the influence of land-use and topography. Finally, the flow around buildings was solved with the CFD model GRAL forced at the boundaries by GRAMM. Subsequently, Lagrangian dispersion simulations for a set of air pollutants and emission sectors (traffic, industry, ...) based on extremely detailed building and emission data was performed in GRAL. The result of this nested procedure is a library of 3-dimensional air pollution maps representative of hourly situations in Zurich (Berchet et al. 2017). From these pre-computed situations, time-series and concentration maps can be obtained by selecting situations according to observed or modelled meteorological conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The results were compared to measurements from air quality monitoring network stations. Modelled concentrations of NO&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt; and PM compared well to measurements across multiple locations, provided background conditions were considered carefully. The nested multi-scale modelling system COSMO-ART/GRAMM/GRAL can adequately reproduce local air quality and help understanding the relative contributions of local versus distant emissions, as well as fill the space between precise point measurements from monitoring sites. This information is useful for research, policy-making, and epidemiological studies particularly under the assumption that exceedingly high concentrations become more and more localised phenomenon in the future.&lt;/p&gt;


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 232596712091044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashim Gupta ◽  
Ajish S.R. Potty ◽  
Deepak Ganta ◽  
R. Justin Mistovich ◽  
Sreeram Penna ◽  
...  

Background: Functional outcome scores provide valuable data, yet they can be burdensome to patients and require significant resources to administer. The Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) is a knee-specific patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) and is validated for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction outcomes. The KOOS requires 42 questions in 5 subscales. We utilized a machine learning (ML) algorithm to determine whether the number of questions and the resultant burden to complete the survey can be lowered in a subset (activities of daily living; ADL) of KOOS, yet still provide identical data. Hypothesis: Fewer questions than the 17 currently provided are actually needed to predict KOOS ADL subscale scores with high accuracy. Study Design: Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 2. Methods: Pre- and postoperative patient-reported KOOS ADL scores were obtained from the Surgical Outcome System (SOS) data registry for patients who had ACL reconstruction. Categorical Boosting (CatBoost) ML models were built to analyze each question and its value in predicting the patient’s actual functional outcome (ie, KOOS ADL score). A streamlined set of minimal essential questions were then identified. Results: The SOS registry contained 6185 patients who underwent ACL reconstruction. A total of 2525 patients between the age of 16 and 50 years had completed KOOS ADL scores presurgically and 3 months postoperatively. The data set consisted of 51.84% male patients and 48.16% female patients, with a mean age of 29 years. The CatBoost model predicted KOOS ADL scores with high accuracy when only 6 questions were asked ( R2 = 0.95), similar to when all 17 questions of the subscale were asked ( R2 = 0.99). Conclusion: ML algorithms successfully identified the essential questions in the KOOS ADL questionnaire. Only 35% (6/17) of KOOS ADL questions (descending stairs, ascending stairs, standing, walking on flat surface, putting on socks/stockings, and getting on/off toilet) are needed to predict KOOS ADL scores with high accuracy after ACL reconstruction. ML can be utilized successfully to streamline the burden of patient data collection. This, in turn, can potentially lead to improved patient reporting, increased compliance, and increased utilization of PROMs while still providing quality data.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630511986765
Author(s):  
Supraja Gurajala ◽  
Suresh Dhaniyala ◽  
Jeanna N. Matthews

Poor air quality is recognized as a major risk factor for human health globally. Critical to addressing this important public-health issue is the effective dissemination of air quality data, information about adverse health effects, and the necessary mitigation measures. However, recent studies have shown that even when public get data on air quality and understand its importance, people do not necessarily take actions to protect their health or exhibit pro-environmental behaviors to address the problem. Most existing studies on public attitude and response to air quality are based on offline studies, with a limited number of survey participants and over a limited number of geographical locations. For a larger survey size and a wider set of locations, we collected Twitter data for a period of nearly 2 years and analyzed these data for three major cities: Paris, London, and New Delhi. We identify the three hashtags in each city that best correlate the frequency of tweets with local air quality. Using tweets with these hashtags, we determined that people’s response to air quality across all three cities was nearly identical when considering relative changes in air pollution. Using machine-learning algorithms, we determined that health concerns dominated public response when air quality degraded, with the strongest increase in concern being in New Delhi, where pollution levels are the highest among the three cities studied. The public call for political solutions when air quality worsens is consistent with similar findings with offline surveys in other cities. We also conducted an unsupervised learning analysis to extract topics from tweets in Delhi and studied their evolution over time and with changing air quality. Our analysis helped extract relevant words or features associated with different air quality–related topics such as air pollution policy and health. Also, the topic modeling analysis revealed niche topics associated with sporadic air quality events, such as fireworks during festivals and the air quality impact on an outdoor sport event. Our approach shows that a tweet-based analysis can enable social scientists to probe and survey public response to events such as air quality in a timely fashion and help policy makers respond appropriately.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ditsuhi Iskandaryan ◽  
Francisco Ramos ◽  
Sergio Trilles

The influence of machine learning technologies is rapidly increasing and penetrating almost in every field, and air pollution prediction is not being excluded from those fields. This paper covers the revision of the studies related to air pollution prediction using machine learning algorithms based on sensor data in the context of smart cities. Using the most popular databases and executing the corresponding filtration, the most relevant papers were selected. After thorough reviewing those papers, the main features were extracted, which served as a base to link and compare them to each other. As a result, we can conclude that: (1) instead of using simple machine learning techniques, currently, the authors apply advanced and sophisticated techniques, (2) China was the leading country in terms of a case study, (3) Particulate matter with diameter equal to 2.5 micrometers was the main prediction target, (4) in 41% of the publications the authors carried out the prediction for the next day, (5) 66% of the studies used data had an hourly rate, (6) 49% of the papers used open data and since 2016 it had a tendency to increase, and (7) for efficient air quality prediction it is important to consider the external factors such as weather conditions, spatial characteristics, and temporal features.


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