scholarly journals The Effect of Weather Pattern on the Second Wave of Coronavirus: A cross study between cold and tropical climates of France, Italy, Colombia, and Brazil

Author(s):  
Ahmed Islam

AbstractThis study aims to explore and understand the common belief that COVID infection rate is highly dependent on either the outside temperature and/or the humidity. Thirty-six regions/states from two humid-tropical countries, namely Brazil and Colombia and two countries with temperate climate, France and Italy, are studied over the period of October to December. Daily outside temperature, relative humidity and hospitalization/cases are analyzed using Spearman’s correlation. The eighteen cold regions of France and Italy has seen an average drop in temperature from 10°C to 6°C and 17°C to 7°C, respectively, and France recorded an addition of 2.3 million cases, while Italy recorded an addition of 1.8 million cases. Outside temperature did not fluctuate much in tropical countries, but Brazil and Colombia added 4.17 million and 1.1 million cases, respectively. Köppen–Geiger classification showed the differences in weather pattern between the four countries, and the analysis showed that there is very weak correlation between either outside weather and/or relative humidity alone to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Author(s):  
Sylvia Berryman

This work challenges the common belief that Aristotle’s virtue ethics is founded on an appeal to human nature, an appeal that is thought to be intended to provide both substantive ethical advice and justification for the demands of ethics. It is argued that it is not Aristotle’s intent, but the view is resisted that Aristotle was blind to questions of the source or justification of his ethical views. Aristotle’s views are interpreted as a ‘middle way’ between the metaphysical grounding offered by Platonists and the scepticism or subjectivist alternatives articulated by others. The commitments implicit in the nature of action figure prominently in this account: Aristotle reinterprets Socrates’ famous paradox that no one does evil willingly, taking it to mean that a commitment to pursuing the good is implicit in the very nature of action. This approach is compared to constructivism in contemporary ethics.


Author(s):  
Giacomo Dalla Chiara ◽  
Klaas Fiete Krutein ◽  
Andisheh Ranjbari ◽  
Anne Goodchild

As e-commerce and urban deliveries spike, cities grapple with managing urban freight more actively. To manage urban deliveries effectively, city planners and policy makers need to better understand driver behaviors and the challenges they experience in making deliveries. In this study, we collected data on commercial vehicle (CV) driver behaviors by performing ridealongs with various logistics carriers. Ridealongs were performed in Seattle, Washington, covering a range of vehicles (cars, vans, and trucks), goods (parcels, mail, beverages, and printed materials), and customer types (residential, office, large and small retail). Observers collected qualitative observations and quantitative data on trip and dwell times, while also tracking vehicles with global positioning system devices. The results showed that, on average, urban CVs spent 80% of their daily operating time parked. The study also found that, unlike the common belief, drivers (especially those operating heavier vehicles) parked in authorized parking locations, with only less than 5% of stops occurring in the travel lane. Dwell times associated with authorized parking locations were significantly longer than those of other parking locations, and mail and heavy goods deliveries generally had longer dwell times. We also identified three main criteria CV drivers used for choosing a parking location: avoiding unsafe maneuvers, minimizing conflicts with other users of the road, and competition with other commercial drivers. The results provide estimates for trip times, dwell times, and parking choice types, as well as insights into why those decisions are made and the factors affecting driver choices.


Utilitas ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-220
Author(s):  
KARL EKENDAHL ◽  
JENS JOHANSSON

In a recent article, Joyce L. Jenkins challenges the common belief that desire satisfactionists are committed to the view that a person's welfare can be affected by posthumous events. Jenkins argues that desire satisfactionists can and should say that posthumous events only play an epistemic role: though such events cannot harm me, they can reveal that I have already been harmed by something else. In this response, however, we show that Jenkins's approach collapses into the view she aims to avoid.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026858092199852
Author(s):  
Aneta Piekut ◽  
Gill Valentine

In this article, the authors move away from approaching generations as static categories and explore how ordinary people, as opposed to scholars, distinguish generations and justify their different responses to cultural diversity in terms of ethnicity, race and religion/belief. The analysis draws on 90 in-depth interviews with 30 residents in the Polish capital, Warsaw (2012–2013). Through approaching generation as an analytical category, the authors identify various differentiating narratives which the study participants employed to draw boundaries between generations, reinforcing the common belief that the youngest Poles are most accepting of diversity. Although generations are seen as the axis of difference, conditioning generation-specific responses to diversity, the accounts emerging from the interviews reveal their relational nature, as well as similarities and points of connection between their experiences.


