scholarly journals A spatial multicriteria prioritizing approach for geo-hydrological risk mitigation planning in small and densely urbanized Mediterranean basins

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Paliaga ◽  
Francesco Faccini ◽  
Fabio Luino ◽  
Laura Turconi

Abstract. Landslides and floods, particularly flash floods, occurred recently in many Mediterranean catchments as a consequence of heavy rainfall events, causing damage and sometimes casualties. The high hazard is often associated with high vulnerability deriving from intense urbanization, in particular along the coastline where streams are habitually culverted. The necessary risk mitigation strategies should be applied at the catchment scale with a holistic approach, avoiding spot interventions. In the present work, a high-risk area, hit in the past by several floods and concurrent superficial landslides due to extremely localized and intense rain events, has been studied. A total of 21 small catchments have been identified: only some of them have been hit by extremely damaging past events, but all lie in the intense-rain high-hazard area and are strongly urbanized in the lower coastal zone. The question is what would happen if an intense rain event should strike one of the not previously hit catchments; some situations could be worse or not, so attention has been focused on the comparison among catchments. The aim of the research has been identifying a priority scale among catchments, pointing out the more critical ones and giving a quantitative comparison tool for decision makers to support strong scheduling of long-time planning interventions at the catchment scale. The past events' effects and the geomorphic process analysis together with the field survey allowed us to select three sets of parameters: one describing the morphometric–morphological features related to flood and landslide hazard, another describing the degree of urbanization and of anthropogenic modifications at the catchment scale and the last related to the elements that are exposed to risk. The realized geodatabase allowed us to apply the spatial multicriteria analysis technique (S-MCA) to the descriptive parameters and to obtain a priority scale among the analyzed catchments. The scale can be used to plan risk mitigation interventions starting from the more critical catchments, then focusing economic resources primarily on them and obtaining an effective prevention strategy. The methodology could be useful even to check how the priority scale is modified during the progress of the mitigation work realization. In addition, this approach could be applied in a similar context, even among sub-catchments, after identifying a suitable set of descriptive parameters depending on the active geomorphological processes and the kind of anthropogenic modification. The prioritization would allow to invest economic resources in risk mitigation interventions priory in the more critical catchments.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Paliaga ◽  
Francesco Faccini ◽  
Fabio Luino ◽  
Laura Turconi

Abstract. Landslides and floods, particularly flash floods, occurred currently in many Mediterranean catchments as a consequence of heavy rainfall events, causing damages and sometimes casualties. The high hazard is often associated to intense urbanization in particular along the coastline where streams are habitually culverted. The necessary risk mitigation strategies should be applied at catchment scale, considering the concurrent landslides and flood events and would need to be accurately planned in order to optimize the available economic resources. In the present work 21 small catchments in a high hazard area have been assessed and compared through three sets of parameters: one describing the morphometric-morphological features related to flood and landslide hazard, another describing the degree of urbanization and of anthropogenic modifications at catchment scale and the last related to the elements that are exposed to risk. The aim of the research is to constitute a priority scale among the small catchments, applying the multicriteria analysis technique to the descriptive parameters and giving a support tool for decision makers, supporting a strong scheduling of long-time planning interventions at catchment scale. This approach could be applied in similar context, even at sub-catchment scale, after identifying a suitable set of descriptive parameters depending on the active geomorphological processes and the kind of anthropogenic modification, obtaining the optimization of economic resources.


Physiology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Yanovich ◽  
I. Ketko ◽  
N. Charkoudian

The participation of women in physically strenuous athletic and occupational tasks has increased substantially in the past decade. Female sex steroids have influences on thermoregulatory processes that could impact physical performance in the heat. Here, we summarize and evaluate the current literature regarding sex differences in thermoregulation and provide recommendations for heat-illness risk-mitigation strategies.


Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 40-40
Author(s):  
Stephanie Valer Seremetis ◽  
Katarina Cepo ◽  
Josephine Skovgaard Rasmussen ◽  
Trine Høyer Rose ◽  
Søren Tamer ◽  
...  

