Relations Between Stochastic Orderings and generalized Stochastic Precedence

The concept of "stochastic precedence" between two real-valued random variables has often emerged in different applied frameworks. In this paper we consider a slightly more general, and completely natural, concept of stochastic precedence and analyze its relations with the notions of stochastic ordering. Such a study leads us to introducing some special classes of bivariate copulas. Motivations for our study can arise from different fields. In particular we consider the frame of Target-Based Approach in decisions under risk. This approach has been mainly developed under the assumption of stochastic independence between "Prospects" and "Targets". Our analysis concerns the case of stochastic dependence.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

The Target-Based Utility Model. The role of Copulas and of Non-Additive Measures

My studies and my Ph.D. thesis deal with topics that recently emerged in the field of decisions under risk and uncertainty. In particular, I deal with the "target-based approach" to utility theory. A rich literature has been devoted in the last decade to this approach to economic decisions: originally, interest had been focused on the "single-attribute" case and, more recently, extensions to "multi-attribute" case have been studied. This literature is still growing, with a main focus on applied aspects. I will, on the contrary, focus attention on some aspects of theoretical type, related with the multi-attribute case. Various mathematical concepts, such as non-additive measures, aggregation functions, multivariate probability distributions, and notions of stochastic dependence emerge in the formulation and the analysis of target-based models. Notions in the field of non-additive measures and aggregation functions are quite common in the modern economic literature. They have been used to go beyond the classical principle of maximization of expected utility in decision theory. These notions, furthermore, are used in game theory and multi-criteria decision aid. Along my work, on the contrary, I show how non-additive measures and aggregation functions emerge in a natural way in the frame of the target-based approach to classical utility theory, when considering the multi-attribute case. Furthermore they combine with the analysis of multivariate probability distributions and with concepts of stochastic dependence. The concept of copula also constitutes a very important tool for this work, mainly for two purposes. The first one is linked to the analysis of target-based utilities, the other one is in the comparison between classical stochastic order and the concept of "stochastic precedence". This topic finds its application in statistics as well as in the study of Markov Models linked to waiting times to occurrences of words in random sampling of letters from an alphabet. In this work I give a generalization of the concept of stochastic precedence and we discuss its properties on the basis of properties of the connecting copulas of the variables. Along this work I also trace connections to reliability theory, whose aim is studying the lifetime of a system through the analysis of the lifetime of its components. The target-based model finds an application in representing the behavior of the whole system by means of the interaction of its components

The Target-Based Utility Model. The role of Copulas and of Non-Additive Measures

My studies and my Ph.D. thesis deal with topics that recently emerged in the field of decisions under risk and uncertainty. In particular, I deal with the "target-based approach" to utility theory. A rich literature has been devoted in the last decade to this approach to economic decisions: originally, interest had been focused on the "single-attribute" case and, more recently, extensions to "multi-attribute" case have been studied. This literature is still growing, with a main focus on applied aspects. I will, on the contrary, focus attention on some aspects of theoretical type, related with the multi-attribute case. Various mathematical concepts, such as non-additive measures, aggregation functions, multivariate probability distributions, and notions of stochastic dependence emerge in the formulation and the analysis of target-based models. Notions in the field of non-additive measures and aggregation functions are quite common in the modern economic literature. They have been used to go beyond the classical principle of maximization of expected utility in decision theory. These notions, furthermore, are used in game theory and multi-criteria decision aid. Along my work, on the contrary, I show how non-additive measures and aggregation functions emerge in a natural way in the frame of the target-based approach to classical utility theory, when considering the multi-attribute case. Furthermore they combine with the analysis of multivariate probability distributions and with concepts of stochastic dependence. The concept of copula also constitutes a very important tool for this work, mainly for two purposes. The first one is linked to the analysis of target-based utilities, the other one is in the comparison between classical stochastic order and the concept of "stochastic precedence". This topic finds its application in statistics as well as in the study of Markov Models linked to waiting times to occurrences of words in random sampling of letters from an alphabet. In this work I give a generalization of the concept of stochastic precedence and we discuss its properties on the basis of properties of the connecting copulas of the variables. Along this work I also trace connections to reliability theory, whose aim is studying the lifetime of a system through the analysis of the lifetime of its components. The target-based model finds an application in representing the behavior of the whole system by means of the interaction of its components

