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In this paper, the performance of a unidimensional continuous variable quantum key distribution protocol is analyzed using Gaussian modulated coherent state under fast fading channel. In the fast fading channel, both parties are connected in free space, resulting in a harsh propagation environment and pollution caused by atmospheric turbulence. This pollution makes it difficult for the communicators to determine the channel transmittance, which can only be estimated based on a probability distribution. To address this, only one modulator is used to code, which demonstrates performance equivalent to that of the symmetric modulated Gaussian coherent state protocol. The security of the protocol in the face of collective attacks is analyzed and it is proved that it can accept a certain amount of excessive channel noise while simplifying operations. Simultaneously, the impact of finite‐key length effects on the protocol is analyzed. It is also demonstrated that this protocol can reduce costs within an acceptable range of performance losses, making it more practical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1,3‐Butadiene is a carcinogenic and mutagenic air pollutant metabolized to butane epoxides, among which 1,2:3,4‐diepoxybutane (DEB) exhibits the highest genotoxicity. DEB is also formed by 1,3‐butadiene oxidation in the air, producing a direct environmental and occupational exposure. In this paper, we studied the kinetics of the nonenzymatic hydrolysis of DEB at a wide range of pH and temperature, including the catalytic effect of ionic species. The compound degradation involved a general and specific acid‐base catalysis of the epoxide ring hydrolysis. DEB had the greatest stability at pH 5–9, when the rates of acid‐catalyzed and base‐catalyzed hydrolysis are negligible and the neutral hydrolysis predominates. The capability of the buffer anions to accelerate the DEB decay increased in the order H2PO4− < HCO3− < CH3COO− < HPO42− < and CO32−. The Arrhenius equation well described the influence of temperature on the acid‐catalyzed, base‐catalyzed, and neutral hydrolysis rate constants. According to the obtained hydrolysis model coupled with the found thermodynamic parameters, the half‐life of DEB in natural fresh waters spans from 2 days at 30°C to 31 days at 0°C, but in the laboratory waste adjusted to pH 1or 13, the half‐life shortens to 2–3 h at 20°C. Therefore, the results of the paper help to assess the risk of exposure to the genotoxic action of DEB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How atmospheric pollution is perceived by urban dwellers has long been a topic of interest within geography and the social sciences, whether to draw attention to environmental injustices, to better understand the materialities and affects associated with polluted air, or to grasp how people ‘tune in’ to polluted matter. In this paper, we draw on three interrelated geographical and social science literatures on polluted air to inform our exploration of how residents of an industrial town in the UK encounter and perceive localised ambient air pollution. Using creative methods, we explore residents' narrative accounts of everyday life in the town, revealing how their engagements with the matter of pollution over time are drawn from multiple registers, giving rise to a plurality of perceptions filled with tensions between near and far, and between past, present and future, producing an ambiguous atmosphere all of its own. The paper contributes to geographic explorations of urban atmospheres an understanding of how they are differently experienced and known, and how residential perceptions might persist or change over different timescales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of low‐cost air quality monitoring networks has substantially grown over the last few years, following the technological advances in the production of cheap and portable air pollution sensors, thus potentially greatly increasing the limited spatial information on air quality conditions provided by traditional stations. However, the use of low‐cost air quality sensors still presents many limitations, mostly related to the reliability of their measurements. Despite the increasing number of papers focusing on these issues, some of the challenges connected to the use of low‐cost air quality sensors are still poorly investigated and understood, considering in particular those related to long‐term applications of low‐cost air quality networks and their integration within the reference air quality monitoring system. The present review aims at filling this gap, by analysing the characteristics of low‐cost air quality monitoring networks that were run across long‐term field campaigns, including their geographical location, the pollutants monitored, the type and number of stations employed, and the length of the field campaign, with a particular attention on assessing the aims for their deployment and on the evaluation of their integration within official air quality monitoring networks. Moreover, a critical analysis of the most insightful suggestions and recommendations delivered in the literature, as well as of the relevant critical issues, is presented, highlighting still open research areas and outlining future challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is the most relevant discussion point in today's scenario. The research paper explains and analysis the relationship between crime and air pollution. It is important to understand that there is a remarkable increase in crimes in the recent past globally and the same can be correlated to air pollution. Studies suggest that air pollution contributed to the increased crime rate. Recent studies in this context have suggested that air pollution can be directly related to aggressive behavior and which in turn leads to an increase in the crime rate. The paper focuses on harm mitigation rather than retribution when dealing with environmental offences. Awareness of the application of restorative processes in cases of environmental harm is ambiguous and, indeed, exculpatory in nature in present scenario. It is generally accepted that environmental crimes are among some of the most lucrative types of transnational illegal activity. In 2016, their monetary worth is calculated at between US$ 91 and 259 billion annually, most likely the world's fourth largest criminal sector after narcotics, counterfeits, and trade in human beings. In this area, there is indeed a detailed list of violations, i.e., wildlife crimes, illicit mining are few to mention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on physical anthropology topics which include comparison between the bone density and loading in the knee joint of modern humans and gorillas, indoor air pollution in rural areas of developing countries, and Y chromosome haplotypes and Native American origins.

Economic growth, air pollution, and forest fires in some states in the United States have increased the concentration of particulate matter with a diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm (PM2.5). Although previous studies have tried to observe PM2.5 both spatially and temporally using aerosol remote sensing and geostatistical estimation, they were limited in accuracy by coarse resolution. In this paper, the performance of machine learning models on predicting PM2.5 is assessed with linear regression (LR), decision tree (DT), gradient boosting regression (GBR), AdaBoost regression (ABR), XGBoost (XGB), k‐nearest neighbors (K‐NN), long short‐term memory (LSTM), random forest (RF), and support vector machine (SVM) using PM2.5 station data from 2017 to 2021. To compare the accuracy of all the nine machine learning models, the coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), Nash‐Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), root mean square error ratio (RSR), and percent bias (PBIAS) were evaluated. Among all nine models, the RF (100 decision trees with a max depth of 20) and support vector regression (SVR; nonlinear kernel, degree 3 polynomial) models were the best for predicting PM2.5 concentrations. Additionally, comparison of the PM2.5 performance metrics displayed that the models had better predictive behavior in the western United States than that in the eastern United States. Key Points: We present the prediction of PM2.5 concentrations over the United States using various machine learning (ML) algorithmsWe show ML as a new approach for analyzing large data sets due to the