Introduction Concizumab, a humanized recombinant monoclonal antibody directed against the tissue factor pathway inhibitor, is under investigation as a subcutaneous prophylactic treatment for patients with hemophilia A or B (HA/HB) with and without inhibitors. In the concizumab phase 2 trials, treatment was well tolerated and a favorable safety profile was shown, with no deaths or thromboembolic events and no adverse events (AEs) leading to withdrawal. We describe the non-fatal thrombotic serious AEs (SAEs) that occurred during the pivotal phase 3 explorer7 (NCT04083781) and explorer8 (NCT04082429) concizumab trials and the risk mitigations incorporated in the explorer clinical trials. Methods The explorer7 and explorer8 trials were initiated in late 2019 to evaluate the efficacy and safety of concizumab prophylaxis in HA/HB patients with/without inhibitors, respectively. Concizumab was administered subcutaneously with a 1.0 mg/kg loading dose (concizumab-naïve patients only) and a maintenance dose of 0.25 mg/kg daily from the second day onwards. Results In March 2020, explorer7 and explorer8 were paused due to the occurrence of two arterial and three venous thrombotic SAEs in three patients with HA or HB with inhibitors. All three patients had thrombotic risk factors present at baseline and had used concomitant hemostatic medication on the day of, and in two cases in the days up to, event onset. Two of the patients were among those with the highest concizumab exposure measured during phase 3. Laboratory parameters in all three patients were as expected. Based on these analyses, risk mitigation plans were developed, including guidelines for the concomitant use of hemostatic agents in the management of bleeding episodes while on concizumab prophylaxis and updates to the concizumab dosing regimen. Conclusion Novo Nordisk has assessed all available data and defined risk mitigation strategies and changes to the explorer trial protocols. Disclosures Seremetis: Novo Nordisk Ins: Current Employment, Current equity holder in private company. Cepo:Novo Nordisk: Current Employment. Skovgaard Rasmussen:Novo Nordisk: Current Employment. Høyer Rose:Novo Nordisk A/S: Current Employment, Divested equity in a private or publicly-traded company in the past 24 months. Tamer:Novo Nordisk: Current Employment, Current equity holder in private company, Divested equity in a private or publicly-traded company in the past 24 months. Porstmann:Novo Nordisk Health Care A/G: Current Employment. Haaning:Novo Nordisk: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 321-335
Author(s):  
Marco Vona

Background: Seismic risk mitigation is an important issue in earthquake-prone countries, and needs to be solved in those complex communities governed by complex processes, where urban planning, socioeconomic dynamics, and, often, the need to preserve cultural assets are present simultaneously. In recent years, due to limited financial resources, mitigation activities have often been limited to post-earthquake events, and only a few in periods of inactivity, particularly in urban planning. At this point, a significant change in point of view is necessary. Methods: The seismic risk mitigation (and more generally, natural risk mitigation) must be considered as the main topic in urban planning and in the governance of communities. In fact, in several recent earthquakes, significant socioeconomic losses have been caused by the low or lack of resilience of the communities. This is mainly due to the high vulnerability of private buildings, in particular, housing units. Results: Therefore, in recent years, several studies have been conducted on the seismic resilience of communities. However, significant improvements are still needed for the resilience assessment of the housing stock, both qualitatively and quantitatively. In this study, which is applied to the housing system, a proposal regarding a change in urban planning and emergency management tools based on the concept of resilience is reported. As a first application, a case study in Italy is considered. Conclusion: The proposal is focused on defining and quantifying the improvement of the resilience of the communities and this must be obtained by modifying the current Civil Protection plan. New tools are based on a new resilience community plan by encompassing urban planning tools, resilient mitigation strategies, and consequently, emergency management planning.


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. 43-43
Author(s):  
Scott C Merrill ◽  
Christopher Koliba ◽  
Gabriela Bucini ◽  
Eric Clark ◽  
Luke Trinity ◽  
...  

Abstract Disease and its consequences result in social and economic impacts to the US animal livestock industry, ranging from losses in human capital to economic costs in excess of a billion dollars annually. Impacts would dramatically escalate if a devastating disease like Foot and Mouth Disease or African Swine Fever virus were to emerge in the United States. Investing in preventative biosecurity can reduce the likelihood of disease incursions and their negative impact on our livestock industry, yet uncertainty persists with regards to developing an effective biosecurity structure and culture. Here we show the implications of human behavior and decision making for biosecurity effectiveness, from the operational level to the owner/managerial level and finally to the systems level. For example, adjustments to risk messaging strategies could double worker compliance with biosecurity practices at the operational level. The improvement of our risk communication strategy may increase willingness to invest in biosecurity. Furthermore, the adaptation of policies could nudge behavior so that we observe a short disease outbreak followed by a quick eradication instead of a pandemic. Our research shows how the emergence of now-endemic diseases, such as Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus, cannot be adequately modeled without the use of a human behavioral component. Focusing solely on any one sector or level of the livestock system is not sufficient to predict emergent disease patterns and their social and economic impact on livestock industries. These results provide insight toward developing more effective risk mitigation strategies and ways to nudge behavior toward more disease resilient systems.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1127
Author(s):  
Alison Small ◽  
Andrew David Fisher ◽  
Caroline Lee ◽  
Ian Colditz

