After Action Report: Advanced Test Reactor Complex 2015 Evaluated Drill October 6, 2015

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holmes, Forest Howard

2015-11-01

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) Complex, operated by Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) conducted an evaluated drill on October 6, 2015, to allow the ATR Complex emergency response organization (ERO) to demonstrate the ability to respond to and mitigate an emergency by implementing the requirements of DOE O 151.1C, “Comprehensive Emergency Management System.”

Climate mitigation is not the only benefit of a national energy system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clack, C.

2016-12-01

Many speculate that the main driving force for a continental scale energy system is for climate mitigation. While this is a strong driver, there are multiple co-benefits that emerge from such a transition when purely driven by costs. These components could be managed within a planned system to provide a close-to-optimal solution that enhances the probability of realization. It is shown that these co-benefits of a continental scale electric system occur at costs lower than existing ones. That means there are multiple additional savings without extra costs or effort. The disadvantage is coordination between large geographic regions that could cause more complexity in planning. The main finding from different versions of the NEWS simulator is that carbon mitigation is enhanced by larger systems. In addition, there are increased jobs, reduced water consumption, Sulphur dioxide emissions, Nitrogen oxide emissions, a more distributed electric system and a lower cost of electricity.

44 CFR 78.6 - Flood Mitigation Plan approval process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... approval process. 78.6 Section 78.6 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY... MITIGATION ASSISTANCE § 78.6 Flood Mitigation Plan approval process. The State POC will forward all Flood... reasons for non-approval and offer suggestions for improvement. ...

Zika Virus Emergence and Expansion: Lessons Learned from Dengue and Chikungunya May Not Provide All the Answers

PubMed Central

Christofferson, Rebecca C.

2016-01-01

Following the emergence of Zika in the past decade, there are lessons to be learned from similar emergence events of dengue (DENV) and chikungunya (CHIKV). Specifically, as Zika emerges in the Americas there is a natural tendency to apply the knowledge base of DENV and CHIKV to mitigation and control of a virus with such a similar transmission system. However, there are marked differences that may preclude such broad stroke application of this knowledge base without making potentially faulty assumptions. Herein, Zika virus (ZIKV) transmission is reviewed, and the commonalities among these three arboviruses are discussed. Importantly, the divergence of this particular arbovirus is discussed, as is the need to develop ZIKV-specific knowledge base for mitigation of this disease. Specifically reviewed are 1) emergence and persistence patterns, 2) genetic and phenotypic diversity, 3) vector host range, and finally, 4) alternate transmission routes and added complexity of ZIKV transmission and presentation. PMID:26903610

Volcanic risk and tourism in southern Iceland: Implications for hazard, risk and emergency response education and training

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bird, Deanne K.; Gisladottir, Gudrun; Dominey-Howes, Dale

2010-01-01

This paper examines the relationship between volcanic risk and the tourism sector in southern Iceland and the complex challenge emergency management officials face in developing effective volcanic risk mitigation strategies. An early warning system and emergency response procedures were developed for communities surrounding Katla, the volcano underlying the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap. However, prior to and during the 2007 tourist season these mitigation efforts were not effectively communicated to stakeholders located in the tourist destination of Þórsmörk despite its location within the hazard zone of Katla. The hazard zone represents the potential extent of a catastrophic jökulhlaup (glacial outburst flood). Furthermore, volcanic risk mitigation efforts in Þórsmörk were based solely on information derived from physical investigations of volcanic hazards. They did not consider the human dimension of risk. In order to address this gap and provide support to current risk mitigation efforts, questionnaire surveys were used to investigate tourists' and tourism employees' hazard knowledge, risk perception, adoption of personal preparedness measures, predicted behaviour if faced with a Katla eruption and views on education. Results indicate that tourists lack hazard knowledge and they do not adopt preparedness measures to deal with the consequences of an eruption. Despite a high level of risk perception, tourism employees lack knowledge about the early warning system and emergency response procedures. Results show that tourists are positive about receiving information concerning Katla and its hazards and therefore, the reticence of tourism employees with respect to disseminating hazard information is unjustified. In order to improve the tourism sector's collective capacity to positively respond during a future eruption, recommendations are made to ensure adequate dissemination of hazard, risk and emergency response information. Most importantly education campaigns should focus on: (a) increasing tourists' knowledge of Katla, jökulhlaup and other volcanic hazards and (b) increasing tourist and employee awareness of the early warning and information system and appropriate behavioural response if a warning is issued. Further, tourism employees should be required to participate in emergency training and evacuation exercises annually. These efforts are timely given that Katla is expected to erupt in the near future and international tourism is an expanding industry in Þórsmörk.

Enhancing K-12 School Emergency Management through Community Partnerships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Jay Richard

2018-01-01

The ideal school is a safe school. In recent years, the ability of K-12 school districts to mitigate, prepare, protect, respond, and recover from emergencies has gained national attention as a wide variety of manmade and non-manmade disasters have impacted school systems in the United States. An increased emphasis has been placed on how schools…

Model Based Mission Assurance: Emerging Opportunities for Robotic Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, John W.; DiVenti, Tony

2016-01-01

The emergence of Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) in a Model Based Engineering framework has created new opportunities to improve effectiveness and efficiencies across the assurance functions. The MBSE environment supports not only system architecture development, but provides for support of Systems Safety, Reliability and Risk Analysis concurrently in the same framework. Linking to detailed design will further improve assurance capabilities to support failures avoidance and mitigation in flight systems. This also is leading new assurance functions including model assurance and management of uncertainty in the modeling environment. Further, the assurance cases, a structured hierarchal argument or model, are emerging as a basis for supporting a comprehensive viewpoint in which to support Model Based Mission Assurance (MBMA).

44 CFR 78.14 - Alternative procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Alternative procedures. 78.14 Section 78.14 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION...

44 CFR 79.9 - Grant administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Grant administration. 79.9 Section 79.9 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS...

44 CFR 79.9 - Grant administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Grant administration. 79.9 Section 79.9 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS...

44 CFR 79.9 - Grant administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Grant administration. 79.9 Section 79.9 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS...

44 CFR 78.14 - Alternative procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Alternative procedures. 78.14 Section 78.14 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION...

44 CFR 79.9 - Grant administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Grant administration. 79.9 Section 79.9 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS...

44 CFR 78.14 - Alternative procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Alternative procedures. 78.14 Section 78.14 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION...

44 CFR 78.14 - Alternative procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Alternative procedures. 78.14 Section 78.14 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION...

44 CFR 79.9 - Grant administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Grant administration. 79.9 Section 79.9 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS...

44 CFR 78.14 - Alternative procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Alternative procedures. 78.14 Section 78.14 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION...

Effectiveness of mitigation interventions on occupational violence against emergency service workers: a mixed methods systematic review protocol.

PubMed

Drew, Peter; Tippett, Vivienne; Devenish, Scott

2018-05-01

The objective of this review is to develop an aggregated synthesis of qualitative and quantitative data on occupational violence (OV) mitigation interventions for Emergency Service Workers (ESW), to cultivate useful conclusions and recommendations for paramedic occupational safety and policy development. Emergency Service Worker is a broad term encompassing all elements of community-based emergency support and includes paramedics, firefighters, and police.The objective of the quantitative component of this review is to quantify the effectiveness of OV mitigation interventions for ESW.The objective of the qualitative component of this review is to explore the perceptions and experiences of ESW on the effectiveness of OV mitigation interventions.This review seeks to address the following questions.

Decision Support for Emergency Operations Centers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harvey, Craig; Lawhead, Joel; Watts, Zack

2005-01-01

The Flood Disaster Mitigation Decision Support System (DSS) is a computerized information system that allows regional emergency-operations government officials to make decisions regarding the dispatch of resources in response to flooding. The DSS implements a real-time model of inundation utilizing recently acquired lidar elevation data as well as real-time data from flood gauges, and other instruments within and upstream of an area that is or could become flooded. The DSS information is updated as new data become available. The model generates realtime maps of flooded areas and predicts flood crests at specified locations. The inundation maps are overlaid with information on population densities, property values, hazardous materials, evacuation routes, official contact information, and other information needed for emergency response. The program maintains a database and a Web portal through which real-time data from instrumentation are gathered into the database. Also included in the database is a geographic information system, from which the program obtains the overlay data for areas of interest as needed. The portal makes some portions of the database accessible to the public. Access to other portions of the database is restricted to government officials according to various levels of authorization. The Flood Disaster Mitigation DSS has been integrated into a larger DSS named REACT (Real-time Emergency Action Coordination Tool), which also provides emergency operations managers with data for any type of impact area such as floods, fires, bomb

Deciphering microbial landscapes of fish eggs to mitigate emerging diseases

PubMed Central

Liu, Yiying; de Bruijn, Irene; Jack, Allison LH; Drynan, Keith; van den Berg, Albert H; Thoen, Even; Sandoval-Sierra, Vladimir; Skaar, Ida; van West, Pieter; Diéguez-Uribeondo, Javier; van der Voort, Menno; Mendes, Rodrigo; Mazzola, Mark; Raaijmakers, Jos M

2014-01-01

Animals and plants are increasingly suffering from diseases caused by fungi and oomycetes. These emerging pathogens are now recognized as a global threat to biodiversity and food security. Among oomycetes, Saprolegnia species cause significant declines in fish and amphibian populations. Fish eggs have an immature adaptive immune system and depend on nonspecific innate defences to ward off pathogens. Here, meta-taxonomic analyses revealed that Atlantic salmon eggs are home to diverse fungal, oomycete and bacterial communities. Although virulent Saprolegnia isolates were found in all salmon egg samples, a low incidence of Saprolegniosis was strongly correlated with a high richness and abundance of specific commensal Actinobacteria, with the genus Frondihabitans (Microbacteriaceae) effectively inhibiting attachment of Saprolegniato salmon eggs. These results highlight that fundamental insights into microbial landscapes of fish eggs may provide new sustainable means to mitigate emerging diseases. PMID:24671087

International perspectives on emergency department crowding.

PubMed

Pines, Jesse M; Hilton, Joshua A; Weber, Ellen J; Alkemade, Annechien J; Al Shabanah, Hasan; Anderson, Philip D; Bernhard, Michael; Bertini, Alessio; Gries, André; Ferrandiz, Santiago; Kumar, Vijaya Arun; Harjola, Veli-Pekka; Hogan, Barbara; Madsen, Bo; Mason, Suzanne; Ohlén, Gunnar; Rainer, Timothy; Rathlev, Niels; Revue, Eric; Richardson, Drew; Sattarian, Mehdi; Schull, Michael J

2011-12-01

The maturation of emergency medicine (EM) as a specialty has coincided with dramatic increases in emergency department (ED) visit rates, both in the United States and around the world. ED crowding has become a public health problem where periodic supply and demand mismatches in ED and hospital resources cause long waiting times and delays in critical treatments. ED crowding has been associated with several negative clinical outcomes, including higher complication rates and mortality. This article describes emergency care systems and the extent of crowding across 15 countries outside of the United States: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Italy, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Catalonia (Spain), Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The authors are local emergency care leaders with knowledge of emergency care in their particular countries. Where available, data are provided about visit patterns in each country; however, for many of these countries, no national data are available on ED visits rates or crowding. For most of the countries included, there is both objective evidence of increases in ED visit rates and ED crowding and also subjective assessments of trends toward higher crowding in the ED. ED crowding appears to be worsening in many countries despite the presence of universal health coverage. Scandinavian countries with robust systems to manage acute care outside the ED do not report crowding is a major problem. The main cause for crowding identified by many authors is the boarding of admitted patients, similar to the United States. Many hospitals in these countries have implemented operational interventions to mitigate crowding in the ED, and some countries have imposed strict limits on ED length of stay (LOS), while others have no clear plan to mitigate crowding. An understanding of the causes and potential solutions implemented in these countries can provide a lens into how to mitigate ED crowding in the United States through health policy interventions and hospital operational changes. © 2011 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

44 CFR 79.8 - Allowable costs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Allowable costs. 79.8 Section 79.8 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS § 79.8...

44 CFR 79.8 - Allowable costs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Allowable costs. 79.8 Section 79.8 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS § 79.8...

44 CFR 79.8 - Allowable costs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Allowable costs. 79.8 Section 79.8 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS § 79.8...

44 CFR 79.8 - Allowable costs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Allowable costs. 79.8 Section 79.8 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS § 79.8...

[Investigation into the capacity for risk identification, assessment, and mitigation in managing public health emergencies in China].

PubMed

Hu, Guo-qing; Rao, Ke-qin; Sun, Zhen-qiu

2007-08-01

To investigate the capacity for risk identification, assessment, and mitigation in public health emergency management in China. Four provinces were randomly selected using stratified sampling. All the municipalities under these four provinces were assessed using the 3rd subscale (Risk Identification, Risk Assessment, and Risk Mitigation) of Preparedness and Response Capacity Questionnaire for Public Health Emergencies Used in Provincial or Municipal Governments, which was developed by the Center for Health Statistics and Information, Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China. Sixty of 66 questionnaires (90.91%) were collected. Among 60 investigated municipalities, 35 (58%) identified the potential public health emergencies, 17 (28%) assessed the risks for the identified emergencies, and 5 (8%) conducted risk assessments for the locally accident-prone factories, mines, corporations, and big establishments, 6 (10%) identified the priorities in public health emergency management based on risk assessment, 6 (10%) developed special prevention strategies for main public health emergencies, 3 (5%) assessed the vulnerability of local residents to public health emergencies, and 34 (57%) assessed or were assessing the preparedness and response capacity for public health emergencies in the past 2 years. The mean of standard total score for risk identification, assessment, and mitigation was 24.05 (95% CI: 18.32, 29.77). Risk identification, assessment, and mitigation still require further improvement in China, and both the central and local authorities should implement more effective and efficient measures.

44 CFR 201.5 - Enhanced State Mitigation Plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Enhanced State Mitigation Plans. 201.5 Section 201.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY... that the plan is integrated to the extent practicable with other State and/or regional planning...

44 CFR 201.5 - Enhanced State Mitigation Plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Enhanced State Mitigation Plans. 201.5 Section 201.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY...) Demonstration that the plan is integrated to the extent practicable with other State and/or regional planning...

44 CFR 201.5 - Enhanced State Mitigation Plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Enhanced State Mitigation Plans. 201.5 Section 201.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY...) Demonstration that the plan is integrated to the extent practicable with other State and/or regional planning...

44 CFR 201.5 - Enhanced State Mitigation Plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Enhanced State Mitigation Plans. 201.5 Section 201.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY...) Demonstration that the plan is integrated to the extent practicable with other State and/or regional planning...

44 CFR 78.5 - Flood Mitigation Plan development.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Flood Mitigation Plan..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE § 78.5 Flood Mitigation Plan development. A Flood Mitigation Plan will articulate a...

44 CFR 78.5 - Flood Mitigation Plan development.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Flood Mitigation Plan..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE § 78.5 Flood Mitigation Plan development. A Flood Mitigation Plan will articulate a...

44 CFR 78.5 - Flood Mitigation Plan development.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Flood Mitigation Plan..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE § 78.5 Flood Mitigation Plan development. A Flood Mitigation Plan will articulate a...

Accounting for vulnerable populations in rural hazard mitigation plans: results of a survey of emergency managers.

PubMed

Horney, Jennifer A; Nguyen, Mai; Cooper, John; Simon, Matthew; Ricchetti-Masterson, Kristen; Grabich, Shannon; Salvesen, David; Berke, Philip

2013-01-01

Rural areas of the United States are uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters. One possible way to mitigate vulnerability to disasters in rural communities is to have a high-quality hazard mitigation plan in place. To understand the resources available for hazard mitigation planning and determine how well hazard mitigation plans in rural counties meet the needs of vulnerable populations, we surveyed the lead planning or emergency management official responsible for hazard mitigation plans in 96 rural counties in eight states in the Southeastern United States. In most counties, emergency management was responsible for implementing the county's hazard mitigation plan and the majority of counties had experienced a presidentially declared disaster in the last 5 years. Our research findings demonstrated that there were differences in subjective measures of vulnerability (as reported by survey respondents) and objective measures of vulnerability (as determined by US Census data). In addition, although few counties surveyed included outreach to vulnerable groups as a part of their hazard mitigation planning process, a majority felt that their hazard mitigation plan addressed the needs of vulnerable populations "well" or "very well." These differences could result in increased vulnerabilities in rural areas, particularly for certain vulnerable groups.

Packet loss mitigation for biomedical signals in healthcare telemetry.

PubMed

Garudadri, Harinath; Baheti, Pawan K

2009-01-01

In this work, we propose an effective application layer solution for packet loss mitigation in the context of Body Sensor Networks (BSN) and healthcare telemetry. Packet losses occur due to many reasons including excessive path loss, interference from other wireless systems, handoffs, congestion, system loading, etc. A call for action is in order, as packet losses can have extremely adverse impact on many healthcare applications relying on BAN and WAN technologies. Our approach for packet loss mitigation is based on Compressed Sensing (CS), an emerging signal processing concept, wherein significantly fewer sensor measurements than that suggested by Shannon/Nyquist sampling theorem can be used to recover signals with arbitrarily fine resolution. We present simulation results demonstrating graceful degradation of performance with increasing packet loss rate. We also compare the proposed approach with retransmissions. The CS based packet loss mitigation approach was found to maintain up to 99% beat-detection accuracy at packet loss rates of 20%, with a constant latency of less than 2.5 seconds.

44 CFR 201.7 - Tribal Mitigation Plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Tribal Mitigation Plans. 201... OF HOMELAND SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE MITIGATION PLANNING § 201.7 Tribal Mitigation Plans. The Indian Tribal Mitigation Plan is the representation of the Indian tribal government's commitment to...

44 CFR 78.6 - Flood Mitigation Plan approval process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Flood Mitigation Plan..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE § 78.6 Flood Mitigation Plan approval process. The State POC will forward all Flood...

44 CFR 78.6 - Flood Mitigation Plan approval process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Flood Mitigation Plan..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE § 78.6 Flood Mitigation Plan approval process. The State POC will forward all Flood...

44 CFR 78.6 - Flood Mitigation Plan approval process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Flood Mitigation Plan..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE § 78.6 Flood Mitigation Plan approval process. The State POC will forward all Flood...

An Analysis of Adverse Events in the Rehabilitation Department: Using the Veterans Affairs Root Cause Analysis System.

PubMed

Hagley, Gregory W; Mills, Peter D; Shiner, Brian; Hemphill, Robin R

2018-04-01

Root cause analyses (RCA) are often completed in health care settings to determine causes of adverse events (AEs). RCAs result in action plans designed to mitigate future patient harm. National reviews of RCA reports have assessed the safety of numerous health care settings and suggested opportunities for improvement. However, few studies have assessed the safety of receiving care from physical therapists, occupational therapists, or speech and language pathology pathologists. The objective of this study was to determine the types of AEs, root causes, and action plans for risk mitigation that exist within the disciplines of rehabilitation medicine. This study is a retrospective, cross-sectional review. A national search of the Veterans Health Administration RCA database was conducted to identify reports describing AEs associated with physical therapy, occupational therapy, or speech and language pathology services between 2009 and May 2016. Twenty-five reports met the inclusion requirements. The reports were classified by the event type, root cause, action plans, and strength of action plans. Delays in care (32.0%) and falls (28.0%) were the most common type of AE. Three AEs resulted in death. RCA teams identified deficits regarding policy and procedures as the most common root cause. Eighty-eight percent of RCA reports included strong or intermediate action plans to mitigate risk. Strong action plans included standardizing emergency terminology and implementing a dedicated line to call for an emergency response. These data are self-reported and only AEs that are scored as a safety assessment code 3 in the system receive a full RCA, so there are likely AEs that were not captured in this study. In addition, the RCA reports are deidentified and so do not include all patient characteristics. As the Veterans Health Administration system services mostly men, the data might not generalize to non-Veterans Health Administration systems with a different patient mix. Care provided by rehabilitation professionals is generally safe, but AEs do occur. Based on this RCA review, the safety of rehabilitation services can be improved by implementing strong practices to mitigate risk to patients. Checklists should be considered to aid timely decision making when initiating an emergency response.

44 CFR 201.5 - Enhanced State Mitigation Plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Enhanced State Mitigation..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE MITIGATION PLANNING § 201.5 Enhanced State Mitigation Plans. (a) A State with a FEMA approved Enhanced State Mitigation Plan at the time of a disaster...

44 CFR 78.6 - Flood Mitigation Plan approval process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Flood Mitigation Plan approval..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE § 78.6 Flood Mitigation Plan approval process. The State POC will forward all Flood...

The role of simulation models in monitoring soil organic carbon storage and greenhouse gas mitigation potential in bioenergy cropping systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

There is an increased demand on agricultural systems worldwide to provide food, fiber, and feedstock for the emerging bioenergy industry, raising legitimate concerns on the associated impacts of such intensification on the environment. Of the many ecosystem services that could be impacted by the la...

Tactical Firefighter Teams: Pivoting Toward the Fire Service’s Evolving Homeland Security Mission

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

critical response command C-TECC Committee on Tactical Emergency Casualty Care EMS emergency medical services EMT emergency medical technician ESU...Interagency Tactical Response Model: Integrating Fire and EMS with Law Enforcement to Mitigate Mumbai-Style Terrorist Attacks (New York: FDNY Center...the assailants, several traditional fire and EMS activities must often occur simultaneously to successfully mitigate the threat. Although rare

Interference Mitigation for Cyber-Physical Wireless Body Area Network System Using Social Networks.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhaoyang; Wang, Honggang; Wang, Chonggang; Fang, Hua

2013-06-01

Wireless body area networks (WBANs) are cyber-physical systems (CPS) that have emerged as a key technology to provide real-time health monitoring and ubiquitous healthcare services. WBANs could operate in dense environments such as in a hospital and lead to a high mutual communication interference in many application scenarios. The excessive interferences will significantly degrade the network performance including depleting the energy of WBAN nodes more quickly, and even eventually jeopardize people's lives due to unreliable (caused by the interference) healthcare data collections. Therefore, It is critical to mitigate the interference among WBANs to increase the reliability of the WBAN system while minimizing the system power consumption. Many existing approaches can deal with communication interference mitigation in general wireless networks but are not suitable for WBANs due to their ignoring the social nature of WBANs. Unlike the previous research, we for the first time propose a power game based approach to mitigate the communication interferences for WBANs based on the people's social interaction information. Our major contributions include: (1) model the inter-WBANs interference, and determine the distance distribution of the interference through both theoretical analysis and Monte Carlo simulations; (2) develop social interaction detection and prediction algorithms for people carrying WBANs; (3) develop a power control game based on the social interaction information to maximize the system's utility while minimize the energy consumption of WBANs system. The extensive simulation results show the effectiveness of the power control game for inter-WBAN interference mitigation using social interaction information. Our research opens a new research vista of WBANs using social networks.

Preparing for veterinary emergencies: disaster management and the Incident Command System.

PubMed

Madigan, J; Dacre, I

2009-08-01

An important question that all veterinary schools should consider is whether veterinary students should be trained to deal with local or regional states of emergency or disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, hail and ice storms, wind storms, fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and epidemics. When a large-scale emergency or disaster does strike, the consequences can be dire for the domestic and wild animals of the region and for the humans within the vicinity of seriously and painfully injured animals. The authors argue that emergency preparedness is essential for the veterinary profession to meet its obligations to both animals and humans. The four basic components of disaster management are: mitigation, preparedness, response/emergency relief and recovery.

Mix Master

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waters, John K.

2008-01-01

Data integration is one of the single most challenging tasks any district can face. Fortunately for school districts throughout the country with data scattered in disparate systems, an open specification known as the Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) is mitigating that challenge. SIF has emerged as a cornerstone of K-12 data warehousing,…

Repetitive flood victims and acceptance of FEMA mitigation offers: an analysis with community-system policy implications.

PubMed

Kick, Edward L; Fraser, James C; Fulkerson, Gregory M; McKinney, Laura A; De Vries, Daniel H

2011-07-01

Of all natural disasters, flooding causes the greatest amount of economic and social damage. The United States' Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) uses a number of hazard mitigation grant programmes for flood victims, including mitigation offers to relocate permanently repetitive flood loss victims. This study examines factors that help to explain the degree of difficulty repetitive flood loss victims experience when they make decisions about relocating permanently after multiple flood losses. Data are drawn from interviews with FEMA officials and a survey of flood victims from eight repetitive flooding sites. The qualitative and quantitative results show the importance of rational choices by flood victims in their mitigation decisions, as they relate to financial variables, perceptions of future risk, attachments to home and community, and the relationships between repetitive flood loss victims and the local flood management officials who help them. The results offer evidence to suggest the value of a more community-system approach to FEMA relocation practices. © 2011 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2011.

Coordination of short-term and long-term mitigation measures of hydro-meteorological risks: the importance of establishing a link between emergency management and spatial planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prenger-Berninghoff, Kathrin; Cortes, V. Juliette; Aye, Zar Chi; Sprague, Teresa

2013-04-01

The management of natural hazards involves, as generally known, the four stages of the risk management cycle: Prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. Accordingly, the mitigation of disasters can be performed in terms of short-term and long-term purposes. Whereas emergency management or civil protection helps to strengthen a community's capacity to be better prepared for natural hazards and to better respond in case a disaster strikes, thus addressing the short-term perspective, spatial planning serves long-term planning goals and can therefore implement long-term prevention measures. A purposefully applied risk mitigation strategy requires coordination of short-term and long-term mitigation measures and thus an effective coordination of emergency management and spatial planning. Several actors are involved in risk management and should consequently be linked throughout the whole risk management cycle. However, these actors, partly because of a historically fragmented administrative system, are hardly connected to each other, with spatial planning only having a negligible role compared to other actors1, a problem to which Young (2002) referred to as the "problem of interplay". In contrast, information transfer and decision-taking happen at the same time and are not coordinated among different actors. This applies to the prevention and preparedness phase as well as to the recovery phase, which basically constitutes the prevention phase for the next disaster2. Since investments in both risk prevention and emergency preparedness and response are considered necessary, a better coordination of the two approaches is required. In this regard, Decision Support Systems (DSS) can be useful in order to provide support in the decision-making aspect of risk management. The research work currently undertaken examines the problem of interplay in the four case study areas of the Marie Curie ITN, CHANGES3. The link between different risk management actors will be explored by means of exploratory questionnaires and interviews with government agencies, local administrations, community and research organizations on each study site. First results provided will address the general role of spatial planning in risk management. Additionally, preliminary observations are made in regard to the coordination of emergency preparedness and long-term spatial planning activities. The observations consider that integration facilitates proactive strategies that aim at preventing disaster occurrence and promote interaction between involved parties. Finally, consideration is given to the potential use of a DSS tool to cover both aspects of spatial planning and emergency management in the risk management cycle.

Cyber security with radio frequency interferences mitigation study for satellite systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Gang; Wei, Sixiao; Chen, Genshe; Tian, Xin; Shen, Dan; Pham, Khanh; Nguyen, Tien M.; Blasch, Erik

2016-05-01

Satellite systems including the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and the satellite communications (SATCOM) system provide great convenience and utility to human life including emergency response, wide area efficient communications, and effective transportation. Elements of satellite systems incorporate technologies such as navigation with the global positioning system (GPS), satellite digital video broadcasting, and information transmission with a very small aperture terminal (VSAT), etc. The satellite systems importance is growing in prominence with end users' requirement for globally high data rate transmissions; the cost reduction of launching satellites; development of smaller sized satellites including cubesat, nanosat, picosat, and femtosat; and integrating internet services with satellite networks. However, with the promising benefits, challenges remain to fully develop secure and robust satellite systems with pervasive computing and communications. In this paper, we investigate both cyber security and radio frequency (RF) interferences mitigation for satellite systems, and demonstrate that they are not isolated. The action space for both cyber security and RF interferences are firstly summarized for satellite systems, based on which the mitigation schemes for both cyber security and RF interferences are given. A multi-layered satellite systems structure is provided with cross-layer design considering multi-path routing and channel coding, to provide great security and diversity gains for secure and robust satellite systems.

76 FR 33327 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, OMB No...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-08

...; State/Local/Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plans AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION... . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Collection of Information Title: State/Local/Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plans. Type of... Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan requirements is to support the administration of FEMA Mitigation grant...

78 FR 50435 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request: FEMA Mitigation...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-19

... Mitigation Success Story Database AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY... (GPRA) (Pub. L. 103.62 Section 2) FEMA has established the FEMA Mitigation Best Practices success story... stories incorporate mitigation strategies that have been successfully implemented and provide real- world...

Interference Mitigation for Cyber-Physical Wireless Body Area Network System Using Social Networks

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zhaoyang; Wang, Honggang; Wang, Chonggang; Fang, Hua

2014-01-01

Wireless body area networks (WBANs) are cyber-physical systems (CPS) that have emerged as a key technology to provide real-time health monitoring and ubiquitous healthcare services. WBANs could operate in dense environments such as in a hospital and lead to a high mutual communication interference in many application scenarios. The excessive interferences will significantly degrade the network performance including depleting the energy of WBAN nodes more quickly, and even eventually jeopardize people’s lives due to unreliable (caused by the interference) healthcare data collections. Therefore, It is critical to mitigate the interference among WBANs to increase the reliability of the WBAN system while minimizing the system power consumption. Many existing approaches can deal with communication interference mitigation in general wireless networks but are not suitable for WBANs due to their ignoring the social nature of WBANs. Unlike the previous research, we for the first time propose a power game based approach to mitigate the communication interferences for WBANs based on the people’s social interaction information. Our major contributions include: (1) model the inter-WBANs interference, and determine the distance distribution of the interference through both theoretical analysis and Monte Carlo simulations; (2) develop social interaction detection and prediction algorithms for people carrying WBANs; (3) develop a power control game based on the social interaction information to maximize the system’s utility while minimize the energy consumption of WBANs system. The extensive simulation results show the effectiveness of the power control game for inter-WBAN interference mitigation using social interaction information. Our research opens a new research vista of WBANs using social networks. PMID:25436180

Strengthening Emergency Care Systems to Mitigate Public Health Challenges Arising from Influxes of Individuals with Different Socio-Cultural Backgrounds to a Level One Emergency Center in South East Europe.

PubMed

Twomey, Michèle; Šijački, Ana; Krummrey, Gert; Welzel, Tyson; Exadaktylos, Aristomenis K; Ercegovac, Marko

2018-03-12

Emergency center visits are mostly unscheduled, undifferentiated, and unpredictable. A standardized triage process is an opportunity to obtain real-time data that paints a picture of the variation in acuity found in emergency centers. This is particularly pertinent as the influx of people seeking asylum or in transit mostly present with emergency care needs or first seek help at an emergency center. Triage not only reduces the risk of missing or losing a patient that may be deteriorating in the waiting room but also enables a time-critical response in the emergency care service provision. As part of a joint emergency care system strengthening and patient safety initiative, the Serbian Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Centre of Excellence in Emergency Medicine (CEEM) introduced a standardized triage process at the Clinical Centre of Serbia (CCS). This paper describes four crucial stages that were considered for the integration of a standardized triage process into acute care pathways.

dLOGIS: Disaster Logistics Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koesuma, Sorja; Riantana, Rio; Siswanto, Budi; Aji Purnomo, Fendi; Lelono, Sarjoko

2017-11-01

There are three timing of disaster mitigation which is pre-disaster, emergency response and post-disaster. All of those is important in disaster mitigation, but emergency response is important when we are talking about time. Emergency response has limited time when we should give help. Rapid assessment of kind of logistic, the number of survivors, number children and old people, their gender and also for difable person. It should be done in emergency response time. Therefore we make a mobile application for logistics management system. The name of application is dLOGIS, i.e. Disaster Logistics Information System. The application is based on Android system for mobile phone. Otherwise there is also website version. The website version is for maintenance, data input and registration. So the people or government can use it directly when there is a disaster. After login in dLOGIS, there is five main menus. The first main menu shows disaster information, refugees conditions, logistics needed, available logistics stock and already accepted logistics. In the second menu is used for entering survivors data. The field coordinator can enter survivors data based on the rapid assessment in disaster location. The third menu is used for entering kind of logistic. Number and kind of logistics are based on the BNPB needed standard for the survivor. The fourth menu displays the logistics stock available in field coordinator. And the last menu displays the logistics help that already accepted and sent by donation. By using this application when a disaster happened, field coordinator or local government can use maintenance distribution of logistics base on their needs. Also for donor people who will give help to survivor, they can give logistics with the corresponding of survivor needs.

On mitigating rapid onset natural disasters: Project THRUST (Tsunami Hazards Reduction Utilizing Systems Technology)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernard, E. N.; Behn, R. R.; Hebenstreit, G. T.; Gonzalez, F. I.; Krumpe, P.; Lander, J. F.; Lorca, E.; McManamon, P. M.; Milburn, H. B.

