Turbulent Dispersion Simulation of Radioactive Aerosol Applied to the Infrastructure of the NPP-2006 Industrial Site

The goal of this work is to simulate the processes of transport and deposition of aerosol particles in a turbulent flow, taking into account the infrastructure of the industrial site of the NPP. The developed model for calculating the dynamics of the spread of the pollutant emissions in emergency situations is presented, the limits of applicability of turbulence models are determined and the main mechanical and thermal sources of turbulence in the NPP infrastructure are analyzed. The mechanisms of radioactive substances deposition for emergency situations have been assessed taking into account turbulent effects. According to the results of the numerical modeling, the zones of predominant deposition of radioactive aerosols on the characteristic surfaces of the NPP infrastructure have been determined, which is the basis for emergency actions planning and assessment of the personnel doses.

Overstocked Agricultural Produce and Emergency Supply System in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Responses from China

The spread of COVID-19 has affected not only public health but also agriculture, raising global concerns regarding the food system. As an immediate impact of COVID-19, farmers around the globe have had difficulties with sales, resulting in large amounts of overstocked agricultural products and food loss. This further threatens the livelihood of rural, poor farmers and impacts sustainable production. To provide a better understanding of the overstocking situation after the outbreak of the pandemic, this study depicts the distribution characteristics of overstocked agricultural products in China. After analyzing a nationwide data set collected from 3482 individuals/organizations by the Chinese Agri-products Marketing Association after the outbreak of the pandemic, we found that some of the initial prevention and control measures disrupted sales channels, and in turn, caused the farmers to suffer losses. The impact was more severe in perishable products and their production areas, as well as in poverty-stricken regions. Then, we identified China’s quick and effective actions to match the supply and demand. These findings suggest that emergency responses should coordinate the relationship between emergency actions and the necessary logistics of agricultural production. To prepare for the possibility of such shock in the future, the government should take actions to clear logistics obstacles for necessary transportation, keep enhancing the fundamental infrastructure and effective mechanism of the food supply chain, and actively include innovative techniques to build a more resilient food system.

A Chronic Condition E-Learning Module for School Nurses to Train Afterschool Teachers and Staff

This case presents the design and assessment (at the Interaction level) of a student chronic condition e-learning module. The module is to be used by school nurses as a traditional presentation aid/slideshow to support their on-ground trainings for afterschool staff on how to manage students with chronic health conditions participating in afterschool programs. However, it also serves as an interactive, one-stop-shop for more detailed education and information on the conditions (e.g., additional prevention and treatment materials, step-by-step emergency actions for staff during and after school, resources for more training and education). Trained teachers and staff can then spend post-training time at home reading and interacting with module materials to go more in-depth on the material that the school nurses presented. Also, the module was created to be viewed on mobile devices and tablets that afterschool staff would keep with them, possibly referring to them in real-time for prevention or emergency actions.

AS POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS CULTURAIS NO CONTEXTO PANDÊMICO: uma análise comparativa entre Brasil e América Latina

Este ensaio tem por objetivo analisar as ações do governo brasileiro em relação a outros países da América Latina (Chile, Peru, Argentina e Cuba), principalmente, no que tange às políticas emergenciais para o setor cultural, durante os primeiros seis meses de pandemia da COVID-19. A pesquisa se pautou em análises de instrumentos jurídicos, canais de comunicação e análise bibliográfica. A partir do estudo, verifica que, apesar de diferentes formas de Estado e questões políticas, os países pesquisados, com exceção do Brasil, tiveram uma ação efetiva dos ministérios da cultura para coordenar e promover ações emergenciais ainda no primeiro semestre de 2020.CULTURAL PUBLIC POLICIES IN THE PANDEMIC CONTEXT: a comparative analysis between Brazil and Latin AmericaAbstractThis paper aims to analyze the actions of the Brazilian government in relation to other Latin American countries (Chile, Peru, Argentina and Cuba), especially in regard to emergency policies for the cultural sector during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was based on analyzes of legal instruments, communication channels and bibliographic analysis. From the study, it was found that, despite different forms of state and political issues, the countries surveyed, with the exception of Brazil, had effective action by the ministries of culture to coordinate and promote emergency actions in the first half of 2020.Keywords: COVID-19. Cultural policies. Latin America

The relationship between Humanitarian Logistics and Reverse Logistics: characteristics, actions, and singularities between both

Situations that demand emergency actions, such as natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods), require special logistics posture, which is being called humanitarian logistics. This is still a new concept in Brazil, but it has been studied more and more in European countries and the United States. Humanitarian logistics is the branch of logistics responsible for processes that involve the mobilization of resources, knowledge, and people to support communities affected by emergencies, such as natural disasters, wars, or terrorist attacks. Reverse logistics is another branch of logistics that is concerned with the return of the goods and products flowing from the primary client and which may be sent to dumpsites, recycling, or reuse. However, when these materials are managed differently, they may reach people who were affected by natural disasters or not, characterizing the humanitarian logistics. This article seeks to define, compare and relate the single elements of traditional logistics (direct flow), humanitarian and reverse logistics. It also seeks to show the way to an effective integration between these three logistics branches in order to take advantage of the best to help victims of any disaster.