Determination of Thermal Comfort in Indoor Sport Facilities Located in Moderate Environments: An Overview

In previous years, providing comfort in indoor environments has become a major question for researchers. Thus, indoor environmental quality (IEQ)—concerning the aspects of air quality, thermal comfort, visual and acoustical quality—assumed a crucial role. Considering sport facilities, the evaluation of the thermal environment is one of the main issues that should be faced, as it may interfere with athletes' performance and health. Thus, the necessity of a review comprehending the existing knowledge regarding the evaluation of the thermal environment and its application to sport facilities becomes increasingly relevant. This paper has the purpose to consolidate the aspects related to thermal comfort and their application to sport practice, through a deep study concerning the engineering, physiological, and psychological approaches to thermal comfort, a review of the main standards on the topic and an analysis of the methodologies and the models used by researchers to determine the thermal sensation of sport facilities' occupants. Therefore, this review provides the basis for future research on the determination of thermal comfort in indoor sport facilities located in moderate environments

An Extensive Collection of Evaluation Indicators to Assess Occupants' Health and Comfort in Indoor Environment

Today, the effects of the indoor environment on occupants' health and comfort represent a very important topic and requires a holistic approach in which the four main environmental factors (thermal comfort, air quality, acoustics, and lighting) should be simultaneously assessed. The present paper shows the results of a literature survey that aimed to collect the indicators for the evaluation of occupants' health and comfort in indoor environmental quality evaluations. A broad number of papers that propose the indicators of a specific environmental factor is available in the scientific literature, but a review that collects the indicators of all four factors is lacking. In this review paper, the difference between indicators for the evaluation of risk for human health and for comfort evaluation is clarified. For each environmental factor, the risk for human health indicators are proposed with the relative threshold values, and the human comfort indicators are grouped into categories according to the number of parameters included, or the specific field of application for which they are proposed. Furthermore, the differences between human health and comfort indicators are highlighted

Simulation of the thermal behaviour of a building retrofitted with a green roof: optimization of energy efficiency with reference to italian climatic zones

Running a building energy simulation program (EnergyPlus), simulations were conducted on a 'public housing' building type, in order to evaluate the energy savings achieved by a green roof coupled with different configurations of external wall. EnergyPlus enabled the investigation of the thermal behaviour variations of the building envelope, and the possible consequences, in terms of comfort, on the temperature of the internal spaces. The variation of the energy behaviour of the building envelope type was assessed primarily through the analysis of the operative temperature T° of the elements of surface casing, the trend of the surface heat fluxes on the faces of the elements of internal and external housing, the variation of the operating temperature inside the rooms. The energy savings achieved with a green roof varies considerably in relation to the reference performance obtained without this kind of insulating structure. The main parameters, useful to define the contribution of the green roof to the reduction of the loads of cooling plants, consist of the specific climate and the thermal isolation level of the initial coverage

Environmental Impact of Green Roofing: The Contribute of a Green Roof to the Sustainable use of Natural Resources in a Life Cycle Approach

AbstractEven if several studies and researches have demonstrated that green roofs significantly contribute to energy saving, indoor thermal comfort, urban heat island mitigation, rain-water management and air pollution reduction, environmental benefits of green roofs mainly depend on use of primary energy, natural resources or raw materials used in the construction.A green roof is usually a more or less complex aggregation of different layer addressing each one to a specific characteristic and performance.Results of previous LCA researches, based on a cold climate scenario, have demonstrated the highest influence that some specific layers have on the overall impact of the green roofs and to what extent the global impact changes when insulation and the substrate layers vary in density and quality.Starting from results of these similar EU researches, this study aims to evaluate the variation of the overall impact in hot climates where insulation is less strategic than heat capacity.LCA has been applied to assess and compare the environmental impacts of four different green roof solutions compared to a standard clay pitched roof, based on the functional unit of 1m2 with the same reference service life, where layers have been selected according to local practice and market. Despite a general equivalence in environmental impacts of all the roofing elements, results have highlighted a general lack in specific life cycle inventory information that leads to a potential inaccuracy of the assessment especially when recycled material are used in the growing medium or when disposal scenario includes recycle processes