Rapid onset natural hazards have claimed more than 2.8 million lives worldwide in the past 20 years. This category includes such events as earthquakes, landslides, hurricanes, tornados, floods, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and tsunamis. Effective hazard mitigation is particularly difficult in such cases, since the time available to issue warnings can be very short or even nonexistent. This paper presents the concept of a local warning system that exploits and integrates the existing technologies of risk evaluation, environmental measurement, and telecommunications. We describe Project THRUST, a successful implementation of this general, systematic approach to tsunamis. The general approach includes pre-event emergency planning, real-time hazard assessment, and rapid warning via satellite communication links.

Managing marine disease emergencies in an era of rapid change

PubMed Central

Maynard, Jeffrey; Breyta, Rachel; Carnegie, Ryan B.; Dobson, Andy; Friedman, Carolyn S.; Froelich, Brett; Garren, Melissa; Gulland, Frances M. D.; Heron, Scott F.; Noble, Rachel T.; Revie, Crawford W.; Shields, Jeffrey D.; Vanderstichel, Raphaël; Weil, Ernesto; Wyllie-Echeverria, Sandy; Harvell, C. Drew

2016-01-01

Infectious marine diseases can decimate populations and are increasing among some taxa due to global change and our increasing reliance on marine environments. Marine diseases become emergencies when significant ecological, economic or social impacts occur. We can prepare for and manage these emergencies through improved surveillance, and the development and iterative refinement of approaches to mitigate disease and its impacts. Improving surveillance requires fast, accurate diagnoses, forecasting disease risk and real-time monitoring of disease-promoting environmental conditions. Diversifying impact mitigation involves increasing host resilience to disease, reducing pathogen abundance and managing environmental factors that facilitate disease. Disease surveillance and mitigation can be adaptive if informed by research advances and catalysed by communication among observers, researchers and decision-makers using information-sharing platforms. Recent increases in the awareness of the threats posed by marine diseases may lead to policy frameworks that facilitate the responses and management that marine disease emergencies require. PMID:26880835

Managing marine disease emergencies in an era of rapid change.

PubMed

Groner, Maya L; Maynard, Jeffrey; Breyta, Rachel; Carnegie, Ryan B; Dobson, Andy; Friedman, Carolyn S; Froelich, Brett; Garren, Melissa; Gulland, Frances M D; Heron, Scott F; Noble, Rachel T; Revie, Crawford W; Shields, Jeffrey D; Vanderstichel, Raphaël; Weil, Ernesto; Wyllie-Echeverria, Sandy; Harvell, C Drew

2016-03-05

Infectious marine diseases can decimate populations and are increasing among some taxa due to global change and our increasing reliance on marine environments. Marine diseases become emergencies when significant ecological, economic or social impacts occur. We can prepare for and manage these emergencies through improved surveillance, and the development and iterative refinement of approaches to mitigate disease and its impacts. Improving surveillance requires fast, accurate diagnoses, forecasting disease risk and real-time monitoring of disease-promoting environmental conditions. Diversifying impact mitigation involves increasing host resilience to disease, reducing pathogen abundance and managing environmental factors that facilitate disease. Disease surveillance and mitigation can be adaptive if informed by research advances and catalysed by communication among observers, researchers and decision-makers using information-sharing platforms. Recent increases in the awareness of the threats posed by marine diseases may lead to policy frameworks that facilitate the responses and management that marine disease emergencies require. © 2016 The Author(s).

Medicine shortages: a commentary on causes and mitigation strategies.

PubMed

Iyengar, Swathi; Hedman, Lisa; Forte, Gilles; Hill, Suzanne

2016-09-29

Shortages of medicines and vaccines have been reported in countries of all income levels in recent years. Shortages can result from one or multiple causes, including shortages of raw materials, manufacturing capacity problems, industry consolidation, marketing practices, and procurement and supply chain management. Existing approaches to mitigate shortages include advance notice systems managed through medicine regulatory authorities, special programmes that track medicines, and interventions to improve efficiency of the medicine supply chain. Redistribution of supplies at the national level can mitigate some shortages in the short term. International redistribution and exceptional regulatory approvals may be used in limited circumstances, with the understanding that such approaches are complex and may introduce cost and quality risks. If it is necessary to prioritise patients to receive a medicine that is in shortage, evidence-based practice should be used to ensure optimal allocation. Important steps in reducing medicine shortages and their impact include identifying medicines that are most at risk, developing reporting systems to share information on current and emerging shortages, and improving data from medicine supply chains.

The price of safety: costs for mitigating and coping with Alpine hazards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pfurtscheller, C.; Thieken, A. H.

2013-10-01

Due to limited public budgets and the need to economize, the analysis of costs of hazard mitigation and emergency management of natural hazards becomes increasingly important for public natural hazard and risk management. In recent years there has been a growing body of literature on the estimation of losses which supported to help to determine benefits of measures in terms of prevented losses. On the contrary, the costs of mitigation are hardly addressed. This paper thus aims to shed some light on expenses for mitigation and emergency services. For this, we analysed the annual costs of mitigation efforts in four regions/countries of the Alpine Arc: Bavaria (Germany), Tyrol (Austria), South Tyrol (Italy) and Switzerland. On the basis of PPP values (purchasing power parities), annual expenses on public safety ranged from EUR 44 per capita in the Free State of Bavaria to EUR 216 in the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol. To analyse the (variable) costs for emergency services in case of an event, we used detailed data from the 2005 floods in the Federal State of Tyrol (Austria) as well as aggregated data from the 2002 floods in Germany. The analysis revealed that multi-hazards, the occurrence and intermixture of different natural hazard processes, contribute to increasing emergency costs. Based on these findings, research gaps and recommendations for costing Alpine natural hazards are discussed.

The Global Emergency Observation and Warning System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bukley, Angelia P.; Mulqueen, John A.

1994-01-01

Based on an extensive characterization of natural hazards, and an evaluation of their impacts on humanity, a set of functional technical requirements for a global warning and relief system was developed. Since no technological breakthroughs are required to implement a global system capable of performing the functions required to provide sufficient information for prevention, preparedness, warning, and relief from natural disaster effects, a system is proposed which would combine the elements of remote sensing, data processing, information distribution, and communications support on a global scale for disaster mitigation.

44 CFR 79.4 - Availability of funding.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS... is declared pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act for flood... Share. All mitigation activities approved under the grant will be subject to the following cost-share...

44 CFR 79.4 - Availability of funding.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS... is declared pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act for flood... Share. All mitigation activities approved under the grant will be subject to the following cost-share...

44 CFR 79.4 - Availability of funding.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS... is declared pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act for flood... Share. All mitigation activities approved under the grant will be subject to the following cost-share...

44 CFR 79.4 - Availability of funding.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS... is declared pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act for flood... Share. All mitigation activities approved under the grant will be subject to the following cost-share...

44 CFR 79.4 - Availability of funding.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program FLOOD MITIGATION GRANTS... is declared pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act for flood... Share. All mitigation activities approved under the grant will be subject to the following cost-share...

Research on public participant urban infrastructure safety monitoring system using smartphone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xuefeng; Wang, Niannian; Ou, Jinping; Yu, Yan; Li, Mingchu

2017-04-01

Currently more and more people concerned about the safety of major public security. Public participant urban infrastructure safety monitoring and investigation has become a trend in the era of big data. In this paper, public participant urban infrastructure safety protection system based on smart phones is proposed. The system makes it possible to public participant disaster data collection, monitoring and emergency evaluation in the field of disaster prevention and mitigation. Function of the system is to monitor the structural acceleration, angle and other vibration information, and extract structural deformation and implement disaster emergency communications based on smartphone without network. The monitoring data is uploaded to the website to create urban safety information database. Then the system supports big data analysis processing, the structure safety assessment and city safety early warning.

Investigation of Coating and Corrosion Mitigation Strategies in Magnesium/Mixed Metal Assemblies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forsmark, Joy H.; McCune, Robert C.; Giles, Terry; Audette, Michelle; Snowden, Jasmine; Stalker, Jeff; Morey, Matthew; O'Keefe, Matt; Castano, Carlos

The US Automotive Materials Partnership through the Magnesium-Intensive Front End Development Project (MFERD) is currently investigating a number of joining, coating and corrosion mitigation strategies to incorporate magnesium components into the automotive body-in-white with the ultimate goal of decreasing vehicle curb weight, thus improving fuel economy. Because Mg is anodic to all other structural metals, this is a key hurdle to Mg component implementation in vehicles. This paper will discuss the results of a study to examine the effectiveness of different corrosion mitigation strategies in joined plate assemblies and provide some insight into the systems challenges of incorporation of Mg parts into a vehicle. Details of a statistically-designed experiment developed to explore the interaction of several materials of construction (magnesium, steel and aluminum), pretreatment and topcoatings, joining methods and standardized test protocols including SAE J-2334 and ASTM B-117 are discussed. A number of avenues have emerged from this study as potential strategies for corrosion mitigation.

75 FR 24732 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, OMB No...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-05

...; Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Application and Reporting AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management [email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Collection of Information Title: Hazard Mitigation Grant... Titles and Numbers: No Form. Abstract: The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is a post-disaster program...

75 FR 79386 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, OMB No...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-20

...--Flood Mitigation Assistance, Severe Repetitive Loss, Repetitive Flood Claim, and Pre- Disaster... Request, OMB No. 1660-0072; Mitigation Grants Program/ eGrants AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency... . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Collection of Information Title: Mitigation Grants Program/eGrants. Type of...

The interconnected and cross-border nature of risks posed by infectious diseases

PubMed Central

Suk, Jonathan E.; Van Cangh, Thomas; Beauté, Julien; Bartels, Cornelius; Tsolova, Svetla; Pharris, Anastasia; Ciotti, Massimo; Semenza, Jan C.

2014-01-01

Infectious diseases can constitute public health emergencies of international concern when a pathogen arises, acquires new characteristics, or is deliberately released, leading to the potential for loss of human lives as well as societal disruption. A wide range of risk drivers are now known to lead to and/or exacerbate the emergence and spread of infectious disease, including global trade and travel, the overuse of antibiotics, intensive agriculture, climate change, high population densities, and inadequate infrastructures, such as water treatment facilities. Where multiple risk drivers interact, the potential impact of a disease outbreak is amplified. The varying temporal and geographic frequency with which infectious disease events occur adds yet another layer of complexity to the issue. Mitigating the emergence and spread of infectious disease necessitates mapping and prioritising the interdependencies between public health and other sectors. Conversely, during an international public health emergency, significant disruption occurs not only to healthcare systems but also to a potentially wide range of sectors, including trade, tourism, energy, civil protection, transport, agriculture, and so on. At the same time, dealing with a disease outbreak may require a range of critical sectors for support. There is a need to move beyond narrow models of risk to better account for the interdependencies between health and other sectors so as to be able to better mitigate and respond to the risks posed by emerging infectious disease. PMID:25308818

75 FR 40846 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, OMB No...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-14

...; State Administrative Plan for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management...: Collection of Information Title: State Administrative Plan for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Type of... guide that details how the State will administer the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). An approved...

Synthesis and modeling of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage in agricultural and forest systems to guide mitigation and adaptation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In the early 21st century, climate change has emerged as one of the great societal challenges. Taking effective actions to address this concern is complicated by many technological hurdles and socio-economic challenges. Agriculture is a critical player in this arena, because it disproportionately in...

Business Continuity Management Plan

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

organization ( Shaw , 2004). Navy Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) does not have a framework that can help develop a business continuity management (BCM...cites two case studies that demonstrate how an organization mitigated issues during catastrophic events that led to disruptions to their business ...www.uschamber.com/sites/default/files/legacy/ issues /defense/files/guideli nesbc.pdf Comprehensive Emergency Management Associates. (2006). Business continuity

Assessment of indirect losses and costs of emergency for project planning of alpine hazard mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amenda, Lisa; Pfurtscheller, Clemens

2013-04-01

By virtue of augmented settling in hazardous areas and increased asset values, natural disasters such as floods, landslides and rockfalls cause high economic losses in Alpine lateral valleys. Especially in small municipalities, indirect losses, mainly stemming from a breakdown of transport networks, and costs of emergency can reach critical levels. A quantification of these losses is necessary to estimate the worthiness of mitigation measures, to determine the appropriate level of disaster assistance and to improve risk management strategies. There are comprehensive approaches available for assessing direct losses. However, indirect losses and costs of emergency are widely not assessed and the empirical basis for estimating these costs is weak. To address the resulting uncertainties of project appraisals, a standardized methodology has been developed dealing with issues of local economic effects and emergency efforts needed. In our approach, the cost-benefit-analysis for technical mitigation of the Austrian Torrent and Avalanche Control (TAC) will be optimized and extended using the 2005-debris flow as a design event, which struggled a small town in the upper Inn valley in southwest Tyrol (Austria). Thereby, 84 buildings were affected, 430 people were evacuated and due to this, the TAC implemented protection measures for 3.75 million Euros. Upgrading the method of the TAC and analyzing to what extent the cost-benefit-ratio is about to change, is one of the main objectives of this study. For estimating short-run indirect effects and costs of emergency on the local level, data was collected via questionnaires, field mapping, guided interviews, as well as intense literature research. According to this, up-to-date calculation methods were evolved and the cost-benefit-analysis of TAC was recalculated with these new-implemented results. The cost-benefit-ratio will be more precise and specific and hence, the decision, which mitigation alternative will be carried out. Based on this, the worthiness of the mitigation measures can be determined in more detail and the proper level of emergency assistance can be calculated more adequately. By dint of this study, a better data basis will be created evaluating technical and non-technical mitigation measures, which is useful for government agencies, insurance companies and research.

Occurrence and behavior of emerging contaminants in surface water and a restored wetland.

PubMed

Matamoros, Víctor; Arias, Carlos A; Nguyen, Loc Xuan; Salvadó, Victòria; Brix, Hans

2012-08-01

Pollution mitigation is an important target for restored wetlands, and although there is much information in relation to nutrient removal, little attention has been paid to emerging contaminants. This paper reports on the occurrence and attenuation capacity of 17 emerging contaminants in a restored wetland and two rivers in North-East Denmark. The compounds belong to the groups of pharmaceuticals, fragrances, antiseptics, fire retardants, pesticides, and plasticizers. Concentrations in surface waters ranged from 2 to 1476 ng L(-1). The compounds with the highest concentrations were diclofenac, 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), caffeine, and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP). The herbicide concentrations increased after a rain-fall event, demonstrating the agricultural run-off origin of these compounds, whereas the concentration of the other emerging contaminants was rather conservative. The mitigation capacity of the restored wetland for the compounds ranged from no attenuation to 84% attenuation (19% on average). Hence, restored wetlands may be considered as a feasible alternative for mitigating emerging contaminants from river waters. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Corruption in emergency procurement.

PubMed

Schultz, Jessica; Søreide, Tina

2008-12-01

Corruption in emergency procurement reduces the resources available for life-saving operations, lowers the quality of products and services provided, and diverts aid from those who need it most.(1) It also negatively influences public support for humanitarian relief, both in the affected country and abroad. This paper aims to unpack and analyse the following question in order to mitigate risk: how and where does corruption typically occur, and what can be done? Suggested strategies reflect a multi-layered approach that stresses internal agency control mechanisms, conflict-sensitive management, and the need for common systems among operators.

Landslide risk mitigation by means of early warning systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calvello, Michele

2017-04-01

Among the many options available to mitigate landslide risk, early warning systems may be used where, in specific circumstances, the risk to life increases above tolerable levels. A coherent framework to classify and analyse landslide early warning systems (LEWS) is herein presented. Once the objectives of an early warning strategy are defined depending on the scale of analysis and the type of landslides to address, the process of designing and managing a LEWS should synergically employ technical and social skills. A classification scheme for the main components of LEWSs is proposed for weather-induced landslides. The scheme is based on a clear distinction among: i) the landslide model, i.e. a functional relationship between weather characteristics and landslide events considering the geotechnical, geomorphological and hydro-geological characterization of the area as well as an adequate monitoring strategy; ii) the warning model, i.e. the landslide model plus procedures to define the warning events and to issue the warnings; iii) the warning system, i.e. the warning model plus warning dissemination procedures, communication and education tools, strategies for community involvement and emergency plans. Each component of a LEWS is related to a number of actors involved with their deployment, operational activities and management. For instance, communication and education, community involvement and emergency plans are all significantly influenced by people's risk perception and by operational aspects system managers need to address in cooperation with scientists.

OEM Emergency Prevention and Mitigation Information

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Office of Emergency Management maintains information relevant to preventing emergencies before they occur, and/or mitigating the effects of emergency when they do occur. A principal element of this data asset is the information managed by the System for Risk Management Plans (SRMP), which compiles risk management plans submitted by facilities in accordance with the Clean Air Act, Section 112(r). Affected facilities are to develop risk management programs which will prevent and minimize consequences of accidental releases of certain hazardous chemicals that could harm public health and the environment.Another component of this data asset are the results generated by the Priority Assessment Model (PAM), which analyzes information concerning low-level chronic emissions from facilities and sets priorities (low, medium, high) for proactive controls on releases that do not necessarily pose imminent threats, but which may under adverse circumstances create unacceptable health or ecological risks.Also included are inspection records compiled by the Oil Inspection Program. Under the Clean Water Act Section 311, EPA regulates oil storage that meets a specific regulatory threshold. Facilities that store oil and meet the regulatory threshold need to prepare and implement a Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) Plan which needs to be reviewed and approved by a professional engineer. Additionally, facilities with larger oil storage capacity may have to pre

Applying the Land Use Portfolio Model to Estimate Natural-Hazard Loss and Risk - A Hypothetical Demonstration for Ventura County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dinitz, Laura B.

2008-01-01

With costs of natural disasters skyrocketing and populations increasingly settling in areas vulnerable to natural hazards, society is challenged to better allocate its limited risk-reduction resources. In 2000, Congress passed the Disaster Mitigation Act, amending the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Pub. L. 93-288, 1988; Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2002, 2008b; Disaster Mitigation Act, 2000), mandating that State, local, and tribal communities prepare natural-hazard mitigation plans to qualify for pre-disaster mitigation grants and post-disaster aid. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was assigned to coordinate and implement hazard-mitigation programs, and it published information about specific mitigation-plan requirements and the mechanisms (through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program-HMGP) for distributing funds (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2002). FEMA requires that each community develop a mitigation strategy outlining long-term goals to reduce natural-hazard vulnerability, mitigation objectives and specific actions to reduce the impacts of natural hazards, and an implementation plan for those actions. The implementation plan should explain methods for prioritizing, implementing, and administering the actions, along with a 'cost-benefit review' justifying the prioritization. FEMA, along with the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), supported the development of HAZUS ('Hazards U.S.'), a geospatial natural-hazards loss-estimation tool, to help communities quantify potential losses and to aid in the selection and prioritization of mitigation actions. HAZUS was expanded to a multiple-hazard version, HAZUS-MH, that combines population, building, and natural-hazard science and economic data and models to estimate physical damages, replacement costs, and business interruption for specific natural-hazard scenarios. HAZUS-MH currently performs analyses for earthquakes, floods, and hurricane wind. HAZUS-MH loss estimates, however, do not account for some uncertainties associated with the specific natural-hazard scenarios, such as the likelihood of occurrence within a particular time horizon or the effectiveness of alternative risk-reduction options. Because of the uncertainties involved, it is challenging to make informative decisions about how to cost-effectively reduce risk from natural-hazard events. Risk analysis is one approach that decision-makers can use to evaluate alternative risk-reduction choices when outcomes are unknown. The Land Use Portfolio Model (LUPM), developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), is a geospatial scenario-based tool that incorporates hazard-event uncertainties to support risk analysis. The LUPM offers an approach to estimate and compare risks and returns from investments in risk-reduction measures. This paper describes and demonstrates a hypothetical application of the LUPM for Ventura County, California, and examines the challenges involved in developing decision tools that provide quantitative methods to estimate losses and analyze risk from natural hazards.

Floods in 2002 and 2013: comparing flood warnings and emergency measures from the perspective of affected parties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kreibich, Heidi; Pech, Ina; Schröter, Kai; Müller, Meike; Thieken, Annegret

2016-04-01

Early warning is essential for protecting people and mitigating damage in case of flood events. However, early warning is only helpful if the flood-endangered parties are reached by the warning and if they know how to react effectively. Finding suitable methods for communicating helpful warnings to the "last mile" remains a challenge, but not much information is available. Surveys were undertaken after the August 2002 and the June 2013 floods in Germany, asking affected private households and companies about warnings they received and emergency measures they undertook. Results show, that in 2002 early warning did not work well: in too many areas warnings came too late or were too imprecise and many people (27%) and companies (45%) did not receive a flood warning. Afterwards, the warning systems were significantly improved, so that in 2013 only a small share of the affected people (7%) and companies (7 %) was not reached by any warning. Additionally, private households and companies were hardly aware of the flood risk in the Elbe catchment before 2002, mainly due to a lack of flood experience. For instance, in 2002 only 14% of private households clearly knew how to protect themselves and their assets when the warning reached them, in 2013 this fraction was 46 %. Although the share of companies which had an emergency plan in place had increased from 10 % in 2002 to 26 % in 2013, and the share of those conducting regular emergency exercises had increased from 4 % to 13 %, there is still plenty of room for improvement. Therefore, integrated early warning systems from monitoring through to the reaction of the affected parties as well as effective risk and emergency communication need continuous further improvement to protect people and mitigate residual risks in case of floods.

The Neurobiology of Intervention and Prevention in Early Adversity.

PubMed

Fisher, Philip A; Beauchamp, Kate G; Roos, Leslie E; Noll, Laura K; Flannery, Jessica; Delker, Brianna C

2016-01-01

Early adverse experiences are well understood to affect development and well-being, placing individuals at risk for negative physical and mental health outcomes. A growing literature documents the effects of adversity on developing neurobiological systems. Fewer studies have examined stress neurobiology to understand how to mitigate the effects of early adversity. This review summarizes the research on three neurobiological systems relevant to interventions for populations experiencing high levels of early adversity: the hypothalamic-adrenal-pituitary axis, the prefrontal cortex regions involved in executive functioning, and the system involved in threat detection and response, particularly the amygdala. Also discussed is the emerging field of epigenetics and related interventions to mitigate early adversity. Further emphasized is the need for intervention research to integrate knowledge about the neurobiological effects of prenatal stressors (e.g., drug use, alcohol exposure) and early adversity. The review concludes with a discussion of the implications of this research topic for clinical psychology practice and public policy.

Exploring methods to minimize the risk of mosquitoes in rainwater harvesting systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moglia, Magnus; Gan, Kein; Delbridge, Nathan

2016-12-01

Rainwater harvesting in residential homes is emerging as an important complement to centralized water supplies in urban centres around the world. Domestic rainwater harvesting systems provide a variety of benefits for water management and contribute to sustainable and integrated urban water management. There are however risks associated with rainwater harvesting that requires appropriate mitigation. One such risk is that systems can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes. This can constitute a significant health risk through the spread of mosquito-borne diseases (i.e. arbovirus and malaria). This paper explores the extent to which mosquitoes breed in rainwater harvesting systems as well as the effectiveness of different risk mitigation actions. Data were sourced from a large-scale domestic rainwater tank inspection survey undertaken in Melbourne and were analysed using simple Bayesian Network models. The observed rate of mosquito breeding was too high and was identified as a serious concern for health officials and water managers. The most common access routes into the tank system were found to be through the tank inlet or overflow. By exploring different system set-ups it was found that in order to mitigate the risk of mosquito breeding in tanks, all potential access routes must be adequately sealed. The complete eradication of mosquitos in rainwater tanks, however, may need further investigation, as 4% of systems with adequate protection at the inlet and overflow were still found to have mosquitoes in them.

Applying the Land Use Portfolio Model with Hazus to analyse risk from natural hazard events

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dinitz, Laura B.; Taketa, Richard A.

2013-01-01

This paper describes and demonstrates the integration of two geospatial decision-support systems for natural-hazard risk assessment and management. Hazus is a risk-assessment tool developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to identify risks and estimate the severity of risk from natural hazards. The Land Use Portfolio Model (LUPM) is a risk-management tool developed by the U.S. Geological Survey to evaluate plans or actions intended to reduce risk from natural hazards. We analysed three mitigation policies for one earthquake scenario in the San Francisco Bay area to demonstrate the added value of using Hazus and the LUPM together. The demonstration showed that Hazus loss estimates can be input to the LUPM to obtain estimates of losses avoided through mitigation, rates of return on mitigation investment, and measures of uncertainty. Together, they offer a more comprehensive approach to help with decisions for reducing risk from natural hazards.

A Comprehensive Approach to Emergency Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Worsley, Tracy L.; Beckering, Don

2007-01-01

It is essential that the traditional emergency management structure be used as a framework for higher education emergency planning. The four phases of emergency management should be reflected in the architecture of all planning efforts. These include "preparedness," "response," "mitigation," and "recovery."…

Interplay between environment, agriculture and infectious diseases of poverty: case studies in China.

PubMed

Yang, Guo-Jing; Utzinger, Jürg; Zhou, Xiao-Nong

2015-01-01

Changes in the natural environment and agricultural systems induced by economic and industrial development, including population dynamics (growth, urbanization, migration), are major causes resulting in the persistence, emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases in developing countries. In the face of rapid demographic, economic and social transformations, the People's Republic of China (P.R. China) is undergoing unprecedented environmental and agricultural change. We review emerging and re-emerging diseases such as schistosomiasis, dengue, avian influenza, angiostrongyliasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis that have occurred in P.R. China due to environmental and agricultural change. This commentary highlights the research priorities and the response strategies, namely mitigation and adaptation, undertaken to eliminate the resurgence of those infectious diseases. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

75 FR 3912 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 1660-0076; Hazard...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-25

... Mitigation Grant Program Application and Reporting AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION... Hazard Mitigation Grant Program application and reporting requirements. DATES: Comments must be submitted... . [[Page 3913

Application of an extreme winter storm scenario to identify vulnerabilities, mitigation options, and science needs in the Sierra Nevada mountains, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Albano, Christine M.; Dettinger, Michael; McCarthy, Maureen; Schaller, Kevin D.; Wellborn, Toby; Cox, Dale A.

2016-01-01

In the Sierra Nevada mountains (USA), and geographically similar areas across the globe where human development is expanding, extreme winter storm and flood risks are expected to increase with changing climate, heightening the need for communities to assess risks and better prepare for such events. In this case study, we demonstrate a novel approach to examining extreme winter storm and flood risks. We incorporated high-resolution atmospheric–hydrologic modeling of the ARkStorm extreme winter storm scenario with multiple modes of engagement with practitioners, including a series of facilitated discussions and a tabletop emergency management exercise, to develop a regional assessment of extreme storm vulnerabilities, mitigation options, and science needs in the greater Lake Tahoe region of Northern Nevada and California, USA. Through this process, practitioners discussed issues of concern across all phases of the emergency management life cycle, including preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation. Interruption of transportation, communications, and interagency coordination were among the most pressing concerns, and specific approaches for addressing these issues were identified, including prepositioning resources, diversifying communications systems, and improving coordination among state, tribal, and public utility practitioners. Science needs included expanding real-time monitoring capabilities to improve the precision of meteorological models and enhance situational awareness, assessing vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure, and conducting cost–benefit analyses to assess opportunities to improve both natural and human-made infrastructure to better withstand extreme storms. Our approach and results can be used to support both land use and emergency planning activities aimed toward increasing community resilience to extreme winter storm hazards in mountainous regions.

Propagation issues for emerging mobile and portable communications: A systems perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Golshan, Nasser

1993-01-01

The viewpoint of a system engineer regarding the format of propagation information and models suitable for the design of mobile and portable satellite communications systems for the following services: audio broadcast, two way voice, and packet data is presented. Topics covered include: propagation impairments for portable indoor reception in satellite communications systems; propagation impairments and mitigation techniques for mobile satellite communications systems; characterization of mobile satellite communications channels in the presence of roadside blockage when interleaving and FEC coding are implemented; characterization of short-term mobile satellite signal variations; and characterization of long-term signal variations.

Mitigating amphibian chytridiomycoses in nature.

PubMed

Garner, Trenton W J; Schmidt, Benedikt R; Martel, An; Pasmans, Frank; Muths, Erin; Cunningham, Andrew A; Weldon, Che; Fisher, Matthew C; Bosch, Jaime

2016-12-05

Amphibians across the planet face the threat of population decline and extirpation caused by the disease chytridiomycosis. Despite consensus that the fungal pathogens responsible for the disease are conservation issues, strategies to mitigate their impacts in the natural world are, at best, nascent. Reducing risk associated with the movement of amphibians, non-amphibian vectors and other sources of infection remains the first line of defence and a primary objective when mitigating the threat of disease in wildlife. Amphibian-associated chytridiomycete fungi and chytridiomycosis are already widespread, though, and we therefore focus on discussing options for mitigating the threats once disease emergence has occurred in wild amphibian populations. All strategies have shortcomings that need to be overcome before implementation, including stronger efforts towards understanding and addressing ethical and legal considerations. Even if these issues can be dealt with, all currently available approaches, or those under discussion, are unlikely to yield the desired conservation outcome of disease mitigation. The decision process for establishing mitigation strategies requires integrated thinking that assesses disease mitigation options critically and embeds them within more comprehensive strategies for the conservation of amphibian populations, communities and ecosystems.This article is part of the themed issue 'Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience'. © 2016 The Author(s).

Mitigating amphibian chytridiomycoses in nature

PubMed Central

Martel, An; Pasmans, Frank; Muths, Erin; Cunningham, Andrew A.; Weldon, Che; Bosch, Jaime

2016-01-01

Amphibians across the planet face the threat of population decline and extirpation caused by the disease chytridiomycosis. Despite consensus that the fungal pathogens responsible for the disease are conservation issues, strategies to mitigate their impacts in the natural world are, at best, nascent. Reducing risk associated with the movement of amphibians, non-amphibian vectors and other sources of infection remains the first line of defence and a primary objective when mitigating the threat of disease in wildlife. Amphibian-associated chytridiomycete fungi and chytridiomycosis are already widespread, though, and we therefore focus on discussing options for mitigating the threats once disease emergence has occurred in wild amphibian populations. All strategies have shortcomings that need to be overcome before implementation, including stronger efforts towards understanding and addressing ethical and legal considerations. Even if these issues can be dealt with, all currently available approaches, or those under discussion, are unlikely to yield the desired conservation outcome of disease mitigation. The decision process for establishing mitigation strategies requires integrated thinking that assesses disease mitigation options critically and embeds them within more comprehensive strategies for the conservation of amphibian populations, communities and ecosystems. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience’. PMID:28080996

76 FR 21693 - Proposed Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-18

... Creek, Union Grove Industrial Tributary, Unnamed Tributary No. 18 to Kilbourn Road Ditch, Unnamed...- 7755, to Luis Rodriguez, Chief, Engineering Management Branch, Federal Insurance and Mitigation..., Engineering Management Branch, Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, Federal Emergency Management...

Use of geographic information systems to determine new helipad locations and improve timely response while mitigating risk of helicopter emergency medical services operations.

PubMed

Foo, Cheryl P Z; Ahghari, Mahvareh; MacDonald, Russell D

2010-01-01

Traumatic injury is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, but these can be minimized by timely transport to definite care. Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) provide timely transport and can influence survival. However, accident analyses indicate that landing at an unsecured landing zone (LZ), particularly at night, increases the risk of aviation accidents. To ensure safety, some HEMS operations land only at designated, secured LZs. This study utilized geographic information systems (GISs) to compare locations of scene call requests and secure LZs. The goal was to determine the optimal placement of new helipads as a strategy to improve access while mitigating the risk of aviation accidents. Call request data from a large air medical transport service were used to determine the geographic locations of all requests for scene responses in 2006. Request locations were compared with the locations of existing helipads, and straight-line distances between scene and helipad were determined using the GIS application. The application was then used to determine potential locations for new helipads. During the study period, 748 requests for scene calls and 269 helipads were available. There were 476 (52.4%) requests at least 10 kilometers from a helipad and 356 (36.6%) requests at least 15 kilometers from a helipad. One particular region, Southwestern Ontario, was identified as having the highest number of requests >15 kilometers from the closest helipad. GISs can be used to determine potential locations for new helipad construction using historical call request data. This evidence-based approach can improve HEMS access while mitigating operational risk.

Analysis of the minimum swerving distance for the development of a motorcycle autonomous braking system.

PubMed

Giovannini, Federico; Savino, Giovanni; Pierini, Marco; Baldanzini, Niccolò

2013-10-01

In the recent years the autonomous emergency brake (AEB) was introduced in the automotive field to mitigate the injury severity in case of unavoidable collisions. A crucial element for the activation of the AEB is to establish when the obstacle is no longer avoidable by lateral evasive maneuvers (swerving). In the present paper a model to compute the minimum swerving distance needed by a powered two-wheeler (PTW) to avoid the collision against a fixed obstacle, named last-second swerving model (Lsw), is proposed. The effectiveness of the model was investigated by an experimental campaign involving 12 volunteers riding a scooter equipped with a prototype autonomous emergency braking, named motorcycle autonomous emergency braking system (MAEB). The tests showed the performance of the model in evasive trajectory computation for different riding styles and fixed obstacles. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A dynamic vulnerability evaluation model to smart grid for the emergency response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Zhen; Wu, Xiaowei; Fang, Diange

2018-01-01

Smart grid shows more significant vulnerability to natural disasters and external destroy. According to the influence characteristics of important facilities suffered from typical kinds of natural disaster and external destroy, this paper built a vulnerability evaluation index system of important facilities in smart grid based on eight typical natural disasters, including three levels of static and dynamic indicators, totally forty indicators. Then a smart grid vulnerability evaluation method was proposed based on the index system, including determining the value range of each index, classifying the evaluation grade standard and giving the evaluation process and integrated index calculation rules. Using the proposed evaluation model, it can identify the most vulnerable parts of smart grid, and then help adopting targeted emergency response measures, developing emergency plans and increasing its capacity of disaster prevention and mitigation, which guarantee its safe and stable operation.

