The impact of environmental barriers on attendance of outdoor and indoor professional sports: the case of the South Korean soccer, baseball and basketball leagues

PurposeThis study sought to determine if environmental barriers (i.e. air pollution, temperature and precipitation) affect outdoor (i.e. soccer and baseball) and indoor (i.e. basketball) professional sport attendance in South Korea.Design/methodology/approachBy including actual air quality, temperature and precipitation data collected from each place where the sporting events take place, this study conducted a regression analysis to examine factors that influenced outdoor and indoor sport attendance.FindingsIn outdoor sports, the estimated results suggested that soccer and baseball attendance were not affected by air pollution. Indoor sport consumers did not change their consumption behaviors in attending sports despite the presence of air pollution. In addition, there was mixed evidence on the effect of weather-related variables on attendance. Average temperature had a positive effect on baseball (outdoor) and basketball (indoor) sport attendance, indicating that the warmer the temperature, the more likely those fans were to attend the games. Average precipitation was negatively associated with outdoor (soccer) sport spectators.Originality/valueThe present study contributes to the sport environment literature by examining the impact of environmental barriers on spectators' behaviors in the context of outdoor and indoor professional sports.

Two-Step k-means Clustering Based Information Entropy for Detecting Environmental Barriers Using Wearable Sensor

Walking is the most basic means of transportation. Therefore, continuous management of the walking environment is very important. In particular, the identification of environmental barriers that can impede walkability is the first step in improving the pedestrian experience. Current practices for identifying environmental barriers (e.g., expert investigation and survey) are time-consuming and require additional human resources. Hence, we have developed a method to identify environmental barriers based on information entropy considering that every individual behaves differently in the presence of external stimuli. The behavioral data of the gait process were recorded for 64 participants using a wearable sensor. Additionally, the data were classified into seven gait types using two-step k-means clustering. It was observed that the classified gaits create a probability distribution for each location to calculate information entropy. The values of calculated information entropy showed a high correlation in the presence or absence of environmental barriers. The results obtained facilitated the continuous monitoring of environmental barriers generated in a walking environment.

Pathway Analysis of Behavioral Determinants in Preventing Genital Infections of Santri Putri Pondok Pesantren : Application of The Integrated Behavior Model

Female students who live in Islamic boarding schools are a population at risk for genital infections. The practice of personal/vaginal hygiene or menstrual hygiene is a form of maintaining reproductive health by preventing genital infections. Some bad behavior related to vaginal hygiene is a trigger factor for female genital infections. This study aimed to examine the factors behind the behavior of preventing genital infection in female students in the Islamic boarding school environment. This study was a quantitative study with a cross-sectional design. The population in this study was all female students. Determination of the sample in this study was carried out randomly with the number of subjects determined based on the rule-of-thumb sample size for path analysis, namely a minimum of 100 subjects, a minimum of 5 subjects per parameter, and a minimum of 10 subjects per variable. So that a sample of 150 female students was determined. The independent variable in this study was the behavior of preventing genital infection, while the dependent variables was: (1) behavioral intentions, (2) correct knowledge about behavior, (3) perception of the meaning of behavior, (4) environmental barriers, (5) experiential attitudes, (6) instrumental attitudes, (7) injunctive norms, (8) descriptive norms, (9) perceived behavioral control, (10) self-efficacy. This study indicated that infection prevention behavior can be determined by the behavior of female students prevention of genital infection is not influenced by the behavior of environmental barriers. Good knowledge and skills did not affect female students in taking measures to prevent genital infections; therefore, it was necessary to develop a more heterogeneous number of respondents and a questionnaire that can be understood by respondents so that an integrated behavioral model can become a reference to change behavior, and use methods that can improve their behavior.

