Integrating linear and nonlinear models to assess the built environment’s impact on older adults’behaviors in China

China is experiencing rapid population aging.The one contributing factor affecting senior citizens’lives is the disconnect between the built environment in urban and rural areas and the behavioral preferences of older adults.However,research on the relation between the built environment and the behavior of older individuals has been limited.Thus,this paper uses the most recent health tracking data on factors influencing aging in China released in 2020(China Senior Health Survey Tracking Survey).Applying traditional regression,least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression,and two decision tree optimization models from machine learning,a comprehensive comparative study is carried out to investigate the correlation between the built environment and the physical activity,dietary habits,and social interactions of older age groups.The findings reveal that built environment variables most significantly impact physical activity,accounting for 52.525%,followed by social interaction behaviors at 50.202%and dietary intake at 47.991%.Furthermore,the authors identify population density and greenness rate as the built environment factors having considerable effects on the behavior of older adults.Thus,this study establishes a theoretical foundation for developing age-friendly community environments for older adults.

Decision-Making and Management of Self-Care in Persons with Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries: A Preliminary Study

Patients and physicians understand the importance of self-care following spinal cord injury (SCI), yet many individuals with SCI do not adhere to recommended self-care activities despite logistical supports. Neurobehavioral determinants of SCI self-care behavior, such as impulsivity, are not widely studied, yet understanding them could inform efforts to improve SCI self-care. We explored associations between impulsivity and self-care in an observational study of 35 US adults age 18 - 50 who had traumatic SCI with paraplegia at least six months before assessment. The primary outcome measure was self-reported self-care. In LASSO regression models that included all neurobehavioral measures and demographics as predictors of self-care, dispositional measures of greater impulsivity (negative urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance), and reduced mindfulness were associated with reduced self-care. Outcome (magnitude) sensitivity, a latent decision-making parameter derived from computationally modeling successive choices in a gambling task, was also associated with self-care behavior. These results are preliminary;more research is needed to demonstrate the utility of these findings in clinical settings. Information about associations between impulsivity and poor self-care in people with SCI could guide the development of interventions to improve SCI self-care and help patients with elevated risks related to self-care and secondary health conditions.

Behavioral Decision-Making of Key Stakeholders in Public-Private Partnerships:A Hybrid Method and Benefit Distribution Study

Public-private partnerships(PPPs)have been used by governments around the world to procure and construct infrastructural amenities.It relies on private sector expertise and funding to achieve this lofty objective.However,given the uncertainties of project management,transparency,accountability,and expropriation,this phenomenon has gained tremendous attention in recent years due to the important role it plays in curbing infrastructural deficits globally.Interestingly,the reasonable benefit distribution scheme in a PPP project is related to the behavior decisionmaking of the government and social capital,aswell as the performance of the project.In this paper,the government and social capital which are the key stakeholders of PPP projects were selected as the research objects.Based on the fuzzy expected value model and game theory,a hybrid method was adopted in this research taking into account the different risk preferences of both public entities and private parties under the fuzzy demand environment.To alleviate the problem of insufficient utilization of social capital in a PPP project,this paper seeks to grasp the relationship that exists between the benefit distribution of stakeholders,their behavioral decision-making,and project performance,given that they impact the performance of both public entities and private parties,as well as assist in maximizing the overall utility of the project.Furthermore,four game models were constructed in this study,while the expected value and opportunity-constrained programming model for optimal decision-making were derived using alternate perspectives of both centralized decision-making and decentralized decision-making.Afterward,the optimal behavioral decision-making of public entities and private parties in four scenarios was discussed and thereafter compared,which led to an ensuing discussion on the benefit distribution system under centralized decision-making.Lastly,based on an example case,the influence of different confidence levels,price,and fuzzy uncertainties of PPP projects on the equilibrium strategy results of both parties were discussed,giving credence to the effectiveness of the hybrid method.The results indicate that adjusting different confidence levels yields different equilibriumpoints,and therefore signposts that social capital has a fair perception of opportunities,as well as identifies reciprocal preferences.Nevertheless,we find that an increase in the cost coefficient of the government and social capital does not inhibit the effort of both parties.Our results also indicate that a reasonable benefit distribution of PPP projects can assist them in realizing optimum Pareto improvements over time.The results provide us with very useful strategies and recommendations to improve the overall performance of PPP projects in China.

