Sinkhole Hazards

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Hazard And Risk ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Near Future

Sinkholes or dolines are closed depressions characteristic of terrains underlain by soluble rocks (carbonates and/or evaporites). They may be related to the differential dissolutional lowering of the ground surface (solution sinkholes) or to subsidence induced by subsurface karstification (subsidence sinkholes). Three main subsidence mechanisms may operate individually or in combination: collapse, sagging, and suffosion. Subsidence sinkholes may cause severe damage to human built structures, and the occurrence of catastrophic collapse sinkholes may lead to the loss of human life. Dissolution and subsidence processes involved in the development of subsidence sinkholes are controlled by a wide range of natural and anthropogenic factors. Recent literature reviews reveal that the vast majority of the damaging sinkholes are induced by human activities (e.g., water table decline, water input to the ground). The main steps in sinkhole hazard and risk assessment include: (a) construction of comprehensive sinkhole inventories and detailed sinkhole characterization; (b) development of independently tested sinkhole susceptibility and hazard models, preferably incorporating magnitude and frequency relationships; (c) assessing risk combining hazard and vulnerability data. Sinkhole risk models may be used as the basis to perform cost-benefit analyses that allow the cost-effectiveness of different mitigation strategies to be estimated. Three main concepts may be applied to reduce sinkhole risk: (a) avoiding sinkholes and sinkhole-prone areas (preventive planning); (b) diminishing the activity of dissolution and/or subsidence processes (hazard reduction); (c) incorporating special designs in the structures (vulnerability reduction). Although our capabilities to investigate sinkhole hazards and reduce the associated risks will continue to increase in the near future, the damage related to sinkholes will also increase, largely due to the adverse changes caused by human activities on the karst environments and the ineffective knowledge transfer between scientists, technicians, and decision-makers. This article presents the processes and factors involved in sinkhole development and reviews the main approaches used to assess and manage sinkhole hazards and risks.

scholarly journals Religious Regulation and Churches’ Responses—A Case Study on the Anti-Demolition Actions of Christians in Wenzhou

Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianzhong Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Central Government ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Market Operation ◽  
Government Planning ◽  
The Cost

This article focuses on the characteristics, causes, and patterns of the anti-demolition actions by churches in Wenzhou. Based on my six field studies from July 2014 to February 2016, I discovered that: (1) these actions are more explicit in Wenzhou churches due to their regional distinctiveness; (2) a wide range of differences can be observed among Wenzhou churches due to their doctrinal diversity; and (3) ‘poor pastors’ have taken the leadership roles in the anti-demolition activities instead of the ‘boss Christians’. Considering the ongoing tension in the Chinese religious environment between central government planning and free market operation, the author points out that the pastoral district system in Wenzhou plays a very important role in anti-demolition and offers the ‘cost–benefit’ exchange theory to explain the pattern of the anti-demolition activities by Wenzhou churches.

scholarly journals Exploring the Attractiveness of Residential Areas for Human Activities Based on Shared E-Bike Trajectory Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 742
Author(s):  
Xiaoqian Cheng ◽  
Weibing Du ◽  
Chengming Li ◽  
Leiku Yang ◽  
Linjuan Xu
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Gaussian Mixture ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Trajectory Data ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Logarithmic Relationship ◽  
Urban People ◽  
Functional Areas ◽  
The Relationship

Human activities generate diverse and sophisticated functional areas and may impact the existing planning of functional areas. Understanding the relationship between human activities and functional areas is key to identifying the real-time urban functional areas based on trajectories. Few previous studies have analyzed the interactive information on humans and regions for functional area identification. The relationship between human activities and residential areas is the most representative for urban functional areas because residential areas cover a wide range and are closely connected with human life. The aim of this paper is to propose the CARA (Commuting Activity and Residential Area) model to quantify the correlation between human activities and urban residential areas. In this model, human activities are represented by hot spots extracted by the Gaussian Mixture Model algorithm while residential areas are represented by POI (point of interest) data. The model shows that human activities and residential areas present a logarithmic relationship. The CARA model is further assessed by retrieving urban residential areas in Tengzhou City from shared e-bike trajectories. Compared with the actual map, the accuracy reaches 83.3%, thus demonstrating the model’s reliability and feasibility. This study provides a new method for functional areas identification based on trajectory data, which is helpful for formulating the urban people-oriented policies.

scholarly journals Cost implications and oncological outcomes for laparoscopic versus open surgery for right hemicolectomy

2016 ◽  
Vol 98 (03) ◽  
pp. 212-215
Author(s):  
K Habib ◽  
S Daniels ◽  
M Lee ◽  
V Proctor ◽  
A Saha
Keyword(s):  
Laparoscopic Surgery ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Open Surgery ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Right Hemicolectomy ◽  
Healthcare Management ◽  
Cost Of Treatment ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Cost

