Large-scale Events Research Articles

Role of risk perception on trust, event impact experiences, and event support in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics during the COVID-19 outbreak

ABSTRACT The study of the risks associated with large-scale events has become increasingly prominent in recent decades. Recently, COVID-19 has emerged as an unexpected and unprecedented risk factor for hosting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Risk perception is widely acknowledged as a significant factor in social exchange situations where individuals rely on one another. Trust plays a crucial role in simplifying complex scenarios and facilitating the acceptance of potential risks. However, few studies have investigated the association between trust/risk perception and event experiences/event support. This study examined the effect of Tokyo residents’ trust in event organizers and risk perception in the context of COVID-19 on their event impact experiences and event support during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics through panel data analysis (n = 938). Trust and risk were measured pre-event (T1; one month before), and event impact experiences and event support were estimated post-event (T2; two weeks after). The results indicated that trust had a positive relationship with positive event impact experiences/event support, and a negative relationship with negative event impact experiences and risk perception. Risk perception was positively associated with negative event impact experiences, and mediated the relationship between trust and negative event impact experiences. Furthermore, positive and negative event impact experiences mediated the association between trust and event support. Thus, we advanced social exchange theory by demonstrating that trust is a valuable predictor of increasing/decreasing the benefits/costs of events to residents, while confirming that risk perception increases the costs of the exchange process between the event organizer and residents in mega-sporting events.

Design of Polarization Spectroscopy Integrated Imaging System

To simultaneously acquire the spectral and polarization information of the target and achieve the monitoring and identification of the target object, a polarization spectral integrated imaging system is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the structural principle of the polarization spectral integrated imaging system is introduced. The relationship between the spatial resolution, spectral resolution, and the system’s structural parameters is analyzed. The design of the optical part of the polarization spectral integrated imaging system is completed, along with the tolerance analysis. Secondly, the mechanical structure of the polarization spectral integrated imaging system is designed. Finally, by using a drone to carry the polarization spectral integrated imaging system, a simulation experiment for sea surface oil spill monitoring is conducted, and the hyperspectral and polarization information of the ocean, crude oil, fuel oil, palm oil, diesel, and gasoline are obtained. The polarization and spectral information were integrated. The integration of hyperspectral and polarization data yields remarkable enhancement outcomes, allowing for the clear delineation of previously challenging-to-identify crude oil contamination areas against the marine background in the fused images, characterized by sharper boundaries and improved discriminability. This accomplishment underscores the feasibility of our system for the rapid identification of large-scale oil spill events.

Does Festival Quality Effect Psychological Well-being Through Festival Value and Festival Satisfaction?

This study investigates the impact of festival quality on the psychological well-being of attendees at The Eras Tour in Indonesia, emphasizing the mediating roles of festival value and satisfaction. The background highlights the increasing significance of large-scale music events, which necessitate high-quality experiences to enhance attendee satisfaction and well-being. The research aims to explore how festival quality influences psychological well-being through perceived value and satisfaction. A questionnaire was administered to 190 Indonesian respondents who attended the concert, using a 5-point Likert scale for measurement. The analysis employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate the relationships among variables. Results indicate that festival quality positively affects both festival value and psychological well-being, confirming that higher quality leads to greater perceived value and emotional responses. While festival satisfaction did not significantly mediate this relationship, festival value emerged as a crucial mediator. These findings suggest that enhancing festival quality can improve attendees' psychological well-being, offering practical implications for event organizers to focus on aspects such as venue selection and service quality to foster a more satisfying experience. Future research should explore the long-term effects of these variables and develop validated measurement scales for better empirical comparisons.

Unlocking Virality: Analyzing the Factors Driving Olympic Hot Topics on Weibo During the Paris 2024 Games

This study investigates the factors driving the virality of Olympic-related topics on Weibo, focusing on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. As one of China's largest social media platforms, Weibo plays a significant role in shaping public discourse and amplifying topics related to global events like the Olympics. By analyzing 242 trending search terms from July 26 to August 11, 2024, this study explores how elements such as keyword choice, emotional appeal, and the presence of news events contribute to a topics popularity. A binary logistic regression model was employed to examine the effects of these variables on the popularity index, categorizing titles into "high" and "low" popularity. The results indicate that highly emotional headlines, particularly those with extremely positive or negative tones, are more likely to become popular. Additionally, titles associated with major news events significantly increase the likelihood of virality. While keyword relevance is a crucial factor in attracting attention, the length of a headline has a limited impact on its success. The type of content publisher also plays a role, with official media sources often garnering higher credibility and engagement compared to self-media or sports media outlets. The studys findings offer practical insights for content creators, media organizations, and brands aiming to maximize their visibility during large-scale events. The analysis underscores the importance of strategically choosing keywords, leveraging emotional resonance, and integrating newsworthy elements to enhance content distribution and public engagement on digital platforms.