Natural Enemies of Fall Armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Different Agro-Ecologies

Fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) and southern armyworm (SAW) Spodoptera eridania (Stoll) have become major threats to crops in Africa since 2016. African governments adopted emergency actions around chemical insecticides, with limited efforts to assess the richness or roles of indigenous natural enemies. Field surveys and laboratory studies were conducted to identify and assess the performance of parasitoids associated with spodopterans in Cameroon. FAW was the most abundant spodopteran pest. Telenomus remus (Nixon), Trichogramma chilonis (Ishi), Charops sp. (Szépligeti), Coccygidium luteum (Cameron), Cotesia icipe (Fernandez & Fiaboe), and Cotesia sesamiae (Cameron) are the first records in the country on spodopterans. Telenomus remus, T. chilonis, C. icipe, and Charops sp. were obtained from both FAW and SAW; C. luteum and C. sesamiae from FAW. The distribution of spodopterans, their endoparasitoids, and parasitism rates varied with host, season and location. In the laboratory, T. remus showed significantly higher parasitism on FAW than SAW, and significant differences in the development parameters between the two host eggs, with shorter development time on FAW. It induced significant non-reproductive mortality on FAW but not on SAW. Developmental parameters showed that C. icipe has a shorter development time compared to other larval parasitoids. Implications for conservative and augmentative biocontrol are discussed.

Towards a Semi-Quantitative Approach for Assessing Evacuation Scenarios in the Context of Popocatépetl Volcano, México—The Case of San Pedro Tlalmimilulpan

Volcanic exposure implies multiple hazards for human settlements. The identification of the potential hazards that volcanic activity can entail is a challenge requiring assessing the specific situations that a determined place would face. Popocatépetl, a volcano in the centre of México, represents a significant hazard source, and it is located within a densely populated region with more than 20 million people. Despite the existence of a colour-based volcano alert level system for the current activity of the volcano, it is relevant to assess which local scenarios are more likely depending on numerous variables, namely, related to the distance from the volcano. A semi-quantitative analysis was carried out based on existing hazard maps and considering the probability of occurrence of volcanic explosivity, taking the settlement of San Pedro Tlalmimilulpan as a case study. This analysis led to a hierarchised rank of hazards, providing a basis for analysing multiple scenarios through failure mode and event analysis, failure tree analysis and event tree analysis. This process facilitates the contextualisation of the multiple challenges and potential chains of events that emergency actions, namely, emergency evacuations, would face. The analysis of the critical paths can help to identify critical aspects that could hinder the post-event response.

Analysis of the Different Approaches Adopted in the Italian Regions to Care for Patients Affected by COVID-19

As the Italian health system is regionally based, COVID-19 emergency actions are based on a general lockdown imposed by national authority and then management at local level by 21 regional authorities. Therefore, the pandemic response plan developed by each region led to different approaches. The aim of this paper is to analyze whether differences in patient management may have influenced the local course of the epidemic. The analysis on the 21 Italian regions considers the strategies adopted in terms of hospitalization, treatment in the ICU and at home. Moreover, an in-depth analysis was carried out on: Lombardia, which adopted a hospitalization approach; Veneto, which tended to confine patients at home; and Emilia Romagna, which adopted a mixed hospitalization-home based approach. The majority of regions implemented a home-based approach, while the hospital approach was followed in three regions (Lombardia, Piemonte, and Lazio), mainly limited to the first period of the outbreak. All regions in the later phases tended to reduce hospitalization, preferring to confine patients at home. This comparison, highlighting the different phases of the pandemic, outlined that the adoption of home-based practices contributed to limiting infection rates among patients and health professionals as well as decreasing the number of deaths.

HCFMUSP: Resilience in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT The teaching case describes a set of emergency actions taken by HCFMUSP to manage the needs brought by the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. The case objective considers the issues related to the impact of the pandemic mostly in healthcare operations, emphasizing how to: (a) adapt health system governance in response to a crisis (crisis management); (b) manage the health system capacity, which traditionally is not so resilient; (c) deal with a new disease (knowledge management). Thus, it should allow gathering elements for the management of future crises.

"Business as unusual": Pandemic concentration of executive powers in Croatia

Faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, countries around the globe responded with a wide range of special measures. Whereas some of them resorted to their constitutional emergency rules, others opted to act through legislation. The author argues that the effects of the legislative approach to the epidemic in Croatia actually resemble the state of an emergency in the proper sense of the word, although the authorities try to present the whole case as a situation of "legal normalcy". More precisely, the author claims that in practice the adopted model produces concentration of power in the executive branch far beyond what one could expect in ordinary times. To prove that, the author analyses the Croatian legal anti-epidemic framework through several elements (declaration of emergency, law-making powers, overview of executive emergency actions, parliamentary sittings). Finally, the author argues that the constitutional state of natural disaster in Croatia should have been proclaimed.