Author(s):  
DA Narutdinov ◽  
RS Rakhmanov ◽  
ES Bogomolova ◽  
SA Razgulin

Introduction: Extreme climate conditions have a negative impact on human health. Purpose: The study aimed to assess weather and climate-related risks to human health in different areas of the Krasnoyarsk Region by effective temperatures estimated during two long-term observation periods. Materials and methods: We analyzed ambient temperatures (average monthly and minimum), wind speed (average and maximum), and relative humidity in the subarctic and temperate continental zones estimated during the periods of determining climatic norms in 1961–1990 and 1991–2020. The health risk was assessed on the basis of effective temperatures. Results: In the subarctic zone, the wind strength (average and maximum values) decreased, the duration of such periods increased just like the ambient temperature while the relative humidity did not change. In temperate climates, all indicators have changed. In the subarctic zone, in the second observation period, frostbite was possible within 20–30 minutes during two months (versus 3 in the first). In the temperate climate, there was no such risk to humans. At the minimum temperature and maximum wind speed in the subarctic zone, the risk of frostbite is possible during 5 months (versus 6): after 10–15 minutes during two months and after 20–30 minutes – during three months of the year. In temperate climates, frostbite is possible within 20–30 minutes during two months (versus 3 in the first period). Conclusions: In the interval of establishing climatic norms (1991–2020), a significant increase in effective temperatures was determined: in the subarctic zone with the average wind strength and temperature in February–April and June, with maximum wind and minimum temperature – in March–July; in temperate climates, in April and June, respectively. The duration of periods of health risks posed by cold temperature exposures in the subarctic climate with average wind and temperature values equaled two months (I–II), with maximum wind speed and minimum temperatures – five months (XI–III); in the temperate climate, it was null and 2 (3) months (I, II, and XII), respectively.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
L.F. CIESLIK ◽  
R.A. VIDAL ◽  
A.B. MACHADO ◽  
M.M. TREZZI

ABSTRACT Grass weeds are common in summer crops and strongly decreases the grain yield of the common bean crop. The time of herbicide application influences the variability of environmental conditions and affects the product performance. The objectives of this work were to identify the time of fluazifop-p-butyl (fluazifop) application which gives best grass weed control in the common bean crop and to elucidate the environmental variables most important for the efficacy of this herbicide. Field experiments were conducted involving five application times (2 a.m., 6 a.m., 11 a.m., 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.) and five doses of fluazifop (80, 110, 140, 170 and 200 g ha-1), with additional no-herbicide control. At the time of the herbicide application it was determined the air temperature, relative humidity, the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and the leaf angle, whereas the weed control and the dry mass of the weed Urochloa plantaginea was assessed at 20 days after treatment (DAT). Efficacy on grass control with fluazifop was dependent on the herbicide dose and on the time of day that the product was applied. Spray at early morning hours (6 a.m.) showed better efficacy on weed control in relation to periods during warmer conditions of the day (11 a.m. and 4 p.m.). Nocturnal fluazifop application had better weed control when compared to herbicide sprayed in the afternoon. The air temperature, relative humidity and PAR were correlated to weed leaf angle, which correlated the most with fluazifop performance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie M. Bryant ◽  
Dan Stone ◽  
Benson Wier

ABSTRACT: In two studies, we explore whether creativity is essential—or antithetical—to professional accounting work. In Study 1, archival analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data indicates that: (1) professional accounting work requires no less creativity than do three competing professions and a diverse sample of U.S. occupations, and (2) greater creativity may be required in financial than in auditing and taxation accounting work. In Study 2, a survey contrasts the self-assessed and number-of-uses creativity of governmental accounting professionals and Master’s of Accountancy (M.Acc.) students with that of M.B.A. students. Results indicate lower creativity among accountants and M.Acc. students compared with M.B.A. students, and no systematic relationship between ethics and creativity. We conclude that while creativity matters to accounting work—more to some areas of accounting practice than others—accountancy education and work may attract or reward entrants with less than desirable levels of creativity, perhaps due to the common belief that creativity is unneeded in, or even deleterious to, professional accountancy work.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-144
Author(s):  
Budi Pradono