computational speed and easy implementation for massive amounts of dataThe study is important for improving our understanding of the differences among ML algorithms for Earth Science research [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollution usually accumulates on the surface of the insulator rapidly on high‐speed electric multiple units (EMUs) under operation condition, and the flashover can occur frequently, especially when the EMUs is running on a high‐altitude line. To solve the problem, this paper proposes the calculation method of insulator withstand voltage under the condition of non‐uniform fouling distribution of high‐speed airflow based on the characteristics of high altitude of Lanzhou‐Xin Line in China, and gives the design and test verification of insulator support insulator for 3500‐km altitude. The design and test verification of the supporting insulator of the rolling stock applicable to 3500 km altitude are presented. The result shows that the insulator should be reliable operation on 4430‐km high altitude area if the insulator structure height is 430 mm, the creep distance is 1250 mm. The anti‐pollution performance is fine in high‐speed wind if the radiuses of the large and small shed of the insulator are 196 and 145 mm, respectively, and the shed spacing is 45 mm. The 50‐Hz withstand voltage of the developed insulator is 131 kV and the light impulse voltage is 228 kV which is suitable for lines running on 3500 m. This research provides a theoretical basis and data to support the safety of high‐speed rolling stock in high‐altitude areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental externalities of place‐based policy have generally been overlooked despite their welfare consequences. This paper studies the air‐pollution effect of development zones in urban China using a geo‐coded data set of 2720 counties from 1998 to 2016. By adopting the generalized difference‐in‐difference framework to resolve the problem of endogenous locational selection for place‐based policies, we find that development zones reduce ambient PM2.5 concentration by around 1.8%, leading to a total social gain of $7.75 billion USD. The environmental benefit varies by the zone's dominant industry, geographical region, administrative affiliation and time of establishment. We further show that development zones are comparably cleaner due to the incentives of central and local governments, manifested by the desire to administratively promote development zones, the attempt to satisfy residential demands for higher quality‐of‐life cities, and the employment of the national environmental monitoring system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the association between ambient particulate matter no larger than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) during the prenatal and postnatal periods and infant neurodevelopmental parameters. Method: We conducted a population‐based birth cohort study using the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study. Participants were assessed for developmental conditions through home interviews at 6 months and 18 months of age. Exposure to PM2.5 of mothers and infants during perinatal periods was estimated using hybrid kriging/land‐use regression. The exposure was linked to each participant by home address. Logistic regression was then conducted to determine the risk of neurodevelopmental delay in relation to PM2.5. Results: A total of 17 683 term singletons without congenital malformations were included in the final analysis. PM2.5 during the second trimester was associated with increased risks of delays in gross motor neurodevelopmental milestones (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.09 per 10 μg/m3 increase in exposure to PM2.5). Delayed fine motor development was also found to be related to exposure to PM2.5 in the second and third trimesters (aOR 1.06), as was personal–social skill (aOR 1.11 for the second trimester and 1.06 for the third). These neurodevelopmental parameters were unrelated to postnatal PM2.5 exposure. Interpretation: Exposure to ambient PM2.5 during pregnancy was significantly related to delay in gross motor, fine motor, and personal–social development in this population‐based study. What this paper adds: Prenatal exposure to higher PM2.5 was associated with increased risk of delayed early neurodevelopment.The critical period for delayed gross motor development was the second trimester.The critical period for fine motor and personal–social development was the second and third trimesters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an autoethnographic study which tracks the experience of routinely monitoring personal exposure to air pollution, using Plume Labs' "Flow" device. While conventional air quality data is provided by static monitoring stations, this paper seeks to understand how new intimate data from portable sensors can influence decision‐making and induce behavioural change. This is explored in relation to self‐tracking and the "Quantified Self" (QS) movement, recognising that the environment is intrinsically part of the self and the body. Through autoethnography and reflecting on experiences in London and Kuala Lumpur, this paper explores the practicalities of using Flow and its potential as a transformative tool to facilitate societal consciousness and change towards "the optimal self" with minimised exposure to air pollution. Through personal experience and interactions with others, this paper finds that individuals' willingness and ability to attempt to minimise exposure to air pollution is subject to a combination of factors within and beyond one's control. However, while self‐tracking does not necessarily translate into attempts to minimise exposure, choosing to be exposed to higher levels of air pollution in certain circumstances becomes an active decision. While some maintained their scepticism of Flow's potential, and others remained apathetic towards air pollution, Flow was found to be particularly effective in cultivating curiosity and consciousness through its facilitation of conversations about air quality. Flow's provision of otherwise absent information and its potential to create a network of better‐informed individuals is exciting but uncertain. This paper raises important questions about the role of the QS and such sensor devices in addressing urban air pollution and creating a sense of collective accountability to the environment, moving towards a new goal of "the optimal environment for our optimal selves." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The extraordinary advances in quantifying the health effects of ambient air pollution over the last five decades have led to dramatic improvement in air quality in the United States. This work has been possible through innovative epidemiologic study designs coupled with advanced statistical analytic methods. This paper presents a historical perspective on the coordinated developments of epidemiologic designs and statistical methods for air pollution health effects studies at the Harvard School of Public Health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pregnancy and early childhood are periods with high plasticity in neurological development. Environmental perturbations during these sensitive windows can have lifelong developmental consequences. This review summarizes key findings relevant to the effects of air pollution on neurological development. Mounting evidence suggests that exposure to air pollution, both during pregnancy and childhood, is associated with childhood developmental outcomes ranging from changes in brain structures to subclinical deficits in developmental test scores, and, ultimately, developmental disorders such as attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorders or autism spectrum disorders. Although the biological mechanisms of effects remain to be elucidated, multiple pathways are probably involved and include oxidative stress, inflammation, and/or endocrine disruption. Given the alarming global increase in developmental disorders in recent years, and increased human exposures to pollution, it is critical to reduce personal and community‐level exposures through tight collaboration of interdisciplinary and multi‐level bodies including community partners, physicians, industry partners, policy makers, public health practitioners, and researchers. What this paper adds: Exposure to air pollution is associated with a range of childhood developmental complications.Biological mechanisms may include oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine disruption. What this paper adds: Exposure to air pollution is associated with a range of childhood developmental complications.Biological mechanisms may include oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health effects of urban air pollution are particularly acute for children. This paper details a research project with undergraduates drawing on UPE and children's geography that attempts to address the uneven burdens of air pollution in an east London neighbourhood. Children are uniquely socially and biophysically exposed to the toxic and illegal air pollution plaguing many cities around the world. Scholars working in urban political ecology (UPE) and in children's geographies have a significant opportunity to research these toxic metabolic flows and responses to them, though scholarship at the intersection of UPE and children's geographies is scarce and falls behind the growing social movements involved in activism regarding air pollution in children's urban spaces. Additionally, the intersection of children's geographies and UPE presents a chance for significant pedagogical reflection in UPE, which, to date, has been nearly absent. To address these issues, this paper details a multi‐method and participatory action research project with undergraduates to locate and intervene in uneven and unequal urban metabolism of air pollution near a primary school in east London. It argues for the increasing relevance of air pollution for UPE scholarship, for further interdisciplinary work at the intersection of UPE and children's geographies, and for the greater participation of undergraduates in urban environmental politics beyond the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to deforestation, greenhouse gases and increasing air conditioner systems, the temperatures are changing drastically and the effects are prominent in summer and winter seasons. These ambient temperature variations are affecting the transmission system parameters and also the voltages at various buses. Changes in the transmission line parameters have non-negligible impact on system performance and present Energy Management applications are not considering these temperature variations in the power system state estimation. In this paper, impact of temperature variations on the power system Voltage Stability assessment is considered. Voltage stability assessment methods make use of the load flow results. Load flow results without considering the temperature variations are inaccurate in the real-time and leading to the erroneous results in the voltage stability assessment. In view of this, studies have been carried out on IEEE 30-bus, 118-bus and 300-bus systems, incorporating the seasonal temperature variations on various types of conductors, and also demonstrated the impact with conventional and ZIP type load models. In this paper, four voltage stability indices NLVSI, $L_{mn}$Lmn , FVSI and VCPI(power) are used for identifying the proximity of voltage collapse point, critical line, critical bus voltage, critical bus angle, total system active power loss, total system reactive power loss etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to deforestation, greenhouse gases and increasing air conditioner systems, the temperatures are changing drastically and the effects are prominent in summer and winter seasons. These ambient temperature variations are affecting the transmission system parameters and also the voltages at various buses. Changes in the transmission line parameters have non‐negligible impact on system performance and present Energy Management applications are not considering these temperature variations in the power system state estimation. In this paper, impact of temperature variations on the power system Voltage Stability assessment is considered. Voltage stability assessment methods make use of the load flow results. Load flow results without considering the temperature variations are inaccurate in the real‐time and leading to the erroneous results in the voltage stability assessment. In view of this, studies have been carried out on IEEE 30‐bus, 118‐bus and 300‐bus systems, incorporating the seasonal temperature variations on various types of conductors, and also demonstrated the impact with conventional and ZIP type load models. In this paper, four voltage stability indices NLVSI, Lmn, FVSI and VCPI(power) are used for identifying the proximity of voltage collapse point, critical line, critical bus voltage, critical bus angle, total system active power loss, total system reactive power loss etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The tail index is an important parameter in extreme value theory. In this paper, we consider a simple yet flexible spline estimation method for partially linear tail index models. We approximate the unknown function by B‐splines and construct an approximate log‐likelihood function to estimate the coefficients of the linear covariates and the B‐spline basis functions. Consistency and asymptotic normality of the estimators are established. Subsequently, the proposed method is illustrated by using simulations and applications to the Fremantle annual maximum sea levels data and Chicago air pollution data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: With the quick progress of wireless technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been recognized as the main part of daily people's lives that makes their life more convenient by utilizing a diverse range of smart devices. Over the last decade, various useful and forthcoming application fields have been developed by taking advantage of the IoT concept. In this regard, LPWAN technologies such as LoRa, Sigfox, and NB‐IoT play an important role in advancing. These technologies are suitable wireless communication protocols for battery‐powered IoT objects that enable long‐distance communication in low‐power devices at a low operation cost. Some review papers have investigated the LPWAN technology in the IoT from different perspectives. However, the lack of detailed and systematic study outlining the role of these technologies in different IoT applications is very clear. Consequently, this gap inspired us to write the current study. The current works are classified into three main classes, including smart city, home automation, and smart healthcare. Besides, the involved models in the smart city group are categorized into five subgroups, including smart monitoring, smart metering, air pollution, smart agriculture, and smart parking. The selected works are reviewed, and their main features, including main idea, coverage range, sensor types, processing board, frequency band, communication protocols, power consumption analysis, and achievement, are specified. Generally, our main aim is to describe the challenging problems of applying LPWAN to various IoT applications, specify the efficient models, and recommend some hints for upcoming studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently, the noncommunicable disease (NCD) category was composed of four chronic diseases (cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease) and four shared, 'modifiable' behavioural risk factors (smoking, diet, physical activity and alcohol). In late 2018, the NCD category was expanded to include mental health as an additional disease outcome and air pollution as an explicit environmental risk factor. The newly‐expanded NCD category connects behavioural and environmental readings of risk and shifts attention from individual acts of consumption to unequal and inescapable conditions of environmental exposure. It thus renders the increasing 'toxicity' of everyday life amid ubiquitous environmental contamination a new conceptual and empirical concern for NCD research. It also, as this paper explores, signals a new 'optics' of a much‐maligned disease category. This is particularly significant as chronic disease research has long been siloed between public and environmental health, with each discipline operationalising the notion of the 'environment' as a source of disease causation in contrasting ways. Given this, this paper is positioned as a significant contribution to both research on NCDs and environmental risk, bringing these interdisciplinary domains into a new critical conversation around the concept of toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The scientific rigor and computational methods of causal inference have had great impacts on many disciplines but have only recently begun to take hold in spatial