Renewal Design of Pedestrian Bridges from the Perspective of Environmental Behaviors

With the continuous deepening of urbanization,the focus of urban construction has shifted to internal renewal,and the phenomenon of decreased vitality caused by the spatial limitations of pedestrian bridges with a single transportation function as the main focus has gradually emerged.Based on this,environmental behavior theory is used to seek the convergence point between the material space and behavioral activities of pedestrian bridges to solve this dilemma.In this paper,the pedestrian bridge of Southwest Hospital of Army Medical University is taken as an example.Starting from the three types of spaces of pedestrian bridges,through behavior observation,interview research,and data analysis,the correlation between the material space of pedestrian bridges and the behavioral characteristics of the population is analyzed,stimulating the spatial vitality of pedestrian bridges,and providing reference for the sustainable development,construction,and renovation of pedestrian bridges.

Pro-Environmental Civic Participation in the USA: The Effects of Social Media, Pro-Environmental Lifestyle and Climate Experiences

This study addresses the link between social media use and pro-environmental civic participation considering the moderating effect of social media affordances (public realm) on one hand, and lifestyle behaviors and climate change experiences (personal realm) on the other. We combine communication theory and behavioral models and using a sample of USA individuals (N = 7225) based on the American Trends Panel to predict variations in pro-environmental behavior. We show that social networks rather than information are more effective in predicting pro-environmental behavior. Moreover, a pro-environmental lifestyle as well as climate change experiences at the community level increase the likelihood for pro-environmental participation. However, affordances related to socioeconomic variations generate variations to pro-environmental civic participation. We conclude that in order to capture the depth of pro-environmental civic participation, it is necessary to theoretically and empirically bridge between private and public expressions of pro-environmental awareness.

Ranking environmental projects model based on multicriteria decision-making and the weight sensitivity analysis

With the fast growth of Chinese economic, more and more capital will be invested in environmental projects. How to select the environmental investment projects （alternatives） for obtaining the best environmental quality and economic benefits is an important problem for the decision makers. The purpose of this paper is to develop a decision-making model to rank a finite number of alternatives with several and sometimes conflicting criteria. A model for ranking the projects of municipal sewage treatment plants is proposed by using exports＇ information and the data of the real projects. And, the ranking result is given based on the PROMETHEE method. Furthermore, by means of the concept of the weight stability intervals （WSI）, the sensitivity of the ranking results to the size of criteria values and the change of weights value of criteria are discussed. The result shows that some criteria, such as “proportion of benefit to project cost”, will influence the ranking result of alternatives very strong while others not. The influence are not only from the value of criterion but also from the changing the weight of criterion. So, some criteria such as “proportion of benefit to project cost” are key critera for ranking the projects. Decision makers must be cautious to them.

Forecasting and Decision-Making of Systematic Theories for Engineering Geology in Environmental Geoscience

The paper discusses the problems of engineering geology in environmental geoscience from several aspects. For natural sciences and social sciences, it deduces essential theory from logistic cycle model, logic mapping and Verhulst model. It had been discovered that these aspects are equal. However, these were the studies of normal effects. We must establish mathematical model to check from contrary course for gray forecasting and decision-making and answer several questions satisfactorily.

COLLISION AVOIDANCE DECISION-MAKING MODEL OF MULTI-AGENTS IN VIRTUAL DRIVING ENVIRONMENT WITH ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS

Collision avoidance decision-making models of multiple agents in virtual driving environment are studied. Based on the behavioral characteristics and hierarchical structure of the collision avoidance decision-making in real life driving, delphi approach and mathematical statistics method are introduced to construct pair-wise comparison judgment matrix of collision avoidance decision choices to each collision situation. Analytic hierarchy process （AHP） is adopted to establish the agents＇ collision avoidance decision-making model. To simulate drivers＇ characteristics, driver factors are added to categorize driving modes into impatient mode, normal mode, and the cautious mode. The results show that this model can simulate human＇s thinking process, and the agents in the virtual environment can deal with collision situations and make decisions to avoid collisions without intervention. The model can also reflect diversity and uncertainly of real life driving behaviors, and solves the multi-objective, multi-choice ranking priority problem in multi-vehicle collision scenarios. This collision avoidance model of multi-agents model is feasible and effective, and can provide richer and closer-to-life virtual scene for driving simulator, reflecting real-life traffic environment more truly, this model can also promote the practicality of driving simulator.