Introduction Recent studies have suggested that laparoscopic surgery for colorectal resection confers a cost benefit compared with open surgery. These studies have considered a wide range of colorectal operations together rather than focusing on a single procedure. Our study compared direct clinical costs for laparoscopic versus open right hemicolectomy. Methods Clinicopathological data and cost of treatment for all patients who underwent a right hemicolectomy between 2012 and 2013 were collected. The primary outcome was total cost of treatment. Secondary outcomes were length of stay, operative time and morbidity. The minimum follow-up duration was 12 months. Costs for laparoscopic and open surgery for elective resection alone were compared. Further analyses were performed comparing emergency cases with elective cases and cancer with non-cancer cases. Results There were 83 patients who underwent a right hemicolectomy during the study period and of these, 65 had an elective procedure. The total cost of a laparoscopic procedure was £3,998.12 compared with £3,427.50 for open surgery (p=0.039). The length of stay was shorter for laparoscopic surgery while the cost of an emergency right hemicolectomy was significantly greater than for elective surgery. Conclusions Although the length of stay for laparoscopic surgery was shorter, this did not translate to a reduction in cost. The cost benefit from a shorter length of stay was offset by a greater cost of consumables. Cost effectiveness analyses should be designed carefully, and they should consider individual operations separately when making healthcare management and funding decisions.

scholarly journals Sensitivity Analysis for Vulnerability Mitigation in Hybrid Networks

Electronics ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 238
Author(s):  
Attiq Ur-Rehman ◽  
Iqbal Gondal ◽  
Joarder Kamruzzaman ◽  
Alireza Jolfaei
Keyword(s):  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Hybrid Networks ◽  
Industrial Control ◽  
Industrial Control Systems ◽  
It Systems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Assessment Techniques ◽  
Threat Strategies ◽  
Iot Devices ◽  
The Cost

The development of cyber-assured systems is a challenging task, particularly due to the cost and complexities associated with the modern hybrid networks architectures, as well as the recent advancements in cloud computing. For this reason, the early detection of vulnerabilities and threat strategies are vital for minimising the risks for enterprise networks configured with a variety of node types, which are called hybrid networks. Existing vulnerability assessment techniques are unable to exhaustively analyse all vulnerabilities in modern dynamic IT networks, which utilise a wide range of IoT and industrial control devices (ICS). This could lead to having a less optimal risk evaluation. In this paper, we present a novel framework to analyse the mitigation strategies for a variety of nodes, including traditional IT systems and their dependability on IoT devices, as well as industrial control systems. The framework adopts avoid, reduce, and manage as its core principles in characterising mitigation strategies. Our results confirmed the effectiveness of our mitigation strategy framework, which took node types, their criticality, and the network topology into account. Our results showed that our proposed framework was highly effective at reducing the risks in dynamic and resource constraint environments, in contrast to the existing techniques in the literature.

scholarly journals Global detection of rainfall-triggered landslide clusters

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1433-1444
Author(s):  
Susanne A. Benz ◽  
Philipp Blum
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Single Unit ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Rainfall Event ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Individual Event ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Landslide Clustering

Abstract. An increasing awareness of the cost of landslides on the global economy and of the associated loss of human life has led to the development of various global landslide databases. However, these databases typically report landslide events instead of individual landslides, i.e., a group of landslides with a common trigger and reported by media, citizens and/or government officials as a single unit. The latter results in significant cataloging and reporting biases. To counteract these biases, this study aims to identify clusters of landslide events that were triggered by the same rainfall event. An algorithm is developed that finds a series of landslide events that (a) is continuous with no more than 2 d between individual events and where (b) precipitation at the location of an individual event correlates with precipitation of at least one other event. The developed algorithm is applied to the Global Landslide Catalog (GLC) maintained by NASA. The results show that more than 40 % of all landslide events are connected to at least one other event and that 14 % of all studied landslide events are actually part of a landslide cluster consisting of at least 10 events and up to 108 events in 1 d. Duration of the detected clusters also varies greatly from 1 to 24 d. Our study intends to enhance our understanding of landslide clustering and thus will assist in the development of improved, internationally streamlined mitigation strategies for rainfall-related landslide clusters.

Virtual Tools in Medical Education

2013 ◽  
pp. 364-380
Author(s):  
Jason H. Epstein ◽  
Andrew Goldberg ◽  
Marina Krol ◽  
Adam Levine
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Medical Department ◽  
Human Patient ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Virtual Tools ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cost Benefit Ratio ◽  
Instructional Design Principles ◽  
The Cost

Technology has become ubiquitous throughout medical education. Currently there is a wide range of tools that can be used to supplement traditional classroom and clinical learning. Simulators and mobile devices are among the tools that may make an especially significant impact on educating medical practitioners. Simulators range from simple part-task trainers to complex high-fidelity human patient simulators. Internet-enabled handheld portable computers such as the iPad® have begun to revolutionize and expand the medical classroom to even further reaches. Instructional design principles maintain that these technologies can and should be used to allow practitioners to learn by playing. Blind investment in these technologies, however, can quickly turn these technologies into a waste of time and money. We present principles intended to ensure that factors such as cost, size and technological expertise are taken into consideration when investing in such technologies for medical education. Following these principles will allow a medical department to optimize the cost-benefit ratio of an investment in simulation and portable computer technology for medical education.

