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Seasonal analysis of indoor and outdoor ratios of PM 2.5 and PM 10 in Bangkok and Chiang Mai:A comparative study of haze and non-haze episodes.
Get PDFParticulate matter (PM) air pollution has been identified as one cause of human health impact with the estimated global 8.8 million attributable deaths. Thailand experiences haze episode every year, which can lead to high ambient concentrations of particulate matter in ambient air. This study aims to investigate the relationship of indoor and outdoor air quality in both haze and non-haze period in two cities in Thailand: namely Bangkok and Chiang Mai. We conducted the air quality sampling in various styles of house, with 17 houses in both urban and rural areas, between April to October 2019. The results indicated that the concentration of PM 2.5 in indoor air in Bangkok were 19.85 and 11.40 μg/m 3 for haze and non-haze period, respectively, whereas the PM 10 concentrations were 32.124 and 17.49 μg/m 3 for haze and non-haze period, respectively. The corresponding average of outdoor air concentrations were 26.26 and 16.68 μg/m 3 for haze and non-haze, respectively. While the PM 10 concentrations were 46.36 and 23.86 μg/m 3 for haze and non-haze period, respectively. In Chiang Mai, it was observed that the mean concentration of PM 2.5 in indoor was 106.80 μg/m 3 and 5.52 μg/m 3 for haze and non-haze periods, respectively. Regarding PM 10, it was observed that the mean concentration in indoor was 118.54 μg/m 3 and 9.74 μg/m 3 for haze and non-haze periods, respectively. Indoor/Outdoor (I/O) ratios of PM 2.5 varied in Bangkok average was 0.76 for haze and 0.68 for non-haze period. The I/O ratio in Chiang Mai was 0.91 and 1.16 for haze and non-haze episode, respectively. Indoor/Outdoor (I/O) ratios of PM 10 varied in Bangkok average was 0.70 for haze and 0.73 for non-haze period. The I/O ratio in Chiang Mai was 0.92 and 0.96 for haze and non-haze episode, respectively Our findings indicated the influences of outdoor air quality on indoor air quality during both haze and non-haze episode. The intrusion of outdoor air in Chiang Mai to the houses caused a higher I/O ratio than Bangkok due to the characteristics of house and culture. The indoor air quality in terms of particulate matter were dominated by outdoor air quality. Thus, people should close doors/windows during the haze as well as non-haze episode to avoiding the pollutant accumulation. </p
Editorial:Writing from the Fringes
No full textThis piece is the introduction to a special issue of a journal, Text: journal and writing and writing programs, focused on marginal voices and creative practice
Prudent Electricity Procurement by a Load Serving Entity
No full textMotivated by the projected solar and wind capacity additions around the world, we model the energy procurement decision of a load serving entity (LSE) faced with alternatives of solar power purchase agreements (PPAs), wind PPAs, non-renewable energy forward contracts, and spot energy purchases in a wholesale electricity market with uncertain prices. Using a pseudo-data sample of over one million observations, we estimate a translog cost function to find that the LSE’s own-price elasticity estimates range from −1.87 for nighttime spot MWh demands to −13.1 for forward MWh demands. MWh demands are influenced by solar and wind capacity factors, daytime and nighttime retail sales, and spot energy price forecasts. The LSE’s optimal procurement of solar capacity is roughly twice the wind capacity, corroborating the ratios of projected solar and wind capacity additions in regions around the world. If the LSE’s existing energy mix is nearly all renewable, it becomes carbon-free when solar and wind power purchase agreements have declining energy prices or when forward energy price and spot energy price forecasts increase over time. These results imply that piecemeal policy measures can have conflicting outcomes, calling for integrated resource planning under wholesale market competition and price uncertainty
Transformative Heritage Economies:Reimagining Cultural Value, Exchange and Inheritance
No full textHow is the concept of economy relevant to contemporary heritage practices? This opening chapter to Alternative Economies of Heritage considers how economy has long infiltrated heritage imaginaries and practices, despite professional efforts to distinguish its aims from market-driven thinking. It argues that opening-up conversations about cultural inheritance to multi-disciplinary and multi-modal forms of inquiry offers a place for collaborative reimagining of the economy writ large
Alternative Economies of Heritage:Sustainable, anticolonial and creative approaches to cultural inheritance
No full textAlternative Economies of Heritage is a groundbreaking edited volume that critically evaluates how the ‘work’of heritage can be reimagined, as a multifarious field of thought and action, to resist the reductive economies of colonial capitalism. In a global context of cultural financialisation and ecological crisis, where sustainable, anti-colonial and creative approaches are required to solve urgent problems, this volume provides readers with an enriched understanding of heritage as a transforming and multidisciplinary domain, which continues to question what is valued, discarded or shared with future generations. Bringing together researchers from the academy and industry, and from varied international contexts, this volume asks how does ‘heritage’–as a complex intersection of contemporary practices with their own diverse histories–recognise and circulate cultural value between generations and communities? This volume brings together critical and creative perspectives from 29 authors, showcasing diverse, coexisting heritage economies across six continents that offer new horizons for cultural inheritance. It also platforms perspectives from professional and grassroots community-based heritage practitioners, which may be of interest to non-academic readers from not-for-profit and public sectors. Readers of Alternative Economies of Heritage may include students and scholars of heritage and museum studies, contemporary art, urbanism, environmental humanities, archaeology, anthropology, digital humanities and Indigenous studies, among other disciplines
Uncovering key components of semi-public spaces in multi-unit residences for enhancing social sustainability
No full textSemi-public spaces in residential complexes act as intangible bridges between private areas and public urban spaces, playing a vital role in the overall social sustainability of neighborhoods. While the importance of public and private spaces in fostering social interaction and cohesion has been widely studied, the role of semi-public spaces in enhancing social sustainability from different aspects has not received the same attention. This study seeks to identify key indicators of semi-public spaces that contribute to the social sustainability of multi-unit residential complexes, using the Story and Simulation (SAS) approach. Fuzzy-logic Cognitive Mapping (FCM) software was used to model relationships between variables, drawing on input from both experts and residents. The findings indicate that key indicators—such as security, accessibility, socioeconomic inclusivity, distribution of green spaces, sense of belonging, and perception of privacy in semi-public spaces—are crucial for enhancing social sustainability. Based on the significance of these indicators, a framework for the future development of multi-unit residential projects was designed. As case studies, three residential complexes with different typologies were selected to test and validate the extracted indicators. Data analysis revealed significant variations in these indicators across the selected complexes, attributable to differences in infrastructure, facilities, management, planning policies, and residents' social engagement. Additionally, the design, typology, and morphology of these complexes played a key role in influencing the social sustainability of their semi-public spaces. This research presents a scenario highlighting the current unsustainable outlook for semi-public spaces, which, if left unaddressed, could undermine the livability of residents in critical situations