Improving Complex Problem-Solving in Emergency Response: A Study of the Fire and Rescue Service in Sweden

AbstractThis study explored how the Swedish Fire and Rescue Service identifies problems and implements necessary actions during complex problem-solving in emergencies, aiming to increase our understanding of this process. Primary and secondary data from large-scale fire events were analyzed, including semistructured interviews and incident reports. The concept of “possibility space” is applied to identify factors affecting complex problem-solving. This refers to the scope of action available at a specific point in time for a particular operation. The study identified eight factors, including problem identification, incident development, capability, collaboration, management, legal framework, logistics, and time available, that could either decrease or increase the scope of action. The findings contribute to an increased understanding of complex problem-solving in real-world environments and suggest that the possibility space could be a valuable tool for practitioners in enhancing problem-solving during emergency response.

Avian influenza: A new threat to wild bird conservation?

<p>Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, significantly threatens wild bird populations and global biodiversity. As wild birds are natural reservoirs for various strains of the influenza virus, they have a crucial role in the epidemiology of the disease, which has profound implications for both wildlife conservation and public health. The emergence and dispersion of highly pathogenic avian influenza strains, particularly H5N1, have resulted in large-scale mortality events in wild bird populations, disrupting ecosystems and threatening endangered species. The conservation of wild birds in the context of avian flu involves several critical actions, including surveillance, rapid response to outbreaks, habitat management, and minimizing human-wildlife interactions that facilitate virus transmission. Studying avian influenza’s impact on wild bird populations is crucial due to its dual importance in wildlife conservation and public health. Wild birds, as natural reservoirs of the virus, play a central role in its spread, with highly pathogenic strains like H5N1 causing devastating mortality events that disrupt ecosystems and endanger species. Effective management, including monitoring, rapid outbreak response, and habitat protection, is essential to mitigate these effects. Collaboration among experts is vital to protect biodiversity, sustain ecological balance, and reduce risks to human health, ensuring the long-term survival of wild bird populations.<strong></strong></p>

Avian influenza: A new threat to wild bird conservation?

<p>Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, significantly threatens wild bird populations and global biodiversity. As wild birds are natural reservoirs for various strains of the influenza virus, they have a crucial role in the epidemiology of the disease, which has profound implications for both wildlife conservation and public health. The emergence and dispersion of highly pathogenic avian influenza strains, particularly H5N1, have resulted in large-scale mortality events in wild bird populations, disrupting ecosystems and threatening endangered species. The conservation of wild birds in the context of avian flu involves several critical actions, including surveillance, rapid response to outbreaks, habitat management, and minimizing human-wildlife interactions that facilitate virus transmission. Studying avian influenza’s impact on wild bird populations is crucial due to its dual importance in wildlife conservation and public health. Wild birds, as natural reservoirs of the virus, play a central role in its spread, with highly pathogenic strains like H5N1 causing devastating mortality events that disrupt ecosystems and endanger species. Effective management, including monitoring, rapid outbreak response, and habitat protection, is essential to mitigate these effects. Collaboration among experts is vital to protect biodiversity, sustain ecological balance, and reduce risks to human health, ensuring the long-term survival of wild bird populations.<strong></strong></p>

Coordination strategy and contract design of platform supply chain for large-scale sports events with low carbon preference.

The organization of sports events, while generating economic benefits, inevitably imposes significant environmental pressures. Conducting green and low-carbon sports events have become a global consensus. In addressing the carbon emissions and benefit coordination issues on the production end of infrastructure construction for large-scale sports events, we considers the significant role of digital platforms in the industry's low-carbon transformation and upgrade, and innovatively incorporates platforms as decision-making entities and investigates the equilibrium strategies for low-carbon cooperation under three different power structures: one led by the sports events materials supplier, one by the materials distributor, and one by the integrated service platform. Additionally, it designs related cost-sharing contracts. The findings suggest that: centralized decision-making is more conducive to aligning the interests of various entities within the sports events platform supply chain. Different power structures have distinct impacts on overall supply chain profits and carbon emissions. Specifically, the supply chain achieves the highest overall profit under the domination of the integrated service platform, while the lowest level of carbon reduction occurs under the domination of the materials distributor. These results provide strategic insights for the low-carbon development of sports events and the coordinated cooperation within platform supply chain.