Defense Science Board Task Force on The Future of the Global Positioning System

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-10-01

interference. Incorporate a fully reprogrammable Navigation Payload aboard GPS satellites as soon as practicable to enable future flexibility in signal...its use increases in automobiles , it is becoming a significant factor in E-911-type situations, where emergency vehicles are dispatched to accident...mitigation for GPS against both intentional and unintentional interference. Incorporate a fully reprogrammable Navigation Payload aboard GPS

Urban Resources Selection and Allocation for Emergency Shelters: In a Multi-Hazard Environment.

PubMed

Chen, Wei; Zhai, Guofang; Ren, Chongqiang; Shi, Yijun; Zhang, Jianxin

2018-06-14

This study explores how emergency shelters can adapt to a multi-hazard environment by geographic information system (GIS) and takes Guangzhou as a case for analysis. The physical suitability of the overall urban resources was first assessed by aiming to select the suitable resources and safe locations for emergency shelters in the context of multiple disasters. Afterward, by analyzing the scale and spatial distribution of affected areas and populations under different types of disaster scenarios, the demand for different kinds of shelters were predicted. Lastly, taking into account the coverage of the affected people, shelters were allocated according to different conditions in the districts. This work will hopefully provide a reference for the construction of emergency shelters and help form emergency operations in order to mitigate the impact of hazards. The issues identified in the study need to be further studied in medium or small-scale cities.

Gis-Based Accessibility Analysis of Urban Emergency Shelters: the Case of Adana City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Unal, M.; Uslu, C.

2016-10-01

Accessibility analysis of urban emergency shelters can help support urban disaster prevention planning. Pre-disaster emergency evacuation zoning has become a significant topic on disaster prevention and mitigation research. In this study, we assessed the level of serviceability of urban emergency shelters within maximum capacity, usability, sufficiency and a certain walking time limit by employing spatial analysis techniques of GIS-Network Analyst. The methodology included the following aspects: the distribution analysis of emergency evacuation demands, the calculation of shelter space accessibility and the optimization of evacuation destinations. This methodology was applied to Adana, a city in Turkey, which is located within the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic system, the second major earthquake belt after the Pacific-Belt. It was found that the proposed methodology could be useful in aiding to understand the spatial distribution of urban emergency shelters more accurately and establish effective future urban disaster prevention planning. Additionally, this research provided a feasible way for supporting emergency management in terms of shelter construction, pre-disaster evacuation drills and rescue operations.

44 CFR 68.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Definitions. 68.2 Section 68.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING PROCEDURES...

44 CFR 68.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Definitions. 68.2 Section 68.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING PROCEDURES...

44 CFR 68.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Definitions. 68.2 Section 68.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING PROCEDURES...

Enhancement of NRC station blackout requirements for nuclear power plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McConnell, M. W.

2012-07-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) established a Near-Term Task Force (NTTF) in response to Commission direction to conduct a systematic and methodical review of NRC processes and regulations to determine whether the agency should make additional improvements to its regulatory system and to make recommendations to the Commission for its policy direction, in light of the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. The NTTF's review resulted in a set of recommendations that took a balanced approach to defense-in-depth as applied to low-likelihood, high-consequence events such as prolonged station blackout (SBO) resulting from severe natural phenomena. Part 50,more » Section 63, of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 'Loss of All Alternating Current Power,' currently requires that each nuclear power plant must be able to cool the reactor core and maintain containment integrity for a specified duration of an SBO. The SBO duration and mitigation strategy for each nuclear power plant is site specific and is based on the robustness of the local transmission system and the transmission system operator's capability to restore offsite power to the nuclear power plant. With regard to SBO, the NTTF recommended that the NRC strengthen SBO mitigation capability at all operating and new reactors for design-basis and beyond-design-basis external events. The NTTF also recommended strengthening emergency preparedness for prolonged SBO and multi-unit events. These recommendations, taken together, are intended to clarify and strengthen US nuclear reactor safety regarding protection against and mitigation of the consequences of natural disasters and emergency preparedness during SBO. The focus of this paper is on the existing SBO requirements and NRC initiatives to strengthen SBO capability at all operating and new reactors to address prolonged SBO stemming from design-basis and beyond-design-basis external events. The NRC initiatives are intended to enhance core and spent fuel pool cooling, reactor coolant system integrity, and containment integrity. (authors)« less

Helpful Hints for School Emergency Management: Emergency "Go-Kits"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Tara

2006-01-01

"Helpful Hints" offers a quick overview of school emergency preparedness topics that are frequently the subject of inquiries. The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) encourages schools to consider emergency management in the context of its four phases: mitigation and prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. The preparedness phase…

75 FR 18072 - Changes in Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-09

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Federal Emergency Management Agency 44 CFR Part 65 [Docket ID FEMA-2010-0003] Changes in Flood Elevation Determinations AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS... Management Branch, Mitigation Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C Street, SW., Washington...

75 FR 7955 - Changes in Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-23

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Federal Emergency Management Agency 44 CFR Part 65 [Docket ID FEMA...: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION: Interim rule. SUMMARY: This interim rule lists..., Engineering Management Branch, Mitigation Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C Street SW...

44 CFR 66.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Definitions. 66.2 Section 66.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS...

44 CFR 61.16 - Probation additional premium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Probation additional premium. 61.16 Section 61.16 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE...

44 CFR 61.16 - Probation additional premium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Probation additional premium. 61.16 Section 61.16 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE...

44 CFR 67.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Definitions. 67.2 Section 67.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program APPEALS FROM PROPOSED FLOOD...

44 CFR 66.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Definitions. 66.2 Section 66.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS...

44 CFR 67.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Definitions. 67.2 Section 67.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program APPEALS FROM PROPOSED FLOOD ELEVATION...

44 CFR 61.16 - Probation additional premium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Probation additional premium. 61.16 Section 61.16 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE...

44 CFR 66.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Definitions. 66.2 Section 66.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS...

44 CFR 61.16 - Probation additional premium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Probation additional premium. 61.16 Section 61.16 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE...

44 CFR 61.16 - Probation additional premium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Probation additional premium. 61.16 Section 61.16 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE...

44 CFR 66.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Definitions. 66.2 Section 66.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS...

An Integrated Global Atmospheric Composition Observing System: Progress and Impediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keating, T. J.

2016-12-01

In 2003-2005, a vision of an integrated global observing system for atmospheric composition and air quality emerged through several international forums (IGACO, 2004; GEO, 2005). In the decade since, the potential benefits of such a system for improving our understanding and mitigation of health and climate impacts of air pollution have become clearer and the needs more urgent. Some progress has been made towards the goal: technology has developed, capabilities have been demonstrated, and lessons have been learned. In Europe, the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service has blazed a trail for other regions to follow. Powerful new components of the emerging global system (e.g. a constellation of geostationary instruments) are expected to come on-line in the near term. But there are important gaps in the emerging system that are likely to keep us from achieving for some time the full benefits that were envisioned more than a decade ago. This presentation will explore the components and benefits of an integrated global observing system for atmospheric composition and air quality, some of the gaps and obstacles that exist in our current capabilities and institutions, and efforts that may be needed to achieve the envisioned system.

44 CFR 201.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE MITIGATION PLANNING § 201.2 Definitions. Administrator means the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or his/her designated representative. Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) means the program authorized by section 1366 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as...

44 CFR 201.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE MITIGATION PLANNING § 201.2 Definitions. Administrator means the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or his/her designated representative. Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) means the program authorized by section 1366 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as...

44 CFR 201.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE MITIGATION PLANNING § 201.2 Definitions. Administrator means the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or his/her designated representative. Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) means the program authorized by section 1366 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as...

44 CFR 201.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE MITIGATION PLANNING § 201.2 Definitions. Administrator means the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or his/her designated representative. Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) means the program authorized by section 1366 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as...

44 CFR 201.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... SECURITY DISASTER ASSISTANCE MITIGATION PLANNING § 201.2 Definitions. Administrator means the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or his/her designated representative. Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) means the program authorized by section 1366 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as...

A public health hazard mitigation planning process.

PubMed

Griffith, Jennifer M; Kay Carpender, S; Crouch, Jill Artzberger; Quiram, Barbara J

2014-01-01

The Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, a member of the Training and Education Collaborative System Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center (TECS-PERLC), has long-standing partnerships with 2 Health Service Regions (Regions) in Texas. TECS-PERLC was contracted by these Regions to address 2 challenges identified in meeting requirements outlined by the Risk-Based Funding Project. First, within Metropolitan Statistical Areas, there is not a formal authoritative structure. Second, preexisting tools and processes did not adequately satisfy requirements to assess public health, medical, and mental health needs and link mitigation strategies to the Public Health Preparedness Capabilities, which provide guidance to prepare for, respond to, and recover from public health incidents. TECS-PERLC, with its partners, developed a framework to interpret and apply results from the Texas Public Health Risk Assessment Tool (TxPHRAT). The 3-phase community engagement-based TxPHRAT Mitigation Planning Process (Mitigation Planning Process) and associated tools facilitated the development of mitigation plans. Tools included (1) profiles interpreting TxPHRAT results and identifying, ranking, and prioritizing hazards and capability gaps; (2) a catalog of intervention strategies and activities linked to hazards and capabilities; and (3) a template to plan, evaluate, and report mitigation planning efforts. The Mitigation Planning Process provided a framework for Regions to successfully address all funding requirements. TECS-PERLC developed more than 60 profiles, cataloged and linked 195 intervention strategies, and developed a template resulting in 20 submitted mitigation plans. A public health-focused, community engagement-based mitigation planning process was developed by TECS-PERLC and successfully implemented by the Regions. The outcomes met all requirements and reinforce the effectiveness of academic practice partnerships and importance of community engagement in mitigation planning. Additional funding has been approved to expand the Mitigation Planning Process to all counties in Texas with local health departments.

44 CFR 206.436 - Application procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Application procedures. 206.436 Section 206.436 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY... application will identify one or more mitigation measures for which funding is requested. The application must...

44 CFR 59.21 - Purpose of subpart.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Purpose of subpart. 59.21 Section 59.21 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS...

44 CFR 66.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Definitions. 66.2 Section 66.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS § 66.2...

44 CFR 59.21 - Purpose of subpart.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Purpose of subpart. 59.21 Section 59.21 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS...

44 CFR 68.7 - Conduct of hearings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Conduct of hearings. 68.7 Section 68.7 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING...

44 CFR 68.7 - Conduct of hearings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Conduct of hearings. 68.7 Section 68.7 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING...

44 CFR 61.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Definitions. 61.2 Section 61.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND RATES § 61...

44 CFR 68.12 - Relief.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Relief. 68.12 Section 68.12 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING PROCEDURES § 68.12...

44 CFR 68.7 - Conduct of hearings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Conduct of hearings. 68.7 Section 68.7 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING...

44 CFR 61.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Definitions. 61.2 Section 61.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND RATES § 61...

44 CFR 61.3 - Types of coverage.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Types of coverage. 61.3 Section 61.3 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND...

44 CFR 68.12 - Relief.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Relief. 68.12 Section 68.12 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING PROCEDURES § 68.12...

44 CFR 61.3 - Types of coverage.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Types of coverage. 61.3 Section 61.3 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND...

44 CFR 59.21 - Purpose of subpart.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Purpose of subpart. 59.21 Section 59.21 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS...

44 CFR 68.12 - Relief.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Relief. 68.12 Section 68.12 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING PROCEDURES § 68.12...

44 CFR 61.3 - Types of coverage.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Types of coverage. 61.3 Section 61.3 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND...

44 CFR 59.21 - Purpose of subpart.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Purpose of subpart. 59.21 Section 59.21 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS...

44 CFR 59.21 - Purpose of subpart.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Purpose of subpart. 59.21 Section 59.21 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS...

44 CFR 61.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Definitions. 61.2 Section 61.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND RATES § 61...

44 CFR 61.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Definitions. 61.2 Section 61.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND RATES § 61...

44 CFR 61.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Definitions. 61.2 Section 61.2 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND RATES § 61.2...

Effectiveness of emergent and submergent aquatic plants in mitigating a nitrogen-permethrin mixture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The current study assessed the effectiveness of varying combinations of two common aquatic vascular macrophytes, parrot feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) and cattail (Typha latifolia) for mitigating contamination from a mixture of nitrogen (ammonium nitrate) and permethrin. Hydraulically connected we...

Energy Management of Smart Distribution Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ansari, Bananeh

Electric power distribution systems interface the end-users of electricity with the power grid. Traditional distribution systems are operated in a centralized fashion with the distribution system owner or operator being the only decision maker. The management and control architecture of distribution systems needs to gradually transform to accommodate the emerging smart grid technologies, distributed energy resources, and active electricity end-users or prosumers. The content of this document concerns with developing multi-task multi-objective energy management schemes for: 1) commercial/large residential prosumers, and 2) distribution system operator of a smart distribution system. The first part of this document describes a method of distributed energy management of multiple commercial/ large residential prosumers. These prosumers not only consume electricity, but also generate electricity using their roof-top solar photovoltaics systems. When photovoltaics generation is larger than local consumption, excess electricity will be fed into the distribution system, creating a voltage rise along the feeder. Distribution system operator cannot tolerate a significant voltage rise. ES can help the prosumers manage their electricity exchanges with the distribution system such that minimal voltage fluctuation occurs. The proposed distributed energy management scheme sizes and schedules each prosumer's ES to reduce the electricity bill and mitigate voltage rise along the feeder. The second part of this document focuses on emergency energy management and resilience assessment of a distribution system. The developed emergency energy management system uses available resources and redundancy to restore the distribution system's functionality fully or partially. The success of the restoration maneuver depends on how resilient the distribution system is. Engineering resilience terminology is used to evaluate the resilience of distribution system. The proposed emergency energy management scheme together with resilience assessment increases the distribution system operator's preparedness for emergency events.

Success in transmitting hazard science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Price, J. G.; Garside, T.

2010-12-01

Money motivates mitigation. An example of success in communicating scientific information about hazards, coupled with information about available money, is the follow-up action by local governments to actually mitigate. The Nevada Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee helps local governments prepare competitive proposals for federal funds to reduce risks from natural hazards. Composed of volunteers with expertise in emergency management, building standards, and earthquake, flood, and wildfire hazards, the committee advises the Nevada Division of Emergency Management on (1) the content of the State’s hazard mitigation plan and (2) projects that have been proposed by local governments and state agencies for funding from various post- and pre-disaster hazard mitigation programs of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Local governments must have FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plans in place before they can receive this funding. The committee has been meeting quarterly with elected and appointed county officials, at their offices, to encourage them to update their mitigation plans and apply for this funding. We have settled on a format that includes the county’s giving the committee an overview of its infrastructure, hazards, and preparedness. The committee explains the process for applying for mitigation grants and presents the latest information that we have about earthquake hazards, including locations of nearby active faults, historical seismicity, geodetic strain, loss-estimation modeling, scenarios, and documents about what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. Much of the county-specific information is available on the web. The presentations have been well received, in part because the committee makes the effort to go to their communities, and in part because the committee is helping them attract federal funds for local mitigation of not only earthquake hazards but also floods (including canal breaches) and wildfires, the other major concerns in Nevada. Local citizens appreciate the efforts of the state officials to present the information in a public forum. The Committee’s earthquake presentations to the counties are supplemented by regular updates in the two most populous counties during quarterly meetings of the Nevada Earthquake Safety Council, generally alternating between Las Vegas and Reno. We have only 17 counties in Nevada, so we are making good progress at reaching each within a few years. The Committee is also learning from the county officials about their frustrations in dealing with the state and federal bureaucracies. Success is documented by the mitigation projects that FEMA has funded.

Strategies to mitigate dissociative and psychotomimetic effects of ketamine in the treatment of major depressive episodes: a narrative review.

PubMed

Cooper, Matthew D; Rosenblat, Joshua D; Cha, Danielle S; Lee, Yena; Kakar, Ron; McIntyre, Roger S

2017-09-01

Objectives Replicated evidence has demonstrated that ketamine exerts rapid-acting and potent antidepressant effects. Notwithstanding, its promise to mitigate depressive symptoms and suicidality in antidepressant-resistant populations, several limitations and safety concerns accompany ketamine including, but not limited to, the potential for abuse and psychotomimetic/dissociative experiences. The focus of the current narrative review is to synthesise available evidence of strategies that may mitigate and fully prevent treatment-emergent psychotomimetic and dissociative effects associated with ketamine administration. Methods PubMed, Google Scholar and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched for relevant articles. Results Potential avenues investigated to minimise psychotomimetic effects associated with ketamine administration include the following: (1) altering dosing and infusion rates; (2) route of administration; (3) enantiomer choice; (4) co-administration with mood stabilisers of antipsychotics; and (5) use of alternative N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)-modulating agents. Emerging evidence indicates that dissociative experiences can be significantly mitigated by using an intranasal route of administration, lower dosages, or use of alternative NMDA-modulating agents, namely lanicemine (AZD6765) and GLYX-13. Conclusions Currently, intranasal administration presents as the most promising strategy to mitigate dissociative and psychotomimetic effects; however, studies of strategies to mitigate the adverse events of ketamine are limited in number and quality and thus further investigation is still needed.

After Action Report: Idaho National Laboratory Annual Exercise June 10, 2015

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barnes, Vernon Scott

On June 10, 2015, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), in coordination with the State of Idaho, local jurisdictions, Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office (DOE-ID), and DOE Headquarters (DOE HQ), conducted the annual emergency exercise to demonstrate the ability to implement the requirements of DOE O 151.1C, “Comprehensive Emergency Management System.” The INL contractor, Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA), in coordination with other INL contractors, conducted operations and demonstrated appropriate response measures to mitigate an event and protect the health and safety of personnel, the environment, and property. Offsite response organizations participated to demonstrate appropriate response measures.

44 CFR 75.13 - Review by the Federal Insurance Administrator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Review by the Federal Insurance Administrator. 75.13 Section 75.13 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance...

44 CFR 334.4 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Definitions. 334.4 Section 334.4 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND... specific warnings. These actions are designed to mitigate the impact of an event or crisis and reduce...

44 CFR 61.6 - Maximum amounts of coverage available.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Maximum amounts of coverage available. 61.6 Section 61.6 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE...

44 CFR 61.6 - Maximum amounts of coverage available.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Maximum amounts of coverage available. 61.6 Section 61.6 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE...

44 CFR 61.6 - Maximum amounts of coverage available.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Maximum amounts of coverage available. 61.6 Section 61.6 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE...

44 CFR 61.6 - Maximum amounts of coverage available.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Maximum amounts of coverage available. 61.6 Section 61.6 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE...

Crew Communication as a Factor in Aviation Accidents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goguen, J.; Linde, C.; Murphy, M.

1986-01-01

The crew communication process is analyzed. Planning and explanation are shown to be well-structured discourse types, described by formal rules. These formal rules are integrated with those describing the other most important discourse type within the cockpit: the command-and-control speech act chain. The latter is described as a sequence of speech acts for making requests (including orders and suggestions), for making reports, for supporting or challenging statements, and for acknowledging previous speech acts. Mitigation level, a linguistic indication of indirectness and tentativeness in speech, was an important variable in several hypotheses, i.e., the speech of subordinates is more mitigated than the speech of superiors, the speech of all crewmembers is less mitigated when they know that they are in either a problem or emergency situation, and mitigation is a factor in failures of crewmembers to initiate discussion of new topics or have suggestions ratified by the captain. Test results also show that planning and explanation are more frequently performed by captains, are done more during crew- recognized problems, and are done less during crew-recognized emergencies. The test results also indicated that planning and explanation are more frequently performed by captains than by other crewmembers, are done more during crew-recognized problems, and are done less during-recognized emergencies.

Economic optimization of a global strategy to address the pandemic threat.

PubMed

Pike, Jamison; Bogich, Tiffany; Elwood, Sarah; Finnoff, David C; Daszak, Peter

2014-12-30

Emerging pandemics threaten global health and economies and are increasing in frequency. Globally coordinated strategies to combat pandemics, similar to current strategies that address climate change, are largely adaptive, in that they attempt to reduce the impact of a pathogen after it has emerged. However, like climate change, mitigation strategies have been developed that include programs to reduce the underlying drivers of pandemics, particularly animal-to-human disease transmission. Here, we use real options economic modeling of current globally coordinated adaptation strategies for pandemic prevention. We show that they would be optimally implemented within 27 y to reduce the annual rise of emerging infectious disease events by 50% at an estimated one-time cost of approximately $343.7 billion. We then analyze World Bank data on multilateral "One Health" pandemic mitigation programs. We find that, because most pandemics have animal origins, mitigation is a more cost-effective policy than business-as-usual adaptation programs, saving between $344.0.7 billion and $360.3 billion over the next 100 y if implemented today. We conclude that globally coordinated pandemic prevention policies need to be enacted urgently to be optimally effective and that strategies to mitigate pandemics by reducing the impact of their underlying drivers are likely to be more effective than business as usual.

Economic optimization of a global strategy to address the pandemic threat

PubMed Central

Pike, Jamison; Bogich, Tiffany; Elwood, Sarah; Finnoff, David C.; Daszak, Peter

2014-01-01

Emerging pandemics threaten global health and economies and are increasing in frequency. Globally coordinated strategies to combat pandemics, similar to current strategies that address climate change, are largely adaptive, in that they attempt to reduce the impact of a pathogen after it has emerged. However, like climate change, mitigation strategies have been developed that include programs to reduce the underlying drivers of pandemics, particularly animal-to-human disease transmission. Here, we use real options economic modeling of current globally coordinated adaptation strategies for pandemic prevention. We show that they would be optimally implemented within 27 y to reduce the annual rise of emerging infectious disease events by 50% at an estimated one-time cost of approximately $343.7 billion. We then analyze World Bank data on multilateral “One Health” pandemic mitigation programs. We find that, because most pandemics have animal origins, mitigation is a more cost-effective policy than business-as-usual adaptation programs, saving between $344.0.7 billion and $360.3 billion over the next 100 y if implemented today. We conclude that globally coordinated pandemic prevention policies need to be enacted urgently to be optimally effective and that strategies to mitigate pandemics by reducing the impact of their underlying drivers are likely to be more effective than business as usual. PMID:25512538

Mitigating Climate Change at the Carbon Water Nexus: A Call to Action for the Environmental Engineering Community

PubMed Central

Clarens, Andres F.; Peters, Catherine A.

2016-01-01

Abstract Environmental engineers have played a critical role in improving human and ecosystem health over the past several decades. These contributions have focused on providing clean water and air as well as managing waste streams and remediating polluted sites. As environmental problems have become more global in scale and more deeply entrenched in sociotechnical systems, the discipline of environmental engineering must grow to be ready to respond to the challenges of the coming decades. Here we make the case that environmental engineers should play a leadership role in the development of climate change mitigation technologies at the carbon-water nexus (CWN). Climate change, driven largely by unfettered emissions of fossil carbon into the atmosphere, is a far-reaching and enormously complex environmental risk with the potential to negatively affect food security, human health, infrastructure, and other systems. Solving this problem will require a massive mobilization of existing and innovative new technology. The environmental engineering community is uniquely positioned to do pioneering work at the CWN using a skillset that has been honed, solving related problems. The focus of this special issue, on “The science and innovation of emerging subsurface energy technologies,” provides one example domain within which environmental engineers and related disciplines are beginning to make important contributions at the CWN. In this article, we define the CWN and describe how environmental engineers can bring their considerable expertise to bear in this area. Then we review some of the topics that appear in this special issue, for example, mitigating the impacts of hydraulic fracturing and geologic carbon storage, and we provide perspective on emergent research directions, for example, enhanced geothermal energy, energy storage in sedimentary formations, and others. PMID:28031695

Mitigating Climate Change at the Carbon Water Nexus: A Call to Action for the Environmental Engineering Community.

PubMed

Clarens, Andres F; Peters, Catherine A

2016-10-01

Environmental engineers have played a critical role in improving human and ecosystem health over the past several decades. These contributions have focused on providing clean water and air as well as managing waste streams and remediating polluted sites. As environmental problems have become more global in scale and more deeply entrenched in sociotechnical systems, the discipline of environmental engineering must grow to be ready to respond to the challenges of the coming decades. Here we make the case that environmental engineers should play a leadership role in the development of climate change mitigation technologies at the carbon-water nexus (CWN). Climate change, driven largely by unfettered emissions of fossil carbon into the atmosphere, is a far-reaching and enormously complex environmental risk with the potential to negatively affect food security, human health, infrastructure, and other systems. Solving this problem will require a massive mobilization of existing and innovative new technology. The environmental engineering community is uniquely positioned to do pioneering work at the CWN using a skillset that has been honed, solving related problems. The focus of this special issue, on "The science and innovation of emerging subsurface energy technologies," provides one example domain within which environmental engineers and related disciplines are beginning to make important contributions at the CWN. In this article, we define the CWN and describe how environmental engineers can bring their considerable expertise to bear in this area. Then we review some of the topics that appear in this special issue, for example, mitigating the impacts of hydraulic fracturing and geologic carbon storage, and we provide perspective on emergent research directions, for example, enhanced geothermal energy, energy storage in sedimentary formations, and others.

HPNAIDM: The High-Performance Network Anomaly/Intrusion Detection and Mitigation System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Yan

Identifying traffic anomalies and attacks rapidly and accurately is critical for large network operators. With the rapid growth of network bandwidth, such as the next generation DOE UltraScience Network, and fast emergence of new attacks/virus/worms, existing network intrusion detection systems (IDS) are insufficient because they: • Are mostly host-based and not scalable to high-performance networks; • Are mostly signature-based and unable to adaptively recognize flow-level unknown attacks; • Cannot differentiate malicious events from the unintentional anomalies. To address these challenges, we proposed and developed a new paradigm called high-performance network anomaly/intrustion detection and mitigation (HPNAIDM) system. The new paradigm ismore » significantly different from existing IDSes with the following features (research thrusts). • Online traffic recording and analysis on high-speed networks; • Online adaptive flow-level anomaly/intrusion detection and mitigation; • Integrated approach for false positive reduction. Our research prototype and evaluation demonstrate that the HPNAIDM system is highly effective and economically feasible. Beyond satisfying the pre-set goals, we even exceed that significantly (see more details in the next section). Overall, our project harvested 23 publications (2 book chapters, 6 journal papers and 15 peer-reviewed conference/workshop papers). Besides, we built a website for technique dissemination, which hosts two system prototype release to the research community. We also filed a patent application and developed strong international and domestic collaborations which span both academia and industry.« less

A Framework for Modeling Emerging Diseases to Inform Management

PubMed Central

Katz, Rachel A.; Richgels, Katherine L.D.; Walsh, Daniel P.; Grant, Evan H.C.

2017-01-01

The rapid emergence and reemergence of zoonotic diseases requires the ability to rapidly evaluate and implement optimal management decisions. Actions to control or mitigate the effects of emerging pathogens are commonly delayed because of uncertainty in the estimates and the predicted outcomes of the control tactics. The development of models that describe the best-known information regarding the disease system at the early stages of disease emergence is an essential step for optimal decision-making. Models can predict the potential effects of the pathogen, provide guidance for assessing the likelihood of success of different proposed management actions, quantify the uncertainty surrounding the choice of the optimal decision, and highlight critical areas for immediate research. We demonstrate how to develop models that can be used as a part of a decision-making framework to determine the likelihood of success of different management actions given current knowledge. PMID:27983501

A Framework for Modeling Emerging Diseases to Inform Management.

PubMed

Russell, Robin E; Katz, Rachel A; Richgels, Katherine L D; Walsh, Daniel P; Grant, Evan H C

2017-01-01

The rapid emergence and reemergence of zoonotic diseases requires the ability to rapidly evaluate and implement optimal management decisions. Actions to control or mitigate the effects of emerging pathogens are commonly delayed because of uncertainty in the estimates and the predicted outcomes of the control tactics. The development of models that describe the best-known information regarding the disease system at the early stages of disease emergence is an essential step for optimal decision-making. Models can predict the potential effects of the pathogen, provide guidance for assessing the likelihood of success of different proposed management actions, quantify the uncertainty surrounding the choice of the optimal decision, and highlight critical areas for immediate research. We demonstrate how to develop models that can be used as a part of a decision-making framework to determine the likelihood of success of different management actions given current knowledge.

A framework for modeling emerging diseases to inform management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Russell, Robin E.; Katz, Rachel A.; Richgels, Katherine L. D.; Walsh, Daniel P.; Grant, Evan H. Campbell

2017-01-01

The rapid emergence and reemergence of zoonotic diseases requires the ability to rapidly evaluate and implement optimal management decisions. Actions to control or mitigate the effects of emerging pathogens are commonly delayed because of uncertainty in the estimates and the predicted outcomes of the control tactics. The development of models that describe the best-known information regarding the disease system at the early stages of disease emergence is an essential step for optimal decision-making. Models can predict the potential effects of the pathogen, provide guidance for assessing the likelihood of success of different proposed management actions, quantify the uncertainty surrounding the choice of the optimal decision, and highlight critical areas for immediate research. We demonstrate how to develop models that can be used as a part of a decision-making framework to determine the likelihood of success of different management actions given current knowledge.

Steps for Developing a School Emergency Management Plan. Helpful Hints for School Emergency Management. Volume 2, Issue 1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Education, 2007

2007-01-01

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools strongly encourages schools and school districts to develop emergency management plans within the context of the four phases of emergency management: prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. In addition, schools should collaborate closely with police, fire…

Window of Opportunity: Mitigating Threats from Disruptive Technologies Before Widespread Adoption

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

involved. A contemporary example of this is the emergence of online peer-to-peer payment systems like Bitcoin . Bitcoin was left to proliferate...collapse of Mt. Gox, a bitcoin exchange.195 The problem with this method of protection is that governmental based actions are typically a tediously slow...195 Mt. Gox was one of the foremost bitcoin exchange networks, and it collapsed when it was hacked and lost the

44 CFR 70.5 - Letter of Map Amendment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Letter of Map Amendment. 70.5 Section 70.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program PROCEDURE FOR MAP CORRECTION Mapping Deficiencies Unrelated to...

44 CFR 70.5 - Letter of Map Amendment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Letter of Map Amendment. 70.5 Section 70.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program PROCEDURE FOR MAP CORRECTION Mapping Deficiencies Unrelated to...

44 CFR 70.5 - Letter of Map Amendment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Letter of Map Amendment. 70.5 Section 70.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program PROCEDURE FOR MAP CORRECTION Mapping Deficiencies Unrelated to...

44 CFR 70.5 - Letter of Map Amendment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Letter of Map Amendment. 70.5 Section 70.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program PROCEDURE FOR MAP CORRECTION Mapping Deficiencies Unrelated to...

44 CFR 70.5 - Letter of Map Amendment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Letter of Map Amendment. 70.5 Section 70.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program PROCEDURE FOR MAP CORRECTION Mapping Deficiencies Unrelated to...

44 CFR 63.5 - Coverage for contents removal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Coverage for contents removal. 63.5 Section 63.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program IMPLEMENTATION OF SECTION 1306(c) OF THE NATIONAL FLOOD...

44 CFR 60.25 - Designation, duties, and responsibilities of State Coordinating Agencies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Designation, duties, and responsibilities of State Coordinating Agencies. 60.25 Section 60.25 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood...

Chemical and Biological Terrorism: Improvements to Emergency Medical Response.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeGraffenreid, Jeff Gordon

The challenge facing many emergency medical services (EMS) is the implementation of a comprehensive educational strategy to address emergency responses to terrorism. One such service, Johnson County (Kansas) Medical Action, needed a strategy that would keep paramedics safe and offer the community an effective approach to mitigation. A…

Ready to Respond: Case Studies in Campus Safety and Security

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hyatt, James A.

2010-01-01

Is your campus primed for the next big emergency? The National Campus Safety and Security Project (NCSSP), led by NACUBO, sought to help colleges and universities develop comprehensive emergency management plans that address the four phases of emergency management: prevention/mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. A major component of…

44 CFR 60.5 - Flood plain management criteria for flood-related erosion-prone areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Flood plain management criteria for flood-related erosion-prone areas. 60.5 Section 60.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION...

44 CFR 60.5 - Flood plain management criteria for flood-related erosion-prone areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Flood plain management criteria for flood-related erosion-prone areas. 60.5 Section 60.5 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION...

