The COVID-19 pandemic affected consumers’ behavior worldwide. This paper aims to analyze consumers’ sustainable food behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was based on an online survey during May–October 2020 among 859 Romanian consumers. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were employed to group the consumers based on their behavior. Furthermore, the binary-logistic regression was used to identify the socio-demographic profile of the identified groups. Based on the cluster analysis, the consumers were grouped into three main groups: indifferent, pro-environment protection, and health concerned. The results indicate a positive attitude towards sustainable food behavior. Consumers’ attitude towards sustainable food choice is mainly influenced by age and education level. The study offers valuable information for future public policy and marketing campaign regarding sustainable food behavior.
Environmental data achieved with the Air Quality Monitoring Station in Dej city, Romania, reveal a normal state of particulate matter (PM) emissions below the standard limit in April and May 2017. These airborne particles contain a large amount of mineral fractions such as: quartz, calcite, clays (e.g., kaolinite and muscovite), and lepidocrocite. Their size varies in a wide range: from 1 to 200 μm for floating particles (FP) and from 1 to 10 μm for PM10 observed by optical microscopy and SEM. The in vivo testing shows the ability of PM10 to penetrate into the upper respiratory tract. Mineral fractions were found in nasal exudates. At a shorter exposure time (e.g., 1 minute), only PM10 particles were observed. Particles larger than PM10 were found in nasal exudates at prolonged exposure for up to 3 minutes.
Many concerns are arising now regarding the effects of the pollution on inhabitants, especially in agglomerated areas. It is known that mobility is a major factor that generates threatening pollution that negatively affects the health and the comfort of residents. The present study focuses on this sensitive subject by observing the impact of reducing mobility on air quality. There are various studies on this topic, but this analysis addresses a gap in the literature, by covering a very active area, in terms of development and attractiveness for new inhabitants. The research study was carried on Cluj-Napoca city (Romania), by measuring the concentration of SO2, NO2, O3, PM10, PM2.5 from five different air monitoring stations from Cluj County during 2019–2021. During the entire period, the concentrations of the measured pollutants regarding the air quality were far below the legally accepted limits, with some short time peaks generated by other human factors. Road vehicle traffic generates pollution, but they are not the only elements that have to be taken into consideration when the quality of life is regarded, so the lawmakers have a more complex task to comply when deliberating on this matter. It concludes that it is necessary to develop on the existing air quality measuring network stations, because it is necessary to increase the number and the quality of the measurements.
The vehicle market at the European level (and also elsewhere) has registered a high dynamic for the adoption of electric vehicles as the future means of transport. Government policies and decisions fully support this move, but there are still massive barriers to entry into the EV market due to consumer attitudes and perceptions. Consumer attitudes and perceptions will be decisive in the market success of future electric vehicle models, given that consumers are particularly interested in the vehicles’ technical and dynamic performance. The pressure from customers’ demands for performance leaves its mark not only on the increase of performance and technical parameters, but directly contributes to the generation of interdependence between these parameters. This article presents a comparative statistical analysis of 203 electric vehicle models (from various construction categories), present in the European vehicle market (between the years 2019 and 2022), to highlight the direct and indirect links (interdependencies) between technical and performance parameters depending on the constructive class (type). The goal of this article is to determine whether there is a relationship between the three key performance metrics for electric vehicles—autonomy, top speed, and acceleration—and five significant technical/constructive metrics for these vehicles—battery capacity, energy efficiency, electric motor power, fast charging speed, and vehicle weight (brand and year of availability in the market). Based on the analyzed data, it can be stated that the design and construction of an electric vehicle model currently takes into account both performance and technical parameters, with a strong link between the weight of the vehicle and the energy capacity of the battery (+0.687) being highlighted and also the relationship between autonomy and vehicle weight (+0.355). The conclusions of this study can be used in the future by manufacturers for the development of new models of electric vehicles (new generic platforms and chassis) by classifying/standardizing these vehicles into specific classes, corresponding to the requirements of different classes of consumers or identifying constructive solutions specific to each type of consumer.
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