Wavelet analysis of discharge and sediment load for the Subarnarekha, Brahmani, and Mahanadi rivers of India

ABSTRACT This study aims to identify distinct small-scale temporary patterns between the river discharge and suspended sediment load for the main tropical rivers using continuous wavelet transform. Strong annual and irregular semi-annual variabilities, with few quarterly and interdecadal variabilities, are observed in river discharge and sediment load. The wavelet coherence reveals that the strongest in-phase coherence relationships exist between total suspended sediment and streamflow. The methodology for identifying the primary climate factors that integrate the partial wavelet coherence (PWC), multiple wavelet coherence (MWC), and quadruple wavelet coherence (QMWC) techniques is presented. The results show that the El-Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the major regulator of streamflow followed by Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The chosen rivers show a statistically significant ( p ≤ 0.05 ) descending trend in sediment load but no significant positive or negative trend in river discharge. This could be due to regional sediment storage and large-scale stream events affecting the sediment transport dynamics.

How large-scale sport events redefine rurality? CunBA and the (re)production of rurality in China

The rural revitalization experience in China is being transformed by the village basketball association (CunBA), an event embedded in rural everyday practices or strategically designed to shape the perception of rural space. As this event integrates into daily rural life, it has the potential to alter both rural space and rurality itself. Using the theoretical framwork of performing rurality and employing Actor Network Theory (ANT) as an analytical tool, this paper examines the process and effects of rurality transformation as various actors, including the state and digital platform users, become part of this network. Through the analysis of semi-structured interviews and netnography data, the study reveals that the reconstruction of rurality is influenced by the interactions within a heterogeneous actor network. It finds that rurality is enacted within a dynamically equilibrated network and that the meaning and outcomes of rurality are redefined through the interactions between human and non-human actors and the evolving network. By focusing on rural China, this paper aims to contextualize the concept of ‘performing rurality’ and further explore its theoretical issues in a digital context. The findings indicate that rural revitalization in China increasingly depends on digital platforms to perform rurality. This phenomenon must be understood within the context of ‘post-rurality’ and the broader socio-cultural processes behind it in rural China.

Usability of Mobile Control Room and CCTV Systems for Crowd Control at Large-Scale Events with the Occurrence of a Large Number of People With Focus on the Czech Republic

This article deals with the issue of the use of modern instruments for crowd control, in particular the use of a mobile closed-circuit television system connected directly to the control room during largescale events. The article has two aims: to check the usability of this type of system especially from the perspective of increasing the safety of event visitors, and to identify the optimal technical solution for crowd monitoring and management and possible obstacles for deployment in the field. The article further focuses on the practical usability of the information obtained through the mobile camera system and the control centre for increasing the safety of event visitors from the perspective of security managers. The conducted investigation identified obstacles to the deployment of a mobile camera system as well as described the optimal parameters for the use of a mobile camera system, and it collected feedback from the security team participating in the security management of the event. The results of the contribution enable easier orientation in the selection of suitable hardware and software for crowd control; Key vulnerabilities in deploying mobile CCTV systems were identified, including issues such as data transmission stability over LTE networks and the financial costs of alternative solutions like satellite connections. Based on field testing and feedback from security teams, recommendations were made to improve the system’s effectiveness and adaptability, leading to more precise decision-making and proactive risk management at large-scale events.

Weather Radars Reveal Environmental Conditions for High Altitude Insect Movement Through the Aerosphere

High-flying insects that exploit tropospheric winds can disperse over far greater distances in a single generation than species restricted to below-canopy flight. However, the ecological consequences of such long-range dispersal remain poorly understood. For example, high-altitude dispersal may facilitate more rapid range shifts in these species and reduce their sensitivity to habitat fragmentation, in contrast to low-flying insects that rely more on terrestrial patch networks. Previous studies have primarily used surface-level variables with limited spatial coverage to explore dispersal timing and movement. In this study, we introduce a novel application of niche modelling to insect aeroecology by examining the relationship between a comprehensive set of atmospheric conditions and high-flying insect activity in the troposphere, as detected by weather surveillance radars (WSRs). We reveal correlations between large-scale dispersal events and atmospheric conditions, identifying key variables that influence dispersal behaviour. By incorporating high-altitude atmospheric conditions into niche models, we achieve significantly higher predictive accuracy compared with models based solely on surface-level conditions. Key predictive factors include the proportion of arable land, altitude, temperature, and relative humidity.

