Towards an integrated framework for air quality monitoring and exposure estimation-a review

Climate Change and Food Allergy

The role of environmental factors including climate change and consequent influences of air pollution on food allergy remains less explored compared with impacts on allergic rhinitis and asthma. In this review, we discuss the epithelial barrier hypothesis as a proposed mechanism of food allergy development that may be relevant in this context. We also discuss existing studies that provide insight into the intricate relationship between food allergy and climate-related environmental factors.

Task Assignment and Path Planning Mechanism Based on Grade-Matching Degree and Task Similarity in Participatory Crowdsensing

Participatory crowdsensing (PCS) is an innovative data sensing paradigm that leverages the sensors carried in mobile devices to collect large-scale environmental information and personal behavioral data with the user's participation. In PCS, task assignment and path planning pose complex challenges. Previous studies have only focused on the assignment of individual tasks, neglecting or overlooking the associations between tasks. In practice, users often tend to execute similar tasks when choosing assignments. Additionally, users frequently engage in tasks that do not match their abilities, leading to poor task quality or resource wastage. This paper introduces a multi-task assignment and path-planning problem (MTAPP), which defines utility as the ratio of a user's profit to the time spent on task execution. The optimization goal of MATPP is to maximize the utility of all users in the context of task assignment, allocate a set of task locations to a group of workers, and generate execution paths. To solve the MATPP, this study proposes a grade-matching degree and similarity-based mechanism (GSBM) in which the grade-matching degree determines the user's income. It also establishes a mathematical model, based on similarity, to investigate the impact of task similarity on user task completion. Finally, an improved ant colony optimization (IACO) algorithm, combining the ant colony and greedy algorithms, is employed to maximize total utility. The simulation results demonstrate its superior performance in terms of task coverage, average task completion rate, user profits, and task assignment rationality compared to other algorithms.

Technological features of smartphone apps for physical activity promotion in patients with COPD: A systematic review

INTRODUCTION

Low physical activity (PA) levels have a negative impact on the health status of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Smartphone applications (apps) focused on PA promotion may mitigate this problem; however, their effectiveness depends on patient adherence, which can be influenced by the technological features of the apps. This systematic review identified the technological features of smartphone apps aiming to promote PA in patients with COPD.

METHODS

A literature search was performed in the databases ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. Papers including the description of a smartphone app for PA promotion in patients with COPD were included. Two researchers independently selected studies and scored the apps features based on a previously developed framework (38 possible features).

RESULTS

Twenty-three studies were included and 19 apps identified, with an average of 10 technological features implemented. Eight apps could be connected to wearables to collect data. The categories 'Measuring and monitoring' and 'Support and Feedback' were present in all apps. Overall, the most implemented features were 'progress in visual format' (n = 13), 'advice on PA' (n = 14) and 'data in visual format' (n = 10). Only three apps included social features, and two included a web-based version of the app.

CONCLUSIONS

The existing smartphone apps include a relatively small number of features to promote PA, which are mostly related to monitoring and providing feedback. Further research is warranted to explore the relationship between the presence/absence of specific features and the impact of interventions on patients' PA levels.

