scholarly journals Room-Level Ventilation in Schools and Universities

Author(s):  
V. Faye McNeill ◽  
Richard Corsi ◽  
J. Alex Huffman ◽  
Do Young Maeng ◽  
Cathleen King ◽  
...  

Ventilation is of primary concern for maintaining healthy indoor air quality and reducing the spread of airborne infectious disease, including COVID-19. In addition to building-level guidelines, increased attention is being placed on room-level ventilation. However, for many universities and schools, ventilation data on a room-by-room basis are not available for classrooms and other key spaces. We present an overview of approaches for measuring ventilation along with their advantages and disadvantages. We also present data from recent case studies for a variety of institutions across the United States, with various building ages, types, locations, and climates, highlighting their commonalities and differences, and examples of the use of this data to support decision making.

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reto Felix ◽  
María del Carmen Ginocchio

Keywords: asymetrically dominated alternatives, attraction effect, avoidance choice behavior, negative emotionsAbstract. Decision conflicts in consumer decision making occur when product attributes are negatively correlated and consumers perceive the alternatives as having different advantages and disadvantages. Consumers may resort to some kind of avoidance choice behavior in order to attenuate the negative emotions frequently connected with such conflicts. In this research, the attraction effect is tested in the Northern part of Mexico. The results show that despite cultural differences between Mexico and the United States, the attraction effect occurred in a sample of educated, younger university students in Mexico. However, whereas the attraction effect occurred in a setting based on product choices, it did not occur in a setting based on point-distributions. These findings are discussed in the context of previous research on avoidance choice, and possible explanations for the findings are suggested.Palabras clave: alternativas asimétricamente dominadas, comportamiento para evitar conflictos, efecto de atracción, emociones negativasResumen. Los conflictos en la toma de decisiones del consumidor surgen cuando los atributos del producto están correlacionados negativamente, y los consumidores perciben que las alternativas tienen diferentes ventajas y desventajas. Los consumidores recurren a diferentes comportamientos para evitar conflictos que les permitan atenuar las emociones negativas que, frecuentemente, están conectadas con esos conflictos. En esta investigación se prueba el efecto de atracción en un área del norte de México. Los resultados muestran que, a pesar de las diferencias culturales entre México y Estados Unidos, el efecto de atracción se presenta en una muestra de estudiantes mexicanos. Sin embargo, mientras que el efecto de atracción ocurre en la selección entre opciones de productos, no ocurre en un diseño que se basa en asignar puntos a las diferentes opciones. Estos resultados se consideran en el contexto de investigaciones previas sobre consumidores que prefieren evitar la toma de decisiones, y se sugieren posibles explicaciones para los resultados.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (34) ◽  
pp. eabg0947
Author(s):  
Kenneth T. Gillingham ◽  
Pei Huang ◽  
Colby Buehler ◽  
Jordan Peccia ◽  
Drew R. Gentner

Intensive building energy efficiency improvements can reduce emissions from energy use, improving outdoor air quality and human health, but may also affect ventilation and indoor air quality. This study examines the effects of highly ambitious, yet feasible, building energy efficiency upgrades in the United States. Our energy efficiency scenarios, derived from the literature, lead to a 6 to 11% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and 18 to 25% reductions in particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions in 2050. These reductions are complementary with a carbon pricing policy on electricity. However, our results also point to the importance of mitigating indoor PM2.5 emissions, improving PM2.5 filtration, and evaluating ventilation-related policies. Even with no further ventilation improvements, we estimate that intensive energy efficiency scenarios could prevent 1800 to 3600 premature deaths per year across the United States in 2050. With further investments in indoor air quality, this can rise to 2900 to 5100.


Author(s):  
Steven Hurst

The United States, Iran and the Bomb provides the first comprehensive analysis of the US-Iranian nuclear relationship from its origins through to the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. Starting with the Nixon administration in the 1970s, it analyses the policies of successive US administrations toward the Iranian nuclear programme. Emphasizing the centrality of domestic politics to decision-making on both sides, it offers both an explanation of the evolution of the relationship and a critique of successive US administrations' efforts to halt the Iranian nuclear programme, with neither coercive measures nor inducements effectively applied. The book further argues that factional politics inside Iran played a crucial role in Iranian nuclear decision-making and that American policy tended to reinforce the position of Iranian hardliners and undermine that of those who were prepared to compromise on the nuclear issue. In the final chapter it demonstrates how President Obama's alterations to American strategy, accompanied by shifts in Iranian domestic politics, finally brought about the signing of the JCPOA in 2015.


Author(s):  
Richard Gowan

During Ban Ki-moon’s tenure, the Security Council was shaken by P5 divisions over Kosovo, Georgia, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine. Yet it also continued to mandate and sustain large-scale peacekeeping operations in Africa, placing major burdens on the UN Secretariat. The chapter will argue that Ban initially took a cautious approach to controversies with the Council, and earned a reputation for excessive passivity in the face of crisis and deference to the United States. The second half of the chapter suggests that Ban shifted to a more activist pressure as his tenure went on, pressing the Council to act in cases including Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, and Syria. The chapter will argue that Ban had only a marginal impact on Council decision-making, even though he made a creditable effort to speak truth to power over cases such as the Central African Republic (CAR), challenging Council members to live up to their responsibilities.


Prospects ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 181-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard P. Segal

“Technology Spurs Decentralization Across the Country.” So reads a 1984 New York Times article on real-estate trends in the United States. The contemporary revolution in information processing and transmittal now allows large businesses and other institutions to disperse their offices and other facilities across the country, even across the world, without loss of the policy- and decision-making abilities formerly requiring regular physical proximity. Thanks to computers, word processors, and the like, decentralization has become a fact of life in America and other highly technological societies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret M. Padek ◽  
Stephanie Mazzucca ◽  
Peg Allen ◽  
Emily Rodriguez Weno ◽  
Edward Tsai ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Much of the disease burden in the United States is preventable through application of existing knowledge. State-level public health practitioners are in ideal positions to affect programs and policies related to chronic disease, but the extent to which mis-implementation occurring with these programs is largely unknown. Mis-implementation refers to ending effective programs and policies prematurely or continuing ineffective ones. Methods A 2018 comprehensive survey assessing the extent of mis-implementation and multi-level influences on mis-implementation was reported by state health departments (SHDs). Questions were developed from previous literature. Surveys were emailed to randomly selected SHD employees across the Unites States. Spearman’s correlation and multinomial logistic regression were used to assess factors in mis-implementation. Results Half (50.7%) of respondents were chronic disease program managers or unit directors. Forty nine percent reported that programs their SHD oversees sometimes, often or always continued ineffective programs. Over 50% also reported that their SHD sometimes or often ended effective programs. The data suggest the strongest correlates and predictors of mis-implementation were at the organizational level. For example, the number of organizational layers impeded decision-making was significant for both continuing ineffective programs (OR=4.70; 95% CI=2.20, 10.04) and ending effective programs (OR=3.23; 95% CI=1.61, 7.40). Conclusion The data suggest that changing certain agency practices may help in minimizing the occurrence of mis-implementation. Further research should focus on adding context to these issues and helping agencies engage in appropriate decision-making. Greater attention to mis-implementation should lead to greater use of effective interventions and more efficient expenditure of resources, ultimately to improve health outcomes.


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