Mitigation of crosstalk based on CSO-ICA in free space orbital angular momentum multiplexing systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, Dengke; Liu, Jianfei; Zeng, Xiangye; Lu, Jia; Yi, Ziyao

2018-09-01

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) multiplexing has caused a lot of concerns and researches in recent years because of its great spectral efficiency and many OAM systems in free space channel have been demonstrated. However, due to the existence of atmospheric turbulence, the power of OAM beams will diffuse to beams with neighboring topological charges and inter-mode crosstalk will emerge in these systems, resulting in the system nonavailability in severe cases. In this paper, we introduced independent component analysis (ICA), which is known as a popular method of signal separation, to mitigate inter-mode crosstalk effects; furthermore, aiming at the shortcomings of traditional ICA algorithm's fixed iteration speed, we proposed a joint algorithm, CSO-ICA, to improve the process of solving the separation matrix by taking advantage of fast convergence rate and high convergence precision of chicken swarm algorithm (CSO). We can get the optimal separation matrix by adjusting the step size according to the last iteration in CSO-ICA. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm has a good performance in inter-mode crosstalk mitigation and the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) requirement of received signals (OAM+2, OAM+4, OAM+6, OAM+8) is reduced about 3.2 dB at bit error ratio (BER) of 3.8 × 10-3. Meanwhile, the convergence speed is much faster than the traditional ICA algorithm by improving about an order of iteration times.

Training of disaster managers at a masters degree level: from emergency care to managerial control.

PubMed

Macfarlane, Campbell; Joffe, Anthony Lyle; Naidoo, Shan

2006-01-01

The world has faced huge disasters over the last few decades and concerns have been expressed by nearly all international agencies involved that there is a scarcity of managerial skills to deal with the mitigation and management of disasters. Disaster risks are also on the increase throughout Africa and Southern Africa because of changes in the development process, settlement patterns and conflicts in the region. Emergency physicians are but one important resource in dealing with disasters. The need for a comprehensive multisectoral approach to disasters and more importantly to deal with its mitigation is becoming increasingly evident, especially in developing countries. Hence, the need for specially trained professionals in disaster management. In an effort to improve national, regional and continental capacity, and in support of the South African Disaster Management Act, the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, has developed a Master of Public Health degree in Disaster Management. The MPH is aimed at preparing professionals from health and allied fields to play leadership roles in the management, improvement and evaluation of health and the health-care system. Emergency physicians have an important role to play in the development of disaster medicine and disaster management programmes and it is important that they engage in this activity, collaborating with colleagues of various other disciplines as appropriate. The following paper outlines the background to the programme and the current programme.

Strengthening Emergency Preparedness in Higher Education through Hazard Vulnerability Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fifolt, Matthew; Burrowes, Jeffrey; McPherson, Tarrant; McCormick, Lisa C.

2016-01-01

Experts have noted a great deal of variability among U.S. higher education institutions' planning and preparedness for emergency situations. However, resources are available to help campus leaders effectively mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from a multitude of disaster scenarios. One way for emergency managers and campus leaders to…

Impacts of artificial ocean alkalinization on the carbon cycle and climate in Earth system simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González, Miriam Ferrer; Ilyina, Tatiana

2016-06-01

Using the state-of-the-art emissions-driven Max Planck Institute Earth system model, we explore the impacts of artificial ocean alkalinization (AOA) with a scenario based on the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) framework. Addition of 114 Pmol of alkalinity to the surface ocean stabilizes atmospheric CO2 concentration to RCP4.5 levels under RCP8.5 emissions. This scenario removes 940 GtC from the atmosphere and mitigates 1.5 K of global warming within this century. The climate adjusts to the lower CO2 concentration preventing the loss of sea ice and high sea level rise. Seawater pH and the carbonate saturation state (Ω) rise substantially above levels of the current decade. Pronounced differences in regional sensitivities to AOA are projected, with the Arctic Ocean and tropical oceans emerging as hot spots for biogeochemical changes induced by AOA. Thus, the CO2 mitigation potential of AOA comes at a price of an unprecedented ocean biogeochemistry perturbation with unknown ecological consequences.

The Cyber Threat to Military Just-in-Time Logistics: Risk Mitigation and the Return to Forward Basing

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-05-26

Generation Warfare (RNGW) ......................................................4 What is Traditional Forward-Based or “Just-in- Case ” Logistics...Industrial Control Systems-Cyber Emergency Response Team IT Information Technology JFC Joint Force Commander JIC Just-in- Case JIT Just-in-Time JP Joint...aspects of demand-driven or “Just-in-Time” (JIT) logistics, and bringing back the concept of traditional large inventory or “Just-in- Case ” (JIC) logistics

Remote Sensing Technologies Mitigate Drought

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2015-01-01

Ames Research Center has partnered with the California Department of Water Resources to develop satellite-based technologies to mitigate drought conditions. One project aims to help water managers adjust their irrigation to match the biological needs of each crop, and another involves monitoring areas where land is fallow so emergency relief can more quickly aid affected communities.

On the global limits of bioenergy and land use for climate change mitigation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strapasson, Alexandre; Woods, Jeremy; Chum, Helena

Across energy, agricultural and forestry landscapes, the production of biomass for energy has emerged as a controversial driver of land-use change. We present a novel, simple methodology, to probe the potential global sustainability limits of bioenergy over time for energy provision and climate change mitigation using a complex-systems approach for assessing land-use dynamics. Primary biomass that could provide between 70 EJ year -1 and 360 EJ year -1, globally, by 2050 was simulated in the context of different land-use futures, food diet patterns and climate change mitigation efforts. Our simulations also show ranges of potential greenhouse gas emissions for agriculture,more » forestry and other land uses by 2050, including not only above-ground biomass-related emissions, but also from changes in soil carbon, from as high as 24 GtCO 2eq year-1 to as low as minus 21 GtCO 2eq year -1, which would represent a significant source of negative emissions. Based on the modelling simulations, the discussions offer novel insights about bioenergy as part of a broader integrated system. As a result, there are sustainability limits to the scale of bioenergy provision, they are dynamic over time, being responsive to land management options deployed worldwide.« less

On the global limits of bioenergy and land use for climate change mitigation

DOE PAGES

Strapasson, Alexandre; Woods, Jeremy; Chum, Helena; ...

2017-05-24

Across energy, agricultural and forestry landscapes, the production of biomass for energy has emerged as a controversial driver of land-use change. We present a novel, simple methodology, to probe the potential global sustainability limits of bioenergy over time for energy provision and climate change mitigation using a complex-systems approach for assessing land-use dynamics. Primary biomass that could provide between 70 EJ year -1 and 360 EJ year -1, globally, by 2050 was simulated in the context of different land-use futures, food diet patterns and climate change mitigation efforts. Our simulations also show ranges of potential greenhouse gas emissions for agriculture,more » forestry and other land uses by 2050, including not only above-ground biomass-related emissions, but also from changes in soil carbon, from as high as 24 GtCO 2eq year-1 to as low as minus 21 GtCO 2eq year -1, which would represent a significant source of negative emissions. Based on the modelling simulations, the discussions offer novel insights about bioenergy as part of a broader integrated system. As a result, there are sustainability limits to the scale of bioenergy provision, they are dynamic over time, being responsive to land management options deployed worldwide.« less

Sensor Systems for Prognostics and Health Management

PubMed Central

Cheng, Shunfeng; Azarian, Michael H.; Pecht, Michael G.

2010-01-01

Prognostics and health management (PHM) is an enabling discipline consisting of technologies and methods to assess the reliability of a product in its actual life cycle conditions to determine the advent of failure and mitigate system risk. Sensor systems are needed for PHM to monitor environmental, operational, and performance-related characteristics. The gathered data can be analyzed to assess product health and predict remaining life. In this paper, the considerations for sensor system selection for PHM applications, including the parameters to be measured, the performance needs, the electrical and physical attributes, reliability, and cost of the sensor system, are discussed. The state-of-the-art sensor systems for PHM and the emerging trends in technologies of sensor systems for PHM are presented. PMID:22219686

Sensor systems for prognostics and health management.

PubMed

Cheng, Shunfeng; Azarian, Michael H; Pecht, Michael G

2010-01-01

Prognostics and health management (PHM) is an enabling discipline consisting of technologies and methods to assess the reliability of a product in its actual life cycle conditions to determine the advent of failure and mitigate system risk. Sensor systems are needed for PHM to monitor environmental, operational, and performance-related characteristics. The gathered data can be analyzed to assess product health and predict remaining life. In this paper, the considerations for sensor system selection for PHM applications, including the parameters to be measured, the performance needs, the electrical and physical attributes, reliability, and cost of the sensor system, are discussed. The state-of-the-art sensor systems for PHM and the emerging trends in technologies of sensor systems for PHM are presented.

Mitigating amphibian disease: strategies to maintain wild populations and control chytridiomycosis

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Rescuing amphibian diversity is an achievable conservation challenge. Disease mitigation is one essential component of population management. Here we assess existing disease mitigation strategies, some in early experimental stages, which focus on the globally emerging chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. We discuss the precedent for each strategy in systems ranging from agriculture to human medicine, and the outlook for each strategy in terms of research needs and long-term potential. Results We find that the effects of exposure to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis occur on a spectrum from transient commensal to lethal pathogen. Management priorities are divided between (1) halting pathogen spread and developing survival assurance colonies, and (2) prophylactic or remedial disease treatment. Epidemiological models of chytridiomycosis suggest that mitigation strategies can control disease without eliminating the pathogen. Ecological ethics guide wildlife disease research, but several ethical questions remain for managing disease in the field. Conclusions Because sustainable conservation of amphibians in nature is dependent on long-term population persistence and co-evolution with potentially lethal pathogens, we suggest that disease mitigation not focus exclusively on the elimination or containment of the pathogen, or on the captive breeding of amphibian hosts. Rather, successful disease mitigation must be context specific with epidemiologically informed strategies to manage already infected populations by decreasing pathogenicity and host susceptibility. We propose population level treatments based on three steps: first, identify mechanisms of disease suppression; second, parameterize epizootiological models of disease and population dynamics for testing under semi-natural conditions; and third, begin a process of adaptive management in field trials with natural populations. PMID:21496358

Hurricane risk mitigation - Emergency Operations Center

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-07-29

Construction work on a new Emergency Operations Center at Stennis Space Center is nearing completion. Construction is expected to be complete by February 2009, with actual occupancy of the building planned for later that year. The new building will house fire, medical and security teams and will provide a top-grade facility to support storm emergency responder teams and emergency management operations for the south Mississippi facility.

Impact of new technologies on stress, attrition and well-being in emergency call centers: the NextGeneration 9-1-1 study protocol.

PubMed

Baseman, Janet; Revere, Debra; Painter, Ian; Stangenes, Scott; Lilly, Michelle; Beaton, Randal; Calhoun, Rebecca; Meischke, Hendrika

2018-05-04

Our public health emergency response system relies on the "first of the first responders"-the emergency call center workforce that handles the emergency needs of a public in distress. Call centers across the United States have been preparing for the "Next Generation 9-1-1" initiative, which will allow citizens to place 9-1-1 calls using a variety of digital technologies. The impacts of this initiative on a workforce that is already highly stressed is unknown. There is concern that these technology changes will increase stress, reduce job performance, contribute to maladaptive coping strategies, lower employee retention, or change morale in the workplace. Understanding these impacts to inform approaches for mitigating the health and performance risks associated with new technologies is crucial for ensuring the 911 system fulfills its mission of providing optimal emergency response to the public. Our project is an observational, prospective cohort study framed by the first new technology that will be implemented: text-to-911 calling. Emergency center call takers will be recruited nationwide. Data will be collected by online surveys distributed at each center before text-to-911 implementation; within the first month of implementation; and 6 months after implementation. Primary outcome measures are stress as measured by the Calgary Symptoms of Stress Index, use of sick leave, job performance, and job satisfaction. Primary analyses will use mixed effects regression models and mixed effects logistic regression models to estimate the change in outcome variables associated with text-to-911 implementation. Multiple secondary analyses will examine effects of stress on absenteeism; associations between technology attitudes and stress; effects of implementation on attitudes towards technology; and mitigating effects of job demands, job satisfaction, attitudes towards workplace technology and workplace support on change in stress. Our public health dependence on this workforce for our security and safety makes it imperative that the impact of technological changes such as text-to-911 are researched so appropriate intervention efforts to can be developed. Failing to protect our 9-1-1 call takers from predictable health risks would be similar to knowingly exposing field emergency responders to a toxic situation without following OSHA required training and practice standards assuring their protection.

The case for systems thinking about climate change and mental health

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berry, Helen L.; Waite, Thomas D.; Dear, Keith B. G.; Capon, Anthony G.; Murray, Virginia

2018-04-01

It is increasingly necessary to quantify the impacts of climate change on populations, and to quantify the effectiveness of mitigation and adaptation strategies. Despite growing interest in the health effects of climate change, the relationship between mental health and climate change has received little attention in research or policy. Here, we outline current thinking about climate change and mental health, and discuss crucial limitations in modern epidemiology for examining this issue. A systems approach, complemented by a new style of research thinking and leadership, can help align the needs of this emerging field with existing and research policy agendas.

CONTEMPT/LT-028 Browns Ferry studies of an anticipated transient without scram

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holcomb, E.E.

1983-01-01

The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant containment response during the first 30 min of an anticipated transient without scram (ATWS) is the subject of this paper. Three cases, each initiated by a main steam isolation valve closure, are presented: the ATWS is mitigated by operator actions in the spirit of the General Electric Emergency Procedure Guidelines; the ATWS is managed by the plant automatic control systems; and the ATWS proceeds as in first case except that the drywell coolers are unavailable. Success of the standby liquid control system is assumed in the last two transients.

Visual Impairment and Intracranial Hypertension: An Emerging Spaceflight Risk

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taddeo, Terrance A.

2010-01-01

During recent long duration missions to the International Space Station (ISS) crewmembers have reported changes in visual acuity or visual field defects. Exams in the postflight period revealed changes to the visual system and elevated intracranial pressures. As a result, NASA Space Medicine has added a number of tests to be performed in the preflight, inflight and postflight periods for ISS and shuttle missions with the goal of determining the processes at work and any potential mitigation strategies. This discussion will acquaint you with the changes that NASA has made to its medical requirements in order to address the microgravity induced intracranial hypertension and associated visual changes. Key personnel have been assembled to provide you information on this topic. Educational Objectives: Provide an overview of the current Medical Operations requirements and the mitigation steps taken to operationally address the issue.

Social vulnerability of rural households to flood hazards in western mountainous regions of Henan province, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Delin; Li, Yue

2016-05-01

Evaluating social vulnerability is a crucial issue in risk and disaster management. In this study, a household social vulnerability index (HSVI) to flood hazards was developed and used to assess the social vulnerability of rural households in western mountainous regions of Henan province, China. Eight key indicators were identified using existing literature and discussions with experts from multiple disciplines and local farmers, and their weights were determined using principle component analysis (PCA) and an expert scoring method. The results showed that (1) the ratio of perennial work in other places, hazard-related training and illiteracy ratio (15+) were the most dominant factors of social vulnerability. (2) The numbers of high, moderate and low vulnerability households were 14, 64 and 16, respectively, which accounted for 14.9, 68.1 and 17.0 % of the total interviewed rural households, respectively. (3) The correlation coefficient between household social vulnerability scores and casualties in a storm flood in July 2010 was significant at 0.05 significance level (r = 0.748), which indicated that the selected indicators and their weights were valid. (4) Some mitigation strategies to reduce household social vulnerability to flood hazards were proposed, which included (1) improving the local residents' income and their disaster-related knowledge and evacuation skills, (2) developing emergency plans and carrying out emergency drills and training, (3) enhancing the accuracy of disaster monitoring and warning systems and (4) establishing a specific emergency management department and comprehensive rescue systems. These results can provide useful information for rural households and local governments to prepare, mitigate and respond to flood hazards, and the corresponding strategies can help local households to reduce their social vulnerability and improve their ability to resist flood hazard.

Bridging Scientific Model Outputs with Emergency Response Needs in Catastrophic Earthquake Responses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johannes, Tay W.

2010-01-01

In emergency management, scientific models are widely used for running hazard simulations and estimating losses often in support of planning and mitigation efforts. This work expands utility of the scientific model into the response phase of emergency management. The focus is on the common operating picture as it gives context to emergency…

Changing Family Habits: A Case Study into Climate Change Mitigation Behavior in Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leger, Michel T.; Pruneau, Diane

2012-01-01

A case-study methodology was used to explore the process of change as experienced by 3 suburban families in an attempt to incorporate climate change mitigation behavior into their day to day life. Cross-case analysis of the findings revealed the emergence of three major conceptual themes associated with behavior adoption: collectively applied…

14 CFR 1216.311 - Emergency responses.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

....311 Aeronautics and Space NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Subpart... immediate impacts of the emergency needed to mitigate harm to life, property, or resources. When taking such... of Part 1216—Acronyms and Definitions CatExCategorical Exclusion CEQCouncil on Environmental Quality...

Evidence-Based Guidelines for Fatigue Risk Management in Emergency Medical Services

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-01-11

Background: Administrators of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operations lack guidance on how to mitigate workplace fatigue, which affects greater than half of all EMS personnel. The primary objective of the Fatigue in EMS Project was to create an e...

Benefits of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation on the Supply, Management, and Use of Water Resources in the United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strzepek, K.; Neumann, Jim; Smith, Joel

Climate change impacts on water resources in the U.S. are likely to be far-reaching and substantial, because the water sector spans many parts of the economy, from supply and demand for agriculture, industry, energy production, transportation and municipal use to damages from natural hazards. This paper provides impact and damage estimates from five water resource-related models in the CIRA frame work, addressing drought risk, flooding damages, water supply and demand, and global water scarcity. The four models differ in the water system assessed, their spatial scale, and the units of assessment, but together they provide a quantitative and descriptive richnessmore » in characterizing water resource sector effects of climate change that no single model can capture. The results also address the sensitivity of these estimates to greenhouse gas emission scenarios, climate sensitivity alternatives, and global climate model selection. While calculating the net impact of climate change on the water sector as a whole may be impractical, because each of the models applied here uses a consistent set of climate scenarios, broad conclusions can be drawn regarding the patterns of change and the benefits of GHG mitigation policies for the water sector. Two key findings emerge: 1) climate mitigation policy substantially reduces the impact of climate change on the water sector across multiple dimensions; and 2) the more managed the water resources system, the more tempered the climate change impacts and the resulting reduction of impacts from climate mitigation policies.« less

Benefits of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation on the Supply, Management, and Use of Water Resources in the United States

DOE PAGES

Strzepek, K.; Neumann, Jim; Smith, Joel; ...

2014-11-29

Climate change impacts on water resources in the U.S. are likely to be far-reaching and substantial, because the water sector spans many parts of the economy, from supply and demand for agriculture, industry, energy production, transportation and municipal use to damages from natural hazards. This paper provides impact and damage estimates from five water resource-related models in the CIRA frame work, addressing drought risk, flooding damages, water supply and demand, and global water scarcity. The four models differ in the water system assessed, their spatial scale, and the units of assessment, but together they provide a quantitative and descriptive richnessmore » in characterizing water resource sector effects of climate change that no single model can capture. The results also address the sensitivity of these estimates to greenhouse gas emission scenarios, climate sensitivity alternatives, and global climate model selection. While calculating the net impact of climate change on the water sector as a whole may be impractical, because each of the models applied here uses a consistent set of climate scenarios, broad conclusions can be drawn regarding the patterns of change and the benefits of GHG mitigation policies for the water sector. Two key findings emerge: 1) climate mitigation policy substantially reduces the impact of climate change on the water sector across multiple dimensions; and 2) the more managed the water resources system, the more tempered the climate change impacts and the resulting reduction of impacts from climate mitigation policies.« less

Emergency operations program is an excellent platform to deal with in-hospital operation disaster.

PubMed

Rogers, Frederick B; McCune, William; Jammula, Shreya; Gross, Brian W; Bradburn, Eric H; Riley, Deborah K; Manning, Jeffrey

2017-01-01

Described herein is the utilization of the hospital's Emergency Operations Plan and incident command structure to mitigate damage caused by the sudden loss of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system within the entire operating room suite. The ability to ameliorate a devastating situation that occurred during working hours at a busy Level II trauma center can be ascribed to the dedication of the leadership and clinical teams working seamlessly together. Their concerted efforts were augmented by adherence to an established protocol that had been thoroughly substantiated and practiced during numerous training simulations. This resulted in successful and timely resolution of an internal crisis that crippled the surgical capabilities of the sole trauma center in the county. After thorough investigation and identification of the issues that contributed to the malfunction, redundancies were built into the system to ensure that a similar incident did not occur again.

Emergence and Utility of Nonspherical Particles in Biomedicine

PubMed Central

Fish, Margaret B.; Thompson, Alex J.; Fromen, Catherine A.; Eniola-Adefeso, Omolola

2016-01-01

The importance of the size of targeted, spherical drug carriers has been previously explored and reviewed. Particle shape has emerged as an equally important parameter in determining the in vivo journey and efficiency of drug carrier systems. Researchers have invented techniques to better control the geometry of particles of many different materials, which have allowed for exploration of the role of particle geometry in the phases of drug delivery. The important biological processes include clearance by the immune system, trafficking to the target tissue, margination to the endothelial surface, interaction with the target cell, and controlled release of a payload. The review of current literature herein supports that particle shape can be altered to improve a system’s targeting efficiency. Non-spherical particles can harness the potential of targeted drug carriers by enhancing targeted site accumulation while simultaneously decreasing side effects and mitigating some limitations faced by spherical carriers. PMID:27182109

To protect or abandon: a participatory process on landslide risk mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scolobig, A.; Bayer, J.; Cascini, L.; Ferlisi, S.

2012-04-01

With escalating costs of landslide risk mitigation and relief, a challenge for local authorities is to develop landslide risk mitigation measures that are viewed as efficient, feasible and fair by the many stakeholders involved. Innovative measures and the participation of stakeholders in the decision making process are essential elements in developing effective strategies to deal with the ever-changing spatial and temporal patterns of landslide risk. A stakeholder-led policy process, however, can face many social and economic challenges. One of the most difficult is deciding between costly protection measures or relocating homes. Particularly in areas with high population density, protection works are often not built because of economic/environmental constraints or private interests of the local residents. At the same time it not always possible to relocate households even if the costs are deemed less than protecting them. These issues turned out to be crucial in a recent participatory process for selecting risk mitigation measures in the town of Nocera Inferiore, Southern Italy, which experienced a landslide in 2005 causing three fatalities. The paper reports on this process which was structured in a series of meetings with a group of selected residents and several parallel activities open to the public. The preparatory work included semi-structured interviews carried out with key local stakeholders and a public survey eliciting residents' views on landslide risk mitigation. After describing the background of the landslide risk management problem in Nocera Inferiore, the paper focuses on three packages of risk mitigation measures (each of them not exceeding a total cost of 7 million Euro, namely the available funds) and the key trade-offs that emerged during the meetings with the residents. The participants reached a unanimous consensus on fundamental priorities, i.e. the improvement of the warning system, the implementation of an integrated system of monitoring and territorial survey and the stabilization of the open slopes with naturalistic engineering works. Much more debate was devoted to the relocation of residents from the most endangered areas and/or the need to build passive structural works, especially on private properties. Notwithstanding the difficulties in reaching a shared "compromise solution" for risk mitigation, the results demonstrate the value of citizen participation in landslide risk mitigation decisions and highlight the role that participation can play in risk management more generally.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barnes, Scott V.

On August 1, 2014, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), in coordination with the State of Idaho, local jurisdictions, Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho Operations Office, and DOE Headquarters (DOE-HQ), conducted the annual emergency exercise to demonstrate the ability to implement the requirements of DOE O 151.1C, “Comprehensive Emergency Management System.” The INL contractor, Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA), in coordination with other INL contractors, conducted operations and demonstrated appropriate response measures to mitigate an event and protect the health and safety of personnel, the environment, and property. Offsite response organizations participated to demonstrate appropriate response measures. Report data were collected frommore » multiple sources, which included documentation generated during exercise response, player critiques conducted immediately after terminating the exercise, personnel observation sheets, and evaluation critiques. Evaluation of this exercise served as a management assessment of the performance of the INL Emergency Management Program (IAS141618).« less

Does Implementation of Biomathematical Models Mitigate Fatigue and Fatigue-related Risks in Emergency Medical Services Operations? A Systematic Review

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-01-11

Background: Work schedules like those of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel have been associated with increased risk of fatigue-related impairment. Biomathematical modeling is a means of objectively estimating the potential impacts of fatigue...

Deciphering microbial landscapes of fish eggs to mitigate emerging disease

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Animals and plants are increasingly suffering from diseases caused by fungi and oomycetes. These emerging pathogens are now recognised as a global threat to biodiversity and food security. Amongst oomycetes, Saprolegnia species cause significant declines in fish and amphibian populations. Fish eggs ...

44 CFR 59.3 - Emergency program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS... before it could become eligible for the sale of flood insurance. Since this requirement resulted in a... 1969 (Pub. L. 91-152, December 24, 1969), established an Emergency Flood Insurance Program as a new...

44 CFR 59.3 - Emergency program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS... before it could become eligible for the sale of flood insurance. Since this requirement resulted in a... 1969 (Pub. L. 91-152, December 24, 1969), established an Emergency Flood Insurance Program as a new...

44 CFR 60.7 - Revisions of criteria for flood plain management regulations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... flood plain management regulations. 60.7 Section 60.7 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CRITERIA FOR LAND MANAGEMENT AND USE Requirements for Flood Plain Management Regulations...

44 CFR 59.3 - Emergency program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS... before it could become eligible for the sale of flood insurance. Since this requirement resulted in a... 1969 (Pub. L. 91-152, December 24, 1969), established an Emergency Flood Insurance Program as a new...

44 CFR 60.7 - Revisions of criteria for flood plain management regulations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... flood plain management regulations. 60.7 Section 60.7 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CRITERIA FOR LAND MANAGEMENT AND USE Requirements for Flood Plain Management Regulations...

44 CFR 60.7 - Revisions of criteria for flood plain management regulations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... flood plain management regulations. 60.7 Section 60.7 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CRITERIA FOR LAND MANAGEMENT AND USE Requirements for Flood Plain Management Regulations...

44 CFR 60.7 - Revisions of criteria for flood plain management regulations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... flood plain management regulations. 60.7 Section 60.7 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CRITERIA FOR LAND MANAGEMENT AND USE Requirements for Flood Plain Management Regulations...

44 CFR 59.3 - Emergency program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS... before it could become eligible for the sale of flood insurance. Since this requirement resulted in a... 1969 (Pub. L. 91-152, December 24, 1969), established an Emergency Flood Insurance Program as a new...

44 CFR 59.3 - Emergency program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS... before it could become eligible for the sale of flood insurance. Since this requirement resulted in a... 1969 (Pub. L. 91-152, December 24, 1969), established an Emergency Flood Insurance Program as a new...

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to reauthorize the predisaster hazard mitigation program.

THOMAS, 113th Congress

Rep. Carson, Andre [D-IN-7

2013-10-10

House - 10/11/2013 Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

Doing Windows: Non-Traditional Military Responses to Complex Emergencies

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-09-01

achieving civil stability and durable peace in states embroiled in complex emergencies. A complex emergency is one which draws every sector of society ...a stable, civil society ? The project involved three distinct phases. First, we conducted an extensive literature review to frame the issues used in...Pursue sustainable security through prevention, mitigation, and preparedness Integrate existing capacities of all elements of society

Exploring fish microbial communities to mitigate emerging diseases in aquaculture.

PubMed

de Bruijn, Irene; Liu, Yiying; Wiegertjes, Geert F; Raaijmakers, Jos M

2018-01-01

Aquaculture is the fastest growing animal food sector worldwide and expected to further increase to feed the growing human population. However, existing and (re-)emerging diseases are hampering fish and shellfish cultivation and yield. For many diseases, vaccination protocols are not in place and the excessive use of antibiotics and other chemicals is of substantial concern. A more sustainable disease control strategy to protect fish and shellfish from (re-)emerging diseases could be achieved by introduction or augmentation of beneficial microbes. To establish and maintain a 'healthy' fish microbiome, a fundamental understanding of the diversity and temporal-spatial dynamics of fish-associated microbial communities and their impact on growth and health of their aquatic hosts is required. This review describes insights in the diversity and functions of the fish bacterial communities elucidated with next-generation sequencing and discusses the potential of the microbes to mitigate (re-)emerging diseases in aquaculture. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Preparedness for emerging infectious diseases: pathways from anticipation to action.

PubMed

Brookes, V J; Hernández-Jover, M; Black, P F; Ward, M P

2015-07-01

Emerging and re-emerging infectious disease (EID) events can have devastating human, animal and environmental health impacts. The emergence of EIDs has been associated with interconnected economic, social and environmental changes. Understanding these changes is crucial for EID preparedness and subsequent prevention and control of EID events. The aim of this review is to describe tools currently available for identification, prioritization and investigation of EIDs impacting human and animal health, and how these might be integrated into a systematic approach for directing EID preparedness. Environmental scanning, foresight programmes, horizon scanning and surveillance are used to collect and assess information for rapidly responding to EIDs and to anticipate drivers of emergence for mitigating future EID impacts. Prioritization of EIDs - using transparent and repeatable methods - based on disease impacts and the importance of those impacts to decision-makers can then be used for more efficient resource allocation for prevention and control. Risk assessment and simulation modelling methods assess the likelihood of EIDs occurring, define impact and identify mitigation strategies. Each of these tools has a role to play individually; however, we propose integration of these tools into a framework that enhances the development of tactical and strategic plans for emerging risk preparedness.

Conflict prevention, conflict mitigation, and manifestations of conflict during emergency department consultations.

PubMed

Chan, Teresa; Bakewell, Francis; Orlich, Donika; Sherbino, Jonathan

2014-03-01

The objective was to determine the causes of and mitigating factors for conflict between emergency physicians and other colleagues during consultations. From March to September 2010, a total of 61 physicians (31 residents and 30 attendings from emergency medicine [EM], internal medicine, and general surgery) were interviewed about how junior learners should be taught about emergency department (ED) consultations. During these interviews, they were asked if and how conflict manifests during the ED consultation process. Two investigators reviewed the transcripts independently to generate themes related to conflict until saturation was reached. Disagreements were resolved by consensus. The trustworthiness of the analysis was ensured by generating an audit trail, which was subsequently audited by an investigator not involved with the initial analysis. This analysis was compared to previously proposed models of trust and conflict from the sociology and business literature. All participants recalled some manifestation of conflict. There were 12 negative conflict-producing themes and 10 protective conflict-mitigating themes. When comparing these themes to a previously developed model of the domains of trust, each theme mapped to domains of the model. Conflict affects the ED consultation process. Areas that lead to conflict are identified that map to previous models of trust and conflict. This work extends the current understanding about intradisciplinary conflict in the clinical realm. These new findings may improve the understanding of the nature of conflicts that occur and form the foundation for interventions that may decrease conflict during ED consultations. © 2014 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Probabilistic approach to decision making under uncertainty during volcanic crises. Retrospective analysis of the 2011 eruption of El Hierro, in the Canary Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobradelo, Rosa; Martí, Joan; Kilburn, Christopher; López, Carmen

2014-05-01

Understanding the potential evolution of a volcanic crisis is crucial to improving the design of effective mitigation strategies. This is especially the case for volcanoes close to densely-populated regions, where inappropriate decisions may trigger widespread loss of life, economic disruption and public distress. An outstanding goal for improving the management of volcanic crises, therefore, is to develop objective, real-time methodologies for evaluating how an emergency will develop and how scientists communicate with decision makers. Here we present a new model BADEMO (Bayesian Decision Model) that applies a general and flexible, probabilistic approach to managing volcanic crises. The model combines the hazard and risk factors that decision makers need for a holistic analysis of a volcanic crisis. These factors include eruption scenarios and their probabilities of occurrence, the vulnerability of populations and their activities, and the costs of false alarms and failed forecasts. The model can be implemented before an emergency, to identify actions for reducing the vulnerability of a district; during an emergency, to identify the optimum mitigating actions and how these may change as new information is obtained; and after an emergency, to assess the effectiveness of a mitigating response and, from the results, to improve strategies before another crisis occurs. As illustrated by a retrospective analysis of the 2011 eruption of El Hierro, in the Canary Islands, BADEMO provides the basis for quantifying the uncertainty associated with each recommended action as an emergency evolves, and serves as a mechanism for improving communications between scientists and decision makers.

Engaging western landowners in climate change mitigation: a guide to carbon-oriented forest and range management and carbon market opportunities

Treesearch

David D. Diaz; Susan Charnley; Hannah Gosnell

2009-01-01

There are opportunities for forest owners and ranchers to participate in emerging carbon markets and contribute to climate change mitigation through carbon oriented forest and range management activities. These activities often promote sutainable forestry and ranching and broader conservation goals while having the potential to provide a new income stream for...

Groundwater potential for water supply during droughts in Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hyun, Y.; Cha, E.; Moon, H. J.