On Process Discovery Experimentation

Process mining aims to derive insights into business processes from event logs recorded from information systems. Process discovery algorithms construct process models that describe the executed process. With the increasing availability of large-scale event logs, process discovery has shifted towards a data-oriented research discipline, aiming to design algorithms that are applicable and useful in practice. This shift has revealed a fundamental problem in process discovery research: Currently, contributions can only be considered in isolation. Researchers conduct experiments to show that they move the field forward, but due to a lack of reliability and validity, the individual contributions are hard to generalise. In this paper, we argue that one reason for these problems is the lack of conventions or standards for experimental design in process discovery. Hence, we propose “process discovery engineering”: a research methodology for process discovery, consisting of a shared terminology and a checklist for conducting experiments. We demonstrate its applicability by means of an example experimental evaluation of process discovery algorithms and discuss the implications of the methodology on the field. This paper is not meant to be prescriptive, but to invite and encourage the community to contribute to this discussion to advance the field as a whole.

Factors associated with loneliness in Latin-American family care partners during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19-related restrictions led to an increase in overall loneliness and social isolation. Before the pandemic, care partners reported higher levels of loneliness and higher loneliness prevalence compared to non-care partners. Because of the spread and severity of the infections, and the access to support spread, we expect a different impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LATAM care partners. To describe the loneliness levels of LATAM caregivers and to identify socioeconomic and health factors associated. An international online cross-sectional survey for care partners, embedded within the 'Coping with Loneliness and Isolation during COVID-19' (CLIC) Study conducted between June 2020- and November 2020. We analysed data from 246 family care partners living in Latin American countries (46% Mexico, 26% Chile,18% Brazil, and 10% from Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala y Costa Rica). We assessed loneliness using the 6-items of De Jong Gierveld loneliness Scale. We described the levels of overall, emotional, and social loneliness pre and during Covid, and reported the distribution of care partners who improved, worsened or maintained their levels of loneliness. Moreover, we used longitudinal multiple linear regression models with bootstraps errors of 1,000 iterations to identify factors associated with the levels of overall, emotional, and social loneliness during the pandemic. Participants were mostly women, 50 years and older, in a partnership, highly educated and with finances meeting their needs, with good to excellent physical and mental health. Among the total of care partners, 55% perceived higher overall loneliness, 56% higher emotional loneliness, and 21% higher social loneliness during the pandemic in comparison with pre-COVID-19 levels. Perceived mental health was associated with the overall, emotional, and social loneliness. Regardless of their living and health situation, during the pandemic, loneliness increased in all groups of care partners. These should be taken in consideration when planning public health approaches for crises such as pandemics or other large-scale disruptive events.

Analysis of Policies in the Field of the Tourism Industry from the Republic of Moldova in Ensuring the Sustainability of Sports Tourism

As diminishing the effect of the pandemic, the tourism industry in the Republic of Moldova is starting to recover after a period in which not only local tourism suffered, but also the international one. The current research aims at the potential of the sports infrastructure in the Republic of Moldova, but also the place of sports tourism in regional policies for the coming years. The subject of the research aims at the effects of the policies implemented in recent years, which contribute to the development of sports tourism. The methods that made it possible to carry out the present research included the analysis of specialized literature and the statistical-mathematical one. The results of the research highlighted the fact that in the Republic of Moldova, among the forms of tourism on the rise are gastronomic, transit and sports tourism, the latter becoming more and more popular. All this is due to central and regional policy instruments, which in recent years have led to the development of the necessary infrastructure, a fact that allowed the organization of large-scale sports events. Moreover, they had the ability to attract athletes, who used various local tourist services during the sports events. The mentioned leads us to conclude that at the regional level, in the development policies for the coming years, most of the authorities have measures to boost sports tourism.

Therapists in Wartime: Holding Others' Trauma While Contending With Your Own.

This study explores the experience of Israeli therapists who both worked with clients in emergency interventions during the third week following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and were themselves exposed, to one extent or another, to the terrifying events. Open-ended questionnaires were completed by 201 therapists during the third week following October 7. Using thematic analysis, therapists' reports of the themes their clients raised in therapeutic sessions were compared with their reports of the hardships they themselves experienced as individuals and professionals during the same period. Drawing on the concept of shared traumatic reality, the study considers how close the themes are, and how challenging it is to cope concurrently with a traumatic reality that is experienced both directly and indirectly. Seven main categories emerged from the responses to questions about both their clients and themselves: (1) uncertainty and worries about the near and more distant future; (2) overwhelming emotions; (3) physical sensations; (4) shattered meaning and loss of trust; (5) lack of routine; (6) self-preservation; and (7) shared trauma. The findings shed light on early reactions to a shared traumatic reality in the period closely following the trauma itself, indicating that professionals find it hard to differentiate between the personal, professional, and national levels when exposed to a large-scale traumatic event they share with their clients.

