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Environmental exposures are increasingly investigated as possible drivers of health behaviours and disease outcomes. So-called exposome studies that aim to identify and better understand the effects of exposures on behaviours and disease risk across the life course require high-quality environmental exposure data. The Netherlands has a great variety of environmental data available, including high spatial and often temporal resolution information on urban infrastructure, physico-chemical exposures, presence and availability of community services, and others. Until recently, these environmental data were scattered and measured at varying spatial scales, impeding linkage to individual-level (cohort) data as they were not operationalised as personal exposures, that is, the exposure to a certain environmental characteristic specific for a person. Within the Geoscience and hEalth Cohort COnsortium (GECCO) and with support of the Global Geo Health Data Center (GGHDC), a platform has been set up in The Netherlands where environmental variables are centralised, operationalised as personal exposures, and used to enrich 23 cohort studies and provided to researchers upon request. We here present and detail a series of personal exposure data sets that are available within GECCO to date, covering personal exposures of all residents of The Netherlands (currently about 17 M) over the full land surface of the country, and discuss challenges and opportunities for its use now and in the near future.

Virtual reality (VR) is a potentially powerful technology for enhancing assessment in mental health. At any time or place, individuals can be transported into immersive and interactive virtual worlds that are fully controlled by the researcher or clinician. This capability is central to recent interest in how VR might be harnessed in both treatment and assessment of mental health conditions. The current review provides a summary of the advantages of using VR for assessment in mental health, focusing on increasing ecological validity of highly controlled environments, enhancing personalization and engagement, and capturing real-time, automated data in real-world contexts. Considerations for the implementation of VR in research and clinical settings are discussed, including current issues with cost and access, developing evidence base, technical challenges, and ethical implications. The opportunities and challenges of VR are important to understand as researchers and clinicians look to harness this technology to improve mental health outcomes. .La realidad virtual (RV) es una tecnología potencialmente poderosa para mejorar la evaluación en salud mental. En cualquier momento o lugar, las personas pueden ser transportadas y quedar inmersos en mundos virtuales interactivos que están totalmente controlados por el investigador o el clínico. Esta capacidad es parte fundamental del interés reciente por la manera en cómo se podría aprovechar la RV tanto en el tratamiento como en la evaluación de las condiciones de salud mental. Esta revisión proporciona un resumen de las ventajas del empleo de la RV para la evaluación en salud mental, enfocándose en el aumento de la validez ecológica de entornos altamente controlados, en mejorar la personalización y el compromiso, y capturar datos automatizados en tiempo real en contextos del mundo real. Se discuten las consideraciones para la implementación de la realidad virtual en investigación y en situaciones clínicas, incluidos los problemas actuales de costo y acceso, el desarrollo en base a la evidencia, los desafíos técnicos y las implicancias éticas. Es importante comprender las oportunidades y los desafíos de la realidad virtual, ya que los investigadores y los médicos buscan aprovechar esta tecnología para mejorar los resultados de salud mental.L’évaluation de la santé mentale pourrait bénéficier de la puissance de la technologie de la réalité virtuelle (RV). Les sujets peuvent être transportés en immersion à tout moment ou en tout lieu dans des mondes virtuels interactifs totalement contrôlés par le chercheur ou le médecin. C’est ce qui motive l'intérêt récent sur la façon d’exploiter la RV à la fois dans le traitement et l'évaluation des maladies mentales. Notre présentation résume les avantages de la RV dans ce cadre ; elle est centrée sur la validité écologique renforcée des environnements très contrôlés, sur une meilleure personnalisation et participation du sujet, et sur la saisie de données automatisées en temps et contextes réels. Nous analysons les conditions de l’introduction de la RV en recherche et en clinique, y compris les enjeux actuels de coût et d'accès, le développement d’une base de données, les défis techniques et les questions éthiques. Chercheurs et médecins souhaitent expérimenter la réalité virtuelle pour améliorer les résultats dans le contexte de la santé mentale, il est donc important d’en comprendre les opportunités et les difficultés.

In a multicenter study, we determined a prevalence rate of 4% for azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus in Taiwan. Resistance emerged mainly from the environment (TR34/L98H, TR34/L98H/S297T/F495I, and TR46/Y121F/T289A mutations) but occasionally during azole treatment. A high mortality rate observed for azole-resistant aspergillosis necessitates diagnostic stewardship in healthcare and antifungal stewardship in the environment.

Purpose This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in closed environments, similar to waiting or exam rooms of healthcare facilities, in the face of exposure to a bioaerosol. Methods Combinations of words were selected for six electronic databases and for the gray literature. To consider the eligibility of the studies to be included/excluded, the acronym “PECOS” was used: humans and/or experimental models that simulate aerosol (Population); aerosol exposure and the use of masks/respirators (exposition/intervention); controlled or not controlled (comparison); effectiveness of PPE and the receiver exposure (outcomes); and randomized clinical studies or not, observational or laboratory simulation studies (Studies design). Results A total of 4820 references were retrieved by the search strategy. Thirty-five articles were selected for complete reading, of which 13 articles were included for qualitative synthesis. A surgical mask or N95 respirator reduced the risk of transmission, even over short distances. The use of masks, even those with less filtering power, when used by all individuals in the same environment is more effective in reducing risk than the use of respirators with high filtering power for only some of the individuals present. Conclusion The use of mask in closed environments is effective in reducing the risk of transmission and contagion of a contaminated bioaerosol, with greater effectiveness when these devices are used by the source and receiver, regardless of the equipment’s filtering power. (PROSPERO 2020 CRD 42020183759). Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00420-021-01775-y.

Living in deprived neighbourhoods may have biological consequences, but few studies have assessed this empirically. We examined the association between neighbourhood deprivation and allostatic load, a biological marker of wear and tear, taking into account individual's socioeconomic position. We analysed data from three cohort studies (CoLaus-Switzerland; EPIPorto-Portugal; Whitehall II-UK) comprising 16,364 participants. We defined allostatic load using ten biomarkers of dysregulated metabolic, cardiovascular, and inflammatory systems (body mass index; waist circumference; total, high and low density lipoprotein cholesterol; triglycerides; glucose; systolic and diastolic blood pressure; C-reactive protein). Mixed Poisson regression models were fitted to examine associations with neighbourhood deprivation (in quintiles, Q1-least deprived as reference). After adjustment for confounding variables, participants living in the most deprived quintile had 1.13 times higher allostatic load than those living in the least deprived quintile (Relative Risk, RR, for Q2 RR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.03-1.09; Q3 = 1.06, 1.03-1.10; Q4 = 1.09, 1.06-1.12; Q5 = 1.13, 1.09-1.16). This association was partially modified by individual's socioeconomic position, such that the relative risk was higher in participants with low socioeconomic position (Q5 vs Q1 1.16, 1.11-1.22) than those with high socioeconomic position (Q5 vs Q1 1.07, 1.01-1.13). Neighbourhood deprivation is associated with biological wear and tear, suggesting that neighbourhood-level interventions may yield health gains. Living in deprived neighbourhoods may have biological consequences, but few studies have assessed this empirically. We examined the association between neighbourhood deprivation and allostatic load, a biological marker of wear and tear, taking into account individual's socioeconomic position. We analysed data from three cohort studies (CoLaus-Switzerland; EPIPorto-Portugal; Whitehall II-UK) comprising 16,364 participants. We defined allostatic load using ten biomarkers of dysregulated metabolic, cardiovascular, and inflammatory systems (body mass index; waist circumference; total, high and low density lipoprotein cholesterol; trig lycerides; glucose; systolic and diastolic blood pressure; C-reactive protein). Mixed Poisson regression models were fitted to examine associations with neighbourhood deprivation (in quintiles, Q1-least deprived as reference). After adjustment for confounding variables, participants living in the most deprived quintile had 1.13 times higher allostatic load than those living in the least deprived quintile (Relative Risk, RR, for Q2 RR = 1.06, 95%CI 1.03-1.09; Q3 = 1.06, 1.03-1.10; Q4 = 1.09, 1.06-1.12; Q5 = 1.13, 1.09-1.16). This association was partially modified by individual's socioeconomic position, such that the relative risk was higher in participants with low socioeconomic position (Q5 vs Q11.16, 1.11-1.22) than those with high socioeconomic position (Q5 vs Q1 1.07, 1.11-1.13). Neighbourhood deprivation is associated with biological wear and tear, suggesting that neighbourhood-level interventions may yield health gains.

