scholarly journals Comparison of Neighborhood-Scale, Residential Property Flood-Loss Assessment Methodologies

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubayet Bin Mostafiz ◽  
Carol J. Friedland ◽  
Md Asif Rahman ◽  
Robert V. Rohli ◽  
Eric Tate ◽  
...  

Leading flood loss estimation models include Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) Hazus, FEMA’s Flood Assessment Structure Tool (FAST), and (U.S.) Hydrologic Engineering Center’s Flood Impact Analysis (HEC-FIA), with each requiring different data input. No research to date has compared the resulting outcomes from such models at a neighborhood scale. This research examines the building and content loss estimates by Hazus Level 2, FAST, and HEC-FIA, over a levee-protected census block in Metairie, in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Building attribute data in National Structure Inventory (NSI) 2.0 are compared against “best available data” (BAD) collected at the individual building scale from Google Street View, Jefferson Parish building inventory, and 2019 National Building Cost Manual, to assess the sensitivity of input building inventory selection. Results suggest that use of BAD likely enhances flood loss estimation accuracy over existing reliance on default data in the software or from a national data set that generalizes over a broad scale. Although the three models give similar mean (median) building and content loss, Hazus Level 2 results diverge from those produced by FAST and HEC-FIA at the individual building level. A statistically significant difference in mean (median) building loss exists, but no significant difference is found in mean (median) content loss, between building inventory input (i.e., NSI 2.0 vs BAD), but both the building and content loss vary at the individual building scale due to difference in building-inventory-reported foundation height, foundation type, number of stories, replacement cost, and content cost. Moreover, building loss estimation also differs significantly by depth-damage function (DDF), for flood depths corresponding with the longest return periods, with content loss differing significantly by DDF at all return periods tested, from 10 to 500 years. Knowledge of the extent of estimated differences aids in understanding the degree of uncertainty in flood loss estimation. Much like the real estate industry uses comparable home values to appraise a home, flood loss planners should use multiple models to estimate flood-related losses. Moreover, results from this study can be used as a baseline for assessing losses from other hazards, thereby enhancing protection of human life and property.

Author(s):  
D. E. Becker

An efficient, robust, and widely-applicable technique is presented for computational synthesis of high-resolution, wide-area images of a specimen from a series of overlapping partial views. This technique can also be used to combine the results of various forms of image analysis, such as segmentation, automated cell counting, deblurring, and neuron tracing, to generate representations that are equivalent to processing the large wide-area image, rather than the individual partial views. This can be a first step towards quantitation of the higher-level tissue architecture. The computational approach overcomes mechanical limitations, such as hysterisis and backlash, of microscope stages. It also automates a procedure that is currently done manually. One application is the high-resolution visualization and/or quantitation of large batches of specimens that are much wider than the field of view of the microscope.The automated montage synthesis begins by computing a concise set of landmark points for each partial view. The type of landmarks used can vary greatly depending on the images of interest. In many cases, image analysis performed on each data set can provide useful landmarks. Even when no such “natural” landmarks are available, image processing can often provide useful landmarks.


1976 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Boone ◽  
Harold M. Friedman

Reading and writing performance was observed in 30 adult aphasic patients to determine whether there was a significant difference when stimuli and manual responses were varied in the written form: cursive versus manuscript. Patients were asked to read aloud 10 words written cursively and 10 words written in manuscript form. They were then asked to write on dictation 10 word responses using cursive writing and 10 words using manuscript writing. Number of words correctly read, number of words correctly written, and number of letters correctly written in the proper sequence were tallied for both cursive and manuscript writing tasks for each patient. Results indicated no significant difference in correct response between cursive and manuscript writing style for these aphasic patients as a group; however, it was noted that individual patients varied widely in their success using one writing form over the other. It appeared that since neither writing form showed better facilitation of performance, the writing style used should be determined according to the individual patient’s own preference and best performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (5) ◽  
pp. 122-131
Author(s):  
S. Thowseaf ◽  
M. Ayisha Millath ◽  
K. Malik Ali