The interiority of buildings in tropical countries requires specific characteristics unlike those in countries with four distinct seasons. Buildings in non-tropical climates must protect their inhabitants from extreme weather, meaning that the architecture’s connection with nature is necessarily limited by a boundary which can withstand extreme climatic differences. In tropical countries, on the other hand, the temperature does not fluctuate much throughout the year, so the temperature difference between seasons is not extreme. This characteristic is reflected in traditional Nusantara architecture, which incorporates a breathable wall so that free winds come in, reducing heat. The roof is tilted or saddled-shaped to keep rain water away from the building. The architecture uses organic materials and includes terraces for dialogue with nature. Modern Indonesian architecture, however, particularly in large cities, is mostly closed off, severely limiting the interaction with nature. Since the advent of air conditioning (AC) technology during the 1980’s, architecture has changed to seal the boundaries of the building. Advances in information technology such as Internet and smartphones have made for further changes to architecture in the area; some functional spaces are being discarded, while others are expanded. The relationship between architecture and nature is now constrained by impenetrable materials such as brick, concrete and glass, as opposed to the more traditional, permeable boundary. In contrast to this trend, modern Indonesian society is tempted to form a closer relationship with nature. This paper examines how a relationship between nature and the interior of buildings may be accommodated again, presenting some existing projects by several architects from Europe and Asian countries—including the authors’ own work—as case studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-99
Author(s):  
Katya Kozicki ◽  
Luis Gustavo Cardoso

This paper is an investigation of the reference made by Carlos Santiago Nino about Jorge Luis Borges, in the fifth chapter of his “Introduction to Legal Analysis”, in which he introduces the concept of verbal realism. The production by Borges mentioned by Nino is the poem “The Golem”, which tells the story of rabbi Judah Loew, who attempted to create another human being in his rituals. Thus, this study develops new considerations on the power of words to evoke things, and the common belief that words intrinsically relate to what they represent. In order to do that, the first objective of analysis is the immediate reference of Borges, the dialogue “Cratylus”, by Plato, together with other references, such as Goethe’s Faust, which has a similar narrative to the analyzed poem. The question raised is whether verbal realism offers definitions to constitute the universe built up by Borges. Hence, this article concludes that words, in normative contexts, are useful for summoning certain phenomena towards the events, and that verbal realism, then, has a dimension that Carlos Santiago Nino did not explore.


2021 ◽  
Vol 896 (1) ◽  
pp. 012074
Author(s):  
W Budiawan ◽  
K Tsuzuki ◽  
H Sakakibara

Abstract The comfort temperature and sleep quality of Indonesian residing in Japan during summer might be different from Japanese. As an extended previous research, this study aimed to compare the thermal comfort and sleep quality between Japanese and Indonesian students. Male Indonesian and Japanese students aged 20-35 years participated in this study. The participants completed a survey regarding thermal sensation before sleep. During sleep, actigraphy was used to monitor sleep. Additionally, the temperature and relative humidity of the participants’ bedrooms were recorded. The findings of this study indicated that Indonesian students’ bedroom temperature and relative humidity were not significantly different from those of Japanese students during the summer. Most of Indonesian students preferred neutral, like the Japanese students. According to a thermal comfort survey, Indonesians had the same sensation as Japanese (slightly comfortable). However, the Griffiths method revealed that the mean comfort temperature of Indonesian was higher than those of Japanese students. We also discovered that Indonesian students had shorter duration on bed and sleep minute than Japanese students. Furthermore, the sleep rate of Indonesian students was comparable to that of Japanese students. In conclusion, Indonesian students as tropical native became capable of adjusting to the hot and humid conditions in temperate climate, Japan.


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