The Impact of the Cognition of Landscape Experience on Tourist Environmental Conservation Behaviors

This article explores the relationship between the tourist's cognition of the landscape experience and the environmental conservation efforts at three distinct tourist sites in mountains of southwestern China. A total of 1500 on-site questionnaire surveys were distributed and 1142 valid questionnaires were used for statistical analysis. Results from multi-group path analysis showed that both cognition of the cultural landscape experience and cognition of the natural landscape experience had positive impacts on environmental conservation behaviors and behavior intentions of tourists. Results from comparative analysis among the three tourist sites indicated that cognition of the cultural landscape experience had a stronger power to predict senior environmental conservation behaviors and behavior intentions than cognition of the natural landscape experience, whereas cognition of the natural landscape experience had more power to predict general environmental conservation behaviors and behavior intentions than cognition of the cultural landscape experience. Furthermore, our findings benefit environmental management and sustainabilityat tourist sites.

Human-Like Decision-Making of Autonomous Vehicles in Dynamic Traffic Scenarios

With the maturation of autonomous driving technology, the use of autonomous vehicles in a socially acceptable manner has become a growing demand of the public. Human-like autonomous driving is expected due to the impact of the differences between autonomous vehicles and human drivers on safety.Although human-like decision-making has become a research hotspot, a unified theory has not yet been formed, and there are significant differences in the implementation and performance of existing methods. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of human-like decision-making for autonomous vehicles. The following issues are discussed: 1) The intelligence level of most autonomous driving decision-making algorithms;2) The driving datasets and simulation platforms for testing and verifying human-like decision-making;3) The evaluation metrics of human-likeness;personalized driving;the application of decisionmaking in real traffic scenarios;and 4) The potential research direction of human-like driving. These research results are significant for creating interpretable human-like driving models and applying them in dynamic traffic scenarios. In the future, the combination of intuitive logical reasoning and hierarchical structure will be an important topic for further research. It is expected to meet the needs of human-like driving.

On the role of impulsivity and decision-making in suicidal behavior

Suicide risk constitutes a complex set of interacting demographic, clinical, psychobiological and environmental variables. Impulsivity is a long-known risk factor for suicide attempts. However, research based on clearer conceptual refinement in this area is imperative. One emerging field of study is that of decision-making. Impulsivity involves a failure of higher-order control, including decision-making. Using standardized operational definitions that take into consideration relevant aspects of impulsivity, including state- and trait-components and a deeper understanding of the process of decision-making in the suicidal mind, we may come a step closer to understanding suicidality and winning the fight in this scourge of human suffering.

Modeling and TOPSIS-GRA Algorithm for Autonomous Driving Decision-Making Under 5G-V2X Infrastructure

This paper is to explore the problems of intelligent connected vehicles(ICVs)autonomous driving decision-making under a 5G-V2X structured road environment.Through literature review and interviews with autonomous driving practitioners,this paper firstly puts forward a logical framework for designing a cerebrum-like autonomous driving system.Secondly,situated on this framework,it builds a hierarchical finite state machine(HFSM)model as well as a TOPSIS-GRA algorithm for making ICV autonomous driving decisions by employing a data fusion approach between the entropy weight method(EWM)and analytic hierarchy process method(AHP)and by employing a model fusion approach between the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution(TOPSIS)and grey relational analysis(GRA).The HFSM model is composed of two layers:the global FSM model and the local FSM model.The decision of the former acts as partial input information of the latter and the result of the latter is sent forward to the local pathplanning module,meanwhile pulsating feedback to the former as real-time refresh data.To identify different traffic scenarios in a cerebrum-like way,the global FSM model is designed as 7 driving behavior states and 17 driving characteristic events,and the local FSM model is designed as 16 states and 8 characteristic events.In respect to designing a cerebrum-like algorithm for state transition,this paper firstly fuses AHP weight and EWM weight at their output layer to generate a synthetic weight coefficient for each characteristic event;then,it further fuses TOPSIS method and GRA method at the model building layer to obtain the implementable order of state transition.To verify the feasibility,reliability,and safety of theHFSMmodel aswell as its TOPSISGRA state transition algorithm,this paper elaborates on a series of simulative experiments conducted on the PreScan8.50 platform.The results display that the accuracy of obstacle detection gets 98%,lane line prediction is beyond 70 m,the speed of collision avoidance is higher than 45 km/h,the distance of collision avoidance is less than 5 m,path planning time for obstacle avoidance is averagely less than 50 ms,and brake deceleration is controlled under 6 m/s2.These technical indexes support that the driving states set and characteristic events set for the HFSM model as well as its TOPSIS-GRA algorithm may bring about cerebrum-like decision-making effectiveness for ICV autonomous driving under 5G-V2X intelligent road infrastructure.

