scholarly journals Analysis of the Role of Dispersion of Rural Settlements against Natural Hazards in South Khorasan Province

2021 ◽  
pp. 202-213

INTRODUCTION: Identification of the settlements located in high-risk zones in terms of natural hazards is one of the first steps in risk management and development planning. This study aimed to identify villages exposed to earthquakes and floods in South Khorasan province. METHODS: The present study used the Analytic Hierarchy Process method to evaluate the validity and reliability of measuring instruments through exploratory factor analysis. Since the value of the KMO index was 0.879, the number of samples was sufficient for analysis. Moreover, the significance of the Bartlett test was less than 5% and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was obtained at 0.856; accordingly, the questionnaire was reliable. FINDINGS: Based on the spatial analysis of the seismic vulnerability, 214 and 502 villages were in the zone of very high and high vulnerability, respectively. Moreover, the results of flood vulnerability showed that the southern and northwestern parts of South Khorasan province had the lowest vulnerability. The number of villages located in the very high vulnerable zone was very limited and included only seven villages of Chenesht, Kalateh Abbas, Takti Ti, Tangel Behdan, Ebru, Khankuk, and Ostan Siah, which are located in the east of the province. CONCLUSION: Based on the integrated results of two hazards (i.e., earthquakes and floods), it is observed that 523 rural settlements are in a very high-risk zone, which accounts for 14.7% of the total settlements in the South Khorasan province, compared to the total rural settlements. Furthermore, the highest dispersion frequency of rural settlements is in the zone of moderate vulnerability. This zone with 1,344 settlements includes about 37.7% of the total settlements in the province

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 5154
Author(s):  
Guangpeng Wang ◽  
Lianyou Liu ◽  
Peijun Shi ◽  
Guoming Zhang ◽  
Jifu Liu

Metro systems have become high-risk entities due to the increased frequency and severity of urban flooding. Therefore, understanding the flood risk of metro systems is a prerequisite for mega-cities’ flood protection and risk management. This study proposes a method for accurately assessing the flood risk of metro systems based on an improved trapezoidal fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP). We applied this method to assess the flood risk of 14 lines and 268 stations of the Guangzhou Metro. The risk results validation showed that the accuracy of the improved trapezoidal fuzzy AHP (90% match) outperformed the traditional trapezoidal AHP (70% match). The distribution of different flood risk levels in Guangzhou metro lines exhibited a polarization signature. About 69% (155 km2) of very high and high risk zones were concentrated in central urban areas (Yuexiu, Liwan, Tianhe, and Haizhu); the three metro lines with the highest overall risk level were lines 3, 6, and 5; and the metro stations at very high risk were mainly located on metro lines 6, 3, 5, 1, and 2. Based on fieldwork, we suggest raising exits, installing watertight doors, and using early warning strategies to resist metro floods. This study can provide scientific data for decision-makers to reasonably allocate flood prevention resources, which is significant in reducing flood losses and promoting Guangzhou’s sustainable development.


2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
JENNIE SMITH
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
N.V. Rudakov ◽  
N.A. Penyevskaya ◽  
D.A. Saveliev ◽  
S.A. Rudakova ◽  
C.V. Shtrek ◽  
...  

Research objective. Differentiation of natural focal areas of Western Siberia by integral incidence rates of tick-borne infectious diseases for determination of the strategy and tactics of their comprehensive prevention. Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of official statistics for the period 2002-2018 for eight sub-federal units in the context of administrative territories was carried out. The criteria of differentiation were determined by means of three evaluation scales, including long-term mean rates of tick-borne encephalitis, tick-borne borreliosis, and Siberian tick-borne typhus. As a scale gradation tool, we used the number of sample elements between the confidence boundaries of the median. The integral assessment was carried out by the sum of points corresponding to the incidence rates for each of the analyzed infections. Results. The areas of low, medium, above average, high and very high risk of tick-borne infectious diseases were determined. Recommendations on the choice of prevention strategy and tactics were given. In areas of very high and high incidence rates, a combination of population-based and individual prevention strategies is preferable while in other areas a combination of high-risk and individual strategies is recommended. Discussion. Epidemiologic zoning should be the basis of a risk-based approach to determining optimal volumes and directions of preventive measures against natural focal infections. It is necessary to improve the means and methods of determining the individual risk of getting infected and developing tick-borne infectious diseases in case of bites, in view of mixed infection of vectors, as well as methods of post-exposure disease prevention (preventive therapy).


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zlatko Fras ◽  
Dimitri P. Mikhailidis

: IMPROVE-IT (IMProved Reduction of Outcomes: Vytorin Efficacy International Trial) was a randomized clini- cal trial (18,144 patients) that evaluated the efficacy of the combination of ezetimibe with simvastatin vs simvastatin mono- therapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and moderately increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels (of up to 2.6-3.2 mmol/L; 100-120 mg/dL). After 7 years of follow-up, combination therapy resulted in an additional LDL-C decrease [1.8 mmol/L, or 70 mg/dL, within the simvastatin (40 mg/day) monotherapy arm and 1.4 mmol/L, or 53 mg/dL for simvastatin (40 mg/day) + ezetimibe (10 mg/day)] and showed an incremental clinical benefit (composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina requiring rehospitalization, coronary re- vascularization (≥30 days after randomization), or nonfatal stroke; hazard ratio (HR) of 0.936, and 95% CI 0.887-0.996, p=0.016). Therefore, for very high cardiovascular risk patients “even lower is even better” regarding LDL-C, independently of the LDL-C reducing strategy. These findings confirm ezetimibe as an option to treat very-high-risk patients who cannot achieve LDL-C targets with statin monotherapy. Additional analyses of the IMPROVE-IT (both prespecified and post-hoc) include specific very-high-risk subgroups of patients (those with previous acute events and/or coronary revascularization, older than 75 years, as well as patients with diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). The data from IMPROVE-IT also provide reassurance regarding longer-term safety and efficacy of the intensification of li- pid-lowering therapy in very-high-risk patients resulting in very low LDL-C levels. We comment on the results of several (sub) analyses of IMPROVE-IT.


Coronaviruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olanrewaju Samson Olaitan ◽  
Olowoporoku Oluwaseun

Background: It is against the background of the emerging incidence of coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria, and the need for its management that this study adapts gravity model for predicting the risk of the disease across states of the country. Methods: The paper relied on published government data on population, and gross domestic product, while the distance of town to the nearest international airport was also obtained. These data were log transformed and further used in the calculation of gravity scores for each state of the federation. Results: The study discovered that with the gravity score ranging from 2.942 to 4.437, all the states of the federation have the risk of being infected with the pandemic. Meanwhile Ogun State (4.837) has a very high risk of being infected with the disease. Other states with high risks are Oyo (4.312), Jigawa (4.235), Niger (4.148) and Katsina (4.083). However, Taraba State has the least infection risk of the pandemic in Nigeria. Factors influencing the risk level of the pandemic are proximity, porous boundary between states, and elitism. Conclusion: The paper advocates border settlement planning, review of housing standards, and advocacy for sanitation in different states. It therefore concludes that adequate urban planning in unison with economic and epidemiology techniques will provide a strong strategy for the management of the disease.


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