Global Value Chain Resilience: Understanding the Impact of Managerial Governance Adaptations

While COVID-19 has caused significant short-term disruptions in global value chains (GVCs), in the longer run, the pandemic will not be the primary catalyst in GVC evolution. As GVCs recover from the initial shock, managers will make GVC restructuring decisions guided by long-term strategic considerations. This article describes barriers that lead firm managers may encounter when rethinking location/control decisions for value chain activities and suggests that, in addition to structural changes, managerial governance adaptations are instrumental in enhancing GVCs’ long-term resilience. Lessons learned from responding to the pandemic can help managers enhance GVC efficiency in the increasingly uncertain global environment.

Using VIIRS nightlights to estimate the impact of the 2015 Nepal earthquakes

We use Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) nightlight data to model the impact of the 2015 Nepal earthquakes. More specifically, the data—showing nightlight emissions—are used to examine the extent to which there is a difference in nightlight intensity between cells damaged in the earthquake versus undamaged cells based on (1) mean comparisons; and (2) fixed effect regression models akin to the double difference method. The analysis is carried out for the entire country as well as smaller regions in and around the Central area and Kathmandu, which were the hardest hit areas. Overall, the regressions find a significant and negative effect from the initial shock, followed by a positive net effect from aid and relief efforts, which is consistent with what one would expect to find. However, the mean analysis results are inconclusive and there is substantial noise in the nightlight measurements due to how the values are produced and persistent cloud cover over Nepal.

Enhancing Organizational Resiliency

In this chapter, the authors describe the lessons learned in responding to the various effects of the COVID-19 event that occurred from January 2020 through January 2021 on the ability of faculty to deliver quality, college-level education coursework to the students of the Department of Public Administration at the National University of Mongolia. The experiences are related in terms of the initial shock to the educational process created by the COVID-19 pandemic and how the department enhanced its organizational resilience in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 disturbance. The authors provide a summary of the responses made as well as lessons learned. The lessons learned may be used by other organizations of higher learning to navigate stressful conditions while building resiliency and adaptive capacity.

Is It the End of the COP as We Know It? An Analysis of the First Year of Virtual Meetings in the UN Environment and Sustainable Development Arena

The year 2020 started much like any other on the United Nations multilateral calendar. But then the COVID-19 pandemic forced the UN and the world to shut down. After the initial shock wore off, secretariats and governments began to contemplate how to conduct multilateral negotiations during a pandemic. As they created new virtual working methods, they also had to figure out how to maintain trust among delegations and in the process itself to ensure the outcomes of these meetings would be respected. To understand how UN meetings adapted to a virtual environment and maintained trust, this article analyzes a sample of 18 meetings of UN environmental and sustainable development bodies that took place in the 12 months between April 2020 and March 2021. The research examines these cases to see how these meetings were conducted, how they built the necessary trust, and what can be learned from this experience.

International Evidence on the COVID-19 Deaths of People Who Live in Long-Term Care Facilities

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact, in terms of mortality, on people who live in Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCFs). This study involved compiling data on number of deaths of people who live in LTCFs and analyzing the extent to which differences between countries could be attributed to measures taken to control the spread of COVID-19 to LTCFs or to other factors. The study found that differences in how the data is collected make international comparisons difficult but that there is a clear correlation between number of COVID-19 deaths of residents in LTCFs and number of COVID-19 deaths of people living in the community. The study also found that countries that experienced a particularly high number of deaths in LTCFs during the first COVID-19 wave tended to have lower relative mortality in LTCFs in the subsequent waves, which potentially could be attributed to learning from the initial shock.

Abstract 14407: Effect of Initial Defibrillation on Chest Compression Artifact in the ECG

