The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on the Behavior of Italian Citizens and Particulate Matter 10 and 2.5 Emissions in Lombardy

P Value ◽

Technical Data ◽

Wide Range ◽

Smart Working ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact ◽

Consumption Habits

AbstractItaly has been one of the first nations in the world to be heavily affected by the first wave of COVID-19. To date, it is among the first countries for both total cases of contagion and deaths. A wide range of containment measures have been adopted from February to December 2020 to mitigate the pandemic, including total lockdowns across the entire country. This research sets out to evaluate not only how these restrictions influenced Italian citizens’ consumption habits (such as online shopping, smart working and distance learning) but also the impact of lockdowns on the concentrations of particulate matter (PM) 10 and 2.5 in the Lombardy region. In particular, this survey is aimed at investigating the environmental sustainability of the new individual behaviors after the restrictions imposed by the Government in order to quantify their effects on particulate concentrations in Lombardy, the region most damaged by both COVID-19 and air pollution. Various tools and online platforms have been used to collect data, such as Google Trends, web portals providing statistical and demographic information (e.g. AdminStat Italia and ISTAT, which is the National Institute of Statistics), surveys conducted by the Department of Civil Protection, other scientific studies, and the most reliable national newspapers. Technical data on particulate matter was collected from the website of the Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment (ARPA). To highlight any significant change, the average daily concentrations of PM10 and 2.5 during 2020 in all the provinces of Lombardy were compared with those of the previous year. The comparison between the mean values was made through the t-test. Two values were considered as statistically confident when t < 1.5. However, since the real significance of these thresholds is not easily determined, some margins of suspicious confidence have been kept. Finally, using Pearson and Spearman correlations, possible causal correlations between changes in citizens’ behavior and specific key events related to COVID-19 have been dealt with. The P-value threshold was indicatively set at 0.05. Microsoft Excel 2020 and Google Sheets were used as data analysis software. In conclusion, this paper showed a substantial ineffectiveness of total and partial lockdowns in reducing PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in Lombardy. Furthermore, it has been estimated that COVID-19 has significantly changed the consumption habits of Italian citizens, thus leading to both positive and negative results in terms of sustainability. For instance, a sharp rise in the usage of home delivery services is posing a potential additional threat to the environment at present. At the same time, a positive aspect of this change is the spread of digital literacy, as Italians got quickly acquainted with the most modern technologies for distant learning and smart working, thus paving the way for the establishment of energetically and environmentally sustainable policies throughout the country.

The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Particulate Matter Emissions in Lombardy and Italian Citizens' Consumption Habits

Frontiers in Sustainability ◽

10.3389/frsus.2021.649715 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Alessandro Rovetta

Keyword(s):

Particulate Matter ◽

First Nations ◽

Home Delivery ◽

Particulate Emissions ◽

Lombardy Region ◽

Pm10 And Pm2.5 ◽

Wide Range ◽

Delivery Services ◽

The Impact ◽

Consumption Habits

Italy has been one of the first nations in the world to be heavily affected by COVID-19. A wide range of containment measures has been adopted from February to December 2020 to mitigate the pandemic. In this regard, the present research sets out to evaluate two aspects: (i) the impact of lockdowns on the concentrations of particulate matter (PM) 10 and 2.5 in the Lombardy region, and (ii) how anti-COVID-19 restrictions influenced Italian citizens' consumption habits. To do this, the average daily concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 during 2020 in all the provinces of Lombardy were compared with those of the previous years through Welch's t-test. The same procedure was adopted to estimate the change in Google relative search volumes of home delivery services and smart working on a national scale. Two mean values were considered statistically confident when t < 1.5, suspiciously non-confident when 1.5 ≤ t < 1.9, and non-confident when t ≥ 1.9. Seasonalities and trends were assessed both graphically and with Augmented Dickey-Fuller, Phillips-Perron, and Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin tests. Finally, Pearson and Spearman correlations between changes in citizens' behavior and specific key events related to COVID-19 have been dealt with. The P-value threshold was indicatively set at 0.05. Microsoft Excel 2020 and Google Sheets were used as data analysis software. This paper showed: (i) the limited or insufficient effectiveness of lockdowns in reducing PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in Lombardy, and (ii) a significant change in the consumption habits of Italian citizens, thus leading to both positive and negative results in terms of sustainability. Therefore, it is high time that both Italian and international environmental protection authorities thoroughly investigated the role of non-mobility-related sources of particulate emissions to impose effective rules on home delivery services. Moreover, further research is required for the understanding of anthropogenic, environmental, and atmospheric phenomena that influence the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5.