Tax is an important source of income for the country. It is through tax; country strengthens its defense system, infrastructure, and government. Hence, tax system plays a predominant role in developing country’s economy. The complication in taxation system and liberty for taxpayers are key factors generating loopholes for corruption. GST is superior taxation system over VAT but, if neither properly implemented nor scrutinized according to the economy, it is people residing get affected.  GST taxation system is capable of increasing legal transaction, reducing corruption and complexity that exists in current taxation. India is 166th country to adopt GST and GST taxation slab in India is 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.  Although average Tax levied is 14.8750% in India, it is 28% tax that is levied for most of the commodities, which are directly or indirectly used in everyday life of common individuals. Despite, GST being favorable to distributor in-terms of profit and government to attain tax by increasing legal transaction through invoice. It is noted that for the same percentage of taxation, the amount does not vary for VAT and GST. The tax slab decreased for 71 commodities and no change in 21 commodities; there has been an increase in tax slab for 60 commodities. 26% taxation was levied for most commodities considered was currently levied by 28% taxation which is greater than before. It was found that average tax percentage reduced was calculated to be 6.07143. The average tax percentage increase was calculated to be 4.7833 percentage for the considered commodities. The overall tax average tax percentage is estimated to be 14.8750% which does not have a significant difference concerning tax levied before GST, which was calculated to be 15.7829% for considered commodities. Therefore, the consumer purchasing power and overall living standard of the individual in India will remain almost same.


2020 ◽  

BACKGROUND: This paper deals with territorial distribution of the alcohol and drug addictions mortality at a level of the districts of the Slovak Republic. AIM: The aim of the paper is to explore the relations within the administrative territorial division of the Slovak Republic, that is, between the individual districts and hence, to reveal possibly hidden relation in alcohol and drug mortality. METHODS: The analysis is divided and executed into the two fragments – one belongs to the female sex, the other one belongs to the male sex. The standardised mortality rate is computed according to a sequence of the mathematical relations. The Euclidean distance is employed to compute the similarity within each pair of a whole data set. The cluster analysis examines is performed. The clusters are created by means of the mutual distances of the districts. The data is collected from the database of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic for all the districts of the Slovak Republic. The covered time span begins in the year 1996 and ends in the year 2015. RESULTS: The most substantial point is that the Slovak Republic possesses the regional disparities in a field of mortality expressed by the standardised mortality rate computed particularly for the diagnoses assigned to the alcohol and drug addictions at a considerably high level. However, the female sex and the male sex have the different outcome. The Bratislava III District keeps absolutely the most extreme position. It forms an own cluster for the both sexes too. The Topoľčany District bears a similar extreme position from a point of view of the male sex. All the Bratislava districts keep their mutual notable dissimilarity. Contrariwise, evaluation of a development of the regional disparities among the districts looks like notably heterogeneously. CONCLUSIONS: There are considerable regional discrepancies throughout the districts of the Slovak Republic. Hence, it is necessary to create a common platform how to proceed with the solution of this issue.


Author(s):  
Darius M. Thiesen ◽  
Dimitris Ntalos ◽  
Alexander Korthaus ◽  
Andreas Petersik ◽  
Karl-Heinz Frosch ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction For successful intramedullary implant placement at the femur, such as nailing in unstable proximal femur fractures, the use of an implant that at least reaches or exceeds the femoral isthmus and yields sufficient thickness is recommended. A number of complications after intramedullary femoral nailing have been reported, particularly in Asians. To understand the anatomical features of the proximal femur and their ethnic differences, we aimed to accurately calculate the femoral isthmus dimensions and proximal distance of Asians and Caucasians. Methods In total, 1189 Asian and Caucasian segmented 3D CT data sets of femurs were analyzed. The individual femoral isthmus diameter was precisely computed to investigate whether gender, femur length, age, ethnicity or body mass index have an influence on isthmus diameters. Results The mean isthmus diameter of all femurs was 10.71 ± 2.2 mm. A significantly larger diameter was found in Asians when compared to Caucasians (p < 0.001). Age was a strong predictor of the isthmus diameter variability in females (p < 0.001, adjusted r2 = 0.299). With every year of life, the isthmus showed a widening of 0.08 mm in women. A Matched Pair Analysis of 150 female femurs showed a significant difference between isthmus diameter in Asian and Caucasian femurs (p = 0.05). In 50% of the cases the isthmus was found in a range of 2.4 cm between 16.9 and 19.3 cm distal to the tip of the greater trochanter. The female Asian femur differs from Caucasians as it is wider at the isthmus. Conclusions In absolute values, the proximal isthmus distance did not show much variation but is more proximal in Asians. The detailed data presented may be helpful in the development of future implant designs. The length and thickness of future standard implants may be considered based on the findings.