Background Design of rehabilitation environments is usually “expert” driven with little consideration given to the perceptions of service users, especially patients and informal carers. There is a need to engage with consumers of services to gain their insights into what design aspects are required to facilitate optimum physical activity, social interaction and psychological responses when they are attempting to overcome their limitations and regain function. Research design Qualitative exploratory study. Method Interviews were conducted with patients (n = 54) and informal carers (n = 23), and focus groups with rehabilitation staff (n = 90), from the three metropolitan South Australia rehabilitation health services, comprising different building and environmental configurations. Thematic analysis was assisted by the use of NVivo 11 qualitative software, with pooled data from all interviews and focus groups undergoing open, axial and finally selective coding. Results Four major themes were identified as follows: (a) choice can be an Illusion in a rehabilitation ward; (b) access to outside areas is a priority and affects well‐being; (c) socialization can be facilitated by the environment; and (d) ward configuration should align with the model of care. Discussion and Conclusion Participants who encountered the most restrictive environments accepted their situation until probed to consider alternatives; those who enjoyed the most choice and access to facilities showed the greatest enthusiasm for these affordances. Future architectural designers should therefore consider the perceptions of a wide range of consumers with varying experiences to ensure they understand the complex requirements of patients and that the ward design facilitates the optimum rehabilitation model of care.

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the levels of physical activity (PA) and sleep and to examine specific COVID-19 factors that may be associated with changes in PA and sleep among adults in Russia. Methods Cross-sectional data were collected during the period of tightest restrictions between 26 April 2020 and 6 June 2020. Eligible participants included all Russian adults aged 18 years and over. Participants reported their sleep patterns and problems, frequency and duration of walking, moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA, and muscle strengthening activities before COVID-19 and during the past 7 days. Access to an outdoor green space and fitness centres, use of online resources, adherence to self-isolation recommendations and other preventive measures from Ministry of Health were self-reported. Results The sample included 2432 participants from 62 regions, 83% of who were female. There was a significant decline in the number of days per week participants reported not getting enough sleep (3.21 ± 2.44 to 2.86 ± 2.57; P P P P Conclusion Compared with before COVID-19, PA and sleep hygiene were adversely affected during COVID-19. Awareness of factors associated with these declines will assit policymakers in developing strategies to mitigate the negative lifestyle behaviours that have manifested during the COVID-19 confinement.

This research aims to revive the applicability of the exchange concept in the marketing domain. The authors draw on current exchange theories to show how members of an aquatic center receive relational, social support, and restorative resources from other center members and employees. They then empirically demonstrate that members’ loyalty to the center is fueled by the resources they receive from others in the center and that their experience in the center mediates the relationship between exchanged resources and member loyalty. This research reveals that service organizations may foster person-place bonds by providing customers with resources over and above goods and services. Customers appreciate resources that transform their well-being, such as social support and natural, restorative resources, and they demonstrate loyalty to places where they can obtain therapeutic resources. From a theoretical standpoint, this work shows support for the notion that the exchange concept is a foundational aspect of a general theory of marketing and explains how the exchange and value concepts in marketing are linked together.

Nowadays, information and communication technologies (mobile phones, connectedobjects) strongly occupy our daily life. The increasing use of these technologies and the complexity ofnetwork infrastructures raise issues about radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (Rf-Emf) exposure.Most previous studies have assessed individual exposure to Rf-Emf, and the next level is to assesspopulational exposure. In our study, we designed a statistical tool for Rf-Emf populational exposureassessment and mapping. This tool integrates geographic databases and surrogate models tocharacterize spatiotemporal exposure from outdoor sources, indoor sources, and mobile phones.A case study was conducted on a 100 x 100 m grid covering the 14th district of Paris to illustratethe functionalities of the tool. Whole-body specific absorption rate (SAR) values are 2.7 times higherthan those for the whole brain. The mapping of whole-body and whole-brain SAR values showsa dichotomy between built-up and non-built-up areas, with the former displaying higher values.Maximum SAR values do not exceed 3.5 and 3.9 mW/kg for the whole body and the whole brain,respectively, thus they are significantly below International Commission on Non-Ionizing RadiationProtection (ICNIRP) recommendations. Indoor sources are the main contributor to populationalexposure, followed by outdoor sources and mobile phones, which generally represents less than 1%of total exposure., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Genetic diversity studies are performed based on information on a set of traits measured in a group of genotypes, considering one or more environments. The pattern recognition methods allow classifying genotypes from a set of important agronomic information. Thus, this study aimed to present and compare pattern recognition methods to inquire about the similarity of environments and genotypes in flood-irrigated rice for the recommendation of cultivars. The experim>ents were performed in the municipalities of Leopoldina, Lambari, and Janaúba, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. To evaluate the pattern of similarity, 25 rice genotypes in three environments belonging to the flood-irrigated rice breeding program were used. Among these genotypes, five cultivars were used as an experimental control for the grain yield, the height of the plant, flowering, panicle length, grains filled by panicles, percentages of grains filled by panicles, in the 2012/2013 agricultural year. The methods us>ed were mixtures of multivariate normal distributions and density-based clustering algorithm. It was observed, therefore, that the genotypes are distributed in three distinct groups, in which there are intragroup homogeneity and intergroup heterogeneity for the agronomic traits of the flooded rice culture. The methods >used to assess the dissimilarity of environments using pattern recognition methods were efficient in classifying flooded rice irrigated environments.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediation effects of external knowledge acquisition on the relationships between environments (dynamism, complexity, and hostility) and innovation. Although prior studies have extensively examined the relationships between environments and innovation or innovativeness, the results of the studies appear to lack consistency. To help clarify the relationships between environments and innovation, this study intends to examine the impact of environments on innovation through external knowledge acquisition, and it is argued that environments are likely to motivate or force firms to acquire new knowledge from the outside, which, in turn, tends to enhance their ability to innovate. Based on data collected from manufacturing SMEs in China through a questionnaire survey, we have found that dynamism, complexity and hostility have all positive total effects on innovation and that they also have positive influences on firms&rsquo, external knowledge acquisition. Besides, we have found that external knowledge acquisition has a complete mediation effect on the relationships between all three environmental dimensions and innovation. The results further show that the positive direct effects of all three environmental dimensions on innovation disappear completely when external knowledge acquisition is considered as a mediator. These results imply that the significant relationships between three respective environmental dimensions and innovation demonstrated in prior studies may be spurious. Based on these findings, we have presented key conclusions, implications, and limitations with the direction of future research.