applications. Spatial causal inference poses analytic challenges due to complex correlation structures and interference between the treatment at one location and the outcomes at others. In this paper, we review the current literature on spatial causal inference and identify areas of future work. We first discuss methods that exploit spatial structure to account for unmeasured confounding variables. We then discuss causal analysis in the presence of spatial interference including several common assumptions used to reduce the complexity of the interference patterns under consideration. These methods are extended to the spatiotemporal case where we compare and contrast the potential outcomes framework with Granger causality and to geostatistical analyses involving spatial random fields of treatments and responses. The methods are introduced in the context of observational environmental and epidemiological studies and are compared using both a simulation study and analysis of the effect of ambient air pollution on COVID‐19 mortality rate. Code to implement many of the methods using the popular Bayesian software OpenBUGS is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In big cities, the drivers face a major problem in identifying an optimal vacant parking space for their vehicles as the number of vehicles has rapidly grown over the recent years. This objective of determining the available parking space results in wastage of time, air pollution, and traffic congestion. Smart parking systems facilitate the driver to book parking slots and attain real‐time parking information. However, the existing smart parking solutions necessitate the disclosure of sensitive information like desired destination from the vehicle drivers. Moreover, the current smart parking solutions are highly centralized, making them vulnerable for launching privacy breaches by service providers and resulting in the issues of single‐point failure. In this paper, ring signature and improved multi‐transaction mode consortium blockchain‐based private information retrieval (RS‐IMTMCB‐PIR) scheme is proposed for privacy preserving in smart parking system. This RS‐IMTMCB‐PIR scheme initially utilizes an improved multi‐transaction mode consortium blockchain constructed by different number of parking lot owners in order to achieve maximized parking offers based on the factor of availability, transparency, and security. It incorporates an improved private information retrieval approach for protecting the location privacy of drivers and secretly retrieving the offers of parking from the improved multi‐transaction mode consortium blockchain. It further utilizes the benefits of ring signature for permitting the drivers in a potential anonymous authentication process that aids in available parking slot reservation. The simulation results of this proposed RS‐IMTMCB‐PIR scheme portrayed a predominant performance in ensuring maximized degree of drivers' privacy with reduced computation and communication overheads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the uneven geography of COVID‐19‐related excess mortality during the first wave of the pandemic in Europe, before assessing the factors behind the geographical differences in impact. The analysis of 206 regions across 23 European countries reveals a distinct COVID‐19 geography. Excess deaths were concentrated in a limited number of regions—expected deaths exceeded 20% in just 16 regions—with more than 40% of the regions considered experiencing no excess mortality during the first 6 months of 2020. Highly connected regions, in colder and dryer climates, with high air pollution levels, and relatively poorly endowed health systems witnessed the highest incidence of excess mortality. Institutional factors also played an important role. The first wave hit regions with a combination of weak and declining formal institutional quality and fragile informal institutions hardest. Low and declining national government effectiveness, together with a limited capacity to reach out across societal divides, and a frequent tendency to meet with friends and family were powerful drivers of regional excess mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience of watching the paper burn during the Qingming Festival in Shanghai, China.

While multiple information sources exist concerning surface‐level air pollution, no individual source simultaneously provides large‐scale spatial coverage, fine spatial and temporal resolution, and high accuracy. It is, therefore, necessary to integrate multiple data sources, using the strengths of each source to compensate for the weaknesses of others. In this study, we propose a method incorporating outputs of NASA's GEOS Composition Forecasting model system with satellite information from the TROPOMI instrument and ground measurement data on surface concentrations. Although we use ground monitoring data from the Environmental Protection Agency network in the continental United States, the model and satellite data sources used have the potential to allow for global application. This method is demonstrated using surface measurements of nitrogen dioxide as a test case in regions surrounding five major US cities. The proposed method is assessed through cross‐validation against withheld ground monitoring sites. In these assessments, the proposed method demonstrates major improvements over two baseline approaches which use ground‐based measurements only. Results also indicate the potential for near‐term updating of forecasts based on recent ground measurements. Plain Language Summary: Air quality is a major health concern worldwide, leading to millions of premature deaths annually. In order to better understand this risk and mitigate its impacts, there are numerous sources of information about air quality. These include ground‐based measurement stations, satellites, and global air quality models. By combining these data sources together, we can use the strengths of each source to compensate for the weaknesses of others. This paper presents one method of combining these data sources and uses it to make air quality forecasts over five US cities up to one day in advance. These forecasts are compared to pollution estimates made using ground‐based measurement data only to see how integrating additional data sources improves the forecast. Overall, we find that there are large increases in accuracy of forecasting using the proposed method, and that further improvements can be made by comparing the forecasts to the most recent ground‐based measurements and making some more final adjustments. Methods like this, which use a combination of globally available satellite and model data together with some local measurements, can be applied to different types of air pollution in all regions of the world, thereby improving our understanding of air pollution globally. Key Points: Multiple air quality data sources (GOES‐CF model, TROPOMI satellite, Environmental Protection Agency monitors) are combined to improve city‐scale NO2 forecastsForecasts using combined data outperform forecasts using ground‐based measurements onlyUpdating of forecasts based on residuals against the most recent ground measurements further improves short‐term forecasting [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to correct standard measures of agglomeration economies to account for air pollution. This paper examines the impact of nitrogen oxide (NOX) a pollutant mainly released by transportation on worker productivity. Literature on agglomeration economies highlights the positive role of employment density on productivity, without accounting for the negative impacts of local pollutants. First, standard estimates of agglomeration economies for the 304 French employment areas are in line with the literature. Then, we introduce the variable (NOX) emissions and, once pollution is accounted for, the estimated direct impact of agglomeration externalities on productivity are lower by more than 13 per cent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data are essential in all areas of geophysics. They are used to better understand and manage systems, either directly or via models. Given the complexity and spatiotemporal variability of geophysical systems (e.g., precipitation), a lack of sufficient data is a perennial problem, which is exacerbated by various drivers, such as climate change and urbanization. In recent years, crowdsourcing has become increasingly prominent as a means of supplementing data obtained from more traditional sources, particularly due