Analysis on the Effectiveness of the Input in Household Waste Classification of Residents—Taking S City in China as an Example

S city in China has implemented a waste classification system and constructed a waste classification model with government-led market and public participation. In order to explore the effectiveness of waste classification input in S city, this paper conducts analyses from the points of view of the classification facility’s construction, environmental effectiveness, social acceptability and operation sustainability, based on interviews with and questionnaire surveys completed by related parties. The results show that the current waste classification facility system in S city is basically completed; high rates of both properties and residents comply with the waste classification system. S city has established a government-led waste classification pattern that depends on social participation. This pattern has been recognized and accepted by residents and is economically sustainable. At the same time, it is pointed out that the current marginal effectiveness of the waste classification input is showing a declining trend. Future investment should shift from investment in facilities and equipment to incentives for autonomous management by residents, and the corresponding evaluation of investment and effectiveness should also change accordingly. This requires the government to guide the refined management system.

Short Term Reduction in the Odds of Testing Positive for SARS-CoV-2; a Comparison Between Two Doses and Three doses of the BNT162b2 Vaccine

With the evidence of waning immunity of the BNT162b2 vaccine, a national third dose vaccination campaign was initiated in Israel during August 2021; other countries have announced their intention to administer a booster shot as well. Leveraging data from Maccabi Healthcare Services, we conducted a preliminary retrospective study aimed at evaluating initial short-term effectiveness of a three dose versus a two dose regimen against infection due to the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, using two complementary approaches; a test-negative design and a matched case-control design. We found that 7-13 days after the booster shot there is a 48-68% reduction in the odds of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection and that 14-20 days after the booster the marginal effectiveness increases to 70-84%. Further studies are needed to determine the duration of protection conferred by the third dose and its effect on severe disease.

Simulation-based what-if analysis for controlling the spread of Covid-19 in universities

A simulation model is developed to analyze the spread of covid-19 in universities. The model can be used to conduct a what-if analysis and estimate infection cases under different policies. For proof-of-concept, the model is simulated for a hypothetical university of 25,000 students and 3,000 faculty/staff in a U.S. college town. Simulation results show that early outbreaks are very likely, and there is no silver bullet to avoid them. Instead, a combination of policies should be carefully implemented. The results suggest (almost) full remote university operations from the beginning of the semester. In a less-preferred alternative, if universities decide to have students attend in person, they should encourage remote operations for high-risk individuals, conduct frequent rapid tests, enforce mask use, communicate with students and employees about the risks, and promote social distancing. Universities should be willing to move to remote operations if cases rise. Under this scenario, and considering implementation challenges, many universities are still likely to experience an early outbreak, and the likelihood of having a case of death is worrisome. In the long run, students and faculty react to the risks, and even if universities decide to continue operations, classes are likely to have very low in-person attendance. Overall, our analysis depicts several sources of system complexities, negative unintended consequences of relying on a single policy, non-linear incremental effects, and positive synergies of implementing multiple policies. A simulation platform for a what-if analysis is offered so marginal effectiveness of different policies and different decision-making thresholds for closure can be tested for universities of varying populations.

Making Killers: Hate Training and the US Army’s War in Europe, 1942-5

During the Second World War, the US Army was faced with the problem of turning average civilians into soldiers capable of destroying the German army. To ease their adjustment to their new duties and overcome what US officers saw as the unsuitability of Americans for soldiering, the Army Ground Forces adopted a training regimen designed to produce an ‘induced urge to hate the enemy’. This training would make soldiers into enthusiastic killers by portraying the enemy as brutal and ruthless and warfare as a fundamentally lawless activity. As the war went on, hate training increasingly emphasized German atrocities, breaking down the distinctions between soldier and civilian and painting all Germans as potential threats. This antinomian approach achieved only marginal effectiveness in getting US troops to kill, but had dire results for military justice. Blurring the lines between lawful killing and murder, the army’s hate training program crippled its ability to police its soldiers. As violence against German civilians and POWs mounted, many officers felt these war crimes were the natural and inevitable result of the army’s training regimen. Unwilling to hold soldiers responsible, confessed war criminals were only lightly punished, explicitly because the Army believed they had only acted on their training.