Gender Bias in Residents’ Perceptions and Support of Rally Event Tourism: The Sierra Morena Rally of Córdoba, Spain

Motorsports have become a tourism resource for certain territories. Knowledge about the perception of impact and the support residents provide for their celebration contributes to ensuring their long-term success. The academic literature has so far focused on large-scale events, leaving a gap in knowledge regarding small-scale events. This study addresses the case of the Sierra Morena Rally in Córdoba, Spain. It is based on the principles of Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Social Representation Theory (SRT) to explore a gender bias in the perception of impact and support for the event. Using a sample of 753 residents, an Exploratory Factor Analysis is conducted, and Mann–Whitney U and Hedges’ G statistics are applied. The results confirm the existence of a gender bias in perception, which is discussed in the context of previous case studies.

How Do We Know When We Have Done Enough? Ensuring Sufficient Patient Notification Efforts After a Large-Scale Adverse Event

How Do We Know When We Have Done Enough? Ensuring Sufficient Patient Notification Efforts After a Large-Scale Adverse Event

An adaptive load shedding methodology for renewable integrated power systems

System stability issues regarding frequency and voltage in modern power systems are growing in importance as they incorporate more and more complex components. To ensure a sustainable, pollution-free power generation, modern power systems are designed to incorporate more renewable generation sources than traditional ones. Therefore, in the event of a large-scale disruption event, conventional load-shedding strategies are unable to keep the voltage and frequency limit below the threshold value. The suggested approach takes into account this issue by rating load buses in relation to relevant frequency changes, their voltage stability, system load damping coefficients, and the introduction of green energy sources in place of fossil fuel-based ones. Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are used in the proposed method to minimize load shedding amount required for conventional schemes. After determining the amount, the scheme dynamically chooses feeders as per relative weightage of the stability components (voltage, frequency) to ensure that the overall load shed amount is near to the calculated value. To verify this, the scheme is tested on IEEE 39 bus with python scripted simulation. There are four scenarios considering 250 MW, 500 MW and 1500 MW injection of PV based power generation sources with conventional generation loss of 800 MW and 1000 MW. The threshold frequency is considered 49.10 Hz. The total amount of BESS is 300 MW. For every scenario, it has been found that the methodology successfully maintains the system frequency above 49.10 Hz with a minimal amount of load shedding. Hence, the proposed methodology is able to maintain frequency stability for a modern power system with large-scale PV generation through adaptive feeder selection for load shedding.

Expecting the expected – learning from the past to provide forward scenarios through geomorphic change detection, monitoring and modeling

This paper tells the story of a landslide, its origins, its activity and the actions undertaken to mitigate the risks that it poses. The Rotolon landslide is a large Deep-seated Gravitational Slope Deformation (DGSD), located in the Eastern Italian Alps, whose unremitting movements provide a sediment supply for large-scale debris flow events. It has been active since at least 1789, threatening the valley where the thermal baths town of Recoaro Terme is located. In 2010, a major reactivation of the landslide channelled 320,000 m3 of material towards the town causing significant concern, the evacuation of the exposed population and threatening several buildings. A few days after the emergency, the personnel of the Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection of the Italian Research Council (IRPI-CNR) deployed a monitoring system consisting of an automatic total station, several extensometers and web cameras to monitor the evolution of the unstable slope and set up an early warning and alarm system equipped with sirens to warn the local population. Subsequently, after the emergency phase, the 2010 event was studied through multi-temporal LiDAR Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) and modeling. The authors have continued monitoring and actively studying this landslide ever since. In 2020, a new LiDAR survey of the area allowed assessment of the sediment dynamics within the catchment through the comparison with the post-2010 event LiDAR DTM. Based on DEM of difference maps, new insight into the behaviour of the catchment emerged, which appears to be influenced both by natural processes and anthropic activities. The authors were able to assess the amount of sediment that could be stored in the channel without causing overflooding and to calculate the expected damage to the built environment should another event occur. Furthermore, the considerable amount of data collected by the monitoring system throughout the years has allowed identification of two active sectors of the DGSD that may be prone to detachment, and through numerical modeling, future hazard scenarios were produced. Based on these outcomes, a second-tier targeted monitoring campaign was implemented, consisting of a network of four permanent GNSS receivers, additional topographic benchmarks and web cameras, and a new early warning protocol, in an ever-updating cycle of monitoring, modeling and mitigation.