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On March 6, President Donald Trump said he had no immediate plans to change daylight saving time, saying it’s a “50-50 issue.”

We exploit daylight saving time (DST) as an exogenous shock to daylight, using both the discontinuous nature of the policy and the 2007 extension of DST, to consider the impact of light on criminal activity. Regression discontinuity estimates show a 7% decrease in robberies following the shift to DST. As expected, effects are largest during the hours directly affected by the shift in daylight. We discuss our findings within the context of criminal decision making and labor supply, and estimate that the 2007 DST extension resulted in $59 million in annual social cost savings from avoided robberies.

Recently, the discussion on the feasibility of the annual transition to summer and winter time has significantly intensified in the society of many countries in the world. Considering a certain discomfort from daylight-saving, the most people suggest to abandon it. But there is no final reasoned decision on permanent time: winter (zone, standard) or summer time. Daylight-saving was introduced to save electricity, but currently there are no accurate calculations to confirm it. The article is devoted to solving the urgent problem of determining the most effective order of calculating time for more complete use of sunlight and, accordingly, to reduce the electrical energy losses for lighting in the life of modern world society. The purpose of the study is to develop a technique for precise calculating the lost daylight hours and electrical energy losses for lighting in different countries of the world under different time calculation scenarios – when applying the transition to summer time; when refusing summer time and final introducing winter (zone, standard) time; when applying permanent summer time. The article presents the main arguments of supporters and opponents of the introduction of permanent winter and summer time. The calculation and comparative analysis of the losses of daylight hours and, as a result, the losses of electrical energy for lighting per year have been carried out under different time calculation options. The approximate cost of electrical energy losses for lighting under different time calculation options for some European countries has been calculated. To increase the accuracy of the calculations, the sociological aspect of the study was considered in combination with the astronomical one. The developed technique is recommended to be used in calculations when determining the optimal order of time calculation in different countries of the world for its introduction at the international or national legislative level.The application of the technique will allow saving significant quantity of electricity during the evening peak energy consumption, that will contribute to the stability of the country's energy system and preservation of the fuel and financial resources. References 19, figures 7, tables 6.

The increasing trend of employing glazed façades to utilize daylight in the buildings has made it necessary to develop measures to avoid excessive sunlight penetration in such daylit spaces. In Thailand, only a few studies have focused on daylight glare, and therefore, applicable criteria are required to fulfill the local preference. This study aimed to determine daylight glare thresholds on the basis of the occupants’ responses. A post-occupancy evaluation with a simplified daylight glare probability (DGPs) model was performed in eight open-plan office spaces located in Bangkok, Thailand. The occupants participated in a survey including a subjective questionnaire; the results showed that the DGPs model performed effectively for glare prediction, with a preference for a lower level than that found in the current references. Statistical analysis helped mark the threshold values for each glare sensation level: imperceptible–perceptible = 0.22; perceptible–disturbing = 0.24; and disturbing–intolerable = 0.26. The findings of this study can be considered as initial evidence for improving the understanding of local occupants’ perspectives and illumination standards, which currently encourage daylight utilization without any specific glare control strategies.

While most studies on Daylight Saving Time (DST) focus on human sleep and well-being, there is a dearth of understanding of how this sudden, human-mitigated change affects the routines of companion animals. The objective of this study was to assess how DST influenced the morning activity pattern of dogs ( Canis familiaris ). We used accelerometers to record activity in 25 sled dogs and 29 caregiver-companion dog dyads located in or near Ontario, Canada during the Fall Back time shift. We looked at morning onset activity based on sunrise time (both groups), handler arrival time (sled dogs), and caregiver Got-up Time (companion dogs), and compared pre-DST measures with the three days following DST. We found that sled dogs were less active around sunrise in all post-DST days compared to pre-DST, as sunrise coincided with handler arrival time before DST but not after. Companion dogs showed no change in morning activity based on sunrise times before and after DST. On the Sunday of DST, sled dogs were more active before handlers arrived, but their activity returned to pre-DST levels in the following two days. Caregiver and companion dog activities did not change on the day of DST. After DST, caregivers woke up earlier on weekdays, but companion dogs maintained their pre-DST activity patterns. Overall, we found that sled dogs took one day to adjust to a change in handler arrival time yet neither companion dogs nor their caregivers showed any morning activity difference after the Fall Back DST transition. In summary, our findings highlight the importance of flexible routines and gradual changes in helping dogs adjust to abrupt schedule modifications, offering valuable insights for optimizing dog care practices during time shifts.