Natural Experiment on Trade and Investment Liberalization and Soft Drink Consumption

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.359 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

Y Tcholakov

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

International Trade ◽

Natural Experiment ◽

Soft Drink ◽

Trade Agreement ◽

P Value ◽

Soft Drink Consumption ◽

Obesity And Diabetes ◽

Wide Range ◽

Abstract Background Globalization is recognized to as a contributing factor to a health harming environment through a variety of mechanisms including through changes in food systems and food availability. Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is linked to obesity and diabetes and its regulation is a key priority for public health. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is an international trade agreement between 11 countries. Methods This project uses of natural experiment methods to predict the impact of the entry into force of the CPTPP on SSB consumption. These methods allow quantitative inferences to be drawn in the situations where the exposure is not randomly assigned. Soft drink consumption data was collected from the Euromonitor database for 80 countries from all regions. This data was used to estimate the effect of agreements similar to the TPP. Results Eleven country trade agreement pairs were identified. In 5 cases out of the 11, the exposed country had a higher soft drink consumption at five years after the trade agreement. The effect of the trade agreement exposure for an average country in the sample in a trade agreement was found to be 1.10 (95% CI: 1.01-1.18; p-value: 0.03) after adjusting for GDP and the involvement of the US. In 7 of the 11 member-countries soft drink consumption is expected to increase yielding an average increase of 9.0% in those countries; the changes did not yield statistically significant differences in others. Conclusions This projected extended the use of synthetic methods to the projection of future effects of policy implementation. While it showed that there may be increasing trend of SSB consumption in certain scenarios, this could not be generalized to all cases. This illustrates the wide range of effects of international trade liberalization and highlights that national policy probably plays a strong modulating role on the impact that it has on local food environments. Key messages Globalization can lead to health harming environments and its impacts should further be studied by public health professionals and researchers. Many global policies have the potential to lead to significant health impacts but are negotiated without involving public health experts.

11th GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES - Global Conference on Business and Social Sciences Proceeding ◽

Biodiesel Renewable Energy and Transportation Consumption

10.35609/gcbssproceeding.2021.12(77) ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 77-77

Author(s):

Suppanunta Romprasert ◽

Korakot Kataboonyaruk ◽

Natthacha Tangnititham ◽

Tanyaluk Suwanthaijaroen ◽

Maytavee Soonthornwattanachai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Swot Analysis ◽

Development Theory ◽

Pm 2.5 ◽

Quality Practices ◽

Current Consumption ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Government ◽

Set Up

Paper focuses on the renewable energy in Thailand. Objective is to compare risk on renewable energy and transportation consumption on biodiesel. It is using SWOT analysis and sustainable development theory as the tools. Besides, collecting data via questionnaire to investigate behaviors of people in having the ideas relating to biodiesel. The 52 responses from survey launching have returned. According to the results, the current consumption of biodiesel is still low because insufficient is on awareness of the consumers' trusts about biodiesel. Moreover, government's policy is not in good quality control. Biodiesel price has not been confirmed or set up in a clear standard that shows confidence in biodiesel to consumers. Remains adherence to diesel as it has been used for a longer period of time. Therefore, the risk of renewable energy in biodiesel is a relatively high risk. At the same time, in terms of environmental sustainability development, research results show that the use of biodiesel can help reducing air pollution at either PM 2.5 or global warming. Also, it would distribute an income to palm farmers. The results can be implemented for making improvements and suggesting recommendations to the government. A strengthening policy on renewable energy security and implement strategies is for solving various energy problems. With the concept of supporting research and development, it can create a wide range of knowledges, and the production of biodiesel as renewable energy. There should control the price structure, and the well quality practices to be fairly suitable in the nearly future. Keywords: Biodiesel, Consumption, Renewable Energy, Risk, Transportation