What It Takes to Win:Examining Predicted Versus Actual Swimming Performances at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and What Comes Next
No full textUNLABELLED: Predictions of performances should be evaluated to confirm their accuracy. Work by this group has resulted in 3 sets of predictions being generated for swimming events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, using the same statistical approach for each set.PURPOSE: To examine the accuracy of swimming predictions for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and generate updated predictions for both the Singapore 2025 World Aquatics Championships and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.METHODS: A linear regression and forecasting function was used to generate predictions for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games across 3 performance categories (rank 1st-3rd, 4th-8th, and 9th-16th). Mean absolute error was used to assess the accuracy of the predicted versus actual Paris 2024 Olympic Games times for all events across the 3 performance categories. New predictions for the 2028 Olympic cycle were subsequently generated using results from the World Championships and Olympic Games between 2011 and 2024.RESULTS: Across all events, a mean absolute error value of 0.84% was observed between the Paris 2024 Olympic Games predicted and actual times. Predicted times were highly correlated with actual times (r2 = .99). Across the 3 sets of predictions (created in 2022, 2023, and 2024), the 2023 set of predictions had the lowest overall mean absolute error value (0.55%).CONCLUSIONS: The methods used to create predictions for swimming performances at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games were deemed accurate. These methods enable national swimming federations to create a series of predictions for a given major championship, inform athlete identification and development pathways, and allocate appropriate resources, including sport-science provision.</p
Tuning in to Kids Together:Piloting an emotion-focused coparenting program
No full textGroup parenting programs, including emotion-focused programs, are effective at improving children's emotional and behavioral adjustment; however, the impact of these programs may be limited due to parents, typically mothers, attending sessions alone. It is expected that actively involving both caregivers in parenting programs will lead to superior outcomes given family systems are interconnected and when parents feel more supported by one another, they are more likely to have greater emotional availability for their children. Tuning in to Kids Together (TIK-Together) was developed to involve both caregivers and address the coparenting relationship. The current study examined the feasibility and pilot testing of TIK-Together when delivered in a real-world context, specifically assessing program adherence, reliability of measures, and program outcomes. TIK-Together was delivered to 57 participants (27 mother-father dyads, 1 triad) by community services in Australia in an intervention-only design. Facilitators completed attendance sheets and fidelity checklists after each session, and parents completed online questionnaires at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up. Adherence across services varied; however, parent attendance and the proportion of content delivered was high. The measures used to assess coparent outcomes demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency in the current sample. After attending the program, parents reported increased supportive/cooperative coparenting of children's emotions, greater dyadic coping, improved emotion coaching beliefs and practices, reduced undermining coparenting of children's emotions, lower emotion dismissing beliefs and practices, and less parent emotion dysregulation. Mothers and fathers reported improved child emotion regulation and decreased behavioral difficulties. The findings are consistent with prior TIK research and pave the way for future research exploring the benefits of integrating coparenting content into this parenting intervention.</p
God's Child
No full textA literary translation of the poem God's Child by Japanese poet Arai Takako. The poem appears in Arai's Ooka Makoto Prize-winning collection Oshirakosama-kibun (Genki-Shobō, 2024). The poem references the Pasolini film Pigsty, as well as an Ainu tradition of raising and then sacrificing a sacred bear
What three years of COVID-19 vaccine administration reveals about the incidence of shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA).
No full textBackground: Shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) has been reported to be a rare but real complication of vaccination. It is considered attributable to an incorrect vaccine administration technique by the vaccinator. To date, evidence about SIRVA is mainly limited to case studies and case series, and the incidence remains unknown. This study aimed to determine the incidence of SIRVA. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of the publicly available Eudravigilance database (pharmacovigilance data). We examined all COVID-19 vaccine case reports administered between January 2020 and December 2022. Reports were analysed to see if they met the Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC) definition and inclusion criteria for SIRVA. Data was extracted. Findings: Between January 2020, and December 2022, from 1,172,583,008 administered COVID-19 vaccines, 43,192 cases met the SAEFVIC inclusion criteria for SIRVA. This equals an incidence of 3·7 cases per 100,000 vaccines administered during the three years. Female subjects are disproportionately affected, with 33,828 cases (77.9 %). The incidence was higher with some COVID-19 vaccine formulations than others. Interpretation: The incidence found in this study is higher than previously reported. The data also reflects that it affects more female subjects than males. While previously considered avoidable using the correct vaccine administration technique, the data challenges this notion as it shows that certain vaccine formulations may be associated with a higher incidence of the condition. The causes of SIRVA are likely multifaceted, with current understanding being further impacted by unclear definitions and reporting requirements. Funding: This project was supported by an ECARD grant from The University of Canberra.</p