Personal and Environmental Challenges of Aging in Place with Long-Term Mobility Disabilities

Maintaining independence while aging in place at home requires support, especially for older adults aging with long-term mobility disabilities. As age-related changes progress, individuals with long-term mobility disabilities experience more challenges engaging with daily living activities (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). To understand the activity challenges of these older adults, we analyzed the interview data from the Aging Concerns, Challenges, and Everyday Solution Strategies (ACCESS) study, a comprehensive user needs assessment of 60 older adults who have had mobility disabilities for at least ten years (Koon et al. 2019). We selected interview data that focused on the conduct of ten activities at home: bathing, dressing, moving around, toileting, transferring, doing hobbies, housekeeping, home maintenance, managing diet and nutrition, and caring for others. This archival study used the coding schemes from the ACCESS study that were developed using both conceptual- and data-driven approaches (Koon et al., 2019). The ecological theory of adaptation and aging (Nahemow and Lawton, 1973) was the underlying framework to identify the challenges related to older adults' functional capacity (personal) and physical environmental barriers (environmental). We identified five main challenges: physical strength, general health limitations, mobility limitations, physical access, and transferring. Older adults' responses to overcoming the challenges involved personal, environmental, and person-environment interaction strategies. This study provides insights into the relationship between the source of environmental barriers and personal coping strategies to guide the design of appropriate aging in place supports for older adults with mobility disabilities.

The Feasibility of Information-Entropy-Based Behavioral Analysis for Detecting Environmental Barriers

The enhancement of physical activity is highly correlated with the conditions of the built environment. Walking is considered to be a fundamental daily physical activity, which requires an appropriate environment. Therefore, the barriers of the built environment should be identified and addressed. Barriers can act as external stimuli for pedestrians, so pedestrians may diversely respond to them. Based on this consideration, this study examines the feasibility of information-entropy-based behavioral analysis for the detection of environmental barriers. The physical responses of pedestrians were collected using an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor in a smartphone. After the acquired data were converted to behavioral probability distributions, the information entropy of each grid cell was calculated. The grid cells whereby the participants indicated that environmental barriers were present yielded relatively high information entropy values. The findings of this study will facilitate the design of more pedestrian-friendly environments and the development of diverse approaches that utilize citizens for monitoring the built environment.

Challenges of Applying On-Site Photovoltaic System At Environmetally Friendly Buildings In Indonesia

Seventh goal of the "Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" is clean and affordable energy to increase the proportion of renewable energy. However, power plants in Indonesia are still dominated by non renewable energy. Therefore, it is necessary to have renewable energy technologies such as photovoltaic that can be installed on-site in buildings as an alternative clean electricity supplier. Even though Indonesia has abundant sun energy, domestic photovoltaic development is relatively slow. This research aims to identify obstacles to the application of photovoltaic as an on-site electrical system in Indonesia by spreading questionnaire to experts and users. Each question in the questionnaire is related to the understanding of the three pillars of sustainability (environment, social, and economic) related to on-site photovoltaic. The results of the data will be tested using the one sample t-test method to identify the environmental barriers, social barriers, and economic barriers. The results of this study indicate that the constraints of photovoltaic as an on-site power plant are generally dominated by social and economic barriers. Meanwhile, environmental barriers are recessive.

On the Inability of Wind and Solar Electric Generation to Power Modern Civilization

There is a societal push to replace fossil and nuclear fuel, which currently generate ~ 85% of the world’s electric power, with wind and solar powered generation of electricity. However, there are significant physical, economic, reliability, and environmental barriers to this replacement. This paper discusses them and concludes that for the foreseeable future, we are stuck with the more conventional sources if we want civilization for the masses to survive.

Functioning of children and adolescents with Down syndrome and the association with environmental barriers and facilitators during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: To compare functioning and environmental aspects before and during physical distancing (DPD) and to determine which social, physical, behavioral and functioning aspects of DPD are correlated. Methods: Sixteen parents of children/adolescents with Down syndrome (11.38 ± 3.00 years) were surveyed before and DPD. Paired t-tests were used to compare functioning and environmental aspects before and DPD and chi-square tests were used to test associations. Results: There were increases in the frequency (p < 0.001) and involvement (p = 0.01) in home participation and on the impact, noticed by the parents, of the possibility of child to participate in daily activities (p = 0.036), as well as a reduction in social supports perceived by caregivers (p = 0.049). An association was found between the child’s socio-emotional difficulties symptoms and practice of physical activity (p = 0.043) and with parents’ satisfaction with the level of child’s home participation (p = 0.042). Conclusion: Functioning can be affected in either positive or negative ways.