Increasing societal and customer pressure to provide animals with ‘a life worth living’ continues to apply pressure on livestock production industries to alleviate pain associated with husbandry practices, injury and illness. Over the past 15–20 years, there has been considerable research effort to understand and develop mitigation strategies for painful husbandry procedures in sheep, leading to the successful launch of analgesic approaches specific to sheep in a number of countries. However, even with multi-modal approaches to analgesia, using both local anaesthetic and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), pain is not obliterated, and the challenge of pain mitigation and phasing out of painful husbandry practices remains. It is timely to review and reflect on progress to date in order to strategically focus on the most important challenges, and the avenues which offer the greatest potential to be incorporated into industry practice in a process of continuous improvement. A structured, systematic literature search was carried out, incorporating peer-reviewed scientific literature in the period 2000–2019. An enormous volume of research is underway, testament to the fact that we have not solved the pain and analgesia challenge for any species, including our own. This review has highlighted a number of potential areas for further research.


Author(s):  
Agnes Ann Feemster ◽  
Melissa Augustino ◽  
Rosemary Duncan ◽  
Anand Khandoobhai ◽  
Meghan Rowcliffe

Abstract Disclaimer In an effort to expedite the publication of articles related to the COVID-19 pandemic, AJHP is posting these manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time. Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify potential failure points in a new chemotherapy preparation technology and to implement changes that prevent or minimize the consequences of those failures before they occur using the failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) approach. Methods An FMEA was conducted by a team of medication safety pharmacists, oncology pharmacists and technicians, leadership from informatics, investigational drug, and medication safety services, and representatives from the technology vendor. Failure modes were scored using both Risk Priority Number (RPN) and Risk Hazard Index (RHI) scores. Results The chemotherapy preparation workflow was defined in a 41-step process with 16 failure modes. The RPN and RHI scores were identical for each failure mode because all failure modes were considered detectable. Five failure modes, all attributable to user error, were deemed to pose the highest risk. Mitigation strategies and system changes were identified for 2 failure modes, with subsequent system modifications resulting in reduced risk. Conclusion The FMEA was a useful tool for risk mitigation and workflow optimization prior to implementation of an intravenous compounding technology. The process of conducting this study served as a collaborative and proactive approach to reducing the potential for medication errors upon adoption of new technology into the chemotherapy preparation process.


Author(s):  
Paolo Pezzini ◽  
David Tucker ◽  
Alberto Traverso

A new emergency shutdown procedure for a direct-fired fuel cell turbine hybrid power system was evaluated using a hardware-based simulation of an integrated gasifier/fuel cell/turbine hybrid cycle (IGFC), implemented through the Hybrid Performance (Hyper) project at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy (NETL). The Hyper facility is designed to explore dynamic operation of hybrid systems and quantitatively characterize such transient behavior. It is possible to model, test, and evaluate the effects of different parameters on the design and operation of a gasifier/fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid system and provide a means of quantifying risk mitigation strategies. An open-loop system analysis regarding the dynamic effect of bleed air, cold air bypass, and load bank is presented in order to evaluate the combination of these three main actuators during emergency shutdown. In the previous Hybrid control system architecture, catastrophic compressor failures were observed when the fuel and load bank were cut off during emergency shutdown strategy. Improvements were achieved using a nonlinear fuel valve ramp down when the load bank was not operating. Experiments in load bank operation show compressor surge and stall after emergency shutdown activation. The difficulties in finding an optimal compressor and cathode mass flow for mitigation of surge and stall using these actuators are illustrated.


Author(s):  
Leigh McCue

Abstract The purpose of this work is to develop a computationally efficient model of viral spread that can be utilized to better understand influences of stochastic factors on a large-scale system - such as the air traffic network. A particle-based model of passengers and seats aboard a single-cabin 737-800 is developed for use as a demonstration of concept on tracking the propagation of a virus through the aircraft's passenger compartment over multiple flights. The model is sufficiently computationally efficient so as to be viable for Monte Carlo simulation to capture various stochastic effects, such as number of passengers, number of initially sick passengers, seating locations of passengers, and baseline health of each passenger. The computational tool is then exercised in demonstration for assessing risk mitigation of intervention strategies, such as passenger-driven cleaning of seating environments and elimination of middle seating.


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