Background Healthcare teams often consist of geographically dispersed members. Virtual worlds can support immersive, high-quality, multimedia interaction between remote individuals; this study investigated use of virtual worlds to support remote healthcare quality improvement team meetings. Methods Twenty individuals (12 female, aged 25–67 [M = 42.3, SD = 11.8]) from 6 healthcare quality improvement teams conducted collaborative tasks in virtual world or face-to-face settings. Quality of collaborative task performances were measured and questionnaires and interviews were used to record participants’ experiences of conducting the tasks and using the virtual world software. Results Quality of collaborative task outcomes was high in both face-to-face and virtual world settings. Participant interviews elicited advantages for using virtual worlds in healthcare settings, including the ability of the virtual environment to support tools that cannot be represented in equivalent face-to-face meetings, and the potential for virtual world settings to cause improvements in group-dynamics. Reported disadvantages for future virtual world use in healthcare included the difficulty that people with weaker computer skills may experience with using the software. Participants tended to feel absorbed in the collaborative task they conducted within the virtual world, but did not experience the virtual environment as being ‘real’. Conclusions Virtual worlds can provide an effective platform for collaborative meetings in healthcare quality improvement, but provision of support to those with weaker computer skills should be ensured, as should the technical reliability of the virtual world being used. Future research could investigate use of virtual worlds in other healthcare settings.

Introduction International placements challenge students to find the right level of participation, as local practices, language and time pressure may affect their engagement in patient-related tasks or team activities. This study sought to unpack the initiation process during international clinical placements with the ultimate aim to achieve active student participation. Methods Following a constructivist grounded theory approach, we conducted two individual interviews with 15 undergraduate healthcare students (before departure and whilst on placement). To identify emerging themes, we applied an iterative process of data collection and constant comparative analysis. Several team discussions informed further analysis, allowing us to reach a more conceptual level of theory. Results From our findings we constructed a four-phase model of healthcare students’ initiation of international clinical placements, which brings into focus how the phases of ‘orientation’, ‘adjustment’ and ‘contribution to patient care’ build up towards a ‘sense of belonging’. We identified several factors that induced active student participation in practice, such as a favourable workplace setting, opportunities for learning and a local support network. Discussion Active student participation is aimed at different goals, depending on the four phases of initiation that eventually lead to a sense of belonging and support workplace learning. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s40037-020-00561-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Using the AdaBoost method may increase the accuracy and reliability of a framework for daily activities and environment recognition. Mobile devices have several types of sensors, including motion, magnetic, and location sensors, that allow accurate identification of daily activities and environment. This paper focuses on the review of the studies that use the AdaBoost method with the sensors available in mobile devices. This research identified the research works written in English about the recognition of daily activities and environment recognition using the AdaBoost method with the data obtained from the sensors available in mobile devices that were published between 2012 and 2018. Thus, 13 studies were selected and analysed from 151 identified records in the searched databases. The results proved the reliability of the method for daily activities and environment recognition, highlighting the use of several features, including the mean, standard deviation, pitch, roll, azimuth, and median absolute deviation of the signal of motion sensors, and the mean of the signal of magnetic sensors. When reported, the analysed studies presented an accuracy higher than 80% in recognition of daily activities and environments with the Adaboost method. This work is funded by FCT/MEC through national funds and when applicable co-funded by FEDER—PT2020 partnership agreement under the project UIDB/EEA/50008/2020 (Este trabalho é financiado pela FCT/MEC através de fundos nacionais e quando aplicável cofinanciado pelo FEDER, no âmbito do Acordo de Parceria PT2020 no âmbito do projeto UIDB/EEA/50008/2020). This article is based upon work from COST Action IC1303-AAPELE-Architectures, Algorithms and Protocols for Enhanced Living Environments and COST Action CA16226-SHELD-ON-Indoor living space improvement: Smart Habitat for the Elderly, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). More information in www.cost.eu.

International audience; Change and unpredictability characterize today's business environment. Organizational teams must effectively cope with this reality and ensure that high levels of performance are not compromised. By refining team adaptation with the integration of team improvisation, this study tests a team adaptation temporal framework comprising two processes - team improvised adaptation and team preemptive adaptation. We also investigate the relationships between these constructs and shared temporal cognitions, team learning behaviors, and team performance. We conducted four studies with three different samples, and the results suggest that the two framework constructs are distinct. The results also indicate that team improvised adaptation behaviors mediate the relationship between shared temporal cognitions and team performance, and that team learning behaviors moderate this mediation.

The subsurface is a technical space, the “engine room of the city,” that incorporates the vital functions of water and energy supply, communication systems, sewers and drainage. Natural systems too – crucial for stable, dry, cool and nature inclusive cities – are also largely dependent on the quality of the subsoil. The subsurface is critical in an era of climate and demographic changes, the energy transition and economic uncertainty and constraints. However, due to the domain’s current segregation and a weak urban design and planning connection, crucial design potential, benefits and innovations, remain unexploited. This paper first introduces an innovative systems approach, the System Exploration Environment and Subsurface (SEES), to recognise the subsurface as an “under-arching” domain for urban planning and design. The physical impact of the subsurface on the surface quality is described for the categories: civil constructions, water, energy and soil/ecology. After setting understanding of the surface and subsurface as one united space, the paper will go into using the SEES as knowledge brokerage tool, integrating the subsurface artefacts into the design process and how the concept of Reversed Engineering with Nature is useful to uncover synergies between subsurface technologies, new urban maintenance regimes and scripts for design.

Wearable devices are a part of Internet-of-Things (IoT) that may offer valuable data of their porting user. This paper explores the use of ElectroCardioGram (ECG) records to encrypt user data. Previous attempts have shown that ECG can be taken as a basis for key generation. However, these approaches do not consider time-invariant keys. This feature enables using these so-created keys for symmetrically encrypting data (e.g. smartphone pictures), enabling their decryption using the key derived from the current ECG readings. This paper addresses this challenge by proposing EbH, a mechanism for persistent key generation based on ECG. EbH produces seeds from which encryption keys are generated. Experimental results over 24 h for 199 users show that EbH, under certain settings, can produce permanent seeds (thus time-invariant keys) computed on-the-fly and different for each user up to 95.97% of users produce unique keys. In addition, EbH can be tuned to produce seeds of different length (up to 300 bits) and with variable min-entropy (up to 93.51). All this supports the workability of EbH in a real setting. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Funding: This work was supported by the MINECO grants TIN2013-46469-R (SPINY: Security and Privacy in the Internet of You) and TIN2016-79095-C2-2-R (SMOG-DEV); by the CAM grant S2013/ICE-3095 (CIBERDINE: Cybersecurity, Data, and Risks), which is co-funded by European Funds (FEDER); and by the Programa de Ayudas para la Movilidad of Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain (J. M. de Fuentes and L. Gonzalez-Manzano grants). Data used for this research was provided by the Telemetric and ECG Warehouse (THEW) of University of Rochester, NY.