2016-12-01

Droughts have been receiving much attention in Korea because severe droughts occurred in recent years, causing significant social, economic and environmental damages in some regions. Residents in agricultural area, most of all, were most damaged by droughts with lack of available water supplies to meet crop water demands. In order to mitigate drought damages, we present a strategy to keep from agricultural droughts by using groundwater to meet water supply as a potential water resource in agricultural areas. In this study, we analyze drought severity and the groundwater potential to mitigate social and environmental damages caused by droughts in Korea. We evaluate drought severity by analyzing spatial and temporal meteorological and hydrological data such as rainfall, water supply and demand. For drought severity, we use effective drought index along with the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and standardized runoff index(SRI). Water deficit during the drought period is also quantified to consider social and environmental impact of droughts. Then we assess the feasibility of using groundwater as a potential source for groundwater impact mitigation. Results show that the agricultural areas are more vulnerable to droughts and use of groundwater as an emergency water resource is feasible in some regions. For a case study, we select Jeong-Sun area located in Kangwon providence having well-developed Karst aquifers and surrounded by mountains. For Jeong-Sun area, we quantify groundwater potential use, design the method of water supply by using groundwater, and assess its economic benefit. Results show that water supply system with groundwater abstraction can be a good strategy when droughts are severe for an emergency water supply in Jeong-Sun area, and groundwater can also be used not only for a dry season water supply resource, but for everyday water supply system. This case study results can further be applicable to some regions with no sufficient water infrastructure and high groundwater use potential. For concrete conclusions, rigorous study on performance evaluation of water supply using groundwater is further needed.

Multitier specification for NSEP (National Security/Emergency Preparedness) enhancement of fiber-optic long-distance telecommunication networks. Volume 1. The multitier specification - an executive summary. Technical Information Bulletin

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peach, D.F.

1987-12-01

Fiber optic telecommunication systems are susceptible to both natural and man-made stress. National Security/Emergency Preparedness (NSEP) is a function of how durable these systems are in light of projected levels of stress. Emergency Preparedness in 1987 is not just a matter of--can they deliver food, water, energy and other essentials--but can they deliver the vital information necessary to maintain corporate function of our country. 'Communication stamina' is a function of 'probability of survival' when faced with stress. This report provides an overview of the enhancements to a fiber-optic communication system/installation that will increase durability. These enhancements are grouped, based onmore » their value in protecting the system, such that a Multitier Specification is created that presents multiple levels of hardness. Mitigation of effects due to high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) and gamma radiation, and protection from vandalism and weather events are discussed in the report. The report is presented in two volumes. Volume I presents the Multitier Specification in a format that is usable for management review. The attributes of specified physical parameters, and the levels of protection stated in Volume I, are discussed in more detail in Volume II.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yan, Guanhua; Eidenbenz, Stephan; Ha, Duc T

Botnets, which are networks of compromised machines that are controlled by one or a group of attackers, have emerged as one of the most serious security threats on the Internet. With an army of bots at the scale of tens of thousands of hosts or even as large as 1.5 million PCs, the computational power of botnets can be leveraged to launch large-scale DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, sending spamming emails, stealing identities and financial information, etc. As detection and mitigation techniques against botnets have been stepped up in recent years, attackers are also constantly improving their strategies tomore » operate these botnets. The first generation of botnets typically employ IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels as their command and control (C&C) centers. Though simple and easy to deploy, the centralized C&C mechanism of such botnets has made them prone to being detected and disabled. Against this backdrop, peer-to-peer (P2P) based botnets have emerged as a new generation of botnets which can conceal their C&C communication. Recently, P2P networks have emerged as a covert communication platform for malicious programs known as bots. As popular distributed systems, they allow bots to communicate easily while protecting the botmaster from being discovered. Existing work on P2P-based hotnets mainly focuses on measurement of botnet sizes. In this work, through simulation, we study extensively the structure of P2P networks running Kademlia, one of a few widely used P2P protocols in practice. Our simulation testbed incorporates the actual code of a real Kademlia client software to achieve great realism, and distributed event-driven simulation techniques to achieve high scalability. Using this testbed, we analyze the scaling, reachability, clustering, and centrality properties of P2P-based botnets from a graph-theoretical perspective. We further demonstrate experimentally and theoretically that monitoring bot activities in a P2P network is difficult, suggesting that the P2P mechanism indeed helps botnets hide their communication effectively. Finally, we evaluate the effectiveness of some potential mitigation techniques, such as content poisoning, Sybil-based and Eclipse-based mitigation. Conclusions drawn from this work shed light on the structure of P2P botnets, how to monitor bot activities in P2P networks, and how to mitigate botnet operations effectively.« less

44 CFR 60.24 - Planning considerations for flood-related erosion-prone areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... flood-related erosion-prone areas. 60.24 Section 60.24 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CRITERIA FOR LAND MANAGEMENT AND USE Additional Considerations in Managing Flood-Prone...

44 CFR 59.22 - Prerequisites for the sale of flood insurance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... flood insurance. 59.22 Section 59.22 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS Eligibility Requirements § 59.22 Prerequisites for the sale of flood insurance. (a) To...

44 CFR 59.22 - Prerequisites for the sale of flood insurance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... flood insurance. 59.22 Section 59.22 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS Eligibility Requirements § 59.22 Prerequisites for the sale of flood insurance. (a) To...

44 CFR 59.22 - Prerequisites for the sale of flood insurance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... flood insurance. 59.22 Section 59.22 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS Eligibility Requirements § 59.22 Prerequisites for the sale of flood insurance. (a) To...

44 CFR 59.22 - Prerequisites for the sale of flood insurance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... flood insurance. 59.22 Section 59.22 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS Eligibility Requirements § 59.22 Prerequisites for the sale of flood insurance. (a) To...

Successful elimination of a lethal wildlife infectious disease in nature

PubMed Central

Bosch, Jaime; Sanchez-Tomé, Eva; Fernández-Loras, Andrés; Oliver, Joan A.; Fisher, Matthew C.; Garner, Trenton W. J.

2015-01-01

Methods to mitigate the impacts of emerging infectious diseases affecting wildlife are urgently needed to combat loss of biodiversity. However, the successful mitigation of wildlife pathogens in situ has rarely occurred. Indeed, most strategies for combating wildlife diseases remain theoretical, despite the wealth of information available for combating infections in livestock and crops. Here, we report the outcome of a 5-year effort to eliminate infection with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis affecting an island system with a single amphibian host. Our initial efforts to eliminate infection in the larval reservoir using a direct application of an antifungal were successful ex situ but infection returned to previous levels when tadpoles with cleared infections were returned to their natal sites. We subsequently combined antifungal treatment of tadpoles with environmental chemical disinfection. Infection at four of the five pools where infection had previously been recorded was eradicated, and remained so for 2 years post-application. PMID:26582843

Disaster Response and Preparedness Application: Emergency Environmental Response Tool (EERT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smoot, James; Carr, Hugh; Jester, Keith

2003-01-01

In 2000, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Environmental Office at the John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) developed an Environmental Geographic Information Systems (EGIS) database. NASA had previously developed a GIS database at SSC to assist in the NASA Environmental Office's management of the Center. This GIS became the basis for the NASA-wide EGIS project, which was proposed after the applicability of the SSC database was demonstrated. Since its completion, the SSC EGIS has aided the Environmental Office with noise pollution modeling, land cover assessment, wetlands delineation, environmental hazards mapping, and critical habitat delineation for protected species. At SSC, facility management and safety officers are responsible for ensuring the physical security of the facilities, staff, and equipment as well as for responding to environmental emergencies, such as accidental releases of hazardous materials. All phases of emergency management (planning, mitigation, preparedness, and response) depend on data reliability and system interoperability from a variety of sources to determine the size and scope of the emergency operation. Because geospatial data are now available for all NASA facilities, it was suggested that this data could be incorporated into a computerized management information program to assist facility managers. The idea was that the information system could improve both the effectiveness and the efficiency of managing and controlling actions associated with disaster, homeland security, and other activities. It was decided to use SSC as a pilot site to demonstrate the efficacy of having a baseline, computerized management information system that ultimately was referred to as the Emergency Environmental Response Tool (EERT).

Contributing Factors to Driver's Over-trust in a Driving Support System for Workload Reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Itoh, Makoto

Avoiding over-trust in machines is a vital issue in order to establish intelligent driver support systems. It is necessary to distinguish systems for workload reduction from systems for accident prevention/mitigation. This study focuses on over-trust in an Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system as a typical driving support system for workload reduction. By conducting an experiment, we obtained a case in which a driver trusted the ACC system too much. Concretely speaking, the driver just watched the ACC system crashing into a stopped car even though the ACC system was designed to ignore such stopped cars. This paper investigates possible contributing factors to the driver' s over-trust in the ACC system. The results suggest that emerging trust in the dimension of performance may cause over-trust in the dimension of method or purpose.

Inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase-3 mitigates the hematopoietic acute radiation syndrome in mice.

PubMed

Lee, Chang-Lung; Lento, William E; Castle, Katherine D; Chao, Nelson J; Kirsch, David G

2014-05-01

Exposure to a nuclear accident or radiological attack can cause death from acute radiation syndrome (ARS), which results from radiation injury to vital organs such as the hematopoietic system. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any medical countermeasures for this specific purpose. With growing concern over nuclear terrorism, there is an urgent need to develop small molecule deliverables that mitigate mortality from ARS. One emerging modulator of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) activity is glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3). The inhibition of GSK-3 has been shown to augment hematopoietic repopulation in mouse models of bone marrow transplantation. In this study, we performed an in vitro screen using irradiated bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) to test the effects of four GSK-3 inhibitors: CHIR99021; 6-Bromoindirubin-3'-oxime (BIO); SB415286; and SB216763. This screen showed that SB216763 significantly increased the frequency of c-Kit(+) Lin(-) Sca1(+) (KLS) cells and hematopoietic colony-forming cells in irradiated BM-MNCs. Importantly, administration of a single dose of SB216763 to C57BL/6J mice by subcutaneous injection 24 h after total-body irradiation significantly improved hematopoietic recovery and mitigated hematopoietic ARS. Collectively, our results demonstrate that the GSK-3 inhibitor SB216763 is an effective medical countermeasure against acute radiation injury of the hematopoietic system.

Policy learning for flood mitigation: a longitudinal assessment of the community rating system in Florida.

PubMed

Brody, Samuel D; Zahran, Sammy; Highfield, Wesley E; Bernhardt, Sarah P; Vedlitz, Arnold

2009-06-01

Floods continue to inflict the most damage upon human communities among all natural hazards in the United States. Because localized flooding tends to be spatially repetitive over time, local decisionmakers often have an opportunity to learn from previous events and make proactive policy adjustments to reduce the adverse effects of a subsequent storm. Despite the importance of understanding the degree to which local jurisdictions learn from flood risks and under what circumstances, little if any empirical, longitudinal research has been conducted along these lines. This article addresses the research gap by examining the change in local flood mitigation policies in Florida from 1999 to 2005. We track 18 different mitigation activities organized into four series of activities under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Community Rating System (CRS) for every local jurisdiction in Florida participating in the FEMA program on a yearly time step. We then identify the major factors contributing to policy changes based on CRS scores over the seven-year study period. Using multivariate statistical models to analyze both natural and social science data, we isolate the effects of several variables categorized into the following groups: hydrologic conditions, flood disaster history, socioeconomic and human capital controls. Results indicate that local jurisdictions do in fact learn from histories of flood risk and this process is expedited under specific conditions.

Autonomous Mission Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frank, Jeremy; Spirkovska, Lilijana; McCann, Rob; Wang, Lui; Pohlkamp, Kara; Morin, Lee

2012-01-01

NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Autonomous Mission Operations (AMO) project conducted an empirical investigation of the impact of time-delay on todays mission operations, and of the effect of processes and mission support tools designed to mitigate time-delay related impacts. Mission operation scenarios were designed for NASA's Deep Space Habitat (DSH), an analog spacecraft habitat, covering a range of activities including nominal objectives, DSH system failures, and crew medical emergencies. The scenarios were simulated at time-delay values representative of Lunar (1.2-5 sec), Near Earth Object (NEO) (50 sec) and Mars (300 sec) missions. Each combination of operational scenario and time-delay was tested in a Baseline configuration, designed to reflect present-day operations of the International Space Station, and a Mitigation configuration in which a variety of software tools, information displays, and crew-ground communications protocols were employed to assist both crews and Flight Control Team (FCT) members with the long-delay conditions. Preliminary findings indicate: 1) Workload of both crew members and FCT members generally increased along with increasing time delay. 2) Advanced procedure execution viewers, caution and warning tools, and communications protocols such as text messaging decreased the workload of both flight controllers and crew, and decreased the difficulty of coordinating activities. 3) Whereas crew workload ratings increased between 50 sec and 300 sec of time-delay in the Baseline configuration, workload ratings decreased (or remained flat) in the Mitigation configuration.

Identification of emergent off-nominal operational requirements during conceptual architecting of the more electric aircraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armstrong, Michael James

Increases in power demands and changes in the design practices of overall equipment manufacturers has led to a new paradigm in vehicle systems definition. The development of unique power systems architectures is of increasing importance to overall platform feasibility and must be pursued early in the aircraft design process. Many vehicle systems architecture trades must be conducted concurrent to platform definition. With an increased complexity introduced during conceptual design, accurate predictions of unit level sizing requirements must be made. Architecture specific emergent requirements must be identified which arise due to the complex integrated effect of unit behaviors. Off-nominal operating scenarios present sizing critical requirements to the aircraft vehicle systems. These requirements are architecture specific and emergent. Standard heuristically defined failure mitigation is sufficient for sizing traditional and evolutionary architectures. However, architecture concepts which vary significantly in terms of structure and composition require that unique failure mitigation strategies be defined for accurate estimations of unit level requirements. Identifying of these off-nominal emergent operational requirements require extensions to traditional safety and reliability tools and the systematic identification of optimal performance degradation strategies. Discrete operational constraints posed by traditional Functional Hazard Assessment (FHA) are replaced by continuous relationships between function loss and operational hazard. These relationships pose the objective function for hazard minimization. Load shedding optimization is performed for all statistically significant failures by varying the allocation of functional capability throughout the vehicle systems architecture. Expressing hazards, and thereby, reliability requirements as continuous relationships with the magnitude and duration of functional failure requires augmentations to the traditional means for system safety assessment (SSA). The traditional two state and discrete system reliability assessment proves insufficient. Reliability is, therefore, handled in an analog fashion: as a function of magnitude of failure and failure duration. A series of metrics are introduced which characterize system performance in terms of analog hazard probabilities. These include analog and cumulative system and functional risk, hazard correlation, and extensions to the traditional component importance metrics. Continuous FHA, load shedding optimization, and analog SSA constitute the SONOMA process (Systematic Off-Nominal Requirements Analysis). Analog system safety metrics inform both architecture optimization (changes in unit level capability and reliability) and architecture augmentation (changes in architecture structure and composition). This process was applied for two vehicle systems concepts (conventional and 'more-electric') in terms of loss/hazard relationships with varying degrees of fidelity. Application of this process shows that the traditional assumptions regarding the structure of the function loss vs. hazard relationship apply undue design bias to functions and components during exploratory design. This bias is illustrated in terms of inaccurate estimations of the system and function level risk and unit level importance. It was also shown that off-nominal emergent requirements must be defined specific to each architecture concept. Quantitative comparisons of architecture specific off-nominal performance were obtained which provide evidence to the need for accurate definition of load shedding strategies during architecture exploratory design. Formally expressing performance degradation strategies in terms of the minimization of a continuous hazard space enhances the system architects ability to accurately predict sizing critical emergent requirements concurrent to architecture definition. Furthermore, the methods and frameworks generated here provide a structured and flexible means for eliciting these architecture specific requirements during the performance of architecture trades.

Cities and “budget-based” management of the energy-water-climate nexus: Case studies in transportation policy, infrastructure systems, and urban utility risk management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sperling, Joshua B.; Ramaswami, Anu

This article reviews city case studies to inform a framework for developing urban infrastructure design standards and policy instruments that together aim to pursue energy efficiency and greenhouse gas mitigation through city carbon budgets and water use efficiency and climate risk adaptation through city water budgets. Here, this article also proposes combining carbon and water budgeting at the city-scale for achieving successful coupled city carbon and water budget (CCCWB) programs. Under a CCCWB program, key actors including local governments, infrastructure designers/operators, and households would be assigned a GHG emissions and water 'budget' and be required by state or federal levelsmore » to keep within this budget through the use of flexibility mechanisms, incentive programs, and sanctions. Multiple incentives and cross-scale governance arrangements would be tied to energy-water systems integration, resource-efficient transportation and infrastructure development, and effective monitoring and management of energy use, emissions, climate risks to, and security of energy-water-transport-food and other critical systems. As a first step to promote strategies for CCCWB development, we systematically review approaches of and shortcomings to existing budget-based programs in the UK and US, and suggest improvements in three areas: measurement, modeling effectiveness of interventions for staying within a budget, and governance. To date, the majority of climate action or sustainability plans by cities, while mentioning climate impacts as a premise for the plan, do not address these impacts in the plan. They focus primarily on GHG mitigation while ignoring resource depletion challenges and energy-climate-water linkages, whereby water supplies can begin to limit energy production and energy shifts to mitigate climate change can limit water availability. Coupled carbon-water budget plans, programs, and policies - described in this study- may address these concerns as well as the emerging trends that will exacerbate these problems - e.g., including population growth, climatic changes, and emerging policy choices that are not coordinated. Cities and 'Budget-Based' Management of the Energy-Water-Climate Nexus: Case Studies to Inform Strategy for Integrated Performance- and Incentive-Based Design and Policy Instruments.« less

Cities and “budget-based” management of the energy-water-climate nexus: Case studies in transportation policy, infrastructure systems, and urban utility risk management

DOE PAGES

Sperling, Joshua B.; Ramaswami, Anu

2017-11-03

This article reviews city case studies to inform a framework for developing urban infrastructure design standards and policy instruments that together aim to pursue energy efficiency and greenhouse gas mitigation through city carbon budgets and water use efficiency and climate risk adaptation through city water budgets. Here, this article also proposes combining carbon and water budgeting at the city-scale for achieving successful coupled city carbon and water budget (CCCWB) programs. Under a CCCWB program, key actors including local governments, infrastructure designers/operators, and households would be assigned a GHG emissions and water 'budget' and be required by state or federal levelsmore » to keep within this budget through the use of flexibility mechanisms, incentive programs, and sanctions. Multiple incentives and cross-scale governance arrangements would be tied to energy-water systems integration, resource-efficient transportation and infrastructure development, and effective monitoring and management of energy use, emissions, climate risks to, and security of energy-water-transport-food and other critical systems. As a first step to promote strategies for CCCWB development, we systematically review approaches of and shortcomings to existing budget-based programs in the UK and US, and suggest improvements in three areas: measurement, modeling effectiveness of interventions for staying within a budget, and governance. To date, the majority of climate action or sustainability plans by cities, while mentioning climate impacts as a premise for the plan, do not address these impacts in the plan. They focus primarily on GHG mitigation while ignoring resource depletion challenges and energy-climate-water linkages, whereby water supplies can begin to limit energy production and energy shifts to mitigate climate change can limit water availability. Coupled carbon-water budget plans, programs, and policies - described in this study- may address these concerns as well as the emerging trends that will exacerbate these problems - e.g., including population growth, climatic changes, and emerging policy choices that are not coordinated. Cities and 'Budget-Based' Management of the Energy-Water-Climate Nexus: Case Studies to Inform Strategy for Integrated Performance- and Incentive-Based Design and Policy Instruments.« less

Contrasting models of driver behaviour in emergencies using retrospective verbalisations and network analysis.

PubMed

Banks, Victoria A; Stanton, Neville A

2015-01-01

Automated assistance in driving emergencies aims to improve the safety of our roads by avoiding or mitigating the effects of accidents. However, the behavioural implications of such systems remain unknown. This paper introduces the driver decision-making in emergencies (DDMiEs) framework to investigate how the level and type of automation may affect driver decision-making and subsequent responses to critical braking events using network analysis to interrogate retrospective verbalisations. Four DDMiE models were constructed to represent different levels of automation within the driving task and its effects on driver decision-making. Findings suggest that whilst automation does not alter the decision-making pathway (e.g. the processes between hazard detection and response remain similar), it does appear to significantly weaken the links between information-processing nodes. This reflects an unintended yet emergent property within the task network that could mean that we may not be improving safety in the way we expect. This paper contrasts models of driver decision-making in emergencies at varying levels of automation using the Southampton University Driving Simulator. Network analysis of retrospective verbalisations indicates that increasing the level of automation in driving emergencies weakens the link between information-processing nodes essential for effective decision-making.

Comprehensive mitigation framework for concurrent application of multiple clinical practice guidelines.

PubMed

Wilk, Szymon; Michalowski, Martin; Michalowski, Wojtek; Rosu, Daniela; Carrier, Marc; Kezadri-Hamiaz, Mounira

2017-02-01

In this work we propose a comprehensive framework based on first-order logic (FOL) for mitigating (identifying and addressing) interactions between multiple clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) applied to a multi-morbid patient while also considering patient preferences related to the prescribed treatment. With this framework we respond to two fundamental challenges associated with clinical decision support: (1) concurrent application of multiple CPGs and (2) incorporation of patient preferences into the decision making process. We significantly expand our earlier research by (1) proposing a revised and improved mitigation-oriented representation of CPGs and secondary medical knowledge for addressing adverse interactions and incorporating patient preferences and (2) introducing a new mitigation algorithm. Specifically, actionable graphs representing CPGs allow for parallel and temporal activities (decisions and actions). Revision operators representing secondary medical knowledge support temporal interactions and complex revisions across multiple actionable graphs. The mitigation algorithm uses the actionable graphs, revision operators and available (and possibly incomplete) patient information represented in FOL. It relies on a depth-first search strategy to find a valid sequence of revisions and uses theorem proving and model finding techniques to identify applicable revision operators and to establish a management scenario for a given patient if one exists. The management scenario defines a safe (interaction-free) and preferred set of activities together with possible patient states. We illustrate the use of our framework with a clinical case study describing two patients who suffer from chronic kidney disease, hypertension, and atrial fibrillation, and who are managed according to CPGs for these diseases. While in this paper we are primarily concerned with the methodological aspects of mitigation, we also briefly discuss a high-level proof of concept implementation of the proposed framework in the form of a clinical decision support system (CDSS). The proposed mitigation CDSS "insulates" clinicians from the complexities of the FOL representations and provides semantically meaningful summaries of mitigation results. Ultimately we plan to implement the mitigation CDSS within our MET (Mobile Emergency Triage) decision support environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The endocannabinoid system in guarding against fear, anxiety and stress.

PubMed

Lutz, Beat; Marsicano, Giovanni; Maldonado, Rafael; Hillard, Cecilia J

2015-12-01

The endocannabinoid (eCB) system has emerged as a central integrator linking the perception of external and internal stimuli to distinct neurophysiological and behavioural outcomes (such as fear reaction, anxiety and stress-coping), thus allowing an organism to adapt to its changing environment. eCB signalling seems to determine the value of fear-evoking stimuli and to tune appropriate behavioural responses, which are essential for the organism's long-term viability, homeostasis and stress resilience; and dysregulation of eCB signalling can lead to psychiatric disorders. An understanding of the underlying neural cell populations and cellular processes enables the development of therapeutic strategies to mitigate behavioural maladaptation.

The endocannabinoid system in guarding against fear, anxiety and stress

PubMed Central

Lutz, Beat; Marsicano, Giovanni; Maldonado, Rafael; Hillard, Cecilia J.

2018-01-01

The endocannabinoid (eCB) system has emerged as a central integrator linking the perception of external and internal stimuli to distinct neurophysiological and behavioural outcomes (such as fear reaction, anxiety and stress-coping), thus allowing an organism to adapt to its changing environment. eCB signalling seems to determine the value of fear-evoking stimuli and to tune appropriate behavioural responses, which are essential for the organism’s long-term viability, homeostasis and stress resilience; and dysregulation of eCB signalling can lead to psychiatric disorders. An understanding of the underlying neural cell populations and cellular processes enables the development of therapeutic strategies to mitigate behavioural maladaptation. PMID:26585799

Bridging Climate Change Resilience and Mitigation in the Electricity Sector Through Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Emerging Climate Change and Development Topics for Energy Sector Transformation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cox, Sarah L; Hotchkiss, Elizabeth L; Bilello, Daniel E

Reliable, safe, and secure electricity is essential for economic and social development and a necessary input for many sectors of the economy. However, electricity generation and associated processes make up a significant portion of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contributing to climate change. Furthermore, electricity systems are vulnerable to climate change impacts - both short-term events and changes over the longer term. This vulnerability presents both near-term and chronic challenges in providing reliable, affordable, equitable, and sustainable energy services. Within this context, developing countries face a number of challenges in the energy sector, including the need to reliably meet growingmore » electricity demand, lessen dependence on imported fuels, expand energy access, and improve stressed infrastructure for fuel supply and electricity transmission. Energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) technical solutions described in this paper can bridge action across climate change mitigation and resilience through reducing GHG emissions and supporting electric power sector adaptation to increasing climate risk. Integrated planning approaches, also highlighted in this paper, play an integral role in bringing together mitigation and resilience action under broader frameworks. Through supporting EE and RE deployment and integrated planning approaches, unique to specific national and local circumstances, countries can design and implement policies, strategies, and sectoral plans that unite development priorities, climate change mitigation, and resilience.« less

URBAN-NET: A Network-based Infrastructure Monitoring and Analysis System for Emergency Management and Public Safety

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, Sangkeun; Chen, Liangzhe; Duan, Sisi

Abstract Critical Infrastructures (CIs) such as energy, water, and transportation are complex networks that are crucial for sustaining day-to-day commodity flows vital to national security, economic stability, and public safety. The nature of these CIs is such that failures caused by an extreme weather event or a man-made incident can trigger widespread cascading failures, sending ripple effects at regional or even national scales. To minimize such effects, it is critical for emergency responders to identify existing or potential vulnerabilities within CIs during such stressor events in a systematic and quantifiable manner and take appropriate mitigating actions. We present here amore » novel critical infrastructure monitoring and analysis system named URBAN-NET. The system includes a software stack and tools for monitoring CIs, pre-processing data, interconnecting multiple CI datasets as a heterogeneous network, identifying vulnerabilities through graph-based topological analysis, and predicting consequences based on what-if simulations along with visualization. As a proof-of-concept, we present several case studies to show the capabilities of our system. We also discuss remaining challenges and future work.« less

Contaminants of emerging concern: Mass balance and comparison of wastewater effluent and upstream sources in a mixed-use watershed

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Understanding the sources, transport, and spatiotemporal variability of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) is important for understanding risks and developing monitoring and mitigation strategies. This study compared CEC loading and transport from a wastewater treatment plant and upstream areas...

Shorter Versus Longer Shift Durations to Mitigate Fatigue and Fatigue-Related Risks in Emergency Medical Services Personnel and Related Shift Workers: A Systematic Review

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-01-11

Background: This study comprehensively reviewed the literature on the impact of shorter versus longer shifts on critical and important outcomes for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel and related shift worker groups. Methods: Six databases (e....

Effect of Task Load Interventions on Fatigue in Emergency Medical Services Personnel and Other Shift Workers: A Systematic Review

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-01-11

Modifying the task load of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel may mitigate fatigue, sleep quality and fatigue related risks. A review of the literature addressing task load interventions may benefit EMS administrators as they craft policies r...

76 FR 6475 - Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-04

... document and instructions for submitting comments can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docket/review... an emergency response are utilized to mitigate adverse physical and psychological outcomes and...: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docket/review/docket223/ . This guidance does not have the force and effect of...

44 CFR 59.23 - Priorities for the sale of flood insurance under the regular program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... flood insurance under the regular program. 59.23 Section 59.23 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS Eligibility Requirements § 59.23 Priorities for the...

44 CFR 59.23 - Priorities for the sale of flood insurance under the regular program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... flood insurance under the regular program. 59.23 Section 59.23 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS Eligibility Requirements § 59.23 Priorities for the...

44 CFR 66.3 - Establishment of community case file and flood elevation study docket.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... case file and flood elevation study docket. 66.3 Section 66.3 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS § 66.3 Establishment of community case...

44 CFR 66.3 - Establishment of community case file and flood elevation study docket.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... case file and flood elevation study docket. 66.3 Section 66.3 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS § 66.3 Establishment of community case...

44 CFR 59.23 - Priorities for the sale of flood insurance under the regular program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... flood insurance under the regular program. 59.23 Section 59.23 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program GENERAL PROVISIONS Eligibility Requirements § 59.23 Priorities for the...

44 CFR 66.3 - Establishment of community case file and flood elevation study docket.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... case file and flood elevation study docket. 66.3 Section 66.3 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS § 66.3 Establishment of community case...

Reducing commercial fishing deck hazards with engineering solutions for winch design.

PubMed

Lincoln, Jennifer M; Lucas, Devin L; McKibbin, Robert W; Woodward, Chelsea C; Bevan, John E

2008-01-01

The majority (67%) of hospitalized injuries among Alaska commercial fishermen are associated with deck machinery. This paper describes the "Prevention Through Design" process to mitigate one serious machinery entanglement hazard posed by a capstan deck winch. After observing that the capstan winch provides no entanglement protection and the hydraulic controls are usually out of reach of the entangled person, NIOSH personnel met with fishermen and winch manufacturers to discuss various design solutions to mitigate these hazards. An emergency-stop ("e-stop") system was developed that incorporated a momentary contact button that when pushed, switches a safety-relay that de-energizes the solenoid of an electro-hydraulic valve stopping the rotating winch. The vessel owners that had the e-stop installed enthusiastically recommend it to other fishermen. NIOSH entered into a Proprietary Technology Licensing Agreement with a company to develop the system for commercial use. This is an example of a practical engineering control that effectively protects workers from a hazardous piece of equipment by preventing injuries due to entanglement. This solution could reduce these types of debilitating injuries and fatalities in this industry.

Integrating uncertainties for climate change mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogelj, Joeri; McCollum, David; Reisinger, Andy; Meinshausen, Malte; Riahi, Keywan

2013-04-01

The target of keeping global average temperature increase to below 2°C has emerged in the international climate debate more than a decade ago. In response, the scientific community has tried to estimate the costs of reaching such a target through modelling and scenario analysis. Producing such estimates remains a challenge, particularly because of relatively well-known, but ill-quantified uncertainties, and owing to limited integration of scientific knowledge across disciplines. The integrated assessment community, on one side, has extensively assessed the influence of technological and socio-economic uncertainties on low-carbon scenarios and associated costs. The climate modelling community, on the other side, has worked on achieving an increasingly better understanding of the geophysical response of the Earth system to emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). This geophysical response remains a key uncertainty for the cost of mitigation scenarios but has only been integrated with assessments of other uncertainties in a rudimentary manner, i.e., for equilibrium conditions. To bridge this gap between the two research communities, we generate distributions of the costs associated with limiting transient global temperature increase to below specific temperature limits, taking into account uncertainties in multiple dimensions: geophysical, technological, social and political. In other words, uncertainties resulting from our incomplete knowledge about how the climate system precisely reacts to GHG emissions (geophysical uncertainties), about how society will develop (social uncertainties and choices), which technologies will be available (technological uncertainty and choices), when we choose to start acting globally on climate change (political choices), and how much money we are or are not willing to spend to achieve climate change mitigation. We find that political choices that delay mitigation have the largest effect on the cost-risk distribution, followed by geophysical, future energy demand, and mitigation technology uncertainties. This information provides central information for policy making, since it helps to understand the relationship between mitigation costs and their potential to reduce the risk of exceeding 2°C, or other temperature limits like 3°C or 1.5°C, under a wide range of scenarios.

RADON MITIGATION IN SCHOOLS: CASE STUDIES OF RADON MITIGATION SYSTEMS INSTALLED BY EPA IN FOUR MARYLAND SCHOOLS ARE PRESENTED

EPA Science Inventory

The first part of this two-part paper discusses radon entry into schools, radon mitigation approaches for schools, and school characteristics (e.g., heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning -- HVAC-- system design and operation) that influence radon entry and mitigation system ...

Mitigating amphibian chytridiomycosis in nature

USGS Publications Warehouse

Garner, Trenton W. J.; Schmidt, Benedikt R.; Martel, An; Pasmans, Frank; Muths, Erin L.; Cunningham, Andrew A.; Weldon, Che; Fisher, Matthew C.; Bosch, Jaime

2016-01-01

Amphibians across the planet face the threat of population decline and extirpation caused by the disease chytridiomycosis. Despite consensus that the fungal pathogens responsible for the disease are conservation issues, strategies to mitigate their impacts in the natural world are, at best, nascent. Reducing risk associated with the movement of amphibians, non-amphibian vectors and other sources of infection remains the first line of defence and a primary objective when mitigating the threat of disease in wildlife. Amphibian-associated chytridiomycete fungi and chytridiomycosis are already widespread, though, and we therefore focus on discussing options for mitigating the threats once disease emergence has occurred in wild amphibian populations. All strategies have shortcomings that need to be overcome before implementation, including stronger efforts towards understanding and addressing ethical and legal considerations. Even if these issues can be dealt with, all currently available approaches, or those under discussion, are unlikely to yield the desired conservation outcome of disease mitigation. The decision process for establishing mitigation strategies requires integrated thinking that assesses disease mitigation options critically and embeds them within more comprehensive strategies for the conservation of amphibian populations, communities and ecosystems.