to its relatively low implementation cost and ability to increase the spatial and/or temporal resolution of data significantly. Given the proliferation of different crowdsourcing methods in geophysics and the promise they have shown, it is timely to assess the state of the art in this field, to identify potential issues and map out a way forward. In this paper, crowdsourcing‐based data acquisition methods that have been used in seven domains of geophysics, including weather, precipitation, air pollution, geography, ecology, surface water, and natural hazard management, are discussed based on a review of 162 papers. In addition, a novel framework for categorizing these methods is introduced and applied to the methods used in the seven domains of geophysics considered in this review. This paper also features a review of 93 papers dealing with issues that are common to data acquisition methods in different domains of geophysics, including the management of crowdsourcing projects, data quality, data processing, and data privacy. In each of these areas, the current status is discussed and challenges and future directions are outlined. Key Points: Different crowdsourcing‐based methods for acquiring geophysical data are reviewed and categorized across seven domains of geophysicsProject management, data quality, data processing, and privacy issues have hampered wider uptake of crowdsourcing methods for practical applicationsFuture applications of crowdsourcing methods require public education, engagement strategies and incentives, technology developments, and government support [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The last decades have seen an unprecedented increase in the availability of data sets that are inherently global and temporally evolving, from remotely sensed networks to climate model ensembles. This paper provides an overview of statistical modeling techniques for space–time processes, where space is the sphere representing our planet. In particular, we make a distintion between (a) second order‐based approaches and (b) practical approaches to modeling temporally evolving global processes. The former approaches are based on the specification of a class of space–time covariance functions, with space being the two‐dimensional sphere. The latter are based on explicit description of the dynamics of the space–time process, that is, by specifying its evolution as a function of its past history with added spatially dependent noise. We focus primarily on approach (a), for which the literature has been sparse. We provide new models of space–time covariance functions for random fields defined on spheres cross time. Practical approaches (b) are also discussed, with special emphasis on models built directly on the sphere, without projecting spherical coordinates onto the plane. We present a case study focused on the analysis of air pollution from the 2015 wildfires in Equatorial Asia, an event that was classified as the year's worst environmental disaster. The paper finishes with a list of the main theoretical and applied research problems in the area, where we expect the statistical community to engage over the next decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide research initiatives on Corona Virus disease 2019 lockdown effect on air quality agree on pollution reduction, but the most reliable method to pollution reduction quantification is still in debate. In this paper, machine learning models based on a Gradient Boosting Machine algorithm are built to assess the outbreak impact on air quality in Quito, Ecuador. First, the precision of the prediction was evaluated by cross‐validation on the four years prelockdown, showing a high accuracy to estimate the real pollution levels. Then, the changes in pollution are quantified. During the full lockdown, air pollution decreased by −53 ± 2%, −45 ± 11%, −30 ± 13%, and −15 ± 9% for NO2, SO2, CO, and PM2.5, respectively. The traffic‐busy districts were the most impacted areas of the city. After the transition to the partial relaxation, the concentrations have nearly returned to the levels as before the pandemic. The quantification of pollution drop is supported by an assessment of the prediction confidence. Key Points: A data driven modeling is applied to quantify the reduction of air pollution during the Corona Virus disease 2019 outbreak in Quito, EcuadorThe accuracy of the models is high (mean PCC = 0.78), especially for predicting NO2 (mean PCC = 0.87) and CO (mean PCC = 0.86)The average drop of pollution during the lockdown is: −53% for NO2, −45% for SO2, −30% for CO, and −15% for PM2.5The industrial areas are less impacted by the quarantine than the traffic and residential districtsThe concentration of pollution tends to return to usual levels, as soon as the relaxed restriction is implemented [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Could the negative effect of air pollution be a threat to regional innovation and stunt economic growth in the most polluted Chinese cities? Considering that the generation of innovation can greatly rely on skilled workers and their productivity, this paper examines the association between air quality and regional innovation. An instrumental variable for air quality—the central heating policy—is used to address potential endogeneity problems. The results suggest a growing negative and significant impact of air pollution on city‐level innovation. A corresponding mechanism analysis rules out the possibility that self‐selection of skilled workers has accounted for the negative impact of air pollution on innovation and consequently infers that the productivity effects may have explained the negative impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Anecdotal evidence suggests that people migrate to avoid air pollution. In this paper, we empirically examine the extent to which air pollution is a push factor for international migration. We allow air pollution to affect migrants differently according to their educational attainment as well as their gender. We also instrument for the level of pollution. Results generally show that air pollution is positively associated with emigration for higher educated individuals but less so for those with less educational attainment. Gender differences are less pronounced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premature graying of hair has major psychosocial and socioeconomic repercussion, as it is considered as a sign of hastily progressing old age, ill health and often leads to loss of self‐esteem. Hair is said to gray prematurely when it happens before the age of 20 years in Caucasians, 25 years in Asians, and 30 years in Africans. The hair color chiefly depends on melanin pigment, and fabrication of this pigment takes place in melanosomes through the process of melanogenesis. This complex biochemical pathway (melanogenesis) is further dependent on tyrosinase which acts as fuel.The normal human scalp is subjected to various factors categorized as intrinsic and extrinsic leading to graying of hair. Intrinsic factors comprise of variants responsible for changes at genetic level while extrinsic factors include air pollution, ultraviolet radiation, smoking, and nutrition. It has been proposed that direct or indirect effect of all these factors results in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thus leading to further damage. Though research has expanded in last few years in terms of microscopic, biochemical (hormonal, enzymatic), and molecular changes happening within hair follicle/shaft, still the exact mechanism leading to premature graying of hair is not well understood. Probable solutions toward this quandary are diet, herbal remedies, and temporary hair colorants. Ironically, the latter one being the most common has various side effects such as allergic reactions, inflammation, and hair loss. The aim of this paper was to review the manifestation and probable future interventions in preventing premature hair graying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactive dyes constitute a significant portion of colorants used in industries ranging from the textile industry to the paper industry. In most cases, the effluent streams from textile plants are highly colored, and treatment methods for dye decolorization such as chemical oxidation need to be explored. The oxidation processes investigated in this study are those of ozonation, ultrasound, and ultrasound-enhanced ozonation. The oxidation of an anthraquinone dye was studied under conditions of varying ultrasonic