Behavior, distribution and environmental influence of arsenic in a typical lead smelter

A field study was conducted to determine the behavior and distribution of arsenic during the pyrometallurgy process in a typical SKS(Shuikoushan) lead smelter in Hunan province, China. Environmental influences of arsenic in selected samples were evaluated. Arsenic contents in all input and output samples vary from 0.11% in raw lead to 6.66% in collected dust-2. More arsenic is volatilized in blast furnace and fuming furnace(73.02% of arsenic input) than bottom blowing furnace(10.29% of arsenic input).There are 78.97%, 13.69%, 7.31% of total arsenic distributed in intermediate materials, stockpiled materials and unorganized emissions, respectively. Matte slag-2, collected dust-1 and secondary zinc oxide are hazardous based on the arsenic concentrations of toxicity characteristic leaching procedure. According to risk assessment code(RAC) guideline, arsenic in collected dust-1 poses a very serious risk to the surrounding environment, arsenic in speiss, matte slag-2, water-quenched slag and secondary zinc oxide show low risk, while arsenic in matte slag-1, collected dust-2 and post dust has no risk to the environment.

Environmental Enrichment and Its Effect on the Welfare of Two Asian Elephants in Africam Safari Wildlife Conservation Park (Puebla, Mexico)

Animal welfare is important in zoos to maintain the physical well-being and psychological health of individuals. An animal is considered to have welfare if it has good nutrition and also expresses its innate behavior, including sensations and feelings experienced as a result of physical health. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of environmental enrichment on the behaviors of two Asian elephants in a wildlife conservation park. The behavior of two Asian elephants, a 46-year-old male and a 59-year-old female, was observed. Behavior was measured by quantifying the frequency, latency, and duration of behavioral actions. Measurements were done with ad libitum sampling during 5 days of testing, then observations were recorded with focal sampling for 25 days with environmental enrichment and 25 days without enrichment. Data were analyzed with the Chi-square statistical test using the statistical program SPSS 20, observing significant differences (P the application of environmental enrichment. The frequency of maintenance behaviors was higher when environmental enrichment was provided, and the frequency of social conducts (affiliative and agonistic) decreased. In fact, the behaviors most frequently presented by elephants with and without environmental enrichment were definitely maintenance behaviors. The environmental enrichment program helped to reduce the duration of abnormal behaviors and increase the frequency of typical behaviors of the species. It also increased independent movements within the exhibition area and helped to know each of the elephants individually in order to apply each enrichment combination according to their needs.

Environmental management system and community＇s spillover behavior

The purpose of this study is to explore how business organizations could effectively promote positive environmental norms among a larger section of the community. This study hypothesized that the development of a feeling of high involvement among employees of organizations implementing the Environmental Management System （EMS） could result in the spillover phenomena of other environmentally responsible behavior in different domains such as, consumer preferences for environment-friendly products. The study also confirms the effects of environmental attitude （EA） and concrete knowledge （CK） as a mediator; acting not only as an axis to the spillover phenomenon but is also found to be the crucial factor in determining the strength of the whole spillover process.