CORRELATION BETWEEN SMOKE-FREE AREAS AND SMOKING BEHAVIOR IN INDONESIA

Jurnal Berkala Epidemiologi ◽

10.20473/jbe.v8i22020.117-124 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 117

Author(s):

Mohamad Anis Fahmi

Keyword(s):

Public Awareness ◽

Smoking Behavior ◽

Secondary Data ◽

Computer Application ◽

P Value ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Positive Correlation ◽

The Government ◽

Cross Sectional Design ◽

Background: Low public awareness of the impact of smoking makes the implementation of smoke-free areas (KTR) difficult. Smoke-free areas aim to protect the public from the direct and indirect effects of smoking. Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the correlation between the application of smoke-free areas and the prevalence of active and ex-smokers in Indonesia. Method: This study implemented a cross-sectional design, using secondary data from the Riskesdas 2018 on active and ex-smokers. KTR application data were obtained from the Profile of Non-Communicable Diseases in 2016. A Pearson product-moment test was conducted by a computer application to determine the correlation coefficient (r). This coefficient was used to describe the level of correlation between the two variables; significance was determined as a p value of 5%. Results: This study showed that the average application of KTR throughout Indonesia was 50.83%, active smokers comprised 23.49% of the population, and ex-smokers comprised 4.94%. Most active smokers were in Java and Sumatra, while the majority of ex-smokers were in Java and Sulawesi and the majority of KTR was in Java. This study shows that there is a positive correlation between KTR application and the percentage of ex-smokers (r = 0.46; p value = 0.01). Conclusion: There is a positive correlation between the application of KTR and an increase in ex-smokers. The government needs to increase the application of KTR policies.

Impact of Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation on Stress Levels of Exam Going MBBS Students of a Medical College in South Gujarat, India

JOURNAL FOR CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH ◽

10.7860/jcdr/2021/48607.15269 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Devashish Palkar ◽

Sanjibani Panigrahi ◽

Pooja Shatadal ◽

Ritambhara Mehta

Keyword(s):

Muscle Relaxation ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Progressive Muscle Relaxation ◽

Stressful Event ◽

P Value ◽

Medical College ◽

Post Test ◽

Exam Anxiety ◽

The Government ◽

Introduction: Academic examinations are a very stressful event for an Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) student. While many students learn to deal with it through the use of helpful or unhelpful coping skills, many still end up with considerable psychological morbidity in the form of anxiety and depression along with deterioration in overall health. Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation (JPMR) causes deep muscle relaxation. Aim: To find out the prevalence of stress and exam anxiety in students of 1st year MBBS and to study the impact of JPMR. Materials and Methods: It was a quasi-experimental, pretest and post-test interventional study conducted amongst the first year MBBS students studying at the Government Medical College Surat, Gujarat, India, during March to May 2019. Two months before their internal exams, 114 1st year MBBS students were recruited for the study. They were given a pretest proforma which comprised of socio-demographic profile, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Test Anxiety Scale (TAS) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) 28. They were asked to attend JPMR sessions over the following month in batches of 30 each and asked to practise JPMR for one month leading up to their exams. Total 43 students attended these sessions while 71 did not. After one month, all 114 students were again given a post-test proforma comprising of the same scales. Paired t-test was applied to compare the pretest and post-test scores to see the impact of JPMR. Results: The mean age of participants was 19 years.The students who completed their schooling in Gujarati medium and those who reported to be staying at hostel experienced significantly more TAS scores at baseline evaluation as compared to their counterparts from English medium schools and those staying at home respectively. There was a statistically significant reduction in mean scores of PSS and TAS before and after practice of JPMR in the 43 students who attended and practiced JPMR (p-value=0.005 and p-value=0.002, respectively; p-value <0.05 was considered to be significant). Conclusion: One month practice of JPMR was found to be effective in reduction of stress and exam anxiety.