Single screw extrusion is a major polymer processing operation. Its optimization is crucial for producing good quality products at suitable costs. This study addresses extrusion as a multiobjective optimization problem that can be solved using evolutionary algorithms incorporating decision making and robustness strategies for selecting solutions. This approach enables focusing the search for solutions in favored regions where the preference was defined either by the relative importance of the objectives or determined considering the robustness of solutions against perturbations in the design variables. The out- come of this strategy provides not only a better insight into the problem at hand, but also facilitates the choice of a single solution for practical implementation. The useful- ness of the approach is illustrated by several case studies involving the definition of the most adequate operating conditions, of the best screw geometry and the two together., The Portuguese Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia under grant PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2013, contract grant number: Projecto Estrategico - LA 25 - 2013-2014 - Strategic Project - LA 25 - 2013-2014; contract grant sponsor: project Matepro - "Optimizing Materials and Processes"; contract grant number: ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000037 supported by the ON.2 program, Portugal); Contract grant sponsor: The European Comission under project SEACW: Social Ecosystem for anti aging, capacitation and wellbeing., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Coastal areas experience multiple pressures from anthropogenic activities that negatively change the ecological and environmental status of beaches and impact human welfare. The focus of this paper is coastal erosion, an issue that is very relevant for Argentina, the second largest nation in Latin America with an extensive coastline of nearly 5000 km. Coastal erosion decreases the attractiveness of coastal areas for tourism development, leading to considerable economic impacts. In this paper, two complementary approaches, the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) and the Systems Approach Framework (SAF), were used to analyse two beach resorts in Argentina: Monte Hermoso and Pehuen Co.Application of the SAF included stakeholder mapping, governance (institutional) mapping and issue identification. During the participatory meetings with stakeholders and decision makers, the problem of coastal erosion was identified as the most important in the region. The joint approach of DPSIR and SAF contributed to: (i) the determination and description of the economic drivers of coastal erosion; (ii) the identification of the associated activities and pressures; (iii) the assessment of the ecological and environmental state of coastal areas; (iv) the assessment of impacts of environmental changes on human wellbeing; and finally (v) a proposal of the possible management responses for mitigating the coastal erosion problem and the sustainable development of the region to the responsible authorities. Fil: Semeoshenkova, Vera. Universidad de Bologna; Italia. Universidad de Cádiz; España Fil: Newton, Alice. Universidad de Algarve; Portugal Fil: Rojas, Mara Leticia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Economía. Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Economía; Argentina Fil: Piccolo, Maria Cintia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Geografía y Turismo; Argentina Fil: Bustos, María Luján. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Geografía y Turismo; Argentina Fil: Huamantinco Cisneros, María Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina Fil: Berninsone, Leonardo. Universidad de Cádiz; España. Aquamarina

We systematically searched five databases to assess the potential of concept mapping based technologies to promote self -regulated learning in science education. Our search uncovered 17 relevant studies that investigated seven different types of learning technologies. We performed a narrative analysis assessing how each technology affects self regulated learning through cognitive, metacognitive, and motivation strategies, according to Schraw et al. (2006)'s model. We suggest concept mapping technologies may affect self-regulated learning through enhancing these strategies to varying degrees. Computer software was particularly useful for developing cognitive strategies through ease of use. Teaching agents were particularly useful for developing metacognitive strategies by coupling visualisation of knowledge patterns with performance monitoring, aided by a teaching metaphor. Finally, mobile devices and teaching agents were most effective in enhancing motivation. Effects on knowledge gains remain unclear due to small sample sizes. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In the future, wireless radiofrequency (RF) telecommunications networks will provide users with gigabit-per-second data rates. Therefore, these networks are evolving toward hybrid networks, which will include commonly used macro- and microcells in combination with local ultra-high density access networks consisting of so-called attocells. The use of attocells requires a proper compliance assessment of exposure to RF electromagnetic radiation. This paper presents, for the first time, such a compliance assessment of an attocell operating at 3.5GHz with an input power of 1mW, based on both root-mean-squared electric field strength (E-rms) and peak 10g-averaged specific absorption rate (SAR(10g)) values. The E-rms values near the attocell were determined using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations and measurements by a tri-axial probe. They were compared to the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection's (ICNIRP) reference levels. All measured and simulated E-rms values above the attocell were below 5.9V/m and lower than reference levels. The SAR(10g) values were measured in a homogeneous phantom, which resulted in an SAR(10g) of 9.7mW/kg, and used FDTD simulations, which resulted in an SAR(10g) of 7.2mW/kg. FDTD simulations of realistic exposure situations were executed using a heterogeneous phantom, which yielded SAR(10g) values lower than 2.8mW/kg. The studied dosimetric quantities were in compliance with ICNIRP guidelines when the attocell was fed an input power

Within the context of enhancing sustainable and livable urban environments, one aim is to establish multifunctional green infrastructure (GI). We argue that in order to successfully plan and manage the development of GI, an inclusive and future-oriented stance concerning the needs and expectations of urbanites is required. By using green roofs as an example, the aim of this paper was to offer insights into how people envisage novel GI in urban environments and to reveal the scope of meanings and values people attach to these kinds of green infrastructure. We present results based on 149 stories collected with the method of empathy-based stories. Respondents were asked to use their imagination to produce mental images of not-yet-existing green roofs in different urban situations. Our results reflect a rich set of dimensions of green roofs that the respondents vividly imagined. Green roofs may contribute to the livability of urban areas in multiple ways, such as strengthening social cohesion, providing space for everyday renewal and restoration, offering interesting sceneries and multisensory experiences, softening the hard cityscape, showing ephemeral events and making experiences of "height" possible, as well as increasing the "contact with nature" experiences for residents, e.g. through biodiverse nature in the middle of built environments. Furthermore, the need for local, customized solutions that offer different benefits and experiences was expressed. Using both qualitative and quantitative analyses, we idealized four green roof meta-types for understanding the diverse expectations people may have for green roofs in urban area: Urban farm, Oasis, Urban hill and Meadow. Based on our results we suggest that comprehensive experiences and needs of people should be taken into account when designing urban green roofs or urban green in general not only, e.g. visual pleasure. Also, site- and user-specific solutions should be considered instead of generally applied ones. Our results offer tools for, e.g. urban planners to understand the value of diverse green roof solutions to the user. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The aim of the research is to establish the quantitative relationship and impacts of risks associated with various categories of occupational and workplace hazards in the Nigerian seaports. It was carried out by obtaining time series statistical data of 7 years from hazard identification and risk assessment report of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Apapa, western port headquarters. The variables considered are the associated risks of various types of occupational and workplace hazards to which seaport workers were exposed from 2009-2014. The overall level of associated risks of occupational and workplace hazards represent the cumulative of various hazards and were treated as the dependent variable ‘Y’. The exposures to the risks of mechanical hazards, ergonomic hazards, physical hazards, noise/environmental hazards were symbolized as X1, X2, X3, and X4 respectively and treated as independent variables. The method of multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the time series data. T-test was used to test the hypotheses. It was found that risks associated to mechanical hazard, ergonomic hazards, noise/vibration hazard, physical hazards, all have significant impact on the overall level of risk of exposure to occupational and workplace hazards in Nigerian seaport environment. It was recommended that proactive investment in safety inspective and management system is needed to limit the level of exposure of seaport staff to occupational hazards.

It is important for companies that their operational employees have profound knowledge of the processes in which their work is embedded. 3D virtual world (VW) environments are promising for learning, especially for complex processes that have deviations from the standard flow. We design a 3D VW process training environment to improve process learning, particularly for complex processes with alternative flows, represented with gateways in process models. We adopt the method of loci, which suggests the mental traversal of routines for improving learning. Our experiment with 145 participants compares the level of knowledge acquired for a sample process with our 3D VW environment and a 2D depiction. We found that the 3D VW environment significantly increases the level of process knowledge acquired across the typical gateways in processes. Our results contribute to our understanding of how individuals learn knowledge of processes via 3D environments. With a low initial investment, practitioners are encouraged to invest in 3D training systems for processes, since these can be set up once and reused multiple times for various employees.