Delusion in Attribution: Caveats in Using Attribution for Multimedia Budget Allocation

Media attribution is the assignment of a percentage weight to each media touchpoint a consumer is exposed to prior to purchasing. Many firms consider using attribution to allocate media budgets, particularly for digital media, but an important question is whether this is appropriate. An initial hurdle when answering this question is that, despite the surge in interest for media attribution in marketing academia and practice, attribution does not have an agreed-on formal definition. Therefore, this article proposes an attribution formulation based on the relative incremental contribution that each medium makes to a purchase, taking into account advertising carryover and interaction effects. The formulation shows that attribution is proportional to the marginal effectiveness of a medium times its number of exposures. This means that often-used media will have high attribution weights. However, the profit-maximizing allocation for a fixed budget is a function of advertising effectiveness, but not a function of past exposure levels. By offering analytical derivations and studying simulated and empirical data, the paper shows how attribution can offer misleading insights on how to allocate resources across media. Moreover, the empirical example demonstrates that substantial gains in purchase probability can be made using profit-maximizing allocation compared with attribution-based allocation.

Phosphorus Partitioning in a Storm Water Pond

Storm water ponds are commonly employed to trap sediments, nutrients and other pollutants in non-point runoff. Aquatic macrophytes are thought to offer enhanced nutrient control via nutrient uptake and other processes. This study sampled and compared the phosphorus contents of water, sediment, and a dominant macrophyte, Stuckenia pectinata (Sago Pond Weed), in a storm water detention pond in the fall of 2013 and 2014. Phosphorus concentrations [ug P (g material)−1] were much higher in macrophyte tissues than in sediment and water, but the areal amounts of phosphorus (mg P m−2) bound in these three forms were ranked differently: sediment>>water>macrophyte, with macrophyte-bound P accounting for only <1–2% of total P in this pond. Macrophyte management may, therefore, have only marginal effectiveness in nutrient control by storm water detention ponds, although macrophytes support a variety of other ecosystem services.

The benefits of the emissions trading mechanism for Italian firms: a multi-group analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the impact of internal and external environmental management (EM) on performance to verify the emission trading (ET) mechanism ' s effectiveness. It aims to investigate whether EM that is carried out by ET firms has a higher influence on performance than EM that is carried out by no-ET firms. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model is drawn up based on the existing literature in green supply chain management (GSCM) and is tested on a large sample of Italian firms. A multi-group analysis in structural equation modeling allows for the estimation of the impact of internal and external EM on economic and environmental performance over the two groups. Findings – Firms under ET regime do not perform better than no-ET firms environmentally or economically; moreover, environmental collaboration is significantly less effective for ET firms. Research limitations/implications – Although the ET mechanism has been introduced by the European Union to combat and reduce the emissions, research has shown its marginal effectiveness. Data comprises only data about Italian firms. Items in the questionnaire allow for a two-year lag period. Interviewed firms have been selected according to EM criteria only. Practical implications – Firms subjected to the ET mechanism should find more effective and efficient practices to improve their environmental performance because the ET is marginally beneficial. Originality/value – The findings supply insights to managers about the real effectiveness of ET as well as to decision planners for the development of future sustainable mechanisms.

OPERATIONAL POLLUTION PREVENTION PROGRAMS FOR LOADED TANKERS TRANSITING COASTAL WATERS1

ABSTRACT Loaded tankers constitute a high-risk scenario during coastal navigation and inward transit to their destination terminal. An effective pollution prevention program based on prudent operational procedures can be developed on a port- and terminal-specific basis that will effectively reduce this risk and make cleanup and contingency plans largely redundant. When the high cost and marginal effectiveness of oil spill cleanup is considered, a pollution prevention program appears particularly attractive. This is especially true if the threat of toxic chemical cargoes entering the water column is also borne in mind. Most marine accidents that result in pollution take place in coastal waters to tankers under 100,000 dwt. The St. Lawrence Gulf and River on Canada's east coast constitute a fragile landlocked marine ecosystem that is potentially vulnerable to the depredations of pollution from vessels in transit to Montreal and the Great Lakes. Perceptive assessment and strict operational programs have been established to ensure that only low-risk vessels, prudently navigated under approved terminal-specific programs, gain access to ports in the Maritime Provinces and thence to Canada's hinterland waterways.