2020 ◽  
pp. 000313482097338
Author(s):  
Elizabeth McCarthy ◽  
Benjamin L. Gough ◽  
Michael S. Johns ◽  
Alexandra Hanlon ◽  
Sachin Vaid ◽  
...  

Introduction Robotic colectomy could reduce morbidity and postoperative recovery over laparoscopic and open procedures. This comparative review evaluates colectomy outcomes based on surgical approach at a single community institution. Methods A retrospective review of all patients who underwent colectomy by a fellowship-trained colon and rectal surgeon at a single institution from 2015 through 2019 was performed, and a cohort developed for each approach (open, laparoscopic, and robotic). 30-day outcomes were evaluated. For dichotomous outcomes, univariate logistic regression models were used to quantify the individual effect of each predictor of interest on the odds of each outcome. Continuous outcomes received a similar approach; however, linear and Poisson regression modeling were used, as appropriate. Results 115 patients were evaluated: 14% (n = 16) open, 44% (n = 51) laparoscopic, and 42% (n = 48) robotic. Among the cohorts, there was no statistically significant difference in operative time, rate of reoperation, readmission, or major complications. Robotic colectomies resulted in the shortest length of stay (LOS) (Kruskal-Wallis P < .0001) and decreased estimated blood loss (EBL) (Kruskal-Wallis P = .0012). Median age was 63 years (interquartile range [IQR] 53-72). 54% (n = 62) were female. Median American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification was 3 (IQR 2-3). Median body mass index was 28.67 (IQR 25.03-33.47). A malignant diagnosis was noted on final pathology in 44% (n = 51). Conclusion Among the 3 approaches, there was no statistically significant difference in 30-day morbidity or mortality. There was a statistically significant decreased LOS and EBL for robotic colectomies.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089976402110014
Author(s):  
Anders M. Bach-Mortensen ◽  
Ani Movsisyan

Social care services are increasingly provisioned in quasi-markets in which for-profit, public, and third sector providers compete for contracts. Existing research has investigated the implications of this development by analyzing ownership variation in latent outcomes such as quality, but little is known about whether ownership predicts variation in more concrete outcomes, such as violation types. To address this research gap, we coded publicly available inspection reports of social care providers regulated by the Care Inspectorate in Scotland and created a novel data set enabling analysis of ownership variation in violations of (a) regulations, and (b) national care standards over an entire inspection year ( n = 4,178). Using negative binomial and logistic regression models, we find that for-profit providers are more likely to violate non-enforceable outcomes (national care standards) relative to other ownership types. We did not identify a statistically significant difference between for-profit and third sector providers with regard to enforceable outcomes (regulations).