© 2018, The Author(s). Agent-based crowd simulations are used for modelling building and space usage, allowing designers to explore hypothetical real-world scenarios, including extraordinary events such as evacuations. Existing work which engages virtual reality (VR) as a platform for crowd simulations has been primarily focussed on the validation of simulation models through observation; the use of interactions such as gaze to enhance a sense of immersion; or studies of proxemics. In this work, we extend previous studies of proxemics and examine the effects of varying crowd density on user experience and behaviour. We have created a simulation in which participants walk freely and perform a routine manual task, whilst interacting with agents controlled by a typical social force simulation model. We examine and report the effects of crowd density on both affective state and behaviour. Our results show a significant increase in negative affect with density, measured using a self-report scale. We further show significant differences in some aspects of user behaviours, using video analysis, and discuss how our results relate to VR simulation design for mixed human–agent scenarios. ispartof: VIRTUAL REALITY vol:23 issue:1 pages:19-32 status: published

High-temperature corrosion of critical components such as water walls and superheater tubes in biomass/waste-fired boilers is a major challenge. A dense and defect-free thermal spray coating has been shown to be promising to achieve a high electrical/thermal efficiency in power plants. The field of thermal spraying and quality of coatings have been progressively evolving; therefore, a critical assessment of our understanding of the efficacy of coatings in increasingly aggressive operating environments of the power plants can be highly educative. The effects of composition and microstructure on high-temperature corrosion behavior of the coatings were discussed in the first part of the review. The present paper that is the second part of the review covers the emerging research field of performance assessment of thermal spray coatings in harsh corrosion-prone environments and provides a comprehensive overview of the underlying high-temperature corrosion mechanisms that lead to the damage of exposed coatings. The application of contemporary analytical methods for better understanding of the behavior of corrosion-resistant coatings is also discussed. A discussion based on an exhaustive review of the literature provides an unbiased commentary on the advanced accomplishments and some outstanding issues in the field that warrant further research. An assessment of the current status of the field, the gaps in the scientific understanding, and the research needs for the expansion of thermal spray coatings for high-temperature corrosion applications is also provided.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)., Background: Menopause is associated with a number of adverse health effects and its timing has been reported to be influenced by several lifestyle factors. Whether greenspace exposure is associated with age at menopause has not yet been investigated. Objective: To investigate whether residential surrounding greenspace is associated with age at menopause and thus reproductive aging. Methods: This longitudinal study was based on the 20-year follow-up of 1955 aging women from a large, population-based European cohort (ECRHS). Residential surrounding greenspace was abstracted as the average of satellite-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) across a circular buffer of 300 m around the residential addresses of each participant during the course of the study. We applied mixed effects Cox models with centre as random effect, menopause as the survival object, age as time indicator and residential surrounding greenspace as time-varying predictor. All models were adjusted for smoking habit, body mass index, parity, age at menarche, ever-use of contraception and age at completed full-time education as socio-economic proxy. Results: An increase of one interquartile range of residential surrounding greenspace was associated with a 13% lower risk of being menopausal (Hazard Ratio: 0.87, 95% Confidence Interval: 0.79–0.95). Correspondingly the predicted median age at menopause was 1.4 years older in the highest compared to the lowest NDVI quartile. Results remained stable after additional adjustment for air pollution and traffic related noise amongst others. Conclusions: Living in greener neighbourhoods is associated with older age at menopause and might slow reproductive aging. These are novel findings with broad implications. Further studies are needed to see whether our findings can be replicated in different populations and to explore the potential mechanisms underlying this association., Kai Triebner has received a postdoctoral fellowship from theUniversity of Bergen. Payam Dadvand is funded by a Ramón y Cajalfellowship (Grant: RYC-2012-10995) awarded by the Spanish Ministryof Economy and Finance. The present analyses are part of a projectfunded by the Norwegian Research Council (Grant: 228174).Coordination of the ECRHS I was supported by the EuropeanCommission as part of the“Quality of Life”program and the authorsand participants are grateful to the late C. Baya and M. Hallen for theirhelp during the study and K. Vuylsteek and the members of the COMACfor their support. Coordination of the ECRHS II was supported by theEuropean Commission as part of the“Quality of Life”program (Grant:QLK4-CT-1999-01237). The coordination of the ECRHS 3 was fundedthrough the Medical Research Council (Grant: 92091). NDVI calcula-tions were conducted within the framework of the Ageing Lungs InEuropean Cohorts study that was funded by the European Union'sHorizon 2020 research and innovation program under (Grant: 633212).Bodies funding the local studies are listed in the online data supple-ment. The funding sources were not involved in the conduct of theresearch and/or preparation of the article, in study design, in the col-lection, analysis and interpretation of data, in the writing of the reportor in the decision to submit the article for publication.

Background: Leisure-time and transport activity domains are studied most often because they are considered more amenable to intervention, but to date evidence on these domains is limited. The aim of the present study was to examine patterns of socio-demographic correlates of adults' leisure-time and transport physical activity and how these associations varied across 17 cities in 12 countries. Methods: Participants (N = 13,745) aged 18-66 years in the IPEN Adult study and with complete data on socio-demographic and self-reported physical activity characteristics were included. Participants reported frequency and duration of leisure-time and transport activities in the last 7 days using the self-administered International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Long Form. Six physical activity outcomes were examined in relation with age, education, and sex, and analyses explored variations by city and curvilinear associations. Results: Sex had the most consistent results, with five of six physical activity outcomes showing females were less active than males. Age had the most complex associations with self-report transport and leisure-time physical activity. Compared to older people, younger adults were less likely to engage in transport physical activity, but among those who did, younger people were likely to engage in more active minutes. Curvilinear associations were found between age and all three leisure-time physical activity outcomes, with the youngest and the oldest being more active. Positive associations with education were found for leisure-time physical activity only. There were significant interactions of city with sex and education for multiple physical activity outcomes. Conclusions: Although socio-demographic correlates of physical activity are widely studied, the present results provide new information. City-specific findings suggest there will be value in conducting more detailed case studies. The curvilinear associations of age with leisure-time physical activity as well as significant interactions of leisure-time activity with sex and education should be further investigated. The findings of lower leisure-time physical activity among females as well as people with low education suggest that greater and continued efforts in physical activity policies and programs tailored to these high-risk groups are needed internationally. Data collection in Hong Kong was supported by the grants (#HKU740907H and #747807H) and the HKU URC Strategic Research Theme (Public Health). US data collection and Coordinating Center processing was supported by the following NIH grant: R01 CA127296 (NCI). The study conducted in Bogota was funded by Colciencias grant 519 2010, Fogarty and CeiBA (Center in Complex-Systems, Basic and Applied Research at the Universidad de los Andes). Ester Cerin is supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT3 #140100085). The contributions of Neville Owen were supported by a NHMRC Program Grant (#569940), a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship (#1003960), and by the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program. The Danish study was partly funded by the Municipality of Aarhus. Data collection in the Czech Republic was supported by the grant of Ministry of Education, Youths and Sports (# MSM 6198959221). Data collection in New Zealand was supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand grant # 07/356. Data collection in Mexico was supported by the CDC Foundation which received an unrestricted training grant from The Coca-Cola Company.

Noise is a common problem in hospitals, and it is known that social behavior can influence sound levels. The aim of this naturally-occurring field experiment was to assess the influence of a non-talking rule on the actual sound level and perception of patients in an outpatient infusion center. In a quasi-randomized trial two conditions were compared in real life. In the control condition, patients (n = 137) were allowed to talk to fellow patients and visitors during the treatment. In the intervention condition patients (n = 126) were requested not to talk to fellow patients and visitors during their treatment. This study measured the actual sound levels in dB(A) as well as patients' preferences regarding sound and their perceptions of the physical environment, anxiety, and quality of health care. A linear-mixed-model showed a statistically significant, but rather small reduction of the non-talking rule on the actual sound level with an average of 1.1 dB(A). Half of the patients preferred a talking condition (57%), around one-third of the patients had no preference (36%), and 7% of the patients preferred a non-talking condition. Our results suggest that patients who preferred non-talking, perceived the environment more negatively compared to the majority of patients and perceived higher levels of anxiety. Results showed no significant effect of the experimental conditions on patient perceptions. In conclusion, a non-talking rule of conduct only minimally reduced the actual sound level and did not influence the perception of patients.