Exit Strategies for COVID 19: An ISM and MICMAC approach

Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management ◽

10.24083/apjhm.v15i3.423 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 94-109 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Debashree Das ◽

Avik Datta ◽

Patanjal Kumar

Keyword(s):

World War Ii ◽

Disease Surveillance ◽

Specific Treatment ◽

Well Being ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Exit Strategies ◽

State And Local ◽

The Government ◽

COVID 19 pandemic is the worst crisis that mankind has seen since World War-II. It has exposed glaring loopholes in the healthcare system and led to a global health crisis. In absence of any specific treatment or vaccine, countries began to enforce strict lockdown measures leading to a complete shutdown of economic activities. The purpose of this study is to identify key exit strategies that can be implemented to mitigate the impacts of COVID 19. Identification and categorisation of parameters have been done using multi criterion decision making tool of Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and MICMAC analysis. The study highlights a classification of key strategies based on their driving power and dependence which may enable Government to strengthen the disease surveillance system and effectively reduce the impact of the disease. The findings of the study suggest that Environmental Sustainability and Human Well-being; Online Awareness and Capacity Building Programme; Graded Surveillance- Targeted Restrictions and Stricter norms for Inter-State Mobility; and Harmonization between Centre, State and Local Authorities are the most important strategies that needs to be factored in while planning for the post lockdown economic recovery. Thus, the study can assist the government in devising exit strategies while framing the pandemic response plan.

Investigating the fate of gold nanoparticles taken up by trees through leaf and root pathways

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12349 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Paula Ballikaya ◽

Ivano Brunner ◽

Claudia Cocozza ◽

Ralf Kaegi ◽

Marcus Schaub ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gold Nanoparticles ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Scots Pine ◽

Tree Rings ◽

Forest Ecosystems ◽

Atmospheric Particulate Matter ◽

Quantitative Risk Assessment ◽

P Value ◽

The Impact ◽

Uptake And Transport

Industrial activities and human population growth have resulted in an unprecedented increase in the release of particulate matter (PM) into the environment. Incidental nanoparticles (NPs) as a byproduct of industrial processes and engineered NPs are being discharged into terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Several studies on the impact of PM and NPs on human health have been conducted this century, but their effects on plants are poorly understood. What happens to them in forest ecosystems and trees has yet to be explored. The use of dendrochemistry to monitor air pollution is essential to provide past levels of contamination. Several studies have shown the ability of trees to accumulate pollutants into their annual rings, but the effect of particles at nano-scale is still largely unknown and their presence in tree rings unexplored.In July 2019, a greenhouse experiment was conducted in order a) to confirm the uptake and transport of NPs in trees, b) to determine the delivery efficiency of different NPs entry pathways (leaves and roots), and c) to investigate the influence of surface-charged NPs on their uptake and transport. The fate of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was investigated in two tree species, European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). In the experiment, 40nm surface-charged AuNPs (positive, negative, and neutral AuNPs, hereafter referred to as treatments) were supplied once, separately to leaves and to roots. Twenty days after the treatment, Au concentration (mg kg-1) in leaves, stem and roots was determined by ICP-MS. In the leaf supply, Au concentrations were higher in leaves (98.3% and 99.2% on average, in beech and Scots pine respectively) and stems (1.4% and 0.45% on average) than in roots (0.3% and 0.35% on average). In the root supply, higher Au concentration was found in the roots (99.9 % on average in both species) than in the stems (0.1% on average in both species), whereas gold was not detected in the leaves. In the majority of cases, the measured Au was greater in beech than in Scots pine, probably due to their higher stomatal activity. AuNP concentrations among the treatments were significantly different (p value < 0.05), but distribution pattern in Scots pine were not discernible. In conclusion, AuNPs can be taken up by roots and leaves and transported to different compartments of trees. Different entry pathways influence the NP delivery within the plant tissues through transport mechanisms that are still unclear. It seems that NPs are allowed to move faster from the leaves through the phloem to the xylem and are further distributed throughout the plant system, including to the roots. The influence of surface-charged nanoparticles on their uptake and transport is not completely clear, and further research is needed in order to understand their behavior in trees.This study shows the potential of trees as proxies to monitor NPs in forest ecosystems. Using tree rings as spatiotemporal indicators of the impact of particles on the environment will help a quantitative risk assessment and management of atmospheric particulate matter and NPs concentrations in the environment.