Mission Systems Open Architecture Science and Technology (MOAST) program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Littlejohn, Kenneth; Rajabian-Schwart, Vahid; Kovach, Nicholas; Satterthwaite, Charles P.

2017-04-01

The Mission Systems Open Architecture Science and Technology (MOAST) program is an AFRL effort that is developing and demonstrating Open System Architecture (OSA) component prototypes, along with methods and tools, to strategically evolve current OSA standards and technical approaches, promote affordable capability evolution, reduce integration risk, and address emerging challenges [1]. Within the context of open architectures, the program is conducting advanced research and concept development in the following areas: (1) Evolution of standards; (2) Cyber-Resiliency; (3) Emerging Concepts and Technologies; (4) Risk Reduction Studies and Experimentation; and (5) Advanced Technology Demonstrations. Current research includes the development of methods, tools, and techniques to characterize the performance of OMS data interconnection methods for representative mission system applications. Of particular interest are the OMS Critical Abstraction Layer (CAL), the Avionics Service Bus (ASB), and the Bulk Data Transfer interconnects, as well as to develop and demonstrate cybersecurity countermeasures techniques to detect and mitigate cyberattacks against open architecture based mission systems and ensure continued mission operations. Focus is on cybersecurity techniques that augment traditional cybersecurity controls and those currently defined within the Open Mission System and UCI standards. AFRL is also developing code generation tools and simulation tools to support evaluation and experimentation of OSA-compliant implementations.

Robust dynamic mitigation of instabilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kawata, S.; Karino, T.

2015-04-15

A dynamic mitigation mechanism for instability growth was proposed and discussed in the paper [S. Kawata, Phys. Plasmas 19, 024503 (2012)]. In the present paper, the robustness of the dynamic instability mitigation mechanism is discussed further. The results presented here show that the mechanism of the dynamic instability mitigation is rather robust against changes in the phase, the amplitude, and the wavelength of the wobbling perturbation applied. Generally, instability would emerge from the perturbation of the physical quantity. Normally, the perturbation phase is unknown so that the instability growth rate is discussed. However, if the perturbation phase is known, themore » instability growth can be controlled by a superposition of perturbations imposed actively: If the perturbation is induced by, for example, a driving beam axis oscillation or wobbling, the perturbation phase could be controlled, and the instability growth is mitigated by the superposition of the growing perturbations.« less

Safeguarding production agriculture and natural ecosystems against biological terrorism. A U.S. Department of Agriculture emergency response framework.

PubMed

Sequeira, R

1999-01-01

Foreign pest introductions and outbreaks represent threats to agricultural productivity and ecosystems, and, thus, to the health and national security of the United States. It is advisable to identify relevant techniques and bring all appropriate strategies to bear on the problem of controlling accidentally and intentionally introduced pest outbreaks. Recent political shifts indicate that the U.S. may be at increased risk for biological terrorism. The existing emergency-response strategies of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) will evolve to expand activities in coordination with other emergency management agencies. APHIS will evolve its information superstructure to include extensive application of simulation models for forecasting, meteorological databases and analysis, systems analysis, geographic information systems, satellite image analysis, remote sensing, and the training of specialized cadres within the emergency-response framework capable of managing the necessary information processing and analysis. Finally, the threat of key pests ranked according to perceived risk will be assessed with mathematical models and "what-if" scenarios analyzed to determine impact and mitigation practices. An infrastructure will be maintained that periodically surveys ports and inland regions for the presence of exotic pest threats and will identify trend abnormalities. This survey and monitoring effort will include cooperation from industry groups, federal and state organizations, and academic institutions.

Defining Requirements and Applying Information Modeling for Protecting Enterprise Assets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fortier, Stephen C.; Volk, Jennifer H.

The advent of terrorist threats has heightened local, regional, and national governments' interest in emergency response and disaster preparedness. The threat of natural disasters also challenges emergency responders to act swiftly and in a coordinated fashion. When a disaster occurs, an ad hoc coalition of pre-planned groups usually forms to respond to the incident. History has shown that these “system of systems” do not interoperate very well. Communications between fire, police and rescue components either do not work or are inefficient. Government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and private industry use a wide array of software platforms for managing data about emergency conditions, resources and response activities. Most of these are stand-alone systems with very limited capability for data sharing with other agencies or other levels of government. Information technology advances have facilitated the movement towards an integrated and coordinated approach to emergency management. Other communication mechanisms, such as video teleconferencing, digital television and radio broadcasting, are being utilized to combat the challenges of emergency information exchange. Recent disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Indonesia, have illuminated the weaknesses in emergency response. This paper will discuss the need for defining requirements for components of ad hoc coalitions which are formed to respond to disasters. A goal of our effort was to develop a proof of concept that applying information modeling to the business processes used to protect and mitigate potential loss of an enterprise was feasible. These activities would be modeled both pre- and post-incident.

Effect of Fatigue Training on Safety, Fatigue, and Sleep in Emergency Medical Services Personnel and Other Shift Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-01-11

Background: Fatigue training may be an effective way to mitigate fatigue-related risk. We aimed to critically review and synthesize existing literature on the impact of fatigue training on fatigue-related outcomes for Emergency Medical Services (EMS)...

Impact Assessment of GNSS Spoofing Attacks on INS/GNSS Integrated Navigation System.

PubMed

Liu, Yang; Li, Sihai; Fu, Qiangwen; Liu, Zhenbo

2018-05-04

In the face of emerging Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) spoofing attacks, there is a need to give a comprehensive analysis on how the inertial navigation system (INS)/GNSS integrated navigation system responds to different kinds of spoofing attacks. A better understanding of the integrated navigation system’s behavior with spoofed GNSS measurements gives us valuable clues to develop effective spoofing defenses. This paper focuses on an impact assessment of GNSS spoofing attacks on the integrated navigation system Kalman filter’s error covariance, innovation sequence and inertial sensor bias estimation. A simple and straightforward measurement-level trajectory spoofing simulation framework is presented, serving as the basis for an impact assessment of both unsynchronized and synchronized spoofing attacks. Recommendations are given for spoofing detection and mitigation based on our findings in the impact assessment process.

Development of a prototype Typhoon Risk Model over the Korean Peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, K. Y.; Cocke, S.; Shin, D. W.; CHOI, M.; Kwon, J.

2016-12-01

Risk can be defined as probability of a given hazard of a given level causing a particular level of loss of damage (Alexander, 2000). Risk management is important for mitigation and developing plans for emergencies. More effective risk management strategies can help reduce potential losses from natural disasters like typhoon, floods, earthquakes, and so on. We are developing a prototype typhoon risk model to assess the current and potentially future hazard due to typhoons in the Western Pacific. To develop the typhoon risk model, a variety of sources of data over Korea are used such as population, damage to buildings, agriculture, ships, etc. The model is based on proven concepts used in catastrophe models that have been used in the U.S. and other regions of the world. Recently, the sea surface temperatures where typhoons have occurred have tended to increase. According to recent studies of global warming, the intensity of typhoons could increase, and the frequency of typhoons may decrease in the future climate. The prototype risk model can help us determine the change in risk as a consequence of the change in typhoon activity. We focus on Korea and other regions of interest to Korean insurers, re-insurers, and related industries. The model can potentially be coupled to various damage models or emergency management systems for planning and mitigation. In addition, the assessment would be useful for emergency planners, coastal community planners, and private and governmental insurance programs. This work was funded by the Korea Meteorological Administration Research and Development Program under Grant KMIPA2016-8030.

Copayment and recommended strategies to mitigate its impacts on access to emergency medical services under universal health coverage: a case study from Thailand.

PubMed

Suriyawongpaisal, Paibul; Aekplakorn, Wichai; Srithamrongsawat, Samrit; Srithongchai, Chaisit; Prasitsiriphon, Orawan; Tansirisithikul, Rassamee

2016-10-21

Although bodies of evidence on copayment effects on access to care and quality of care in general have not been conclusive, allowing copayment in the case of emergency medical conditions might pose a high risk of delayed treatment leading to avoidable disability or death. Using mixed-methods approach to draw evidence from multiple sources (over 40,000 records of administrative dataset of Thai emergency medical services, in-depth interviews, telephone survey of users and documentary review), we are were able to shed light on the existence of copayment and its related factors in the Thai healthcare system despite the presence of universal health coverage since 2001. The copayment poses a barrier of access to emergency care delivered by private hospitals despite the policy proclaiming free access and payment. The copayment differentially affects beneficiaries of the major 3 public-health insurance schemes hence inducing inequity of access. We have identified 6 drivers of the copayment i.e., 1) perceived under payment, 2) unclear operational definitions of emergency conditions or 3) lack of criteria to justify inter-hospital transfer after the first 72 h of admission, 4) limited understanding by the service users of the policy-directed benefits, 5) weak regulatory mechanism as indicated by lack of information systems to trace private provider's practices, and 6) ineffective arrangements for inter-hospital transfer. With demand-side perspectives, we addressed the reasons for bypassing gatekeepers or assigned local hospitals. These are the perception of inferior quality of care and age-related tendency to use emergency department, which indicate a deficit in the current healthcare systems under universal health coverage. Finally, we have discussed strategies to address these potential drivers of copayment and needs for further studies.

The ITER disruption mitigation trigger: developing its preliminary design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pautasso, G.; de Vries, P. C.; Humphreys, D.; Lehnen, M.; Rapson, C.; Raupp, G.; Snipes, J. A.; Treutterer, W.; Vergara-Fernandez, A.; Zabeo, L.

2018-03-01

A concept for the generation of the trigger for the ITER disruption mitigation system is described in this paper. The issuing of the trigger will be the result of a complex decision process, taken by the plasma control system, or by the central interlock system, determining that the plasma is unavoidably going to disrupt—or has disrupted—and that a fast mitigated shut-down is required. Given the redundancy of the mitigation system, the plasma control system must also formulate an injection scheme and specify when and how the injectors of the mitigation system should be activated. The parameters and the conceptual algorithms required for the configuration and generation of the trigger are discussed.

The role of groundwater governance in emergencies during different phases of natural disasters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vrba, Jaroslav

2016-03-01

The establishment of water governance in emergency situations supports timely and effective reaction with regard to the risk and impact of natural disasters on drinking-water supplies and populations. Under such governance, emergency activities of governmental authorities, rescue and aid teams, water stakeholders, local communities and individuals are coordinated with the objective to prevent and/or mitigate disaster impact on water supplies, to reduce human suffering due to drinking-water failure during and in the post-disaster period, and to manage drinking-water services in emergency situations in an equitable manner. The availability of low-vulnerability groundwater resources that have been proven safe and protected by geological features, and with long residence time, can make water-related relief and rehabilitation activities during and after an emergency more rapid and effective. Such groundwater resources have to be included in water governance and their exploration must be coordinated with overall management of drinking-water services in emergencies. This paper discusses institutional and technical capacities needed for building effective groundwater governance policy and drinking-water risk and demand management in emergencies. Disaster-risk mitigation plans are described, along with relief measures and post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction activities, which support gradual renewal of drinking-water services on the level prior to the disaster. The role of groundwater governance in emergencies differs in individual phases of disaster (preparedness, warning, impact/relief, rehabilitation). Suggested activities and actions associated with these phases are summarized and analysed, and a mode of their implementation is proposed.

Enhanced Component Performance Study. Emergency Diesel Generators 1998–2013

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schroeder, John Alton

2014-11-01

This report presents an enhanced performance evaluation of emergency diesel generators (EDGs) at U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. This report evaluates component performance over time using Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) Consolidated Events Database (ICES) data from 1998 through 2013 and maintenance unavailability (UA) performance data using Mitigating Systems Performance Index (MSPI) Basis Document data from 2002 through 2013. The objective is to present an analysis of factors that could influence the system and component trends in addition to annual performance trends of failure rates and probabilities. The factors analyzed for the EDG component are the differences in failuresmore » between all demands and actual unplanned engineered safety feature (ESF) demands, differences among manufacturers, and differences among EDG ratings. Statistical analyses of these differences are performed and results showing whether pooling is acceptable across these factors. In addition, engineering analyses were performed with respect to time period and failure mode. The factors analyzed are: sub-component, failure cause, detection method, recovery, manufacturer, and EDG rating.« less

Climate-smart soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paustian, Keith; Lehmann, Johannes; Ogle, Stephen; Reay, David; Robertson, G. Philip; Smith, Pete

2016-04-01

Soils are integral to the function of all terrestrial ecosystems and to food and fibre production. An overlooked aspect of soils is their potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Although proven practices exist, the implementation of soil-based greenhouse gas mitigation activities are at an early stage and accurately quantifying emissions and reductions remains a substantial challenge. Emerging research and information technology developments provide the potential for a broader inclusion of soils in greenhouse gas policies. Here we highlight ‘state of the art’ soil greenhouse gas research, summarize mitigation practices and potentials, identify gaps in data and understanding and suggest ways to close such gaps through new research, technology and collaboration.

A synthetic method for atmospheric diffusion simulation and environmental impact assessment of accidental pollution in the chemical industry in a WEBGIS context.

PubMed

Ni, Haochen; Rui, Yikang; Wang, Jiechen; Cheng, Liang

2014-09-05

The chemical industry poses a potential security risk to factory personnel and neighboring residents. In order to mitigate prospective damage, a synthetic method must be developed for an emergency response. With the development of environmental numeric simulation models, model integration methods, and modern information technology, many Decision Support Systems (DSSs) have been established. However, existing systems still have limitations, in terms of synthetic simulation and network interoperation. In order to resolve these limitations, the matured simulation model for chemical accidents was integrated into the WEB Geographic Information System (WEBGIS) platform. The complete workflow of the emergency response, including raw data (meteorology information, and accident information) management, numeric simulation of different kinds of accidents, environmental impact assessments, and representation of the simulation results were achieved. This allowed comprehensive and real-time simulation of acute accidents in the chemical industry. The main contribution of this paper is that an organizational mechanism of the model set, based on the accident type and pollutant substance; a scheduling mechanism for the parallel processing of multi-accident-type, multi-accident-substance, and multi-simulation-model; and finally a presentation method for scalar and vector data on the web browser on the integration of a WEB Geographic Information System (WEBGIS) platform. The outcomes demonstrated that this method could provide effective support for deciding emergency responses of acute chemical accidents.

A Synthetic Method for Atmospheric Diffusion Simulation and Environmental Impact Assessment of Accidental Pollution in the Chemical Industry in a WEBGIS Context

PubMed Central

Ni, Haochen; Rui, Yikang; Wang, Jiechen; Cheng, Liang

2014-01-01

The chemical industry poses a potential security risk to factory personnel and neighboring residents. In order to mitigate prospective damage, a synthetic method must be developed for an emergency response. With the development of environmental numeric simulation models, model integration methods, and modern information technology, many Decision Support Systems (DSSs) have been established. However, existing systems still have limitations, in terms of synthetic simulation and network interoperation. In order to resolve these limitations, the matured simulation model for chemical accidents was integrated into the WEB Geographic Information System (WEBGIS) platform. The complete workflow of the emergency response, including raw data (meteorology information, and accident information) management, numeric simulation of different kinds of accidents, environmental impact assessments, and representation of the simulation results were achieved. This allowed comprehensive and real-time simulation of acute accidents in the chemical industry. The main contribution of this paper is that an organizational mechanism of the model set, based on the accident type and pollutant substance; a scheduling mechanism for the parallel processing of multi-accident-type, multi-accident-substance, and multi-simulation-model; and finally a presentation method for scalar and vector data on the web browser on the integration of a WEB Geographic Information System (WEBGIS) platform. The outcomes demonstrated that this method could provide effective support for deciding emergency responses of acute chemical accidents. PMID:25198686

Biodiversity in models of cyclic dominance is preserved by heterogeneity in site-specific invasion rates.

PubMed

Szolnoki, Attila; Perc, Matjaž

2016-12-05

Global, population-wide oscillations in models of cyclic dominance may result in the collapse of biodiversity due to the accidental extinction of one species in the loop. Previous research has shown that such oscillations can emerge if the interaction network has small-world properties, and more generally, because of long-range interactions among individuals or because of mobility. But although these features are all common in nature, global oscillations are rarely observed in actual biological systems. This begets the question what is the missing ingredient that would prevent local oscillations to synchronize across the population to form global oscillations. Here we show that, although heterogeneous species-specific invasion rates fail to have a noticeable impact on species coexistence, randomness in site-specific invasion rates successfully hinders the emergence of global oscillations and thus preserves biodiversity. Our model takes into account that the environment is often not uniform but rather spatially heterogeneous, which may influence the success of microscopic dynamics locally. This prevents the synchronization of locally emerging oscillations, and ultimately results in a phenomenon where one type of randomness is used to mitigate the adverse effects of other types of randomness in the system.

Biodiversity in models of cyclic dominance is preserved by heterogeneity in site-specific invasion rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szolnoki, Attila; Perc, Matjaž

2016-12-01

Global, population-wide oscillations in models of cyclic dominance may result in the collapse of biodiversity due to the accidental extinction of one species in the loop. Previous research has shown that such oscillations can emerge if the interaction network has small-world properties, and more generally, because of long-range interactions among individuals or because of mobility. But although these features are all common in nature, global oscillations are rarely observed in actual biological systems. This begets the question what is the missing ingredient that would prevent local oscillations to synchronize across the population to form global oscillations. Here we show that, although heterogeneous species-specific invasion rates fail to have a noticeable impact on species coexistence, randomness in site-specific invasion rates successfully hinders the emergence of global oscillations and thus preserves biodiversity. Our model takes into account that the environment is often not uniform but rather spatially heterogeneous, which may influence the success of microscopic dynamics locally. This prevents the synchronization of locally emerging oscillations, and ultimately results in a phenomenon where one type of randomness is used to mitigate the adverse effects of other types of randomness in the system.

The Impact of Global Environmental Changes on Infectious Disease Emergence with a Focus on Risks for Brazil.

PubMed

Nava, Alessandra; Shimabukuro, Juliana Suieko; Chmura, Aleksei A; Luz, Sérgio Luiz Bessa

2017-12-15

Environmental changes have a huge impact on the emergence and reemergence of certain infectious diseases, mostly in countries with high biodiversity and serious unresolved environmental, social, and economic issues. This article summarizes the most important findings with special attention to Brazil and diseases of present public health importance in the country such as Chikungunya, dengue fever, yellow fever, Zika, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, leptospirosis, leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease. An extensive literature review revealed a relationship between infectious diseases outbreaks and climate change events (El Niño, La Niña, heatwaves, droughts, floods, increased temperature, higher rainfall, and others) or environmental changes (habitat fragmentation, deforestation, urbanization, bushmeat consumption, and others). To avoid or control outbreaks, integrated surveillance systems and effective outreach programs are essential. Due to strong global and local influence on emergence of infectious diseases, a more holistic approach is necessary to mitigate or control them in low-income nations.

Mitigation for one & all: An integrated framework for mitigation of development impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tallis, Heather, E-mail: htallis@tnc.org; Kennedy, Christina M., E-mail: ckennedy@tnc.org; Ruckelshaus, Mary

Emerging development policies and lending standards call for consideration of ecosystem services when mitigating impacts from development, yet little guidance exists to inform this process. Here we propose a comprehensive framework for advancing both biodiversity and ecosystem service mitigation. We have clarified a means for choosing representative ecosystem service targets alongside biodiversity targets, identified servicesheds as a useful spatial unit for assessing ecosystem service avoidance, impact, and offset options, and discuss methods for consistent calculation of biodiversity and ecosystem service mitigation ratios. We emphasize the need to move away from area- and habitat-based assessment methods for both biodiversity and ecosystemmore » services towards functional assessments at landscape or seascape scales. Such comprehensive assessments more accurately reflect cumulative impacts and variation in environmental quality, social needs and value preferences. The integrated framework builds on the experience of biodiversity mitigation while addressing the unique opportunities and challenges presented by ecosystem service mitigation. These advances contribute to growing potential for economic development planning and execution that will minimize impacts on nature and maximize human wellbeing. - Highlights: • This is the first framework for biodiversity and ecosystem service mitigation. • Functional, landscape scale assessments are ideal for avoidance and offsets. • Servicesheds define the appropriate spatial extent for ecosystem service mitigation. • Mitigation ratios should be calculated consistently and based on standard factors. • Our framework meets the needs of integrated mitigation assessment requirements.« less

Industrial Accidents Triggered by Natural Hazards: an Emerging Risk Issue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renni, Elisabetta; Krausmann, Elisabeth; Basco, Anna; Salzano, Ernesto; Cozzani, Valerio

2010-05-01

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding or hurricanes have recently and dramatically hit several countries worldwide. Both direct and indirect consequences involved the population, causing on the one hand a high number of fatalities and on the other hand so relevant economical losses that the national gross product may be affected for many years. Loss of critical industrial infrastructures (electricity generation and distribution, gas pipelines, oil refineries, etc.) also occurred, causing further indirect damage to the population. In several cases, accident scenarios with large releases of hazardous materials were triggered by these natural events, causing so-called "Natech events", in which the overall damage resulted from the simultaneous consequences of the natural event and of the release of hazardous substances. Toxic releases, large fires and explosions, as well as possible long-term environmental pollution, economical losses, and overloading of emergency systems were recognised by post-event studies as the main issues of these Natech scenarios. In recent years the increasing frequency and severity of some natural hazards due to climate change has slowly increased the awareness of Natech risk as an emerging risk among the stakeholders. Indeed, the iNTeg-Risk project, co-funded by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Program specifically addresses these scenarios among new technological issues on public safety. The present study, in part carried out within the iNTeg-Risk project, was aimed at the analysis and further development of methods and tools for the assessment and mitigation of Natech accidents. Available tools and knowledge gaps in the assessment of Natech scenarios were highlighted. The analysis mainly addressed the potential impact of flood, lightning and earthquake events on industrial installations where hazardous substances are present. Preliminary screening methodologies and more detailed methods based on quantitative risk analysis were developed. Strategies based on the use of multiple information layers aiming at the identification of mitigation and early warning systems were also explored. A case-study in the Emilia-Romagna region is presented.

California Earthquake Clearinghouse Crisis Information-Sharing Strategy in Support of Situational Awareness, Understanding Interdependencies of Critical Infrastructure, Regional Resilience, Preparedness, Risk Assessment/mitigation, Decision-Making and Everyday Operational Needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosinski, A.; Morentz, J.; Beilin, P.

2017-12-01

The principal function of the California Earthquake Clearinghouse is to provide State and Federal disaster response managers, and the scientific and engineering communities, with prompt information on ground failure, structural damage, and other consequences from significant seismic events such as earthquakes and tsunamis. The overarching problem highlighted in discussions with Clearinghouse partners is the confusion and frustration of many of the Operational Area representatives, and some regional utilities throughout the state on what software applications they should be using and maintaining to meet State, Federal, and Local, requirements, and for what purposes, and how to deal with the limitations of these applications. This problem is getting in the way of making meaningful progress on developing multi-application interoperability and the necessary supporting cross-sector information-sharing procedures and dialogue on essential common operational information that entities need to share for different all hazards missions and related operational activities associated with continuity, security, and resilience. The XchangeCore based system the Clearinghouse is evolving helps deal with this problem, and does not compound it by introducing yet another end-user application; there is no end-user interface with which one views XchangeCore, all viewing of data provided through XchangeCore occurs in and on existing, third-party operational applications. The Clearinghouse efforts with XchangeCore are compatible with FEMA, which is currently using XchangeCore-provided data for regional and National Business Emergency Operations Center (source of business information sharing during emergencies) response. Also important, and should be emphasized, is that information-sharing is not just for response, but for preparedness, risk assessment/mitigation decision-making, and everyday operational needs for situational awareness. In other words, the benefits of the Clearinghouse information sharing efforts transcend emergency response. The Clearinghouse is in the process of developing an Information-Sharing System Guide and CONOPS/ templates, that should be aimed a multi-stakeholder, non-technical audience.

76 FR 68325 - Changes in Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-04

... Black Mountain News. Montreat, 96 Rainbow Terrace, Montreat, NC 28757. Oklahoma: Cleveland (FEMA Docket.... Knight, Deputy Associate Administrator for Mitigation, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency...

Water Resilience

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Drinking Water and Wastewater Resiliency site provides tools and resources for drinking water and wastewater utilities in the full spectrum of emergency management which includes prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

Code Red: The Essential Yet Neglected Role of Emergency Care in Health Law Reform.

PubMed

Ossei-Owusu, Shaun

2017-11-01

The United States' health care system is mired in uncertainty. Public opinion on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA") is undeniably mixed and politicized. The individual mandate, tax subsidies, and Medicaid expansion dominate the discussion. This Article argues that the ACA and reform discourse have given short shrift to a more static problem: the law of emergency care. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 ("EMTALA") requires most hospitals to screen patients for emergency medical conditions and provide stabilizing treatment regardless of patients' insurance status or ability to pay. Remarkably, this law strengthened the health safety net in a country that has no universal health care. But it is an unfunded mandate that responded to the problem of emergency care in a flawed fashion and contributed to the supposed "free rider" problem that the ACA attempted to cure. But the ACA has also not been effective at addressing the issue of emergency care. The ACA's architects reduced funding for hospitals that serve a disproportionate percentage of the medically indigent but did not anticipate the Supreme Court's ruling in NFIB v. Sebelius, which made Medicaid expansion optional. Public and non-profit hospitals now face a scenario of less funding and potentially higher emergency room utilization due to continued uninsurance or underinsurance. Alternatives to the ACA have been insufficiently attentive to the importance of emergency care in our health system. This Article contends that any proposal that does not seriously consider EMTALA is incomplete and bound to produce some of the same problems that have dogged the American health care system for the past few decades. Moreover, the Article shows how notions of race, citizenship, and deservingness have filtered into this health care trajectory, and in the context of reform, have the potential to exacerbate existing health inequality. The paper concludes with normative suggestions on how to the mitigate EMTALA's problems in ways that might improve population health.

Hospital all-risk emergency preparedness in Ghana.

PubMed

Norman, I D; Aikins, M; Binka, F N; Nyarko, K M

2012-03-01

This paper assessed the emergency preparedness programs of health facilities for all-risks but focused on Road Traffic Accidents, (RTA) resulting in surge demand. It adopted W. H. O checklist covering hospital preparedness, equipment, manpower and surge capacity planning as best practices for the mitigation of public health emergencies. This is a cross-sectional study of purposively selected health facilities. The method used consisted of site visit, questionnaire survey, literature and internet review. The W. H. O. standard for emergency preparedness of health facilities was used to evaluate and assess the nation's hospitals surge capacity programs. The study was conducted between March-June, 2010. A total of 22 district and regional health facilities including teaching hospitals participated in the study. All 10 regions of the country were covered. These were: (1) many of the nation's hospitals were not prepared for large RTA's resulting in surge demands, and did not possess general emergency preparedness programs. (2) The hospitals' respective abilities to handle large scale RTA's were compromised by the lack of competent medical and allied health personnel and adequate supplies. The inadequacies of the hospital system in responding to emergencies raise serious public health concerns. The biggest challenge facing the hospitals in their emergency intervention is the lack of pre-emergency and emergency preparedness plans as well as the coordination of the hospitals response mechanisms. The paper ended with recommendations on how the nation's hospitals and their supervisory agencies could improve emergency preparedness.

The Potential for Development of a Clearinghouse for Emergency Information in the Public Library.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magrath, Lynn L.; Dowlin, Kenneth E.

1987-01-01

Presents the role of the Pikes Peak Library District's services in the creation and dissemination of an online clearinghouse in all four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Seven agencies and organizations involved in the network of community information that has been created are briefly described.…

Effects of fire and emergency seeding on hillslope erosion in southern California chaparral

Treesearch

Pete Wohlgemuth; Jan Beyers; C.D. Wakeman; S.G. Conard

2002-01-01

Catastrophic wildfires can set the stage for massive postfire erosion and sedimentation in southern California chaparral ecosystems with the onset of heavy winter rainstorms. As a mitigation measure, land managers have typically used grass seeding as a standard emergency rehabilitation technique. However, the effectiveness of grass seeding as a watershed protection...

Safety Planning Intervention: A Brief Intervention to Mitigate Suicide Risk

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stanley, Barbara; Brown, Gregory K.

2012-01-01

The usual care for suicidal patients who are seen in the emergency department (ED) and other emergency settings is to assess level of risk and refer to the appropriate level of care. Brief psychosocial interventions such as those administered to promote lower alcohol intake or to reduce domestic violence in the ED are not typically employed for…

44 CFR 63.3 - Requirement to be covered by a contract for flood insurance by June 1, 1988.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... contract for flood insurance by June 1, 1988. 63.3 Section 63.3 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program IMPLEMENTATION OF SECTION 1306(c) OF THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE ACT OF 1968 General § 63...

Toward a whole-landscape approach for sustainable land use in the tropics.

PubMed

DeFries, R; Rosenzweig, C

2010-11-16

Increasing food production and mitigating climate change are two primary but seemingly contradictory objectives for tropical landscapes. This special feature examines synergies and trade-offs among these objectives. Four themes emerge from the papers: the important roles of both forest and agriculture sectors for climate mitigation in tropical countries; the minor contribution from deforestation-related agricultural expansion to overall food production at global and continental scales; the opportunities for synergies between improved food production and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through diversion of agricultural expansion to already-cleared lands, improved soil, crop, and livestock management, and agroforestry; and the need for targeted policy and management interventions to make these synergistic opportunities a reality. We conclude that agricultural intensification is a key factor to meet dual objectives of food production and climate mitigation, but there is no single panacea for balancing these objectives in all tropical landscapes. Place-specific strategies for sustainable land use emerge from assessments of current land use, demographics, and other biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics, using a whole-landscape, multisector perspective.

Hydrocomplexity: Addressing water security and emergent environmental risks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Praveen

2015-07-01

Water security and emergent environmental risks are among the most significant societal concerns. They are highly interlinked to other global risks such as those related to climate, human health, food, human migration, biodiversity loss, urban sustainability, etc. Emergent risks result from the confluence of unanticipated interactions from evolving interdependencies between complex systems, such as those embedded in the water cycle. They are associated with the novelty of dynamical possibilities that have significant potential consequences to human and ecological systems, and not with probabilities based on historical precedence. To ensure water security we need to be able to anticipate the likelihood of risk possibilities as they present the prospect of the most impact through cascade of vulnerabilities. They arise due to a confluence of nonstationary drivers that include growing population, climate change, demographic shifts, urban growth, and economic expansion, among others, which create novel interdependencies leading to a potential of cascading network effects. Hydrocomplexity aims to address water security and emergent risks through the development of science, methods, and practices with the potential to foster a "Blue Revolution" akin to the Green revolution for food security. It blends both hard infrastructure based solution with soft knowledge driven solutions to increase the range of planning and design, management, mitigation and adaptation strategies. It provides a conceptual and synthetic framework to enable us to integrate discovery science and engineering, observational and information science, computational and communication systems, and social and institutional approaches to address consequential water and environmental challenges.

Novel Regenerative Peptide TP508 Mitigates Radiation-Induced Gastrointestinal Damage By Activating Stem Cells and Preserving Crypt Integrity

PubMed Central

Kantara, Carla; Moya, Stephanie M.; Houchen, Courtney W.; Umar, Shahid; Ullrich, Robert L.; Singh, Pomila; Carney, Darrell H.

2015-01-01

In recent years, increasing threats of radiation exposure and nuclear disasters have become a significant concern for the United States and countries worldwide. Exposure to high doses of radiation triggers a number of potentially lethal effects. Among the most severe is the gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity syndrome caused by the destruction of the intestinal barrier, resulting in bacterial translocation, systemic bacteremia, sepsis and death. The lack of effective radioprotective agents capable of mitigating radiation-induced damage has prompted a search for novel countermeasures that can mitigate the effects of radiation post-exposure, accelerate tissue repair in radiation-exposed individuals, and prevent mortality. We report that a single injection of regenerative peptide TP508 (rusalatide acetate, Chrysalin®) 24h after lethal radiation exposure (9Gy, LD100/15) appears to significantly increase survival and delay mortality by mitigating radiation-induced intestinal and colonic toxicity. TP508 treatment post-exposure prevents the disintegration of gastrointestinal crypts, stimulates the expression of adherens junction protein E-cadherin, activates crypt cell proliferation, and decreases apoptosis. TP508 post-exposure treatment also up-regulates the expression of DCLK1 and LGR5 markers of stem cells that have been shown to be responsible for maintaining and regenerating intestinal crypts. Thus, TP508 appears to mitigate the effects of GI toxicity by activating radioresistant stem cells and increasing the stemness potential of crypts to maintain and restore intestinal integrity. These results suggest that TP508 may be an effective emergency nuclear countermeasure that could be delivered within 24h post-exposure to increase survival and delay mortality, giving victims time to reach clinical sites for advanced medical treatment. PMID:26280221

Engaging teachers, interpreters and emergency management educators in disaster preparedness and EarthScope science through joint professional development workshops (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pratt-Sitaula, B. A.; Lillie, R. J.; Butler, R. F.; Hunter, N.; Magura, B.; Groom, R.; Hedeen, C. D.; Johnson, J. A.; Ault, C.; Olds, S. E.