Daylight Saving Time (DST) impacts over 1.5 billion people, yet many of its impacts on practicing populations remain uncertain. Exploiting the discrete nature of DST transitions and a 2007 policy change, I estimate the impact of DST on fatal automobile crashes. My results imply that from 2002–2011 the transition into DST caused over 30 deaths at a social cost of $275 million annually. Employing four tests to decompose the aggregate effect into an ambient light or sleep mechanism, I find that shifting ambient light only reallocates fatalities within a day, while sleep deprivation caused by the spring transition increases risk.

Point Daylight Factor (DFP) has been used for daylighting design in Sweden for more than 40 years. Progressive densification of urban environments, in combination with stricter regulations on energy performance and indoor environmental quality of buildings, creates complex daylight design challenges that cannot be adequately solved with DFP. To support a development of the current and future daylight indicators in the Swedish context, the authors have developed a comprehensive methodology for the evaluation of daylight levels in existing buildings. The methodology comprises sample buildings of various use and their digital replicas in 3D, detailed numerical simulations and correlations of diverse DF metrics in existing buildings, a field investigation on residents’ satisfaction with available daylight levels in their homes, and a comparison between the numerical and experimental data. The study was deliberately limited to the evaluation of DF metrics for their intuitive understanding and easy evaluation in real design projects. The sample buildings represent typical architectural styles and building technologies between 1887 and 2013 in Gothenburg and include eight residential buildings, two office buildings, two schools, two student apartment buildings, and two hospitals. Although the simulated DFP is 1.4% on average, i.e., above the required 1%, large variations have been found between the studied 1200 rooms. The empirical data generally support the findings from the numerical simulations, but also bring unique insights in the residences’ preferences for rooms with good daylight. The most remarkable result is related to kitchens, typically the spaces with the lowest DF values, based on simulations, while the residents wish them to be the spaces with the most daylight. Finally, the work introduces a new DF metric, denoted DFW, which allows daylighting design in early stages when only limited data on the building shape and windows’ arrangement are available.

Introduction To date, evidence addressing the effects of Daylight Saving Time (DST) on traffic accidents is inconsistent and often limited by geographical heterogeneity in accident occurrence and follow-up duration. The DST spring transition is thought to acutely increase traffic accident rates by inducing modest levels of circadian disruption and ~1h of sleep deprivation. Our goal was to re-examine the link between spring DST and traffic accident rates, considering changes in DST timing, potential differences in fatal/total accident rates, both nation-wide and within two urban settings with distinct meteorological profiles. Methods We analyzed three US traffic accident data sources: (i) the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (fatal accidents since 1975); (ii) all police-recorded fatal and nonfatal accidents in Denver (2012-2018); (iii) all police-recorded fatal and nonfatal accidents in Seattle (2007-2018). We compared the number of accidents on Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the DST change weekend with corresponding Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays in the week before and after the DST spring transition, using two-tailed paired t-tests and mixed models accounting for potential accident rate changes over time. Additional analyses considered time-of-day of accident occurrence. Results Data on 1,874,672 accidents were available. We did not observe differences in fatal/non-fatal accident rates associated with the DST spring transition in neither of the datasets (p>0.10). Changes in timing of DST did not result in shifts of accident rates (p>0.10). Accident fatality, time-of-day, or geographical location did not influence the association between DST and accident rates. We replicated prior findings restricting FARS analyses to 1975-1995 (Varghuese & Allen, 2001), showing higher accident rates associated with the DST spring transition. Conclusion In this large study of traffic accidents, we did not observe evidence for an association between the spring DST transition and accident rates, despite being able to replicate prior positive findings in a smaller dataset. To better appreciate the potential burden of DST on human health, further, large-scale studies are necessary to detect this presumably small effect. Support (If Any) N/A

The Post's Dan Diamond explains the short-lived permanent daylight saving time in the 1970s and why it is so hard to change the system.

The schedules that Americans live by are not consistent with healthy sleep patterns. In addition, poor access to educational and treatment aids for sleep leaves people engaging in behavior that is harmful to sleep and forgoing treatment for sleep disorders. This has created a sleep crisis that is a public health issue with broad implications for cognitive outcomes, mental health, physical health, work performance, and safety. New public policies should be formulated to address these issues. We draw from the scientific literature to recommend the following: establishing national standards for middle and high school start times that are later in the day, stronger regulation of work hours and schedules, eliminating daylight saving time, educating the public regarding the impact of electronic media on sleep, and improving access to ambulatory in-home diagnostic testing for sleep disorders.