Measuring Physical access to primary health care facilities in Gambella Region (Western Ethiopia)

s part of the project “More equity and quality of health services in Gambella, Gambella Region”, financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and implemented by the Italian NGO Doctors with Africa CUAMM (Padua, Italy) a geographic database of the distribution of health facilities of Gambella Region (western Ethiopia) was created. This data collection was carried out in two missions carried out in February 2018 and November-December 2019. It allowed a mapping of the access roads and the location of health facilities using Geomatic Approaches and related technologies (Remote Survey, Field Survey, GPS, GIS). The field work has allowed the investigation in 11 Waredas (i.e. districts) with the census of 3 primary hospitals, 26 health centres and 121 HPs and related road access by car or, in case of inaccessibility of vehicles, by foot or boat.The final result of this work is the availability of a detailed cartographic picture of the geographical distribution of Health Facilities (HFs) in order to support the modern decision-making tools to be adopted for the distribution of human and instrumental resources. As an example we describe a network analysis performed by ESRI™ Network Analyst which showed the importance of this approach to remodel a more efficient referral system

General lighting in offices building: Techno-economic considerations on the fluorescent tubes replacement with LED tubes

The use of LED light sources is nowadays an attractive solution because it can easily lead to lower operating costs of artificial lighting. In the last years, the replacement of fluorescent lamps with LED tubes for lighting of workplaces have been frequently proposed. The aim of the Authors is to analyze, from techno-economic's point of view, the fluorescent tubes replacement of a typical office building with LED tubes. Using the evaluation of the Lighting Energy Numeric Indicator has been possible to point out that the replacement of the fluorescent tubes allows a reduction in energy consumption for lighting higher than 50% with an obvious reduction in the annual operating cost. For the lamps replacement, in the case study have been estimated a simple payback time of less than 5 years. The methodological approach used by the Authors, although based on a case study, can be extended to numerous office buildings because the analyzed configurations (use and dimension of the rooms, type and features of the luminaires) can be considered significantly representative of this type of buildings. The choice of the LED sources that are suitable for the fluorescent lamps replacement must be preceded by a careful lighting analysis in order to ensure the compliance with the standards requirements

Simulazione del comportamento energetico di un fabbricato-tipo in assenza/presenza di tetto/parete verde per ottimizzare l’efficienza energetica degli edifici, rispetto alle aree climatiche italiane

Le simulazioni condotte attraverso il software EnergyPlus, su un edificio tipo di edilizia residenziale pubblica hanno consentito, al variare delle configurazioni di involucro, di valutare le variazioni del comportamento termico dell’involucro dell’edificio e le eventuali ricadute, in termini di comfort, sulle temperature degli ambienti interni. Il software EnergyPlus impiegato per la simulazione, consente di dettagliare con estrema precisione il complesso meccanismo di scambio di calore che avviene all’interno di un substrato vegetale quale quello del tetto verde, inclusi i meccanismi di scambio per evapotraspirazione, ma non è tuttavia dotato di un modulo specifico per il calcolo delle prestazioni delle pareti verdi: i risultati del presente lavoro di ricerca possono quindi ritenersi indicativi, ma non validati, per quanto attiene ai dati relativi al comportamento della parete verde. La variazione di comportamento energetico dell’involucro degli edifici tipo è stata valutata principalmente attraverso l’analisi delle temperature T° superficiali degli elementi di involucro, l’andamento dei flussi di calore superficiali sulle facce interne ed esterne degli elementi di involucro, la variazione della temperatura T° operativa all’interno degli ambienti. Le simulazioni hanno confermato il contributo offerto dai sistemi a verde nella riduzione dei carichi temici, con particolare rilevanza per le zone climatiche temperate in cui le oscillazioni della T° esterna e i livelli di irradianza non sono particolarmente rilevanti. Le simulazioni hanno altresì rilevato la significatività di alcuni parametri descrittivi della natura del manto vegetale, primo fra tutti il LAI (Leaf Area Index), nel condizionare il comportamento degli strati vegetali, in riferimento alla capacità di dispersione del calore accumulato. Tale parametro è da tenersi in debita considerazione nella progettazione di tetti verdi in climi in cui i livelli di irradianza e le temperature T° diurne sono elevate (zone climatiche A, B), onde evitare che la copertura non sia in grado di smaltire durante le ore fresche notturne il calore assorbito durante il giorno