2013-12-01

The same geological forces that form the spectacular beaches and headlands of the Pacific Northwest also threaten lives and infrastructure with earthquakes and tsunamis. A new project called the Cascadia EarthScope, Earthquake, and Tsunami Education Program (CEETEP), is helping to mitigate the effects of these potential disasters through collaboration building and professional development for K-12 teachers, park and museum interpreters, and emergency management outreach educators in communities along the Oregon and Washington coast. Tens of thousands of Oregon and Washington residents live within severe earthquake-shaking and tsunami-inundation zones, and millions of tourists visit state and federal parks in these same areas each year. Teachers in the K-12 school systems convey some basics about geological hazards to their students, and park rangers and museum educators likewise engage visitors at their sites. Emergency management educators make regular presentations to local residents about disaster preparedness. CEETEP is strengthening these efforts by providing community-based workshops that bring together all of these professionals to review the basic science of earthquakes and tsunamis, learn about EarthScope and other research efforts that monitor the dynamic Earth in the region, and develop ways to collectively engage students and the general public on the mitigation of coastal geologic hazards. As part of a nationwide effort, the NSF EarthScope Program has been deploying hundreds of seismic, GPS, and other geophysical instruments to measure movement of the Earth's crust and detect earthquakes along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. These instruments provide detail for ongoing research showing that coastal regions are storing energy that will be released in the next great Cascadia earthquake, with the resulting tsunami arriving onshore in 30 minutes or less. CEETEP is helping to convey these cutting-edge findings to coastal educators and fulfill EarthScope's intended broader impact of contributing 'to the mitigation of risks from geological hazards ... and the public's understanding of the dynamic Earth.' Preliminary results from CEETEP's 2013 August and October workshops will be presented.

Intelligent Pilot Aids for Flight Re-Planning in Emergencies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pritchett, Amy R.

2002-01-01

Experimental studies were conducted with pilots to investigate the attributes of automation that would be appropriate for aiding pilots in emergencies. The specific focus of this year was on methods of mitigating automation brittleness. Brittleness occurs when the automatic system is used in circumstances it was not designed for, causing it to choose an incorrect action or make an inaccurate decision for the situation. Brittleness is impossible to avoid since it is impossible to predict every potential situation the automatic system will be exposed to over its life. However, operators are always ultimately responsible for the actions and decisions of the automation they are monitoring or using, which means they must evaluate the automation's decisions and actions for accuracy. As has been pointed out, this is a difficult thing for human operators to do. There have been various suggestions as to how to aid operators with this evaluation. In the study described in this report we studied how presentation of contextual information about an automatic system's decision might impact the ability of the human operators to evaluate that decision. This study focused on the planning of emergency descents. Fortunately, emergencies (e.g., mechanical or electrical malfunction, on-board fire, and medical emergency) happen quite rarely. However, they can be catastrophic when they do. For all predictable or conceivable emergencies, pilots have emergency procedures that they are trained on, but those procedures often end with 'determine suitable airport and land as quickly as possible.' Planning an emergency descent to an unplanned airport is a difficult task, particularly under the time pressures of an emergency. Automatic decision aids could be very efficient at the task of determining an appropriate airport and calculating an optimal trajectory to that airport. This information could be conveyed to the pilot through an emergency descent procedure listing all of the actions necessary to safely land the plane. However, there is still the potential problem of brittleness. This study examined the impact of contextual information in presentations of emergency descent procedures to see if they might impact the pilot's evaluation of the feasibility of the presented procedure. The study and its results are described in detail.

Use of Space Technology in Flood Mitigation (Western Province, Zambia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mulando, A.

2001-05-01

Disasters, by definition are events that appear suddenly and with little warning. They are usually short lived, with extreme events bringing death, injury and destruction of buildings and communications. Their aftermath can be as damaging as their physical effects through destruction of sanitation and water supplies, destruction of housing and breakdown of transport for food, temporary shelter and emergency services. Since floods are one of the natural disasters which endanger both life and property, it becomes vital to know its extents and where the hazards exists. Flood disasters manifest natural processes on a larger scale and information provided by Remote Sensing is a most appropriate input to analysis of actual events and investigations of potential risks. An analytical and qualitative image processing and interpretation of Remotely Sensed data as well as other data such as rainfall, population, settlements not to mention but a few should be used to derive good mitigation strategies. Since mitigation is the cornerstone of emergency management, it therefore becomes a sustained action that will reduce or eliminate long term risks to people and property from natural hazards such as floods and their effects. This will definitely involve keeping of homes and other sensitive structures away from flood plains. Promotion of sound land use planning based on this known hazard, "FLOODS" is one such form of mitigation that can be applied in flood affected areas within flood plain. Therefore future mitigation technologies and procedures should increasingly be based on the use of flood extent information provided by Remote Sensing Satellites like the NOAA AVHRR as well as information on the designated flood hazard and risk areas.

Large Ensemble Analytic Framework for Consequence-Driven Discovery of Climate Change Scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamontagne, Jonathan R.; Reed, Patrick M.; Link, Robert; Calvin, Katherine V.; Clarke, Leon E.; Edmonds, James A.

2018-03-01

An analytic scenario generation framework is developed based on the idea that the same climate outcome can result from very different socioeconomic and policy drivers. The framework builds on the Scenario Matrix Framework's abstraction of "challenges to mitigation" and "challenges to adaptation" to facilitate the flexible discovery of diverse and consequential scenarios. We combine visual and statistical techniques for interrogating a large factorial data set of 33,750 scenarios generated using the Global Change Assessment Model. We demonstrate how the analytic framework can aid in identifying which scenario assumptions are most tied to user-specified measures for policy relevant outcomes of interest, specifically for our example high or low mitigation costs. We show that the current approach for selecting reference scenarios can miss policy relevant scenario narratives that often emerge as hybrids of optimistic and pessimistic scenario assumptions. We also show that the same scenario assumption can be associated with both high and low mitigation costs depending on the climate outcome of interest and the mitigation policy context. In the illustrative example, we show how agricultural productivity, population growth, and economic growth are most predictive of the level of mitigation costs. Formulating policy relevant scenarios of deeply and broadly uncertain futures benefits from large ensemble-based exploration of quantitative measures of consequences. To this end, we have contributed a large database of climate change futures that can support "bottom-up" scenario generation techniques that capture a broader array of consequences than those that emerge from limited sampling of a few reference scenarios.

Feed‐backs among inbreeding, inbreeding depression in sperm traits, and sperm competition can drive evolution of costly polyandry

PubMed Central

Bocedi, Greta; Reid, Jane M.

2017-01-01

Abstract Ongoing ambitions are to understand the evolution of costly polyandry and its consequences for species ecology and evolution. Emerging patterns could stem from feed‐back dynamics between the evolving mating system and its genetic environment, defined by interactions among kin including inbreeding. However, such feed‐backs are rarely considered in nonselfing systems. We use a genetically explicit model to demonstrate a mechanism by which inbreeding depression can select for polyandry to mitigate the negative consequences of mating with inbred males, rather than to avoid inbreeding, and to elucidate underlying feed‐backs. Specifically, given inbreeding depression in sperm traits, costly polyandry evolved to ensure female fertility, without requiring explicit inbreeding avoidance. Resulting sperm competition caused evolution of sperm traits and further mitigated the negative effect of inbreeding depression on female fertility. The evolving mating system fed back to decrease population‐wide homozygosity, and hence inbreeding. However, the net overall decrease was small due to compound effects on the variances in sex‐specific reproductive success and paternity skew. Purging of deleterious mutations did not eliminate inbreeding depression in sperm traits or hence selection for polyandry. Overall, our model illustrates that polyandry evolution, both directly and through sperm competition, might facilitate evolutionary rescue for populations experiencing sudden increases in inbreeding. PMID:28895138

High Resolution Sensing and Control of Urban Water Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartos, M. D.; Wong, B. P.; Kerkez, B.

2016-12-01

We present a framework to enable high-resolution sensing, modeling, and control of urban watersheds using (i) a distributed sensor network based on low-cost cellular-enabled motes, (ii) hydraulic models powered by a cloud computing infrastructure, and (iii) automated actuation valves that allow infrastructure to be controlled in real time. This platform initiates two major advances. First, we achieve a high density of measurements in urban environments, with an anticipated 40+ sensors over each urban area of interest. In addition to new measurements, we also illustrate the design and evaluation of a "smart" control system for real-world hydraulic networks. This control system improves water quality and mitigates flooding by using real-time hydraulic models to adaptively control releases from retention basins. We evaluate the potential of this platform through two ongoing deployments: (i) a flood monitoring network in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area that detects and anticipates floods at the level of individual roadways, and (ii) a real-time hydraulic control system in the city of Ann Arbor, MI—soon to be one of the most densely instrumented urban watersheds in the United States. Through these applications, we demonstrate that distributed sensing and control of water infrastructure can improve flash flood predictions, emergency response, and stormwater contaminant mitigation.

For people and planet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2017-07-01

The emerging field of geohealth links human well-being and ecosystem health. A deeper understanding of these linkages can help society mitigate the health costs of economic growth before they become crises.

A Nuclear Renaissance: The Role of Nuclear Power in Mitigating Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winslow, Anne

2011-06-01

The U. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change calls for the stabilization of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at double the preindustrial atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. To achieve this goal, carbon emissions in 2050 must not exceed their current level, despite predictions of a dramatic increase in global electricity demand. The need to reduce GHG emissions and simultaneously provide for additional electricity demand has led to a renewed interest in the expansion of alternatives to fossil fuels—particularly renewable energy and nuclear power. As renewable energy sources are often constrained by the intermittency of natural energy forms, scale-ability concerns, cost and environmental barriers, many governments and even prominent environmentalist turn to nuclear energy as a source of clean, reliable base-load electricity. Described by some as a "nuclear renaissance", this trend of embracing nuclear power as a tool to mitigate climate change will dramatically influence the feasibility of emerging nuclear programs around the world.

A Nuclear Renaissance: The Role of Nuclear Power in Mitigating Climate Change

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Winslow, Anne

2011-06-28

The U. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change calls for the stabilization of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at double the preindustrial atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. To achieve this goal, carbon emissions in 2050 must not exceed their current level, despite predictions of a dramatic increase in global electricity demand. The need to reduce GHG emissions and simultaneously provide for additional electricity demand has led to a renewed interest in the expansion of alternatives to fossil fuels--particularly renewable energy and nuclear power. As renewable energy sources are often constrained by the intermittencymore » of natural energy forms, scale-ability concerns, cost and environmental barriers, many governments and even prominent environmentalist turn to nuclear energy as a source of clean, reliable base-load electricity. Described by some as a ''nuclear renaissance'', this trend of embracing nuclear power as a tool to mitigate climate change will dramatically influence the feasibility of emerging nuclear programs around the world.« less

Impacts of an Ammonia Leak on the Cabin Atmosphere of the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duchesne, Stephanie M.; Sweterlitsch, Jeff J.; Son, Chang H.; Perry, Jay L.

2011-01-01

Toxic chemical release into the cabin atmosphere is one of the three major emergency scenarios identified on the International Space Station (ISS). The release of anhydrous ammonia, the coolant used in the U.S. On-orbit Segment (USOS) External Active Thermal Control Subsystem (EATCS), into the ISS cabin atmosphere is one of the most serious toxic chemical release cases identified on board ISS. The USOS Thermal Control System (TCS) includes an Internal Thermal Control Subsystem (ITCS) water loop and an EATCS ammonia loop that transfer heat at the interface heat exchanger (IFHX). Failure modes exist that could cause a breach within the IFHX. This breach would result in high pressure ammonia from the EATCS flowing into the lower pressure ITCS water loop. As the pressure builds in the ITCS loop, it is likely that the gas trap, which has the lowest maximum design pressure within the ITCS, would burst and cause ammonia to enter the ISS atmosphere. It is crucial to first characterize the release of ammonia into the ISS atmosphere in order to develop methods to properly mitigate the environmental risk. This paper will document the methods used to characterize an ammonia leak into the ISS cabin atmosphere. A mathematical model of the leak was first developed in order to define the flow of ammonia into the ISS cabin atmosphere based on a series of IFHX rupture cases. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods were then used to model the dispersion of the ammonia throughout the ISS cabin and determine localized effects and ventilation effects on the dispersion of ammonia. Lastly, the capabilities of the current on-orbit systems to remove ammonia were reviewed and scrubbing rates of the ISS systems were defined based on the ammonia release models. With this full characterization of the release of ammonia from the USOS TCS, an appropriate mitigation strategy that includes crew and system emergency response procedures, personal protection equipment use, and atmosphere monitoring and scrubbing hardware can be established.

Impacts of an Ammonia Leak on the Cabin Atmosphere of the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duchesne, Stephanie M.; Sweterlitsch, Jeffrey J.; Son, Chang H.; Perry Jay L.

2012-01-01

Toxic chemical release into the cabin atmosphere is one of the three major emergency scenarios identified on the International Space Station (ISS). The release of anhydrous ammonia, the coolant used in the U.S. On-orbit Segment (USOS) External Active Thermal Control Subsystem (EATCS), into the ISS cabin atmosphere is one of the most serious toxic chemical release cases identified on board ISS. The USOS Thermal Control System (TCS) includes an Internal Thermal Control Subsystem (ITCS) water loop and an EATCS ammonia loop that transfer heat at the interface heat exchanger (IFHX). Failure modes exist that could cause a breach within the IFHX. This breach would result in high pressure ammonia from the EATCS flowing into the lower pressure ITCS water loop. As the pressure builds in the ITCS loop, it is likely that the gas trap, which has the lowest maximum design pressure within the ITCS, would burst and cause ammonia to enter the ISS atmosphere. It is crucial to first characterize the release of ammonia into the ISS atmosphere in order to develop methods to properly mitigate the environmental risk. This paper will document the methods used to characterize an ammonia leak into the ISS cabin atmosphere. A mathematical model of the leak was first developed in order to define the flow of ammonia into the ISS cabin atmosphere based on a series of IFHX rupture cases. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods were then used to model the dispersion of the ammonia throughout the ISS cabin and determine localized effects and ventilation effects on the dispersion of ammonia. Lastly, the capabilities of the current on-orbit systems to remove ammonia were reviewed and scrubbing rates of the ISS systems were defined based on the ammonia release models. With this full characterization of the release of ammonia from the USOS TCS, an appropriate mitigation strategy that includes crew and system emergency response procedures, personal protection equipment use, and atmosphere monitoring and scrubbing hardware can be established.

RADON MITIGATION IN SCHOOLS: HVAC SYSTEMS IN SCHOOLS TEND TO HAVE A GREATER IMPACT ON RADON LEVELS THAN HVAC SYSTEMS IN HOMES

EPA Science Inventory

The first part of this two-part paper discusses radon entry into schools, radon mitigation approaches for schools, and school characteristics (e.g., heating, ventilation, and air conditioing -- HVAC-- system design and operationg) that influence radon entry and mitigation system ...

Probabilistic eruption forecasting at short and long time scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marzocchi, Warner; Bebbington, Mark S.

2012-10-01

Any effective volcanic risk mitigation strategy requires a scientific assessment of the future evolution of a volcanic system and its eruptive behavior. Some consider the onus should be on volcanologists to provide simple but emphatic deterministic forecasts. This traditional way of thinking, however, does not deal with the implications of inherent uncertainties, both aleatoric and epistemic, that are inevitably present in observations, monitoring data, and interpretation of any natural system. In contrast to deterministic predictions, probabilistic eruption forecasting attempts to quantify these inherent uncertainties utilizing all available information to the extent that it can be relied upon and is informative. As with many other natural hazards, probabilistic eruption forecasting is becoming established as the primary scientific basis for planning rational risk mitigation actions: at short-term (hours to weeks or months), it allows decision-makers to prioritize actions in a crisis; and at long-term (years to decades), it is the basic component for land use and emergency planning. Probabilistic eruption forecasting consists of estimating the probability of an eruption event and where it sits in a complex multidimensional time-space-magnitude framework. In this review, we discuss the key developments and features of models that have been used to address the problem.

Web-Based Geospatial Tools to Address Hazard Mitigation, Natural Resource Management, and Other Societal Issues

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hearn,, Paul P.

2009-01-01

Federal, State, and local government agencies in the United States face a broad range of issues on a daily basis. Among these are natural hazard mitigation, homeland security, emergency response, economic and community development, water supply, and health and safety services. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) helps decision makers address these issues by providing natural hazard assessments, information on energy, mineral, water and biological resources, maps, and other geospatial information. Increasingly, decision makers at all levels are challenged not by the lack of information, but by the absence of effective tools to synthesize the large volume of data available, and to utilize the data to frame policy options in a straightforward and understandable manner. While geographic information system (GIS) technology has been widely applied to this end, systems with the necessary analytical power have been usable only by trained operators. The USGS is addressing the need for more accessible, manageable data tools by developing a suite of Web-based geospatial applications that will incorporate USGS and cooperating partner data into the decision making process for a variety of critical issues. Examples of Web-based geospatial tools being used to address societal issues follow.

IPTV multicast with peer-assisted lossy error control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zhi; Zhu, Xiaoqing; Begen, Ali C.; Girod, Bernd

2010-07-01

Emerging IPTV technology uses source-specific IP multicast to deliver television programs to end-users. To provide reliable IPTV services over the error-prone DSL access networks, a combination of multicast forward error correction (FEC) and unicast retransmissions is employed to mitigate the impulse noises in DSL links. In existing systems, the retransmission function is provided by the Retransmission Servers sitting at the edge of the core network. In this work, we propose an alternative distributed solution where the burden of packet loss repair is partially shifted to the peer IP set-top boxes. Through Peer-Assisted Repair (PAR) protocol, we demonstrate how the packet repairs can be delivered in a timely, reliable and decentralized manner using the combination of server-peer coordination and redundancy of repairs. We also show that this distributed protocol can be seamlessly integrated with an application-layer source-aware error protection mechanism called forward and retransmitted Systematic Lossy Error Protection (SLEP/SLEPr). Simulations show that this joint PARSLEP/ SLEPr framework not only effectively mitigates the bottleneck experienced by the Retransmission Servers, thus greatly enhancing the scalability of the system, but also efficiently improves the resistance to the impulse noise.

Effects of a significant New Madrid Seismic Zone event on oil and natural gas pipelines and their cascading effects to critical infrastructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fields, Damon E.

Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) is a construct that relates preparedness and responsiveness to natural or man-made disasters that involve vulnerable assets deemed essential for the functioning of our economy and society. Infrastructure systems (power grids, bridges, airports, etc.) are vulnerable to disastrous types of events--natural or man-made. Failures of these systems can have devastating effects on communities and entire regions. CIP relates our willingness, ability, and capability to defend, mitigate, and re-constitute those assets that succumb to disasters affecting one or more infrastructure sectors. This qualitative research utilized ethnography and employed interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs) from various fields of study regarding CIP with respect to oil and natural gas pipelines in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The study focused on the research question: What can be done to mitigate vulnerabilities in the oil and natural gas infrastructures, along with the potential cascading effects to interdependent systems, associated with a New Madrid fault event? The researcher also analyzed National Level Exercises (NLE) and real world events, and associated After Action Reports (AAR) and Lessons Learned (LL) in order to place a holistic lens across all infrastructures and their dependencies and interdependencies. Three main themes related to the research question emerged: (a) preparedness, (b) mitigation, and (c) impacts. These themes comprised several dimensions: (a) redundancy, (b) node hardening, (c) education, (d) infrastructure damage, (e) cascading effects, (f) interdependencies, (g) exercises, and (h) earthquake readiness. As themes and dimensions are analyzed, they are considered against findings in AARs and LL from previous real world events and large scale exercise events for validation or rejection.

7 CFR 1410.12 - Emergency Forestry Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., may be considered for priority purposes. These include but are not limited to soil erosion prevention, water quality improvement, wildlife habitat restoration, and mitigation of economic loss. (h) In return...

7 CFR 1410.12 - Emergency Forestry Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

..., may be considered for priority purposes. These include but are not limited to soil erosion prevention, water quality improvement, wildlife habitat restoration, and mitigation of economic loss. (h) In return...

Conduct of Occupational Health During Major Disasters: A Comparison of Literature on Occupational Health Issues in the World Trade Center Terrorist Attack and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident.

PubMed

Toyoda, Hiroyuki; Mori, Koji

2017-01-01

Workers who respond to large-scale disasters can be exposed to health hazards that do not exist in routine work. It is assumed that learning from past cases is effective for preparing for and responding to such problems, but published information is still insufficient. Accordingly, we conducted a literature review about the health issues and occupational health activities at the World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attack and at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident to investigate how occupational health activities during disasters should be conducted. Seven studies about the WTC attack were extracted and categorized into the following topics: "in relation to emergency systems including occupational health management"; "in relation to improvement and prevention of health effects and occupational hygiene"; and "in relation to care systems aimed at mitigating health effects." Studies about the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident have been used in a previous review. We conclude that, to prevent health effects in workers who respond to large-scale disasters, it is necessary to incorporate occupational health regulations into the national response plan, and to develop practical support functions that enable support to continue for an extended period, training systems for workers with opportunities to report accidents, and care systems to mitigate the health effects.

Critical incident reporting in emergency medicine: results of the prehospital reports.

PubMed

Hohenstein, Christian; Hempel, Dorothea; Schultheis, Kerstin; Lotter, Oliver; Fleischmann, Thomas

2014-05-01

Medical errors frequently contribute to morbidity and mortality. Prehospital emergency medicine is prone to incidents that can lead to immediate deadly consequences. Critical incident reporting can identify typical problems and be the basis for structured risk management in order to reduce and mitigate these incidents. We set up a free access internet website for German-speaking countries, with an anonymous reporting system for emergency medical services personnel. After a 7-year study period, an expert team analysed and classified the incidents into staff related, equipment related, organisation and tactics, or other. 845 reports were entered in the study period. Physicians reported 44% of incidents, paramedics 42%. Most patients were in a life-threatening or potentially life-threatening situation (82%), and only 53% of all incidents had no influence on the outcome of the patient. Staff-related problems were responsible for 56% of the incidents, when it came to harm, 78% of these incidents were staff related. Incident reporting in prehospital emergency medicine can identify system weaknesses. Most of the incidents were reported during care of patients in life-threatening conditions with a high impact on patient outcome. Staff-related problems contributed to the most frequent and most severe incidents. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Performance improvement of optical wireless communication through fog with a decision feedback equalizer.

PubMed

Aharonovich, Marius; Arnon, Shlomi

2005-08-01

Optical wireless communication (OWC) systems use the atmosphere as a propagation medium. However, a common problem is that from time to time moderate cloud and fog emerge between the receiver and the transmitter. These adverse weather conditions impose temporal broadening and power loss on the optical signal, which reduces the digital signal-to-noise ratio (DSNR), produces significant intersymbol interference (ISI), and degrades the communication system's bit error rate (BER) and throughput. We propose and investigate the use of a combined adaptive bandwidth mechanism and decision feedback equalizer (DFE) to mitigate these atmospheric multipath effects. Based on theoretical analysis and simulations of DSNR penalties, BER, and optimum system bandwidths, we show that a DFE improves the outdoor OWC system immunity to ISI in foggy weather while maintaining high throughput and desired low BER.

Distance learning education for mitigation/adaptation policy: a case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slini, T.; Giama, E.; Papadopoulou, Ch.-O.

2016-02-01

The efficient training of young environmental scientists has proven to be a challenging goal over the last years, while several dynamic initiatives have been developed aiming to provide complete and consistent education. A successful example is the e-learning course for participants mainly coming from emerging economy countries 'Development of mitigation/adaptation policy portfolios' organised in the frame of the project Promitheas4: Knowledge transfer and research needs for preparing mitigation/adaptation policy portfolios, aiming to provide knowledge transfer, enhance new skills and competencies, using modern didactic approaches and learning technologies. The present paper addresses the experience and the results of these actions, which seem promising and encouraging and were broadly welcomed by the participants.

The natech events during the 17 August 1999 Kocaeli earthquake: aftermath and lessons learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girgin, S.

2011-04-01

Natural-hazard triggered technological accidents (natechs) at industrial facilities have been recognized as an emerging risk. Adequate preparedness, proper emergency planning, and effective response are crucial for the prevention of natechs and mitigation of the consequences. Under the conditions of a natural disaster, the limited resources, the possible unavailability of mitigation measures, and the lack of adequate communication complicate the management of natechs. The analysis of past natechs is crucial for learning lessons and for preventing or preparing for future natechs. The 17 August 1999, Kocaeli earthquake, which was a devastating disaster hitting one of the most industrialized regions of Turkey, offers opportunities in this respect. Among many natechs that occurred due to the earthquake, the massive fire at the TUPRAS Izmit refinery and the acrylonitrile spill at the AKSA acrylic fiber production plant were especially important and highlight problems in the consideration of natechs in emergency planning, response to industrial emergencies during natural hazards, and information to the public during and following the incidents. The analysis of these events shows that even the largest and seemingly well-prepared facilities can be vulnerable to natechs if risks are not considered adequately.

Solving Water Crisis through Understanding of Hydrology and Human Systems: a Possible Target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montanari, A.

2014-12-01

While the majority of the Earth surface is still in pristine conditions, the totality of the hydrological systems that are relevant to humans are human impacted, with the only exception of small headwater catchments. In fact, the limited transferability of water in space and time implies that water withdrawals from natural resources take place where and when water is needed. Therefore, hydrological systems are impacted where and when humans are, thereby causing a direct perturbation of all water bodies that are relevant to society. The current trend of population dynamics and the current status of water systems are such that the above impact will be not sustainable in the near future, therefore causing a water emergency that will be extended to all intensively populated regions of the world, with relevant implications on migration fluxes, political status and social security. Therefore mitigation actions are urgently needed, whose planning needs to be based on improved interpretations of the above impact. Up to recent times, hydrologists mainly concentrated their research on catchments where the human perturbation is limited, to improve our understanding of pristine hydrology. There were good motivations for this focus: given the relevant uncertainty affecting hydrological modeling, and the even greater uncertainty involved in societal modeling, hydrologists made an effort to separate hydrological and human dynamics. Nowadays, the urgency of the above need to mitigate the global water crisis through improved water resources management calls for a research attempt to bridge water and social sciences. The relevant research question is how to build operational models in order to fully account for the interactions and feedbacks between water resources systems and society. Given that uncertainty estimation is necessary for the operational application of model results, one of the crucial issues is how to quantify uncertainty by means of suitable assumptions. This talk will provide an introduction to the problem and a personal perspective to move forward to set up improved operational models to assist societal planning to mitigate the global water crisis.

76 FR 36141 - Minnesota; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-21

... major disaster: Big Stone, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chippewa, Clay, Grant, Lac qui Parle, Le Sueur..., Hazard Mitigation Grant. Dated: June 14, 2011. W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency...

75 FR 23792 - Minnesota; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-04

... Minnesota have been designated as adversely affected by this major disaster: Big Stone, Blue Earth, Brown....039, Hazard Mitigation Grant. W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency. [FR...

Metam Sodium and Metam Potassium Fumigant Safe Handling Guide

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Safety training is required for certified pesticide applicators and handlers to handle soil fumigants. Measures to mitigate exposure include personal protective equipment, air monitoring, respiratory protection, and emergency preparedness.

Environmental Assessment for the NASA First Response Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennedy, Carolyn

2003-01-01

NASA intends to construct a First Response Facility for integrated emergency response and health management. This facility will consolidate the Stennis Space Center fire department, medical clinic, security operations, emergency operations and the energy management and control center. The alternative considered is the "No Action Alternative". The proposed action will correct existing operational weaknesses and enhance capabilities to respond to medical emergencies and mitigate any other possible threats. Environmental impacts include are emissions, wetlands disturbance, solid waste generation, and storm water control.

An overview of a free-market approach to climate change and conservation.

PubMed

Sandor, Richard L; Bettelheim, Eric C; Swingland, Ian R

2002-08-15

This paper describes the convergence of environmental and financial markets, reviews the evolution of market-based environmental programmes as an example of the seven-stage evolutionary process witnessed in a variety of markets and summarizes the emergence of greenhouse-gas-mitigation markets and their potential role in advancing land stewardship, biodiversity and other environmental services. Emissions trading has been developed to meet the demand to reduce pollution while avoiding economic disruption. Consistent with the seven-stage pattern of market evolution, the US programme to reduce the damage from acid rain established a standardized environmental commodity, developed 'evidence of ownership' necessary for financial instruments and provided the infrastructure to efficiently transfer title. The success of the system in reducing pollution at low cost has provided a model for other market-based environmental protection initiatives. The demand for cost-effective action to reduce the threat of climate change has initiated the same evolutionary process for markets to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Many of the land- and forest-management practices that can capture and store atmospheric CO(2) can also provide other environmental benefits, such as biodiversity preservation and enhanced water quality. The presence of a carbon-trading market will introduce a clear financial value for capture and mitigation of CO(2) emissions, thus introducing a new source of funding for land stewardship and forest rehabilitation. The market is now emerging through a variety of 'bottom-up' developments being undertaken through governmental, multilateral, private-sector and non-governmental-organization initiatives. The extension of markets to other emerging environmental issues is now underway, and the linkages between environmental sustainability and capital markets are being more deeply understood. The early evidence indicates that environmental sustainability can be compatible with maximization of shareholder value.

Operational Impacts of Operating Reserve Demand Curves on Production Cost and Reliability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Krad, Ibrahim; Ibanez, Eduardo; Ela, Erik

The electric power industry landscape is continually evolving. As emerging technologies such as wind, solar, electric vehicles, and energy storage systems become more cost-effective and present in the system, traditional power system operating strategies will need to be reevaluated. The presence of wind and solar generation (commonly referred to as variable generation) may result in an increase in the variability and uncertainty of the net load profile. One mechanism to mitigate this is to schedule and dispatch additional operating reserves. These operating reserves aim to ensure that there is enough capacity online in the system to account for the increasedmore » variability and uncertainty occurring at finer temporal resolutions. A new operating reserve strategy, referred to as flexibility reserve, has been introduced in some regions. A similar implementation is explored in this paper, and its implications on power system operations are analyzed.« less

Operational Impacts of Operating Reserve Demand Curves on Production Cost and Reliability: Preprint

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Krad, Ibrahim; Ibanez, Eduardo; Ela, Erik

The electric power industry landscape is continually evolving. As emerging technologies such as wind, solar, electric vehicles, and energy storage systems become more cost-effective and present in the system, traditional power system operating strategies will need to be reevaluated. The presence of wind and solar generation (commonly referred to as variable generation) may result in an increase in the variability and uncertainty of the net load profile. One mechanism to mitigate this is to schedule and dispatch additional operating reserves. These operating reserves aim to ensure that there is enough capacity online in the system to account for the increasedmore » variability and uncertainty occurring at finer temporal resolutions. A new operating reserve strategy, referred to as flexibility reserve, has been introduced in some regions. A similar implementation is explored in this paper, and its implications on power system operations are analyzed.« less

Property Mitigation Assistance Act of 2009

THOMAS, 111th Congress

Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2

2009-02-26

House - 02/27/2009 Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

Decision making for mitigating wildlife diseases: From theory to practice for an emerging fungal pathogen of amphibians

USGS Publications Warehouse

Canessa, Stefano; Bozzutto, Claudio; Grant, Evan H. Campbell; Cruickshank, Sam S.; Fisher, Matthew C.; Koella, Jacob C.; Lotters, Stefan; Martel, An; Pasmans, Frank; Scheele, Ben C.; Spitzen-van der Sluijs, Annemarieke; Steinfartz, Sebastian; Schmidt, Benedikt R.

2018-01-01

Conservation science can be most effective in its decision‐support role when seeking answers to clearly formulated questions of direct management relevance. Emerging wildlife diseases, a driver of global biodiversity loss, illustrate the challenges of performing this role: in spite of considerable research, successful disease mitigation is uncommon. Decision analysis is increasingly advocated to guide mitigation planning, but its application remains rare.Using an integral projection model, we explored potential mitigation actions for avoiding population declines and the ongoing spatial spread of the fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). This fungus has recently caused severe amphibian declines in north‐western Europe and currently threatens Palearctic salamander diversity.Available evidence suggests that a Bsal outbreak in a fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) population will lead to its rapid extirpation. Treatments such as antifungals or probiotics would need to effectively interrupt transmission (reduce probability of infection by nearly 90%) in order to reduce the risk of host extirpation and successfully eradicate the pathogen.Improving the survival of infected hosts is most likely to be detrimental as it increases the potential for pathogen transmission and spread. Active removal of a large proportion of the host population has some potential to locally eradicate Bsal and interrupt its spread, depending on the presence of Bsal reservoirs and on the host's spatial dynamics, which should therefore represent research priorities.Synthesis and applications. Mitigation of Batrachochytrium salamandrivoransepidemics in susceptible host species is highly challenging, requiring effective interruption of transmission and radical removal of host individuals. More generally, our study illustrates the advantages of framing conservation science directly in the management decision context, rather than adapting to it a posteriori.