The Cloud computing paradigm has revolutionised the computer science horizon during the past decade and has enabled the emergence of computing as the fifth utility. It has captured significant attention of academia, industries, and government bodies. Now, it has emerged as the backbone of modern economy by offering subscription-based services anytime, anywhere following a pay-as-you-go model. This has instigated (1) shorter establishment times for start-ups, (2) creation of scalable global enterprise applications, (3) better cost-to-value associativity for scientific and high performance computing applications, and (4) different invocation/execution models for pervasive and ubiquitous applications. The recent technological developments and paradigms such as serverless computing, software-defined networking, Internet of Things, and processing at network edge are creating new opportunities for Cloud computing. However, they are also posing several new challenges and creating the need for new approaches and research strategies, as well as the re-evaluation of the models that were developed to address issues such as scalability, elasticity, reliability, security, sustainability, and application models. The proposed manifesto addresses them by identifying the major open challenges in Cloud computing, emerging trends, and impact areas. It then offers research directions for the next decade, thus helping in the realisation of Future Generation Cloud Computing., Comment: 51 pages, 3 figures

This article focuses on the technical activities carried out by members of Potiguara households within the diverse environments that constitute the territory inhabited by these indigenous people. Such activities are the result of choices and strategies organized to meet the needs of these households (family groups of at least three generations), properly conforming a household ecology. The technical processes that result from this ecology are centred on individual and collective experiences in mangroves, floodplains and the patchy remnants of the Atlantic Forest, as well as in urban contexts, enabling the development of diversified skills and the acquisition of knowledge about techniques and materials. In this way, the Potiguara at present engage in fishing, agricultural, grazing and extractive activities, building on a local traditional knowledge that allows them to effectively associate materials of diverse origins, both those found locally and those of industrial provenance. Resumo O presente artigo focaliza as atividades técnicas desenvolvidas por membros de grupos domésticos potiguara no interior de ambientes diversificados, sendo estes partes constitutivas do território habitado por estes indígenas. Tais atividades são o resultado de escolhas e estratégias organizadas para atender às necessidades desses grupos domésticos (grupos familiares de pelo menos três gerações), conformando propriamente uma ecologia doméstica. Os processos técnicos que resultam dessa ecologia estão centrados nas experiências individuais e coletivas em manguezais, várzeas e resquícios de Mata Atlântica, bem como em contextos urbanos, permitindo o desenvolvimento de habilidades e a aquisição de saberes sobre técnicas e materiais bastante diversificados. Desta forma, hoje os Potiguara desenvolvem atividades pesqueiras, agrícolas, de pastoreio e extrativistas, a partir do aprimoramento de um conhecimento tradicional local que lhes permite associar de modo eficaz materiais de origens diversas, isto é, os encontráveis localmente e aqueles de procedência industrial.

The identification of Activities of Daily Living (ADL) is intrinsic with the user&rsquo, s environment recognition. This detection can be executed through standard sensors present in every-day mobile devices. On the one hand, the main proposal is to recognize users&rsquo, environment and standing activities. On the other hand, these features are included in a framework for the ADL and environment identification. Therefore, this paper is divided into two parts&mdash, firstly, acoustic sensors are used for the collection of data towards the recognition of the environment and, secondly, the information of the environment recognized is fused with the information gathered by motion and magnetic sensors. The environment and ADL recognition are performed by pattern recognition techniques that aim for the development of a system, including data collection, processing, fusion and classification procedures. These classification techniques include distinctive types of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), analyzing various implementations of ANN and choosing the most suitable for further inclusion in the following different stages of the developed system. The results present 85.89% accuracy using Deep Neural Networks (DNN) with normalized data for the ADL recognition and 86.50% accuracy using Feedforward Neural Networks (FNN) with non-normalized data for environment recognition. Furthermore, the tests conducted present 100% accuracy for standing activities recognition using DNN with normalized data, which is the most suited for the intended purpose.

Previous research on situation awareness (SA) predominantly focused on its explicit, reasoned, conscious features rather than on the implicit, intuitive, unconscious aspects that are often identified with expert operators. This research investigated implicit levels of SA of train traffic controllers (TTCs) in order to contribute to the body of knowledge on rail human factors research and SA. A novel approach was used to uncover levels of implicit SA through a set of three analyses: (1) fairly low SAGAT values with correlations between SAGAT scores and multiple performance indicators; (2) negative correlations between work experience and SAGAT scores; and (3) structurally lower level-1 SA (perception) scores in comparison to level-2 SA (comprehension) scores in accordance with Endsley's three-level model. Two studies were conducted: A pilot study which focused on SA measurements with TTCs in a monitoring mode (N = 9) and the main study, which involved TTCs from another control center (N = 20) and three different disrupted conditions. In the pilot study, SA was measured through the situation-awareness global assessment technique (SAGAT), perceived SA and observed SA, and performance was measured through punctuality and unplanned stops of trains before red signals. In the main study, SA was measured through SAGAT, and perceived SA and multiple performance indicators, such as arrival and departure punctuality and platform consistency, were assessed. In both studies, the set of three analyses showed consistent and persistent indications of the presence of implicit SA. Endsley's three-level model and related SAGAT method can be constrained by the presence of these intuitive, unconscious processes and inconsistent findings on correlations between SAGAT scores and performance. These findings provide insights into the SA of TTCs in the Netherlands and can support the development of training programs and/or the design of a new traffic management system. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An autonomous mobile robot returns back to a reference (home) position using just the visual information in the visual homing task. Challenges in this autonomous task involve efficient information extraction from images and executing motion based on this information. This paper aims to develop visual homing technique by extracting coarse location information with respect to the reference position using a novel bit encoding approach. Coarse information is used in probabilistic framework to build stronger beliefs on the robot's location with successive movement of the robot. The changes in visual information due to the presence of dynamic obstacles are accounted in likelihood information using bit encoding. Novel information encoding and proposed probability distribution develop sensor model. The action model aims for building stronger beliefs with successive movement, when limited number of commands are used. Experiments are performed using Fire Bird XI robot equipped with a multiple camera system for capturing panoramic view at the robot's location. Multiple experiments show that the robot reaches the reference position without the knowledge of initial location and changing environment conditions. This paper also reports experimental results in the presence of dynamic obstacles.

This paper presents a radio frequency (RF)-based location tracking system that improves its performance by eliminating the shadowing caused by the human body of the user being tracked. The presence of such a user will influence the RF signal paths between a body-worn node and the receiving nodes. This influence will vary with the user's location and orientation and, as a result, will deteriorate the performance regarding location tracking. By using multiple mobile nodes, placed on different parts of a human body, we exploit the fact that the combination of multiple measured signal strengths will show less variation caused by the user's body. Another method is to compensate explicitly for the influence of the body by using the user's orientation toward the fixed infrastructure nodes. Both approaches can be independently combined and reduce the influence caused by body shadowing, hereby improving the tracking accuracy. The overall system performance is extensively verified on a building-wide testbed for sensor experiments. The results show a significant improvement in tracking accuracy. The total improvement in mean accuracy is 38.1% when using three mobile nodes instead of one and simultaneously compensating for the user's orientation.