AlphaMobileSensing: A virtual testbed for mobile environmental monitoring

Environmental monitoring plays a critical role in creating and maintaining a comfortable, productive, and healthy environment. Built upon the advancements of robotics and data processing, mobile sensing demonstrates its potential to address problems regarding cost, deployment, and resolution that stationary monitoring encounters, which therefore has attracted increasing research attentions recently. To facilitate mobile sensing, two key algorithms are needed: the field reconstruction algorithm and the route planning algorithm. The field reconstruction algorithm is to reconstruct the entire environment field from spatially- and temporally-discrete measurements collected by the mobile sensors. The route planning algorithm is to instruct the mobile sensors where the mobile sensor needs to move to for the next measurements. The performance of mobile sensors highly depends on these two algorithms. However, developing and testing those algorithms in the real world is expensive, challenging, and time-consuming. To address these issues, we proposed and implemented an open-source virtual testbed, AlphaMobileSensing, that can be used to develop, test, and benchmark mobile sensing algorithms. AlphaMobileSensing aims to help users more easily develop and test the field reconstruction and route planning algorithms for mobile sensing solutions, without worrying about hardware fault, test accidents (such as collision during the test), etc. The separation of concerns can significantly reduce the cost of developing software solutions for mobile sensing. For versatility and flexibility, AlphaMobileSensing was wrapped up using the standardized interface of OpenAI Gym, and it also provides an interface for loading physical fields that were generated by numerical simulations as virtual test sites to perform mobile sensing and retrieving monitoring data. We demonstrated applications of the virtual testbed by implementing and testing algorithms for physical field reconstruction in both static and dynamic indoor thermal environments. AlphaMobileSensing provides a novel and flexible platform to develop, test, and benchmark mobile sensing algorithms more easily, conveniently, and efficiently. AlphaMobileSensing is open sourced at https://github.com/kishuqizhou/AlphaMobileSensing.

Electronic Supplementary Material ESM

the Appendix is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s12273-023-1001-9.

Addressing systemic problems with exposure assessments to protect the public's health

BACKGROUND

Understanding, characterizing, and quantifying human exposures to environmental chemicals is critical to protect public health. Exposure assessments are key to determining risks to the general population and for specific subpopulations given that exposures differ between groups. Exposure data are also important for understanding where interventions, including public policies, should be targeted and the extent to which interventions have been successful. In this review, we aim to show how inadequacies in exposure assessments conducted by polluting industries or regulatory agencies have led to downplaying or disregarding exposure concerns raised by communities; that underestimates of exposure can lead regulatory agencies to conclude that unacceptable risks are, instead, acceptable, allowing pollutants to go unregulated; and that researchers, risk assessors, and policy makers need to better understand the issues that have affected exposure assessments and how appropriate use of exposure data can contribute to health-protective decisions.

METHODS

We describe current approaches used by regulatory agencies to estimate human exposures to environmental chemicals, including approaches to address limitations in exposure data. We then illustrate how some exposure assessments have been used to reach flawed conclusions about environmental chemicals and make recommendations for improvements.

RESULTS

Exposure data are important for communities, public health advocates, scientists, policy makers, and other groups to understand the extent of environmental exposures in diverse populations. We identify four areas where exposure assessments need to be improved due to systemic sources of error or uncertainty in exposure assessments and illustrate these areas with examples. These include: (1) an inability of regulatory agencies to keep pace with the increasing number of chemicals registered for use or assess their exposures, as well as complications added by use of 'confidential business information' which reduce available exposure data; (2) the failure to keep assessments up-to-date; (3) how inadequate assumptions about human behaviors and co-exposures contribute to underestimates of exposure; and (4) that insufficient models of toxicokinetics similarly affect exposure estimates.

CONCLUSION

We identified key issues that impact capacity to conduct scientifically robust exposure assessments. These issues must be addressed with scientific or policy approaches to improve estimates of exposure and protect public health.

A Scoping Review on Wearable Devices for Environmental Monitoring and Their Application for Health and Wellness

This scoping review is focused on wearable devices for environmental monitoring. First, the main pollutants are presented, followed by sensing technologies that are used for the parameters of interest. Selected examples of wearables and portables are divided into commercially available and research-level projects. While many commercial products are in fact portable, there is an increasing interest in using a completely wearable technology. This allows us to correlate the pollution level to other personal information (performed activity, position, and respiratory parameters) and thus to estimate personal exposure to given pollutants. The fact that there are no univocal indices to estimate outdoor or indoor air quality is also an open problem. Finally, applications of wearables for environmental monitoring are discussed. Combining environmental monitoring with other devices would permit better choices of where to perform sports activities, especially in highly polluted areas, and provide detailed information on the living conditions of individuals.

A systematic review of building systems and technologies to mitigate the spread of airborne viruses

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to conduct a rigorous systematic literature review and present a summary of building systems and technologies that can be used to mitigate the spread of airborne viruses. With the recent outbreak of COVID-19, occupants’ health and indoor air quality (IAQ) have become a critical issue for facility managers to maintain the full functionality of the buildings. An improved understanding of these available systems will help facility managers and building owners to protect the health and safety of building occupants.