Introduction: Chest compressions (CCs) during CPR cause electrical artifacts in the ECG. Prior work has found that the severity of CC artifact, quantified by the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), affects the diagnostic sensitivity of defibrillator algorithms designed to detect shockable rhythms during CCs. Whether SNR is altered by defibrillation is unknown. We therefore compared SNR before and after defibrillation shocks. Methods: We evaluated patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who received at least 1 defibrillation shock, had subsequent ventricular fibrillation (VF), and had a calculable SNR before and after initial shock. We measured the CC artifact during VF before and after the initial shock (and up to 3 subsequent shocks) using CC amplitude and SNR. CC amplitude was defined as the median peak-to-peak voltage of the ECG during CCs. SNR was calculated as the log ratio of the power of the CC-free VF signal to the power of the estimated noise caused by CC artifact (Figure). Differences in medians before and after the first 4 shocks were evaluated using Wilcoxon signed-rank test with Bonferroni correction (alpha = 0.0125). Results: A total of 192 patients had a calculable SNR during VF before and after initial shock. Of these, the median CC amplitude decreased after the initial shock (0.93 vs. 0.75 mV, p<0.001), and SNR improved (-2.30 vs. -1.07 dB, p=0.004). In contrast to the initial shock, both CC amplitude and SNR did not differ significantly before and after shock 2 (n=107), shock 3 (n=54), or shock 4 (n=32). Conclusion: Measures of CC artifact in the ECG were greater before initial shock than afterward. This could potentially be due to changes in CC characteristics, variations in physical perturbation of the defibrillator electrodes, degradation of VF over time, or effects of tissue electroporation on paddle conductivity and noise. These findings may have implications for selection of decision thresholds in algorithms to detect shockable rhythm during CCs.

Three-Dimensional Numerical Modeling of a Coastal Highway Bridge under Stokes Waves

This article investigated the effect of structural flexibility on a coastal highway bridge subjected to Stokes waves through a three-dimensional numerical model. Wave-bridge interaction modeling was performed by an FSI model with the coupling of finite element and finite volume methods. An experimental model validated the FSI numerical analysis. Eventually, the overall results of hydrodynamic and structural analyses are presented and discussed. The results illustrate that the structural flexibility significantly increases the initial shock of the wave force on the flexible bridge. In contrast, the fixed bridge tolerates the least forces in the initial shock of the wave force. Then, by adding a wedge-shaped part to the bridge structure, an attempt was made to reduce the initial shock of the wave force to the structure. The results showed the wedge-shaped part with an angle of 30° reduces the initial shock of wave forces down to 50% for horizontal force and 43% for vertical force on the flexible structure.

Shock Wave Behaviour of Polymeric Materials for Detonation Waveshapers

This paper discusses the experimental determination of explosive shock attenuation parameters of four different polymers viz., Teflon, Phenol formaldehyde, Polyethylene foam and Polypropylene foam. These polymers are candidate materials for waveshapers in shaped charge warheads. Cylindrical specimens of the polymer materials were subjected to explosive shock loading by the detonation of RDX:Wax (95:5). Shock arrival time was measured using piezo-wafers positioned at known spatial intervals in the specimens. Initial shock velocity, stabilised shock velocity and attenuation constant were determined. These parameters are essential for the design of waveshapers. Foams have better shock attenuating properties compared to solids due to their cellular structure. Polypropylene foam has the highest shock attenuating characteristic among the four materials studied.

Resilience of health systems in conflict affected governorates of Iraq, 2014–2018

Objectives The objective of this study was to assess the resilience of health systems in four governorates affected by conflict from 2014 to 2018, and to convey recommendations. Methods Health managers from Al Anbar, Ninawa, Salah al-Din, and Kirkuk governorates discussed resilience factors of Primary Health Care services affected by the 2014–2017 ISIS insurgency in focus groups, and general discussions. Additional information was gathered from key informants and a UNICEF health facility survey. Three specific aspects were examined: (1) meeting health needs in the immediate crisis response, (2) adaptation of services, (3) restructuring and recovery measures. Data from a MoH/UNICEF national health facility survey in 2017 were analyzed for functionality. Results There were many common themes across the four governorates, with local variations. (1) Absorption The shock to the public sector health services by the ISIS invasion caught health services in the four governorates unprepared, with limited abilities to continue to provide services. Private pharmacies and private clinics in some places withstood the initial shock better than the public sector. (2) Adaptation After the initial shock, many health facilities adapted by focusing on urgent needs for injury and communicable disease care. In most locations, maternal, neonatal, and child health (MNCH) preventive and promotive PHC services stopped. Ill persons would sometimes consult health workers in their houses at night for security reasons. (3) Restructuring or transformative activities In most areas, health services recovery was continuing in 2020. Some heavily damaged facilities are still functioning, but below pre-crisis level. Rebuilding lost community trust in the public sector is proving difficult. Conclusion Health services generally had little preparation for and limited resilience to the ISIS influx. Governorates are still restructuring services after the liberation from ISIS in 2017. Disaster planning was identified by all participants as a missing component, as everyone anticipated future similar emergencies.