scholarly journals An introduction to nanotechnology and its implications

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 78-81
Author(s):  
Shree Kanta Subedi
Keyword(s):  
Study Design ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Basic Form ◽  
Broad Term ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Basic Understanding ◽  
And Control ◽  
Near Future

Nanotechnology is a broad term that covers many areas of science, research and technology. In its most basic form, it can be described as working with things that are small. The area of investigation is defined by the study, design, manipulation, manufacture, and control of materials or devices by physical or chemical means at resolutions on the order of one billionth of a meter. The potential for a wide range of applications makes a basic understanding of nanotechnology important to us. This article presents an introduction to nanotechnology and discusses the implications of it that could impact the human life in the near future. The Himalayan Physics Vol. 5, No. 5, Nov. 2014 Page: 78-81   

scholarly journals Choosing Carbon Mitigation Strategies Using Ethical Deliberation

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Bendick ◽  
Kyla M. Dahlin ◽  
Brian V. Smoliak ◽  
Lori Kumler ◽  
Sierra J. Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Emission Mitigation ◽  
Radiative Balance ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions change earth’s climate by altering the planet’s radiative balance. An important first step in mitigation of climate change is to reduce annual increases in these emissions. However, the many suggested means of limiting emissions rates have led to few actual changes in policy or behavior. This disconnection can be attributed in part to the difficulty of convening groups of stakeholders with diverse values, the polarizing nature of current political systems, poor communication across disciplines, and a lack of clear, usable information about emission mitigation strategies. Here, electronically facilitated ethical deliberation, a method of determining courses of action on common goals by collaborative discussion, is used to evaluate Pacala and Socolow’s climate change stabilization strategies based on economic, technological, social, and ecological impacts across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Few previous analyses of climate mitigation strategies include all of these factors; rather, short-term technological feasibility studies and economic cost–benefit analyses predominate. After accounting for tradeoffs among disparate criteria, strategies involving end-user efficiency (e.g., efficient buildings and vehicles), wind, and solar power rank highest, while carbon capture and storage, hydrogen fuel cells, and biofuels options rank lowest. This electronically facilitated deliberation method offers an alternative to oppositional debate or cost–benefit analysis for assessing strategies where both quantitative and qualitative factors are important, information from disparate disciplines is relevant, and stakeholders are geographically dispersed.

scholarly journals Prostate Cancer Screening Recommendations for General and Specific Populations in the Western Nations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice L. King ◽  
Mary R. Nittala ◽  
Xiaoshan Z. Gordy ◽  
Paul Roberts ◽  
Seth T. Lirette ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Precision Medicine ◽  
Prostate Cancer Screening ◽  
Genomic Medicine ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
History Of ◽  
Unnecessary Procedures ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Near Future

There is a chaotic scenario that exists in the field of prostate cancer (PCa) screening. To balance goals, such as decreasing mortality, avoiding unnecessary procedures, and decreasing the cost of medical care, the pendulum seems to have swung to the side of more restricted screening. The decrease in PCa screening has led to a slowly creeping decline in the favourable outcomes that existed among patients with PCa. If a potential patient or a family member is trying to get clear guidance about PCa screening by searching the internet, they will end up confused by several recommendations from many organisations. It is even more challenging to obtain any clarity about PCa screening for special populations, such as those with a family history of PCa, those of African descent/African Americans, and the elderly. The advent of genomic medicine and precision medicine is an opportunity to identify those at a very high risk of developing aggressive PCa, so that PCa screening can be more actively undertaken among them. In this paper, the authors review the current recommendations by different entities and summarise emerging molecular markers that may help bring clarity to PCa screening. The authors predict that concrete, consensual guidelines will emerge in less than one decade. Meanwhile, this article suggests intermediary steps that will help save lives from PCa mortality, especially for under-represented populations. This paper is a catalyst to stimulate further discussion and serves as a guide to noncancer-specialists for the near future as precision medicine progresses to better understand risk–benefit and cost–benefit ratios in PCa screening.

scholarly journals Human Activity Affects Forest Fires: The Impact of Anthropogenic Factors on the Density of Forest Fires in Poland

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 728
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Kolanek ◽  
Mariusz Szymanowski ◽  
Andrzej Raczyk
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Road Density ◽  
Regression Methods ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Mixed Regression ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Impact

Forest fires, due to climate change, are a growing threat to human life, health, and property, especially in temperate climates. Unfortunately, the impact of individual factors on forest fires varies, depending on the geographical region and its natural and socio-economic conditions. The latter are rarely introduced into fire warning systems, which significantly reduces their effectiveness. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to quantify the impact of a wide range of anthropogenic factors on forest fires, using Poland as a representative example of a Central European country. Data were analyzed in relation to districts for the period 2007–2017, using correlation analysis and regression modeling applying global and local/mixed regression methods. It was found that almost all of the 28 variables taken for analysis significantly determined the density of forest fires, but the greatest role was played by the length of the border between forests and built-up areas, and road density. In addition, the impact of most of the analyzed variables on forest fires varied over the study area, so implementing non-stationarity in geographically weighted regression models significantly improved the goodness-of-fit compared to global models.

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