Design/methodology/approach

The PRISMA protocol was used for defining the literature search methodology. The concept mapping technique was used for determining the keywords. The keywords were then used to search for relevant articles using the Scopus database and Google Scholar. A thorough bibliometric analysis and qualitative analysis were conducted for the selected publications.

Findings

It was found that sensor technologies, botanical air-filtration systems and artificial intelligence could be used to effectively monitor and improve IAQ. In addition, natural ventilation is one of the low-cost and effective methods of reducing contaminants from the indoor air. Computational fluid dynamic modeling can be used to understand the flow of virus particles within the building through the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. Several changes to the HVAC system are also discussed.

Originality/value

This study contains a diversity of methods from the existing literature that were systematically selected to present the state-of-the-art building systems and technologies that can effectively improve IAQ. The researchers plan to follow up on the findings of this research and will conduct an empirical study to assess its impact on IAQ.

Wearable Devices for Environmental Monitoring in the Built Environment: A Systematic Review

The so-called Internet of Things (IoT), which is rapidly increasing the number of network-connected and interconnected objects, could have a far-reaching impact in identifying the link between human health, well-being, and environmental concerns. In line with the IoT concept, many commercial wearables have been introduced in recent years, which differ from the usual devices in that they use the term "smart" alongside the terms "watches", "glasses", and "jewellery". Commercially available wearables aim to enhance smartphone functionality by enabling payment for commercial items or monitoring physical activity. However, what is the trend of scientific production about the concept of wearables regarding environmental monitoring issues? What are the main areas of interest covered by scientific production? What are the main findings and limitations of the developed solution in this field? The methodology used to answer the above questions is based on a systematic review. The data were acquired following a reproducible methodology. The main result is that, among the thermal, visual, acoustic, and air quality environmental factors, the last one is the most considered when using wearables even though in combination with some others. Another relevant finding is that of the acquired studies; in only one, the authors shared their wearables as an open-source device, and it will probably be necessary to encourage researchers to consider open-source as a means to promote scalability and proliferation of new wearables customized to cover different domains.

A Methodology for Designing Short-Term Stationary Air Quality Campaigns with Mobile Laboratories Using Different Possible Allocation Criteria

Air quality monitoring and control are key issues for environmental assessment and management in order to protect public health and the environment. Local and central authorities have developed strategies and tools to manage environmental protection, which, for air quality, consist of monitoring networks with fixed and portable instrumentation and mathematical models. This study develops a methodology for designing short-term air quality campaigns with mobile laboratories (laboratories fully housed within or transported by a vehicle and maintained in a fixed location for a period of time) as a decision support system for environmental management and protection authorities. In particular, the study provides a methodology to identify: (i) the most representative locations to place mobile laboratories and (ii) the best time period to carry out the measurements in the case of short-term air quality campaigns. The approach integrates atmospheric dispersion models and allocation algorithms specifically developed for optimizing the measuring campaigns. The methodology is organized in two phases, each of them divided into several steps. Fourteen allocation algorithms dedicated to three type of receptors (population, vegetation and physical cultural heritage) have been proposed. The methodology has been applied to four short-term air quality campaigns in the Emilia-Romagna region.

Mitigation strategies for reducing air pollution

Today, it is increasingly recognized that air pollution hurts human health. Consequently, efficient mitigation strategies need to be implemented for substantial environmental and health co-benefits. A valid approach to reducing the air pollution effects on the environment and human health is proposed. Specific guidelines have been elucidated by differentiating them on the base of the final stakeholders (citizens, enterprises, and public authorities), of the emission sources (transport, household energy, industry, and energy generation sector, agriculture, and shipping area), and of the field of implementation (urban and extra-urban context). This paper can provide useful information for governments for the implementation of a strategic plan focused on emphasizing multi-pollutant emission reductions and overall air pollution-related risk.