Use of Big Data to Improve Environmental Sustainability in Developing Countries

International Journal of Business and Management ◽

10.5539/ijbm.v12n11p249 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 249 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Maged Adel Abdo Mukred ◽

Zheng Jianguo

Keyword(s):

Big Data ◽

Multinational Corporations ◽

Data Analytics ◽

Big Data Analytics ◽

Government Sector ◽

Wide Range ◽

Private And Public ◽

The Government ◽

Set Up

Big data inhibits the ability to significantly impact a wide range of fields in an economy, from the government sector to commercial sectors like retail and healthcare. Not only has it altered the way companies assess their product’s demand and supply patterns but has also phenomenally helped in making the environment healthier in recent years. It carries the ability to identify valuable data from a huge dataset with exceptional parallel processing. This study presents the general introduction of big data bringing forth its various features and advantages along with the challenges which organizations face while using with respect to environmental sustainability. Observations have also been made on the findings of various researches, and studies and surveys performed by some international organizations in the recent years on the urgent need of taking necessary measures and initiatives to prevent further depletion of natural resources thus making the environment sustainable. Making the issue the study aim, future studies must intend to explore how multinational corporations can enhance environmental sustainability through big data analytics. Lastly, recommendations have been made to organisations– private and public in hiring adequate expertise and set-up, thereby making big data analytics more efficient and reliable.

The Impact of “Coal to Gas” Policy on Air Quality: Evidence from Beijing, China

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13153876 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 3876 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zhe Liu ◽

Xueli Chen ◽

Jinyang Cai ◽

Tomas Baležentis ◽

Yue Li

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Air Quality ◽

Energy Use ◽

Northern China ◽

Heating System ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact ◽

Beijing China

Air pollution has become an increasingly serious environmental problem in China. Especially in winter, the air pollution in northern China becomes even worse due to winter heating. The “coal to gas” policy, which uses natural gas to replace coal in the heating system in winter, was implemented in Beijing in the year 2013. However, the effects of this policy reform have not been examined. Using a panel dataset of 16 districts in Beijing, this paper employs a first difference model to examine the impact of the “coal to gas” policy on air quality. Strong evidence shows that the “coal to gas” policy has significantly improved the air quality in Beijing. On average, the “coal to gas” policy reduced sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter smaller than 10 µm (PM10), particulate matter smaller than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) by 12.08%, 4.89%, 13.07%, 11.94% and 11.10% per year, respectively. We find that the “coal to gas” policy is more effective in areas with less energy use efficiency. The finding of this paper suggests that the government should continue to implement the “coal to gas” policy, so as to alleviate the air pollution in Beijing, China.

Ever-Widening Ripples: The Impact of Specialist Industrial Tribunals on Management Practice

Journal of Industrial Relations ◽

10.1177/002218569403600205 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 285-298 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Louise Thornthwaite

Keyword(s):

Management Practice ◽

Industrial Relations ◽

Employment Relations ◽

Employment Decisions ◽

Public Role ◽

South Wales ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Government ◽

While conciliation and arbitration tribunals have been at the forefront of Austral ian research on industrial relations institutions, numerous specialist tribunals enforcing individual workers' rights in employment have been virtually hidden from view. This paper examines the role of two such tribunals in New South Wales, the Government and Related Employees' Appeal Tribunal and the Equal Opportu nity Tribunal. It argues that although their most direct and public role is to resolve individuals' grievances, equally significant is the contribution of these agencies to the detailed regulation of employment relations and hence the increasing sophisti cation of labour management in public sector organizations since the late 1970s, and the institutionalization of management prerogatives and conflicts over an increasingly wide range of employment decisions.