scholarly journals Airborne PM Impact on Health, Overview of Variables, and Key Factors to Decision Making in Air Quality

Author(s):  
João Nuno Pinto Miranda Garcia ◽  
Joana Borrega ◽  
Luís M. R. Coelho
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Ahmadian ◽  
Payam Mohseni

Abstract Iran's strategy with respect to Saudi Arabia is a key factor in the complex balance of power of the Middle East as the Iranian–Saudi rivalry impacts the dynamics of peace and conflict across the region from Yemen to Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Bahrain. What is Iranian strategic thinking on Saudi Arabia? And what have been the key factors driving the evolution of Iranian strategy towards the Kingdom? In what marks a substantive shift from its previous detente policy, we argue that Tehran has developed a new containment strategy in response to the perceived threat posed by an increasingly prox-active Saudi Arabia in the post-Arab Spring period. Incorporating rich fieldwork and interviews in the Middle East, this article delineates the theoretical contours of Iranian containment and contextualizes it within the framework of the Persian Gulf security architecture, demonstrating how rational geopolitical decision-making factors based on a containment strategy, rather than the primacy of sectarianism or domestic political orientations, shape Iran's Saudi strategy. Accordingly, the article traces Iranian strategic decision-making towards the Kingdom since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and examines three cases of Iran's current use of containment against Saudi Arabia in Syria, Yemen and Qatar.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1420326X2097583
Author(s):  
Danyang Li ◽  
Kang Zhao ◽  
Jian Ge ◽  
Mengyu Ren

The outdoor physical environments of many old communities are unable to meet modern living requirements and require improvement urgently. This is especially true for communities in regions with extremely hot summers and cold winters, which may cause additional difficulties. This study used measurements and questionnaire data to investigate outdoor environment (the thermal, sound, light environments and air quality) and resident sensations in four such communities. Results revealed some key factors affecting outdoor environmental comfort, including summer shading, winter sunlight, air temperature, air quality, the sound environment and odour. The results also revealed that the main problems were noise, insufficient illumination and high air temperatures in summer, all of which had seriously affected comfort during outdoor activities. Specifically, noise values during the most unfavourable periods were between 57.4 and 80.6 dB(A), while average air temperatures were between 32.3°C and 35.8°C, and average illuminances were below 2.9 lx. As such, this paper proposes improvement measures such as sound barriers and greening. Further, we propose a method for prioritizing these factors for such improvements based on a combination of subjective and objective factors. This study provides data and technical references for the reconstruction of old communities in regions with hot summers and cold winters.


Facilities ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrika Uotila ◽  
Arto Saari ◽  
Juha-Matti Kalevi Junnonen ◽  
Lari Eskola

Purpose Poor indoor air quality in schools is a worldwide challenge that poses health risks to pupils and teachers. A possible response to this problem is to modify ventilation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to pilot a process of generating alternatives for ventilation redesign, in an early project phase, for a school to be refurbished. Here, severe problems in indoor air quality have been found in the school. Design/methodology/approach Ventilation redesign is investigated in a case study of a school, in which four alternative ventilation strategies are generated and evaluated. The analysis is mainly based on the data gathered from project meetings, site visits and the documents provided by ventilation and condition assessment consultants. Findings Four potential strategies to redesign ventilation in the case school are provided for decision-making in refurbishment in the early project phase. Moreover, the research presents several features to be considered when planning the ventilation strategy of an existing school, including the risk of alterations in air pressure through structures; the target number of pupils in classrooms; implementing and operating costs; and the size of the space that ventilation equipment requires. Research limitations/implications As this study focusses on the early project phase, it provides viewpoints to assist decision-making, but the final decision requires still more accurate calculations and simulations. Originality/value This study demonstrates the decision-making process of ventilation redesign of a school with indoor air problems and provides a set of features to be considered. Hence, it may be beneficial for building owners and municipal authorities who are engaged in planning a refurbishment of an existing building.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustafa Andkhoie ◽  
Desneige Meyer ◽  
Michael Szafron

Introduction: The purpose of this research is to gather, collate, and identify key factors commonly studied in localized prostate cancer (LPC) treatment decision-making in Canada and the U.S.Methods: This scoping review uses five databases (Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, and PsycInfo) to identify relevant articles using a list of inclusion and exclusion criteria applied by two reviewers. A list of topics describing the themes of the articles was extracted and key factors were identified using principal component analysis (PCA). A word cloud of titles and abstracts of the relevant articles was created to identify complementary results to the PCA.Results: This review identified 77 relevant articles describing 32 topics related to LPC treatment decision-making. The PCA grouped these 32 topics into five key factors commonly studied in LPC treatment decision-making: 1) treatment type; 2) socioeconomic/demographic characteristics; 3) personal reasons for treatment choice; 4) psychology of treatment decision experience; and 5) level of involvement in the decision-making process. The word cloud identified common phrases that were complementary to the factors identified through the PCA.Conclusions: This research identifies several possible factors impacting LPC treatment decision-making. Further research needs to be completed to determine the impact that these factors have in the LPC treatment decision-making experience.


Author(s):  
Salim Lahmiri

Behavioural research attempts to study how individuals make decisions and interact and influence other individuals, organizations, markets and society. In this regard, applied neuroscience in human decision-making has gained an increasing attention in recent decades with emergence of two disciplines; namely neuroeconomics and neuromarketing. Indeed, neuroeconomics has emerged as a multidisciplinary research area that integrates knowledge from neuroscience, psychology, and economics to better understand economic decision making and to specify more accurate models of choice and decision. In particular, neuroeconomics is becoming an attractive area of study and research in financial decision making with particular emphasis on understanding investor sentiment and fear when faced to different investment opportunities characterized by various scenarios. In particular, it aims to understand and explain consumer decision process and influence of marketing key factors on consumer choice. As a result, companies may define appropriate marketing strategies based on neuromarketing studies.


2018 ◽  
pp. 286-295
Author(s):  
Salim Lahmiri

Behavioural research attempts to study how individuals make decisions and interact and influence other individuals, organizations, markets and society. In this regard, applied neuroscience in human decision-making has gained an increasing attention in recent decades with emergence of two disciplines; namely neuroeconomics and neuromarketing. Indeed, neuroeconomics has emerged as a multidisciplinary research area that integrates knowledge from neuroscience, psychology, and economics to better understand economic decision making and to specify more accurate models of choice and decision. In particular, neuroeconomics is becoming an attractive area of study and research in financial decision making with particular emphasis on understanding investor sentiment and fear when faced to different investment opportunities characterized by various scenarios. In particular, it aims to understand and explain consumer decision process and influence of marketing key factors on consumer choice. As a result, companies may define appropriate marketing strategies based on neuromarketing studies.


Author(s):  
Selvan C. ◽  
S. R. Balasundaram

Data analysis is a process of studying, removing non-required data in the view level, and converting to needed patterns for sub decisions to make an aggregated decision. Statistical modeling is the process of applying statistical techniques in data analysis for taking proactive decisions depend requirements. The statistical modeling identifies relationship between variables, and it encompasses inferential statistics for model validation. The focus of the chapter is to analyze statistical modeling techniques in different contexts to understand the mathematical representation of data. The correlation and regression are used for analyzing association between key factors of companies' activities. Especially in business, correlation describes positive and negative correlation variables for analyzing the factors of business for supporting the decision-making process. The key factors are related with independent variables and dependent variables, which create cause and effect models to predict the future outcomes.


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