Summarizing vehicle driving decision-making methods on vulnerable road user collision avoidance

With the development of intelligent vehicles and autonomous driving technology,the safety of vulnerable road user(VRU)in traffic has been more guaranteed,and many research achievements have been made in the key area of collision avoidance decision-making methods.In this paper,the knowledge mapping method is used to mine the available literature in depth,and it is found that the research focus has shifted from the traditional accident cause analysis to emerging deep learning and virtual reality technology.This paper summarizes research on the three core dimensions of environmental perception,behavior cognition and collision avoidance decision-making in intelligent vehicle systems.In terms of perception,accurate identification of pedestrians and cyclists in complex environments is a major demand for VRU perception;in terms of behavior cognition,the coupling of VRU intention identification and motion trajectory prediction and other multiple factors needs further research;in terms of decision-making,the intention identification and trajectory prediction of collision objects are not included in the risk assessment model,and there is a lack of exploration specifically for cyclists'collision risk.On this basis,this paper provides guidance for the improvement of traffic safety of contemporary VRU under the conditions of intelligent and connected transportation.

Assessment of Environmental Health Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior among High School Students in a USA Southeast Texas School District

This cross-sectional descriptive study assessed general environmental health literacy among students focusing on their knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors regarding the environmental health, stewardship, and sustainability, using a questionnaire consisting of 35 core questions from the Centers for Diseases Control (CDCs). Students (N = 185) from three high schools in the district were asked through their class teachers to voluntarily complete the questionnaire. Results indicated that about 41% (n = 77) of the students lacked knowledge regarding potential sources of radiation exposure and 70% (n = 133) lacked knowledge regarding radon gas being the number one risk factor for lung cancer among non-smokers. Additionally, the ANOVA test indicated significant knowledge differences among school location. Students in school #1, located in the most affluent area, had significantly higher knowledge scores (M = 4.39) than school #2 located in a moderately affluent area (M = 3.50). Furthermore, we found significant differences in ethnicity on the environmental health attitude of the high school students. Black students reported lower positive environmental health attitude (M = 29.86) than White students (M = 32.63), Hispanic students (M = 32.33) and Asian students (M = 33.84). These findings demonstrated knowledge deficiency in some key areas in environmental health particularly the environmental diseases and conditions caused by manmade hazards such as pesticides, chemicals, radiation, air, water, and soil pollution. Targeted educational interventions to increase awareness and understanding of health effects, exposure to environmental hazards and carcinogens as well as risks associated to direct exposure as in this study, radon and radiation, should be provided to high school students. Practical education through tours where students can observe directly and participating in laboratory experiments could empower the students to translate this knowledge into positive environmental health behaviors and practices now and in the future.

Does Environmental Risk Affect Human Migration Behavior?

This study tests the influence of environmental risks associated with floods, hurricanes, and hazardous material releases on human migration behavior. With close attention to a function of environmental risk factors, socio-demographic attributes, hazard risk and locational attributes were measured and correlated to the standardized number of recent arrivals and long term residents at the census tract level. Two groups (i.e., recent arrivals and long-term residents) were created to compare their moving behavior. The results indicate that flood risk showed little relationship to either recent arrivals or long-term residents. These results are consistent with past research which suggests that people tend to ignore their vulnerability to natural hazards. However, both groups had negative relationships to the risk from hurricanes and hazardous material releases. This counter-intuitive result suggests that other factors, such as proximity to employment opportunities or property tax advantages, need to be examined. In particular, the recent arrivals were negatively related to chemical risk while long-term residents were positively related to chemical risks, indicating that people that just arrived and old residents are somewhat different in perceiving environmental risks. In addition, the results of this study suggest that people are objective about environmental risks in selecting their habitat. However, once the habitat is settled, people’s perception of the risks may be interfered or reduced by other factors.

Study on Environmental Behavior of Urban Residents in Ningshan County

With the advance in urbanization,environmental problems become increasingly prominent,and environmental crisis has become a global issue. In this context,the ecological civilization has been put on the agenda. Taking Ningshan County in Shaanxi Province as an example,through questionnaire,this paper interviewed and studied environmental behavior of local urban residents. It carried out analysis on the environmental knowledge,environmental awareness,community environmental norms,environmental laws and regulations,and environmental behavior. In conclusion,with changes in environmental behavior,urban residents of Ningshan County should further strengthen their environmental awareness,and government should further improve the environmental improvement policies,make reasonable planning of communities,so as to promote improvement in the overall environmental awareness and changes in environment behavior.