BMC Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruofei Du ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Lixia Ma ◽  
Leon M. Larcher ◽  
Han Tang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The adverse reactions (ADRs) of targeted therapy were closely associated with treatment response, clinical outcome, quality of life (QoL) of patients with cancer. However, few studies presented the correlation between ADRs of targeted therapy and treatment effects among cancer patients. This study was to explore the characteristics of ADRs with targeted therapy and the prognosis of cancer patients based on the clinical data. Methods A retrospective secondary data analysis was conducted within an ADR data set including 2703 patients with targeted therapy from three Henan medical centers of China between January 2018 and December 2019. The significance was evaluated with chi-square test between groups with or without ADRs. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression with backward stepwise method were applied to assess the difference of pathological characteristics in patients with cancer. Using the univariate Cox regression method, the actuarial probability of overall survival was performed to compare the clinical outcomes between these two groups. Results A total of 485 patients were enrolled in this study. Of all patients, 61.0% (n = 296) occurred ADRs including skin damage, fatigue, mucosal damage, hypertension and gastrointestinal discomfort as the top 5 complications during the target therapy. And 62.1% of ADRs were mild to moderate, more than half of the ADRs occurred within one month, 68.6% ADRs lasted more than one month. Older patients (P = 0.022) and patients with lower education level (P = 0.036), more than 2 comorbidities (P = 0.021), longer medication time (P = 0.022), drug combination (P = 0.033) and intravenous administration (P = 0.019) were more likely to have ADRs. Those with ADRs were more likely to stop taking (P = 0.000), change (P = 0.000), adjust (P = 0.000), or not take the medicine on time (P = 0.000). The number of patients with recurrence (P = 0.000) and metastasis (P = 0.006) were statistically significant difference between ADRs and non-ADRs group. And the patients were significantly poor prognosis in ADRs groups compared with non-ADRs group. Conclusion The high incidence of ADRs would affect the treatment and prognosis of patients with cancer. We should pay more attention to these ADRs and develop effective management strategies.


Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Javad vatani ◽  
Zahra Khanikosarkhizi ◽  
Mohammad Ali Shahabi Rabori ◽  
mohammad khandan ◽  
Mohsen aminizadeh ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Safety climate is a common insight of staff that indicates individuals’ attitudes toward safety and priority of safety at work. OBJECTIVES: Nursing is a risky job where paying attention to safety is crucial. The assessment of the safety climate is one of the methods to measure the safety conditions in this occupation. The aim of this study was to assess the safety climate of rehabilitation nurses working in hospitals in Tehran. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study which was carried out on 140 rehabilitation nurses selected from all hospitals and clinics in Tehran in 2019. To collect the required data, a two-section questionnaire was used. The first section was related to demographic factors and the second part (22 statements) was to measure the safety climate using nurses’ safety climate assessment questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS V16 using independent t-test, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test at the 5% level. RESULTS: Findings showed that the total mean of safety climate was 3.06±0.56. According to the results, a significant difference was found between the positive and negative satisfaction of nurses with safety climates (P-value = 0.03), communication with nurses (P-value = 0.01) and supervisors’ attitude (P-value = 0.02). Furthermore, a significant difference in safety climate between the individual with the second job and the individual without second could be observed (P-value = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that the safety climate was not at an acceptable level. Thus, it is essential to introduce safety training courses (e.g. safety, work-rest balance, and so on) and to improve the safety performance at work.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-27
Author(s):  
B Sharma ◽  
N Balaji ◽  
MK Sumathi

Background and objectives: Identification, an aspect of forensic anthropology, is the recognition of an individual based on the physical characteristics unique to the individual. Among the four main attributes i.e. gender, age, stature and ethnic or racial background of an individual’s biological identity, sex determination is usually the first step in the human identification process. Teeth can be used as a means of sex determination as teeth are resistant to post-mortem degradation and survive deliberate, accidental or natural change. This study was carried out with an objective to determine the sexual dimorphism of maxillary and mandibular canine by linear tooth diameter for permanent dentition in Moradabad population. Material and Methods: A total number of 40 subjects (20 Males and 20 Females) were included in this study. After obtaining an informed written consent, alginate impression was taken with help of perforated impression trays and study models were prepared with type IV dental stone. Linear (MD, BL, Crown Height) were taken with digital vernier caliper. Results: It was observed that males’ shows more mean linear crown diameter as compared to females. Also, the mesiodistal and buccolingual measurement shows statistically significant difference for all canines, being higher for males than females. Conclusion: The present study has expressed sexual dimorphism of permanent canine using Student’s test and indicate that linear dimension of maxillary canine can be used for sexual diamorphism with accuracy along with other accepted procedure for sex determination. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jmcjms.v2i1.11392   Janaki Medical College Journal of Medical Sciences (2014) Vol. 2 (1): 23-27


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document