We consider the principles of communities of practice (CoP) and networked learning in higher education, illustrated with a case study. iCollab has grown from an international community of practice connecting students and lecturers in seven modules across seven higher education institutions in six countries, to a global network supporting the exploration and evaluation of mobile web tools to engage in participatory curriculum development and supporting students in developing international collaboration and cooperation skills. This article explores the interplay of collaboration and cooperation, CoP and networked learning; describes how this interplay has operated in iCollab; and highlights opportunities and challenges of learning, teaching and interacting with students in networked publics in higher education. Keywords: communities of practice; networked learning; collaboration; cooperation; social media; mobile social media (Published: 1 March 2016) Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2016, 24 : 26497 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v24.26497

Visible Light Communication (VLC) is a short-range optical wireless communication technology that has been gaining attention due to its potential to offload heavy data traffic from the congested radio wireless spectrum. At the same time, wireless communications are becoming crucial to smart manufacturing within the scope of Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 is a developing trend of high-speed data exchange in automation for manufacturing technologies and is referred to as the fourth industrial revolution. This trend requires fast, reliable, low-latency, and cost-effective data transmissions with fast synchronizations to ensure smooth operations for various processes. VLC is capable of providing reliable, low-latency, and secure connections that do not penetrate walls and is immune to electromagnetic interference. As such, this paper aims to show the potential of VLC for industrial wireless applications by examining the latest research work in VLC systems. This work also highlights and classifies challenges that might arise with the applicability of VLC and visible light positioning (VLP) systems in these settings. Given the previous work performed in these areas, and the major ongoing experimental projects looking into the use of VLC systems for industrial applications, the use of VLC and VLP systems for industrial applications shows promising potential.

Agriculture is characterized by its organic manner of production. Thus, the forms of agricultural production are heavily dependent on natural conditions (weather, geographic features, water supply, etc.), which are peculiar to regions or local conditions. The regionally peculiar characteristics of agriculture are also intensified by the social environment, that is, the lifestyle of the people in the region. Land, labor and capital, which are the essential inputs needed for production, vary qualitatively and quantitatively from region to region. The regional peculiarities bring a different type of development path to local agriculture. This is the basic reason why the same development theory or principle cannot be applied to agriculture although it could be applicable in the case of other industries such as manufacturing. This paper deals with the characteristics of local agricultural development at the provincial level of China, based on statistical analyses of two sets of three-years data of 2009, 2010 and 2011 as well as 1999, 2000 and 2001. The analysis showed clear regional differentiation among the provinces between land-productivity oriented type and labor-productivity oriented type of agricultural development.

How can newly-hired CEOs compose their executive team to realize high performance? We attend to this question by drawing on the notion of factional subgroups. We propose that TMT change after a CEO succession event can promote the emergence of a factional faultline between executives hired by the new CEO, and executives who had been TMT members prior to succession (the ‘guardians of the previous regime’). Such faultlines will lead to destructive TMT processes and, thus, advance undesirable firm performance. We also argue that these detrimental effects of post-CEO succession factional faultlines will be stronger when: (a) the firm faced poor financial performance prior to succession, (b) the new CEO is hired from outside the firm, and (c) the incumbent executives shared a longer-term experience with the predecessor CEO. Data from 154 CEO succession events in large European firms between 2008 and 2013 support some of our hypotheses. Overall, our study contributes to upper echelons and strategic leadership research – by highlighting the importance of TMT reconfiguration after a CEO succession event.

The article outlines the main concept and examples of mathematical models needed to estimate system potential and digitalization performance indicators. Such an estimation differs in that it is performed with predictive mathematical models. The purpose of such an estimation is to enable a set of problems of system design and functional design of information technologies to be solved as mathematical problems, predictively and analytically. The hypothesis of the research is that the quality of system functioning in changing conditions can be evaluated analytically, based on predictive mathematical models. We suggested a property of the system potential (or system capability) that describes the effects of the compliance of changing system functioning with changing conditions analytically and predictively. Thus, it describes the performance of the use of information operations to realize functioning in changing conditions. The example includes system&rsquo, s environment graph-theoretic models and system&rsquo, s models regarding IT use to react to changing environments. As a result of the suggested models and methods, the quantitative estimation of system potential regarding information technology use becomes possible depending on the parameters and variables of the problems to be solved. Use cases of problems decision with the use of such indicators include choosing optimal information technology implementation and the synthesis of information operation characteristics.

Food production is associated with various environmental impacts and the production of meat is highlighted as a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. A transition toward plant-based and low-meat diets has thus been emphasised as an important contribution to reducing climate change. By combining results from a consumer survey, focus group interviews and an in-store field experiment, this article investigates whether Norwegian consumers are ready to make food choices based on what is environmentally sustainable. We ask how consumers perceive the environmental impacts of food consumption, whether they are willing and able to change their food consumption in a more climate-friendly direction, and what influences their perceptions and positions. The results show that there is uncertainty among consumers regarding what constitutes climate- or environmentally friendly food choices and that few consumers are motivated to change their food consumption patterns for climate- or environmental reasons. Consumers&rsquo, support to initiatives, such as eating less meat and increasing the prices of meat, are partly determined by the consumers&rsquo, existing value orientation and their existing consumption practices. Finally, we find that although providing information about the climate benefits of eating less meat has an effect on vegetable purchases, this does not seem to mobilise consumer action any more than the provision of information about the health benefits of eating less meat does. The article concludes that environmental policies aiming to transfer part of the responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to food consumers is being challenged by the fact that most consumers are still not ready to make food choices based on what is best for the climate or environment.

Background Physical activity plays a fundamental role in the health and well-being of children. Walking is the most common form of physical activity and the journey to and from school provides an opportunity for children to be active every day. This study examines how child and parent perceptions of barriers to active school travel influences children’s behaviour. Methods Participants were recruited from 48 elementary schools in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The study sample includes 1296 children (ages 9–14 years) who live within walking distance of their school, defined as 1.6 km network distance. Chi-square analysis examined differences between child and parent perceptions of barriers to active school travel. Logistic regression models examined how parent and child perceptions of barriers influence active school travel behaviour, while controlling for key intrapersonal, interpersonal, and physical environment factors. Results The results indicate that there are significant differences in how parents and children perceive barriers to active school travel. Model results find older children, children without siblings, households with no vehicles, and children who live closer to school are most likely to use active school travel. Parent perceptions of barriers are found to have a greater influence on children’s active school travel behaviour than children’s perceptions. Different perceptions of barriers influence active school travel to school compared to returning home from school. Conclusions Child and parent perceptions of barriers to active school travel differ and have different impacts on children’s travel behaviour. Understanding how child and parent perceptions of barriers differ can help policymakers and practitioners develop specialized interventions aimed at increasing children’s use of active school travel and children’s overall physical activity. Interventions used to promote active school travel should focus on safety, as well as perceptions of distance to break parental habits of routinely driving their children to school. Overall, this study highlights the importance of considering both child and parent perceptions to create a safe and accessible environment to allow for an increase in active school travel behaviour among elementary school children who live within walking distance of their school.