power, dye concentration, ozone concentration, pH, and temperature. Laboratory experiments were performed using a semibatch reactor by ozonating dye samples with and without ultrasound. Under conditions of constant ultrasonic radiation and continuous gas application, decolorization rates have been enhanced by ultrasound. The apparent first-order rate constants increased between 35 and 204% for the ultrasonic power inputs between 40 W/L and 120 W/L compared with ozonation alone. The effects of ultrasonic power input on the gas-liquid mass-transfer coefficient were also investigated and the results indicate that an increase in ultrasonic power input increases the mass-transfer coefficient. The mass-transfer coefficient increased between 89 and 93% for ozone inlet concentrations between 5.4 and 9.4 mg/L at an ultrasonic power of 120 W/L compared with ozonation alone. The reactions of the dye with ultrasound-enhanced ozone occurred through the hydroxyl radical pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmacists are trusted health care professionals. Many patients use over‐the‐counter (OTC) medications and are seen by pharmacists who are the initial point of contact for allergic rhinitis management in most countries. The role of pharmacists in integrated care pathways (ICPs) for allergic diseases is important. This paper builds on existing studies and provides tools intended to help pharmacists provide optimal advice/interventions/strategies to patients with rhinitis. The Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA)‐pharmacy ICP includes a diagnostic questionnaire specifically focusing attention on key symptoms and markers of the disease, a systematic Diagnosis Guide (including differential diagnoses), and a simple flowchart with proposed treatment for rhinitis and asthma multimorbidity. Key prompts for referral within the ICP are included. The use of technology is critical to enhance the management of allergic rhinitis. However, the ARIA‐pharmacy ICP should be adapted to local healthcare environments/situations as regional (national) differences exist in pharmacy care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to theoretically examine the efficiency of a cost‐share agri‐environmental program through a farm life cycle lens. Faced with a growing environmental impact from agricultural production, the farmer must decide when and how aggressively to invest in environmental capital. The steady state of the optimal control problem reveals the trade‐off between allocating farm profits to consumption versus environmental improvements. A payment from a cost‐share program reduces the time to investment in environmental capital, and also permanently increases the farmer's level of investment. A lack of targeting results in inframarginal farmers being paid more than the minimum amount that is required to induce investment. The portion of both the marginal payment and the average payment that induces new investment declines as the government's share of the payment increases, and this decline decreases overall program efficiency. Despite this inefficiency, a larger payment from a cost‐share program is shown to decrease the farm's environmental impact in both the short and long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In recent years, because of increased carbon dioxide emissions problem, the air pollution has been attracting attention. For example, the exhaust fumes produce nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide. Therefore, these gases should be detected and measured. In this paper, we propose a novel moisture‐insensitive sensor consisting of a comb‐shaped electrode on a Si substrate. We also suggest a new measurement method, using complex impedances, for distinguishing between NO2 and SO2 at low concentrations. It is shown that propose oxidizing‐gas sensor, fabricated on a Si substrate, is moisture‐insensitive for humidity of 40% to 80%. Furthermore, we determine that it is possible to measure mixed gases in the range of 0.1–0.9 ppm for nitrogen dioxide and 0.6‐1.4 ppm for sulfur dioxide owing to the difference in the complex‐impedance change pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Outdoor moulds are classically associated with exacerbations of asthma. Objective: The aim of this paper was to examine nasal allergy morbidity by studying the short‐term relationship between mould spore exposure and daily sales of reimbursable anti‐allergic treatment in central France. Methods: The relationship between daily changes in mould concentrations and daily sales obtained from the national healthcare database was analysed with generalized additive models, taking into account confounding factors such as air pollution, weather conditions, pollen counts, and days of the week. Results: During the study, the average total yearly number of treated people was around 10 000 over approximately 230 000 surveyed. The relative risk (95% CI confidence interval) of sales of oral antihistamines with topical treatment associated with an interquartile increase in mould concentration was significant for Cladosporium 1.079 [1.019‐1.142] and Aspergillus‐Penicillium (Asp‐Pen) 1.051 [1.021‐1.082] in the whole population. When the influence of age and sex was considered, the relationship was significant only in male children aged 0‐12 years and those aged between 13 and 49 years for Cladosporium: 1.256 [1.081‐1.460] and 1.151 [1.063‐1.245], respectively. The relationship was also significant for Asp‐Pen: 1.038 [1.003‐1.075] for those aged between 13 and 49 years and 1.056 [1.007‐1.108] for adults over 50 years of age. Conclusion: The association between prescribed daily sales of oral antihistamines with topical treatment sales is associated with temporal changes to Cladosporium and Aspergillus‐Penicillium in the whole population. When the influence of age and sex was considered, these two moulds contributed to prescribed medication sales only in the male general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

mHealth, such as apps running on consumer smart devices is becoming increasingly popular and has the potential to profoundly affect healthcare and health outcomes. However, it may be disruptive and results achieved are not always reaching the goals. Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) has evolved from a guideline using the best evidence‐based approach to care pathways suited to real‐life using mobile technology in allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma multimorbidity. Patients largely use over‐the‐counter medications dispensed in pharmacies. Shared decision making centered around the patient and based on self‐management should be the norm. Mobile Airways Sentinel networK (MASK), the Phase 3 ARIA initiative, is based on the freely available MASK app (the Allergy Diary, Android and iOS platforms). MASK is available in 16 languages and deployed in 23 countries. The present paper provides an overview of the methods used in MASK and the key results obtained to date. These include a novel phenotypic characterization of the patients, confirmation of the impact of allergic rhinitis on work productivity and treatment patterns in real life. Most patients appear to self‐medicate, are often non‐adherent and do not follow guidelines. Moreover, the Allergy Diary is able to distinguish between AR medications. The potential usefulness of MASK will be further explored by POLLAR (Impact of Air Pollution on Asthma and Rhinitis), a new Horizon 2020 project using the Allergy Diary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is impacted by allergens and air pollution but interactions between air pollution, sleep and allergic diseases are insufficiently understood. POLLAR (Impact of air POLLution on sleep, Asthma and Rhinitis) is a project of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT Health). It will use a freely‐existing application for AR monitoring that has been tested in 23 countries (the Allergy Diary, iOS and Android, 17,000 users, TLR8). The Allergy Diary will be combined with a new tool allowing queries on allergen, pollen (TLR2), sleep quality and disorders (TRL2) as well as existing longitudinal and geolocalized pollution data. Machine learning will be used to assess the relationship between air pollution, sleep and AR comparing polluted and non‐polluted areas in 6 EU countries. Data generated in 2018 will be confirmed in 2019 and extended by the individual prospective assessment of pollution (portable sensor, TLR7) in AR. Sleep apnea patients will be used as a demonstrator of sleep disorder that can be modulated in terms of symptoms and severity by air pollution and AR. The geographic information system GIS will map the results. Consequences on quality of life (EQ‐5D), asthma, school, work and sleep will be monitored and disseminated towards the population. The impacts of POLLAR will be (1) to propose novel care pathways integrating pollution, sleep and patients' literacy, (2) to study sleep consequences of pollution and its impact on frequent chronic diseases, (3) to improve work productivity, (4) to propose the basis for a sentinel network at the EU level for pollution and allergy, (5) to assess the societal implications of the interaction. MASK paper N°32. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sudden events of crisis ('focusing events') trigger intense media reporting, which in turn can prompt political decision-makers to respond with an adjustment of existing policies. As such, focusing events can potentially lead to long-term policy change on a certain issue. This article explores the sudden and intense period of air pollution in Beijing in January 2013 as a focusing event. The episode, which international media referred to as 'Airpocalypse', triggered widespread discussion and policy adjustments that can be assumed to have accelerated the control of air pollution in China. The 'Airpocalypse' was not the first event of intense air pollution in Beijing, but the only one which seemingly caused lasting sociopolitical changes. The aim of this article is to explore the underlying situational factors that enabled the 'Airpocalypse' to be more relevant than other events of severe air pollution. This paper argues that a combination of historically high pollution, improved access to information, increasing government willingness to address the issue, and the ability of media to more openly discuss air pollution created a public pressure situation to which the government was prompted to respond in a stronger way than during previous events of heavy air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reaching the economic, environmental and sustainability objectives of all societies requires overcoming several major energy challenges; it necessitates rapid progress in multiple areas. The scenario pathways presented in this paper describe transformative changes toward these goals, taking a broad view of the four main energy challenges faced by society in the 21st century: providing universal access to modern energy for all; reducing the impacts of energy production on human health and the environment; avoiding dangerous climate change; and enhancing energy security. The overarching objective of the paper is to provide policy guidance on how to facilitate the transformation of the energy system to achieve these multiple energy objectives. Particular focus is given to the required pace of the transformation at both the global and regional levels, and to the types of financial and policy measures that will be needed to ensure a successful transition. Synergies and trade-offs between the objectives are identified, and co-benefits quantified. The paper makes an important contribution to the scenario literature by approaching the global transition toward sustainable development in a more integrated, holistic manner than is common in other studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines a latent process model for forecasting multiple health outcomes arising from a common environmental exposure. Traditionally, surveillance models in environmental health do not link health outcome measures, such as morbidity or mortality counts, to measures of exposure, such as air pollution. Moreover, different measures of health outcomes are treated as independent, while it is known that they are correlated with one another over time as they arise in part from a common underlying exposure. We propose modelling an environmental exposure as a latent process, and we describe the implementation of such a model within a hierarchical Bayesian framework and its efficient computation using integrated nested Laplace approximations. Through a simulation study, we compare distinct univariate models for each health outcome with a bivariate approach. The bivariate model outperforms the univariate models in bias and coverage of parameter estimation, in forecast accuracy and in computational efficiency. The methods are illustrated with a case study using healthcare utilization and air pollution data from British Columbia, Canada, 2003-2011, where seasonal wildfires produce high levels of air pollution, significantly impacting population health. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental exposure to carcinogens causing lung cancer: Epidemiological evidence from the medical literature WHITROW MJ, SMITH BJ, PILOTTO LS, PISANIELLO D, NITSCHKE M. Respirology 2003; 8: 513–521 In 2000 there were 1.1 million lung or bronchial cancer deaths worldwide, with relatively limited evidence of causation other than for smoking. We aimed to search and appraise the literature regarding evidence for a causal relationship between air pollution and lung cancer according to the 10 Bradford Hill criteria for causality. A MEDLINE search was performed using the following key words: ‘lung neoplasm’, ‘epidemiology’, ‘human’, ‘air pollution’and ‘not molec*’. The criteria for inclusion was: cited original research that described the study population, measured environmental factors, was of case control or cohort design, and was undertaken after 1982. Fourteen papers (10 case control, four cohort studies) fulfilled the search criteria, with a sample size ranging from 101 cases and 89 controls, to a cohort of 552 cases and 138 controls. Of the 14 papers that fulfilled the search criteria the number of papers addressing each of the Bradford Hill critera were as follows: Strength of association: eight studies demonstrated significant positive associations between environmental exposure and lung cancer with a relative risk range of 1.14–5.2. One study found a negative association with relative risk 0.28. Consistency: eight of 14 studies found significant positive associations and one of 14 a significant negative association. Specificity: tobacco smoking and occupational exposure were addressed in all studies (often crudely with misclassification). Temporality: exposure prior to diagnosis was demonstrated in nine studies. Dose–response relationship: evident in three studies. Coherence, analogy: not addressed in any study. Evidence for causality is modest, with intermediate consistency of findings, limited dose–response evidence and crude adjustment for important potential confounders. Large studies with comprehensive risk factor quantification are required to clarify the potentially small effect of air pollution given the relatively large effects of tobacco smoking and occupational carcinogen exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution mostly originating from car exhaust and industrial emissions is seriously endangering human health. The study of toxic effects of particulate matter (PM) is a subject of very active research that covers a broad field from biology to chemistry and technology. The main issue of these works is the understanding of the oxidative properties of PM. In this paper, we present a quantitative analytical method based on the resonance Raman spectroscopy of cytocrome c that can be used to monitor the oxidative reactions that may take place between biological samples and PM. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Life monitoring systems with air pollution data have been developed for solitary elderly people. However, the existing systems obtain unnecessary information that invades their privacy. In addition, since degrees of air pollution change in distinctive ways due to the effect of home environment and airflow conditions, it is difficult for people who have no expert knowledge to identify the activities of their daily living (ADL). To solve the problems above, this paper presents a system to select useful information that is required to identify ADL. Experimental results have shown that the proposed system achieves 77.3% identification accuracy. Besides, compared with the case when 10 users were asked to identify ADL without the proposed system, the identification accuracy has increased by 11.3% with the proposed system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Oxford Transport Strategy ( OTS) implemented in the Oxford city centre in June 1999 had an environmental impact associated with reduced car traffic and improved air quality, particularly of SO2 and CO. The effect on reductions in atmospheric pollutants and improved air quality is examined in this paper. By examining records of change associated with specific traffic records and mean annual measures of pollutants, including NO2, NOX, SO2, CO, O3 and PM10, it is possible to relate trends over 15 years (between 1997 and 2012) and evaluate the impacts on buildings. Specifically, this study reveals that soiling was reduced following the OTS and that building decay features stabilised. This occurred when there were reduced levels of traffic on some streets and improved air quality (at Oxford Centre, High Street and generally at St Ebbes) in the Oxford city centre. Reduced concentrations of all measured pollutants (except O3 at the urban background site; with the least reductions in NO2 and PM10 and greatest reductions in NOX, SO2 and CO) indicate a cleaner urban atmosphere since the OTS. Since O3 was the only traffic pollutant that slightly increased in the post- OTS atmosphere, its impact on building stone merits more research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes how primary contaminants in ambient air affect the performance of the cathode in fuel cell electric vehicle applications. The effect of four atmospheric pollutants (SO2, NH3, NO2, and CO) on cathode performance was investigated by air impurity injection and recovery test under load. Electrochemical analysis via polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was performed for various concentrations of contaminants during the impurity test in order to determine the origins of performance decay. The variation in cell voltage derived empirically in this study and data reported in the literature were normalized and juxtaposed to elucidate the relationship between impurity concentration and performance. Mechanisms of cathode degradation by air impurities were discussed in light of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of non-invasive methods in the investigation of acute effects of traffic-related air pollution is not clearly established. We evaluated the usefulness of non-invasive biomarkers in detecting acute air pollution effects according to the age of participants, the disease status, their sensitivity compared with lung function tests and their specificity for a type of pollutant. Search terms lead to 535 titles, among them 128 had potentially relevant abstracts. Sixtynine full papers were reviewed, while 59 articles were excluded as they did not meet the selection criteria. Methods used to assess short-term effects of air pollution included analysis of nasal lavage ( NAL) for the upper airways, and induced sputum ( IS), exhaled breath condensate ( EBC) and exhaled nitric oxide (Fe NO) for central and lower airways. There is strong evidence that Fe NO evaluation is useful independently from subject age, while IS analysis is suitable almost for adults. Biomarker changes are generally observed upon pollutant exposure irrespective of the disease status of the participants. None of the biomarkers identified are specific for a type of pollutant exposure. Based on experimental exposure studies, there is moderate evidence that IS analysis is more sensitive than lung function tests, whereas this is not the case for biomarkers obtained by NAL or EBC. Cells and some cytokines ( IL-6, IL-8 and myeloperoxidase) have been measured both in the upper respiratory tract ( NAL) and in the lower airways ( IS). Overall, the response to traffic exposure seems different in the two compartments. In conclusion, this survey of current literature displays the complexity of this research field, highlights the significance of short-term studies on traffic pollution and gives important tips when planning studies to detect acute respiratory effects of air pollution in a non-invasive way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In post-reform China, rapid motorisation causes various problems like traffic congestion, diminishing road safety and air pollution. Adequate policies necessitate an understanding of the forces behind changing mode choices, but the rapidly developing literature is not complete yet. This paper aims to help fill that gap with an analysis of mode choice for commuting and shopping-leisure trips in Nanjing. Using the Nanjing Residents Travel Survey, we find that models with the same independent variables explain mode choice in Nanjing better than in other cities in the world. Comparatively, members of 'adult families' use public transport and walking more often than the private car and bicycle. And inhabitants of danwei neighbourhoods walk more often than residents in commodity housing estates. These conclusions suggest that ongoing socio-spatial transformations will push mode choice in China further towards private car use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The number of published meta-analyses in plant ecology has increased greatly over the last two decades. Meta-analysis has made a significant contribution to the field, allowing review of evidence for various ecological hypotheses and theories, estimation of effects of major environmental drivers (climate change, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, air pollution), assessment of management and conservation strategies, and comparison of effects across different temporal and spatial scales, taxa and ecosystems, as well as research gap identification. 2. We identified 322 meta-analyses published in the field of plant ecology between 1996 and 2013 in 95 different journals and assessed their methodological and reporting quality according to standard criteria. Despite significant recent developments in the methodology of meta-analysis, the quality of published meta-analyses was uneven and showed little improvement over time. 3. We found many cases of imprecise and inaccurate usage of the term 'meta-analysis' in plant ecology, particularly confusion between meta-analysis and vote counting and incorrect application of statistical techniques designed for primary studies to meta-analytical data, without recognition of the violation of statistical assumptions of the analyses. 4. Methodological issues for meta-analyses in plant ecology include incomplete reporting of search strategy used to retrieve primary studies, failure to test for possible publication bias and to conduct sensitivity analysis to test the robustness of the results, as well as lack of availability of the data set used for the analyses. 5. The use of meta-analysis is particularly common in community ecology, ecophysiology and ecosystem ecology, but meta-analyses in ecophysiology are more likely not to meet standard quality criteria than papers in other subdisciplines. Fewer meta-analyses have been conducted in plant population ecology. 6. Synthesis. Over the past two decades, plant ecologists have embraced meta-analysis as a statistical tool to combine results across studies, and much has been learned as a result. However, as the popularity and usage of meta-analysis in the field of plant ecology has grown, establishment of quality standards, as has been done in other disciplines, becomes increasingly important. In order to improve the quality of future meta-analyses in plant ecology, we suggest adoption of a checklist of quality criteria for meta-analysis for use by research synthesists, peer reviewers and journal editors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metropolitan smog alerts are prominent public information campaigns designed to enhance public health and to curb driving and other emissions. Unlike many other voluntary information-based environmental policies, air quality alerts target household behavior via forecast information about ambient concentrations rather than firm or product characteristics. This paper explores behaviors with high emissions (driving) and with high exposure (outdoor recreation) and underscores the difference between altruistic and risk aversion motivations. Behavioral impacts are identified using the threshold nature of daily air quality forecasts. A regression discontinuity (RD) design finds elderly users and exercisers tend to curtail their use of a major park following smog alerts. The RD design also reveals that households do not drive less on smog alert days. Juxtaposing high emissions behavior with high exposure behavior in the same study highlights how public forecast information may better trigger some responses and struggle to trigger others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]