A critiquing-based recommender system acts like an artificial salesperson. It engages users in a conversational dialog where users can provide feedback in the form of critiques to the sample items that were shown to them. The feedback, in turn, enables the system to refine its understanding of the user's preferences and prediction of what the user truly wants. The system is then able to recommend products that may better stimulate the user's interest in the next interaction cycle. In this paper, we report our extensive investigation of comparing various approaches in devising critiquing opportunities designed in these recommender systems. More specifically, we have investigated two major design elements which are necessary for a critiquing-based recommender system: critiquing coverage--one vs. multiple items that are returned during each recommendation cycle to be critiqued; and critiquing aid--system-suggested critiques (i.e., a set of critique suggestions for users to select) vs. user-initiated critiquing facility (i.e., facilitating users to create critiques on their own). Through a series of three user trials, we have measured how real-users reacted to systems with varied setups of the two elements. In particular, it was found that giving users the choice of critiquing one of multiple items (as opposed to just one) has significantly positive impacts on increasing users' decision accuracy (particularly in the first recommendation cycle) and saving their objective effort (in the later critiquing cycles). As for critiquing aids, the hybrid design with both system-suggested critiques and user-initiated critiquing support exhibits the best performance in inspiring users' decision confidence and increasing their intention to return, in comparison with the uncombined exclusive approaches. Therefore, the results from our studies shed light on the design guidelines for determining the sweetspot balancing user initiative and system support in the development of an effective and user-centric critiquing-based recommender system.

A measuring campaign for the assessment of electromagnetic radiation near base stations in the city center of Leuven, Belgium, has been carried out. The main objective of this assessment is to study the correlation between the outdoor and the indoor exposure produced by cellular base stations and to investigate the changes of electromagnetic exposure within a typical day and over 1 month in the vicinity of these base stations. The study was also carried out as a function of location and time using highly precise measurement equipment. The measurements were performed in both public and private areas in sixty (30 indoor and 30 outdoor) different locations in Leuven. The measurement was focused on mobile communication networks: GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, 2110 MHz) were the frequency bands of interest. The data at these frequencies were extracted from raw measurements in the 824-2170 MHz frequency band. The results show that all analyzed locations are in compliance with the exposure limits recommended by ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) and that the (maximum) indoor exposure correlates to the outdoor exposure with a factor of about 0.5. ispartof: ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH vol:168 pages:428-438 ispartof: location:Netherlands status: published

This paper concerns the prediction of indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal comfort (TC) and draught risk (DR) for a virtual classroom with desk-type personalized ventilation system (PVS). This numerical study considers a coupling of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD), human thermal comfort (HTC) and building thermal behavior (BTB) numerical models. The following indexes are used: the predicted percentage of dissatisfied people (PPD) index is used for the evaluation of the TC level; the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the breathing zone is used for the calculation of IAQ; and the DR level around the occupants is used for the evaluation of the discomfort due to draught. The air distribution index (ADI), based in the TC level, the IAQ level, the effectiveness for heat removal and the effectiveness for contaminant removal, is used for evaluating the performance of the personalized air distribution system. The numerical simulation is made for a virtual classroom with six desks. Each desk is equipped with one PVS with two air terminal devices located overhead and two air terminal devices located below the desktop. In one numerical simulation six occupants are used, while in another simulation twelve occupants are considered. For each numerical simulation an air supply temperature of 20 degrees C and 24 degrees C is applied. The results obtained show that the ADI value is higher for twelve persons than for six persons in the classroom and it is higher for an inlet air temperature of 20 degrees C than for an inlet air temperature of 24 degrees C. In future works, more combinations of upper and lower air terminal devices located around the body area and more combinations of occupants located in the desks will be analyzed. ASHRAE Undergraduate Senior Project Grant Program info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

AKCURA, MEVLUT/0000-0001-7828-5163; WOS: 000431531600004 Beans are grown in different environments. The most important issue in bean agriculture is to increase seed yield as expected in other plants. As well reported so far, environmental factors such as rain, heat, their timing and topography affect yield and yield quality in dry beans. So, this study was conducted in 2011-2015 in Samsun (Ambarkopru and Gelemen) and Kirsehir (Mucur and Cogun) locations in order to investigate the effects of the environmental factors on dry bean. For this aim, 20 dry bean genotypes (7 cultivars and 13 pure lines) were used as plant materials. Results showed that G5, G11 and G15 genotypes were close to ideal genotypes. When the year was considered as the environmental factor, the ideal production year was in 2013 with respect to yield and yield quality, concluding that climate changes between years affected yield parameters in dry bean genotypes.

The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to solve indoor airflow problems has increased tremendously in the last decades. However, the accuracy of CFD simulations depends greatly on user experience, the available validation data, and the effort made to verify solutions. This study presents the results of a conference workshop, which assessed user influence on the CFD results obtained for a generic non-isothermal flow problem; ie, a backward-facing step flow problem with a heated wall below the supply. Fifty-five simulation sets were submitted by 32 teams. The results showed a very large spread in predicted penetration length (xre /(H - h)), location of maximum velocity in the lower part of the recirculation cell (xrm /(H - h)), and maximum velocity at this location (urm /u0 ). The turbulence model seemed to very strongly influence the results, with a statistically significant difference in the predictions yielded by the k-ε and k-ω models. The results obtained using a single turbulence model generally also showed a spread in results; the level of spread depended on factors such as grid size and near-wall treatment. The statistical data strongly indicate the need for validation studies using experimental data (benchmarks) to ensure the accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness of CFD simulations for indoor airflow problems. ispartof: INDOOR AIR vol:28 issue:6 pages:866-880 ispartof: location:England status: published

Virtual reality (VR) is an advanced and useful technology in the distraction from pain. The efficacy of VR for reducing pain is well established. Yet, the literature analyzing the unique attributes of VR which impact pain reduction is scarce. The present study evaluated the effect of two VR environments on experimental pain levels. Both VR environments are games used with an EyeToy application which is part of the video capture VR family. The VR environments were analyzed by expert occupational therapists using a method of activity analysis, allowing for a thorough evaluation of the VR activity performance requirements. The VR environments were found to differ in the cognitive load (CL) demands they apply upon subjects. Sixty-two healthy students underwent psychophysical thermal pain tests, followed by exposure to tonic heat stimulation under one of three conditions: low CLVR (LCL), high CLVR (HCL), and control. In addition, following participation in VR, the subjects completed a self-feedback inventory evaluating their experience in VR. The results showed significantly greater pain reduction during both VR conditions compared to the control condition (p=0.001). Hierarchical regression revealed cognitive components which were evaluated in the self-feedback inventory to be predictive factors for pain reduction only during the high cognitive load (HCL) VR environment (20.2%). Cognitive load involved in VR may predict the extent of pain decrease, a finding that should be considered in future clinical and laboratory research.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to numerically determine the distribution of electric fields registered by a personal exposimeter (PEM) used for the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) around 900 MHz (GSM900) downlink (DL) band and compare these with calibration measurements of PEMs worn by real human subjects. Design/methodology/approach – Numerical simulations using the Virtual Family Male (VFM) are carried out at 950 MHz in order to determine the electric fields surrounding the phantom in realistic, far-field environments. These electric fields can be used to determine the distribution of a PEM’s response when worn by the VFM. Simultaneously, calibration measurements in an anechoic chamber are carried out using a real PEM worn by two different subjects, in order to determine the PEM’s response experimentally. Findings – Both the numerical simulations and the measurements show that a PEM will on average underestimate the incident electric fields in the GSM900 DL band and that the variation (expressed in terms of the 95 percent confidence interval and the interquartile distance) on its response is relatively large: a 95 percent confidence interval of 22 dB and an interquartile distance of 7.3 dB are found in a realistic environment using numerical simulations, while the calibration measurements show interquartile distances up to 12 dB. In terms of variation there is an excellent agreement between simulations and measurements. Originality/value – This paper proves that numerical simulations may be used as a replacement for the more time- and work-consuming calibration measurements if the variation of a PEM’s response is studied.