Predisaster Hazard Mitigation Enhancement Program Act of 2009

THOMAS, 111th Congress

Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2

2009-06-24

House - 06/25/2009 Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

75 FR 66115 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; FEMA...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-27

... Request; FEMA Mitigation Success Story Database AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION... Database. Type of information collection: Revision of a currently approved information collection. [[Page...

Rural Flood Mitigation and Recovery Act of 2010

THOMAS, 111th Congress

Rep. Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie [D-SD-At Large

2010-09-23

House - 09/24/2010 Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

Specialty pharmacies and other restricted drug distribution systems: financial and safety considerations for patients and health-system pharmacists.

PubMed

Kirschenbaum, Bonnie E

2009-12-15

To discuss the role of restricted drug distribution systems in the implementation of risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS), health-system pharmacists' concerns associated with the use of specialty pharmacies and other restricted drug distribution systems, reimbursement policies for high-cost specialty drugs, supply chain models for traditional and specialty drugs, and emerging trends in the management of and reimbursement for specialty pharmaceuticals. Restricted drug distribution systems established by pharmaceutical manufacturers, specialty pharmacies, or other specialty suppliers may be a component of REMS, which are required by the Food and Drug Administration for the management of known or potential serious risks from certain drugs. Concerns of health-system pharmacists using specialty suppliers include access to pharmaceuticals, operational challenges, product integrity, financial implications, continuity of care, and patient safety. An ambulatory care patient taking a specialty drug product from home to a hospital outpatient clinic or inpatient setting for administration, a practice known as "brown bagging," raises concerns about product integrity and institutional liability. An institution's finances, tolerance for liability, and ability to skillfully manage the processes involved often determine its choice between an approach that prohibits brown bagging but is costly and one that permits the practice under certain conditions and is less costly. The recent shift from a traditional supply chain model to a specialty pharmacy supply chain model for high-cost pharmaceuticals has the potential to increase pharmaceutical costs for health systems. A dialogue is needed between health-system pharmacists and group purchasing organizations to address the latter's role in mitigating the financial implications of this change and to help clarify the safety issues. Some health plans have shifted part of the cost of expensive drugs to patients by establishing a fourth tier of drugs with a large copayment based on a substantial percentage of the cost of the drug. The number and cost of specialty drugs are expected to increase in the future. New approaches and reimbursement models are emerging to manage the high cost of new pharmaceuticals. Health-system pharmacists can improve drug safety and manage costs by collaborating with group purchasing organizations, establishing policies for brown bagging, and making efforts to reconcile drug therapy provided in different settings through traditional drug channels and specialty pharmacies or other restricted drug distribution systems.

Emerging Energy-Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Technologies for the Pulp and Paper Industry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kong, Lingbo; Hasanbeigi, Ali; Price, Lynn

2012-11-01

The pulp and paper industry ranks fourth in terms of energy consumption among industries worldwide. Globally, the pulp and paper industry accounted for approximately 5 percent of total world industrial final energy consumption in 2007, and contributed 2 percent of direct carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industry. Worldwide pulp and paper demand and production are projected to increase significantly by 2050, leading to an increase in this industry’s absolute energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Development of new energy-efficiency and GHG mitigation technologies and their deployment in the market will be crucial for the pulp and paper industry’s mid-more » and long-term climate change mitigation strategies. This report describes the industry’s processes and compiles available information on the energy savings, environmental and other benefits, costs, commercialization status, and references for 36 emerging technologies to reduce the industry’s energy use and GHG emissions. Although studies from around the world identify a variety of sector-specific and cross-cutting energy-efficiency technologies that have already been commercialized for the pulp and paper industry, information is scarce and/or scattered regarding emerging or advanced energy-efficiency and low-carbon technologies that are not yet commercialized. The purpose of this report is to provide engineers, researchers, investors, paper companies, policy makers, and other interested parties with easy access to a well-structured resource of information on these technologies.« less

The Toll-Like Receptor 5 Agonist Entolimod Mitigates Lethal Acute Radiation Syndrome in Non-Human Primates.

PubMed

Krivokrysenko, Vadim I; Toshkov, Ilia A; Gleiberman, Anatoli S; Krasnov, Peter; Shyshynova, Inna; Bespalov, Ivan; Maitra, Ratan K; Narizhneva, Natalya V; Singh, Vijay K; Whitnall, Mark H; Purmal, Andrei A; Shakhov, Alexander N; Gudkov, Andrei V; Feinstein, Elena

2015-01-01

There are currently no approved medical radiation countermeasures (MRC) to reduce the lethality of high-dose total body ionizing irradiation expected in nuclear emergencies. An ideal MRC would be effective even when administered well after radiation exposure and would counteract the effects of irradiation on the hematopoietic system and gastrointestinal tract that contribute to its lethality. Entolimod is a Toll-like receptor 5 agonist with demonstrated radioprotective/mitigative activity in rodents and radioprotective activity in non-human primates. Here, we report data from several exploratory studies conducted in lethally irradiated non-human primates (rhesus macaques) treated with a single intramuscular injection of entolimod (in the absence of intensive individualized supportive care) administered in a mitigative regimen, 1-48 hours after irradiation. Following exposure to LD50-70/40 of radiation, injection of efficacious doses of entolimod administered as late as 25 hours thereafter reduced the risk of mortality 2-3-fold, providing a statistically significant (P<0.01) absolute survival advantage of 40-60% compared to vehicle treatment. Similar magnitude of survival improvement was also achieved with drug delivered 48 hours after irradiation. Improved survival was accompanied by predominantly significant (P<0.05) effects of entolimod administration on accelerated morphological recovery of hematopoietic and immune system organs, decreased severity and duration of thrombocytopenia, anemia and neutropenia, and increased clonogenic potential of the bone marrow compared to control irradiated animals. Entolimod treatment also led to reduced apoptosis and accelerated crypt regeneration in the gastrointestinal tract. Together, these data indicate that entolimod is a highly promising potential life-saving treatment for victims of radiation disasters.

RADON MITIGATION IN SCHOOLS: HVAC SYTEMS IN SCHOOLS TEND TO HAVE A GREATER IMPACT ON RADON LEVELS THAN HVAC SYSTEMS IN HOMES

EPA Science Inventory

The first part of this two-part paper discusses radon entry into schools, radon mitigation approaches for schools, and school characteristics (e.g., heating, ventilation, and air conditioing -- HVAC-- system design and operationg) that influence radon entry and mitigation system ...

New insights into flood warning reception and emergency response by affected parties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kreibich, Heidi; Müller, Meike; Schröter, Kai; Thieken, Annegret H.

2017-11-01

Flood damage can be mitigated if the parties at risk are reached by flood warnings and if they know how to react appropriately. To gain more knowledge about warning reception and emergency response of private households and companies, surveys were undertaken after the August 2002 and the June 2013 floods in Germany. Despite pronounced regional differences, the results show a clear overall picture: in 2002, early warnings did not work well; e.g. many households (27 %) and companies (45 %) stated that they had not received any flood warnings. Additionally, the preparedness of private households and companies was low in 2002, mainly due to a lack of flood experience. After the 2002 flood, many initiatives were launched and investments undertaken to improve flood risk management, including early warnings and an emergency response in Germany. In 2013, only a small share of the affected households (5 %) and companies (3 %) were not reached by any warnings. Additionally, private households and companies were better prepared. For instance, the share of companies which have an emergency plan in place has increased from 10 % in 2002 to 34 % in 2013. However, there is still room for improvement, which needs to be triggered mainly by effective risk and emergency communication. The challenge is to continuously maintain and advance an integrated early warning and emergency response system even without the occurrence of extreme floods.

Modelling farm vulnerability to flooding: A step toward vulnerability mitigation policies appraisal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brémond, P.; Abrami, G.; Blanc, C.; Grelot, F.

2009-04-01

Recent catastrophic flood events such as Elbe in 2002 or Rhône in 2003 have shown limits of flood management policies relying on dykes protection: worsening of flood impacts downstream, increased damage by dykes rupture. Those events, among others, contributes to radical changes on the philosophy of flood prevention, with the promotion of new orientations for mitigating flood exposition. Two new trends may have a significant impact on rural areas: floodplain restoration and vulnerability mitigation. The Rhône River program, which is an contract of objectives signed between French Government and local collectivites, is highly illustrative of these new trends and their impact on agricultural sector. In this program, it appears that areas to be concerned by floodplain restoration are agricultural ones, because their supposed vulnerability to flood is expected to be less important to urban areas. As a consequence, agricultural sector is particularly concerned by planned actions on mitigation of assets vulnerability, an important part of the program (financial support of European Union of 7.5 Million euros). Mitigation of agricultural assets vulnerability reveals particularly interesting for two following reasons. Firstly, it is a way to maintain agricultural activities in floodplains yet existing, without promoting flood protection. Secondly, in case of floodplain restoration, vulnerability mitigation is a way for local authorities to compensate over-flooding impacts. In practice, local authorities may financially support farmers for implementing measures to mitigate their farm vulnerability. On the Rhône River, an important work has already been done to identify farm vulnerability to flooding, and propose measures to mitigate it. More than 3 000 farms exposed to flood risk have been identified representing 88 690 ha of agricultural areas which is estimated to generate damage between 400 and 800 Million euros depending on the season of occurrence for a catastrophic flood. In the case of farm activities, vulnerability mitigation consists in implementing measures which can be: physical (equipment or electric power system elevation), organizational (emergency or recovery plan) or financial (insurance). These measures aim at decreasing the total damage incurred by farmers in case of flooding. For instance, if equipment is elevated, it will not suffer direct damage such as degradation. As a consequence, equipment will be available to continue production or recovery tasks, thus, avoiding indirect damage such as delays, indebtedness… The effects of these policies on farms, in particular vulnerability mitigation cannot be appraised using current methodologies mainly because they do not consider farm as a whole and focus on direct damage at the land plot scale (loss of yield). Moreover, since vulnerability mitigation policies are quite recent, few examples of implementation exist and no feedback experience can be processed. Meanwhile, decision makers and financial actors require more justification of the efficiency of public fund by economic appraisal of the projects. On the Rhône River, decision makers asked for an economic evaluation of the program of farm vulnerability mitigation they plan to implement. This implies to identify the effects of the measures to mitigate farm vulnerability, and to classify them by comparing their efficacy (avoided damage) and their cost of implementation. In this presentation, we propose and discuss a conceptual model of vulnerability at the farm scale. The modelling, in Unified Modelling Language, enabled to represent the ties between spatial, organizational and temporal dimensions, which are central to understanding of farm vulnerability and resilience to flooding. Through this modelling, we encompass three goals: To improve the comprehension of farm vulnerability and create a framework that allow discussion with experts of different disciplines as well as with local farmers; To identify data which are needed to implement the model and to collect them, specifically using the focus group method; Based on the conceptual model, to program a mathematical model which will be used to simulate damage (direct and indirect) on farm due to flood. This last objective should enable us to appraise policy to mitigate vulnerability which is planned to be implemented on Rhône River at the individual and regional scale. Finally, we discuss the possibility to use the UML modelling to develop a multi-agent system approach which could be interesting to take into account ties between farmers (solidarity, loan of equipment) or systemic effects due to the damage incurred by economic partners (loss of market share). Keywords vulnerability, UML modelling, farming systems, flood, mitigation policy, economic valuation

A proposed emergency management program for acute care facilities in response to a highly virulent infectious disease.

PubMed

Petinaux, Bruno; Ferguson, Brandy; Walker, Milena; Lee, Yeo-Jin; Little, Gary; Parenti, David; Simon, Gary

2016-01-01

To address the organizational complexities associated with a highly virulent infectious disease (HVID) hazard, such as Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), an acute care facility should institute an emergency management program rooted in the fundamentals of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. This program must address all known facets of the care of a patient with HVID, from unannounced arrival to discharge. The implementation of such a program not only serves to mitigate the risks from an unrecognized exposure but also serves to prepare the organization and its staff to provide for a safe response, and ensure a full recovery. Much of this program is based on education, training, and infection control measures along with resourcing for appropriate personal protective equipment which is instrumental in ensuring an organized and safe response of the acute care facility in the service to the community. This emergency management program approach can serve as a model in the care of not only current HVIDs such as EVD but also future presentations in our healthcare setting.

Use of Artificial Burrows by Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) at the HAMMER Facility on the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alexander, Amanda K.; Sackschewsky, Michael R.; Duberstein, Corey A.

In 2003 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) constructed an Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC) at the Hazardous Material Management and Emergency Response Training and Education Center (HAMMER) in the southern portion of the Hanford Site. Preliminary surveys during 2001 identified an active burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) burrow and three burrowing owls within the proposed development area. Burrowing owls were classified as a federal species of concern, a Washington State ?candidate? species, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife priority species, and a Hanford Site Biological Resources Management Plan Level III resource. Therefore, the mitigation action plan for the projectmore » included the installation of twenty artificial burrows around EVOC in the spring of 2003. The mitigation plan established a success criterion of five percent annual use of the burrows by owls. In July 2005, a field survey of the EVOC burrow complex was conducted to determine use and demography at each site. Burrow locations were mapped and signs of activity (feces, owl tracks, castings, feathers) were recorded. Out of the twenty burrows, twelve were found to be active. Of the eight inactive burrows three appeared to have been active earlier in the 2005 breeding season. A total of nineteen owls were counted but demography could not be determined. It appears that the EVOC mitigation exceeded burrow use goals during 2005. Continued site monitoring and maintenance, according to mitigation plan guidelines should be conducted as prescribed.« less

75 FR 45143 - Minnesota; Amendment No. 1 to Notice of a Major Disaster Declaration

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-02

... July 2, 2010. Blue Earth, Brown, Houston, Kittson, Nicollet, and Sibley Counties for Public Assistance....039, Hazard Mitigation Grant. W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency. [FR...

44 CFR 67.9 - Final determination in the absence of an appeal by the community.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program APPEALS FROM PROPOSED FLOOD ELEVATION DETERMINATIONS § 67.9 Final determination in the...

44 CFR 67.9 - Final determination in the absence of an appeal by the community.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program APPEALS FROM PROPOSED FLOOD ELEVATION DETERMINATIONS § 67.9 Final determination in the...

Earthquake Hazard Mitigation Using a Systems Analysis Approach to Risk Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Legg, M.; Eguchi, R. T.

2015-12-01

The earthquake hazard mitigation goal is to reduce losses due to severe natural events. The first step is to conduct a Seismic Risk Assessment consisting of 1) hazard estimation, 2) vulnerability analysis, 3) exposure compilation. Seismic hazards include ground deformation, shaking, and inundation. The hazard estimation may be probabilistic or deterministic. Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment (PSHA) is generally applied to site-specific Risk assessments, but may involve large areas as in a National Seismic Hazard Mapping program. Deterministic hazard assessments are needed for geographically distributed exposure such as lifelines (infrastructure), but may be important for large communities. Vulnerability evaluation includes quantification of fragility for construction or components including personnel. Exposure represents the existing or planned construction, facilities, infrastructure, and population in the affected area. Risk (expected loss) is the product of the quantified hazard, vulnerability (damage algorithm), and exposure which may be used to prepare emergency response plans, retrofit existing construction, or use community planning to avoid hazards. The risk estimate provides data needed to acquire earthquake insurance to assist with effective recovery following a severe event. Earthquake Scenarios used in Deterministic Risk Assessments provide detailed information on where hazards may be most severe, what system components are most susceptible to failure, and to evaluate the combined effects of a severe earthquake to the whole system or community. Casualties (injuries and death) have been the primary factor in defining building codes for seismic-resistant construction. Economic losses may be equally significant factors that can influence proactive hazard mitigation. Large urban earthquakes may produce catastrophic losses due to a cascading of effects often missed in PSHA. Economic collapse may ensue if damaged workplaces, disruption of utilities, and resultant loss of income produces widespread default on payments. With increased computational power and more complete inventories of exposure, Monte Carlo methods may provide more accurate estimation of severe losses and the opportunity to increase resilience of vulnerable systems and communities.

Early benefits of mitigation in risk of regional climate extremes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciavarella, Andrew; Stott, Peter; Lowe, Jason

2017-04-01

Large differences in climate outcomes are projected by the end of this century depending on whether greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase or are reduced sufficiently to limit total warming to below 2 °C (ref. ). However, it is generally thought that benefits of mitigation are hidden by internal climate variability until later in the century. Here we show that if the likelihood of extremely hot seasons is considered, the benefits of mitigation emerge more quickly than previously thought. It takes less than 20 years of emissions reductions in many regions for the likelihood of extreme seasonal warmth to reduce by more than half following initiation of mitigation. Additionally we show that the latest possible date at which the probability of extreme seasonal temperatures will be halved through emissions reductions consistent with the 2 °C target is in the 2040s. Exposure to climate risk is therefore reduced markedly and rapidly with substantial reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, demonstrating that the early mitigation needed to limit eventual warming below potentially dangerous levels benefits societies in the nearer term not just in the longer-term future.

Intersection-Controller Software Module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bachelder, Aaron; Foster, Conrad

2005-01-01

An important part of the emergency-vehicle traffic-light-preemption system summarized in the preceding article is a software module executed by a microcontroller in each intersection controller. This module monitors the broadcasts from all nearby participating emergency vehicles and intersections. It gathers the broadcast data pertaining to the positions and velocities of the vehicles and the timing of traffic and pedestrian lights and processes the data into predictions of the future positions of the vehicles. Analyzing the predictions by a combination of proximity tests, map-matching techniques, and statistical calculations designed to minimize the adverse effects of uncertainties in vehicle positions and headings, the module decides whether to preempt and issues the appropriate commands to the traffic lights, pedestrian lights, and electronic warning signs at the intersection. The module also broadcasts its state to all nearby vehicles and intersections. The module is designed to mitigate the effects of missing data and of unpredictable delays in the system. It has been intensively tested and refined so that it fails to warn in very few cases and issues very few false warnings.

Mitigation of methane emission from an old unlined landfill in Klintholm, Denmark using a passive biocover system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scheutz, Charlotte; Pedersen, Rasmus Broe; Petersen, Per Haugsted

Highlights: • An innovative biocover system was constructed on a landfill cell to mitigate the methane emission. • The biocover system had a mitigation efficiently of typically 80%. • The system also worked efficiently at ambient temperatures below freezing. • A whole landfill emission measurement tool was required to document the biocover system efficiency. - Abstract: Methane generated at landfills contributes to global warming and can be mitigated by biocover systems relying on microbial methane oxidation. As part of a closure plan for an old unlined landfill without any gas management measures, an innovative biocover system was established. The systemmore » was designed based on a conceptual model of the gas emission patterns established through an initial baseline study. The study included construction of gas collection trenches along the slopes of the landfill where the majority of the methane emissions occurred. Local compost materials were tested as to their usefulness as bioactive methane oxidizing material and a suitable compost mixture was selected. Whole site methane emission quantifications based on combined tracer release and downwind measurements in combination with several local experimental activities (gas composition within biocover layers, flux chamber based emission measurements and logging of compost temperatures) proved that the biocover system had an average mitigation efficiency of approximately 80%. The study showed that the system also had a high efficiency during winter periods with temperatures below freezing. An economic analysis indicated that the mitigation costs of the biocover system were competitive to other existing greenhouse gas mitigation options.« less

A Comprehensive Analysis of the X-15 Flight 3-65 Accident

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dennehy, Cornelius J.; Orr, Jeb S.; Barshi, Immanuel; Statler, Irving C.

2014-01-01

The November 15, 1967, loss of X-15 Flight 3-65-97 (hereafter referred to as Flight 3-65) was a unique incident in that it was the first and only aerospace flight accident involving loss of crew on a vehicle with an adaptive flight control system (AFCS). In addition, Flight 3-65 remains the only incidence of a single-pilot departure from controlled flight of a manned entry vehicle in a hypersonic flight regime. To mitigate risk to emerging aerospace systems, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) proposed a comprehensive review of this accident. The goal of the assessment was to resolve lingering questions regarding the failure modes of the aircraft systems (including the AFCS) and thoroughly analyze the interactions among the human agents and autonomous systems that contributed to the loss of the pilot and aircraft. This document contains the outcome of the accident review.

Cascade Distillation System Design for Safety and Mission Assurance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sargusingh, Miriam J.; Callahan, Michael R.

2015-01-01

Per the NASA Human Health, Life Support and Habitation System Technology Area 06 report "crewed missions venturing beyond Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) will require technologies with improved reliability, reduced mass, self-sufficiency, and minimal logistical needs as an emergency or quick-return option will not be feasible." To meet this need, the development team of the second generation Cascade Distillation System (CDS 2.0) opted a development approach that explicitely incorporate consideration of safety, mission assurance, and autonomy. The CDS 2.0 prelimnary design focused on establishing a functional baseline that meets the CDS core capabilities and performance. The critical design phase is now focused on incorporating features through a deliberative process of establishing the systems failure modes and effects, identifying mitigative strategies, and evaluating the merit of the proposed actions through analysis and test. This paper details results of this effort on the CDS 2.0 design.

Cascade Distillation System Design for Safety and Mission Assurance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sarguisingh, Miriam; Callahan, Michael R.; Okon, Shira

2015-01-01

Per the NASA Human Health, Life Support and Habitation System Technology Area 06 report "crewed missions venturing beyond Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) will require technologies with improved reliability, reduced mass, self-sufficiency, and minimal logistical needs as an emergency or quick-return option will not be feasible".1 To meet this need, the development team of the second generation Cascade Distillation System (CDS 2.0) chose a development approach that explicitly incorporate consideration of safety, mission assurance, and autonomy. The CDS 2.0 preliminary design focused on establishing a functional baseline that meets the CDS core capabilities and performance. The critical design phase is now focused on incorporating features through a deliberative process of establishing the systems failure modes and effects, identifying mitigation strategies, and evaluating the merit of the proposed actions through analysis and test. This paper details results of this effort on the CDS 2.0 design.

The impact of the disease early warning system in responding to natural disasters and conflict crises in Pakistan.

PubMed

Rahim, M; Kazi, B M; Bile, K M; Munir, M; Khan, A R

2010-01-01

The disease early warning system (DEWS) was introduced in the immediate aftermath of the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, with the objective to undertake prompt investigation and mitigation of disease outbreaks. The DEWS network was replicated successfully during subsequent flood and earthquake disasters as well as during the 2008-09 internally displaced persons' crisis. DEWS-generated alerts, prompt investigations and timely responses had an effective contribution to the control of epidemics. Through DEWS, 1360 reported alerts during 2005-09 averted the risk of disease outbreaks through pre-emptive necessary measures, while the 187 confirmed outbreaks were effectively controlled. In the aftermath of the disasters, DEWS technology also facilitated the development of a disease-surveillance system that became an integral part of the district health system. This study aims to report the DEWS success and substantiate its lead role as a priority emergency health response intervention.

48 CFR 209.571-4 - Mitigation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Mitigation. 209.571-4... of Interest 209.571-4 Mitigation. (a) Mitigation is any action taken to minimize an organizational conflict of interest. Mitigation may require Government action, contractor action, or a combination of both...

48 CFR 209.571-4 - Mitigation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Mitigation. 209.571-4... of Interest 209.571-4 Mitigation. (a) Mitigation is any action taken to minimize an organizational conflict of interest. Mitigation may require Government action, contractor action, or a combination of both...

48 CFR 209.571-4 - Mitigation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Mitigation. 209.571-4... of Interest 209.571-4 Mitigation. (a) Mitigation is any action taken to minimize an organizational conflict of interest. Mitigation may require Government action, contractor action, or a combination of both...

48 CFR 209.571-4 - Mitigation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Mitigation. 209.571-4... of Interest 209.571-4 Mitigation. (a) Mitigation is any action taken to minimize an organizational conflict of interest. Mitigation may require Government action, contractor action, or a combination of both...

Sources, behaviour, and environmental and human health risks of high-technology rare earth elements as emerging contaminants.

PubMed

Gwenzi, Willis; Mangori, Lynda; Danha, Concilia; Chaukura, Nhamo; Dunjana, Nothando; Sanganyado, Edmond

2018-04-26

Recent studies show that high-technology rare earth elements (REEs) of anthropogenic origin occur in the environment including in aquatic systems, suggesting REEs are contaminants of emerging concern. However, compared to organic contaminants, there is a lack of comprehensive reviews on the anthropogenic sources, environmental behaviour, and public and ecological health risks of REEs. The current review aims to: (1) identify anthropogenic sources, transfer mechanisms, and environmental behaviour of REEs; (2) highlight the human and ecological health risks of REEs and propose mitigation measures; and (3) identify knowledge gaps and future research directions. Out of the 17 REEs, La, Gd, Ce and Eu are the most studied. The main sources of anthropogenic REE include; medical facilities, petroleum refining, mining and technology industries, fertilizers, livestock feeds, and electronic wastes and recycling plants. REEs are mobilized and transported in the environment by hydrological and wind-driven processes. Ecotoxicological effects include reduced plant growth, function and nutritional quality, genotoxicity and neurotoxicity in animals, trophic bioaccumulation, chronic and acute toxicities in soil organisms. Human exposure to REEs occurs via ingestion of contaminated water and food, inhalation, and direct intake during medical administration. REEs have been detected in human hair, nails, and biofluids. In humans, REEs cause nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and severe damage to nephrological systems associated with Gd-based contrast agents, dysfunctional neurological disorder, fibrotic tissue injury, oxidative stress, pneumoconiosis, cytotoxicity, anti-testicular effects, and male sterility. Barring REEs in medical devices, epidemiological evidence directly linking REEs in the environment to human health conditions remains weak. To minimize health risks, a conceptual framework and possible mitigation measures are highlighted. Future research is needed to better understand sources, environmental behaviour, ecotoxicology, and human epidemiology. Moreover, research on REEs in developing regions, including Africa, is needed given prevailing conditions predisposing humans to health risks (e.g., untreated drinking water). Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Feed-backs among inbreeding, inbreeding depression in sperm traits, and sperm competition can drive evolution of costly polyandry.

PubMed

Bocedi, Greta; Reid, Jane M

2017-12-01

Ongoing ambitions are to understand the evolution of costly polyandry and its consequences for species ecology and evolution. Emerging patterns could stem from feed-back dynamics between the evolving mating system and its genetic environment, defined by interactions among kin including inbreeding. However, such feed-backs are rarely considered in nonselfing systems. We use a genetically explicit model to demonstrate a mechanism by which inbreeding depression can select for polyandry to mitigate the negative consequences of mating with inbred males, rather than to avoid inbreeding, and to elucidate underlying feed-backs. Specifically, given inbreeding depression in sperm traits, costly polyandry evolved to ensure female fertility, without requiring explicit inbreeding avoidance. Resulting sperm competition caused evolution of sperm traits and further mitigated the negative effect of inbreeding depression on female fertility. The evolving mating system fed back to decrease population-wide homozygosity, and hence inbreeding. However, the net overall decrease was small due to compound effects on the variances in sex-specific reproductive success and paternity skew. Purging of deleterious mutations did not eliminate inbreeding depression in sperm traits or hence selection for polyandry. Overall, our model illustrates that polyandry evolution, both directly and through sperm competition, might facilitate evolutionary rescue for populations experiencing sudden increases in inbreeding. © 2017 The Author(s). Evolution © 2017 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Health information systems: failure, success and improvisation.

PubMed

Heeks, Richard

2006-02-01

The generalised assumption of health information systems (HIS) success is questioned by a few commentators in the medical informatics field. They point to widespread HIS failure. The purpose of this paper was therefore to develop a better conceptual foundation for, and practical guidance on, health information systems failure (and success). Literature and case analysis plus pilot testing of developed model. Defining HIS failure and success is complex, and the current evidence base on HIS success and failure rates was found to be weak. Nonetheless, the best current estimate is that HIS failure is an important problem. The paper therefore derives and explains the "design-reality gap" conceptual model. This is shown to be robust in explaining multiple cases of HIS success and failure, yet provides a contingency that encompasses the differences which exist in different HIS contexts. The design-reality gap model is piloted to demonstrate its value as a tool for risk assessment and mitigation on HIS projects. It also throws into question traditional, structured development methodologies, highlighting the importance of emergent change and improvisation in HIS. The design-reality gap model can be used to address the problem of HIS failure, both as a post hoc evaluative tool and as a pre hoc risk assessment and mitigation tool. It also validates a set of methods, techniques, roles and competencies needed to support the dynamic improvisations that are found to underpin cases of HIS success.

Emergency care centers--an efficient method for mitigation of consequences after a dirty bomb attack.

PubMed

Miska, Horst

2012-08-01

For emergency preparedness and response with respect to nuclear power plant accidents, the concept of Emergency Care Centers has been developed in Germany. This setup aims at monitoring contamination, to decontaminate if needed, assess the dose, and perform an initial medical evaluation of people who might have been affected by the accident. The concept has been tested in many exercises. In response to a terrorist attack involving a dirty bomb, this concept may prove useful for attending contaminated people who are not severely injured.

Modeling Techniques for Shipboard Manning: A Review and Plan for Development

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-02-01

manning levels. Once manning models have been created, experiments can be conducted to show how changes in the manning structure might affect ship safety...these predictions, users of the manning models can evaluate how changes in crew configurations, manning levels, and voyage profiles affect ship safety...mitigate emergency situations would provide crucial information on how changes in manning structure would affect overall ship safety. Like emergency

One Health Economics to confront disease threats

PubMed Central

Machalaba, Catherine; Smith, Kristine M; Awada, Lina; Berry, Kevin; Berthe, Franck; Bouley, Timothy A; Bruce, Mieghan; Cortiñas Abrahantes, Jose; El Turabi, Anas; Feferholtz, Yasha; Flynn, Louise; Fournié, Giullaume; Andre, Amanda; Grace, Delia; Jonas, Olga; Kimani, Tabitha; Le Gall, François; Miranda, Juan Jose; Peyre, Marisa; Pinto, Julio; Ross, Noam; Rüegg, Simon R; Salerno, Robert H; Seifman, Richard; Zambrana-Torrelio, Carlos; Karesh, William B

2017-01-01

Abstract Global economic impacts of epidemics suggest high return on investment in prevention and One Health capacity. However, such investments remain limited, contributing to persistent endemic diseases and vulnerability to emerging ones. An interdisciplinary workshop explored methods for country-level analysis of added value of One Health approaches to disease control. Key recommendations include: 1. systems thinking to identify risks and mitigation options for decision-making under uncertainty; 2. multisectoral economic impact assessment to identify wider relevance and possible resource-sharing, and 3. consistent integration of environmental considerations. Economic analysis offers a congruent measure of value complementing diverse impact metrics among sectors and contexts. PMID:29044367

What is the current state of the science of Cyber defense?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hurd, Alan J.

My overall sense of the cyber defense field is one of an adolescent discipline currently bogged down in a cloud of issues, the most iconic of which is the great diversity of approaches that are being aggregated to form a coherent field. Because my own expertise is complex systems and materials physics research, I have limited direct experience in cyber security sciences except as a user of secure networks and computing resources. However, in producing this report, I have found with certainty that there exists no calculus for cyber risk assessment, mitigation, and response, although some hopeful precepts toward thismore » end are emerging.« less

Mitigating Greenhouse Gas and Ammonia Emissions from Swine Manure Management: A System Analysis.

PubMed

Wang, Yue; Dong, Hongmin; Zhu, Zhiping; Gerber, Pierre J; Xin, Hongwei; Smith, Pete; Opio, Carolyn; Steinfeld, Henning; Chadwick, Dave

2017-04-18

Gaseous emissions from animal manure are considerable contributor to global ammonia (NH 3 ) and agriculture greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Given the demand to promote mitigation of GHGs while fostering sustainable development of the Paris Agreement, an improvement of management systems is urgently needed to help mitigate climate change and to improve atmospheric air quality. This study presents a meta-analysis and an integrated assessment of gaseous emissions and mitigation potentials for NH 3 , methane (CH 4 ), and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) (direct and indirect) losses from four typical swine manure management systems (MMSs). The resultant emission factors and mitigation efficiencies allow GHG and NH 3 emissions to be estimated, as well as mitigation potentials for different stages of swine operation. In particular, changing swine manure management from liquid systems to solid-liquid separation systems, coupled with mitigation measures, could simultaneously reduce GHG emissions by 65% and NH 3 emissions by 78%. The resultant potential reduction in GHG emissions from China's pig production alone is greater than the entire GHG emissions from agricultural sector of France, Australia, or Germany, while the reduction in NH 3 emissions is equivalent to 40% of the total NH 3 emissions from the European Union. Thus, improved swine manure management could have a significant impact on global environment issues.

Interference Mitigation Effects on Synthetic Aperture Radar Coherent Data Products

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Musgrove, Cameron

For synthetic aperture radars radio frequency interference from sources external to the radar system and techniques to mitigate the interference can degrade the quality of the image products. Usually the radar system designer will try to balance the amount of mitigation for an acceptable amount of interference to optimize the image quality. This dissertation examines the effect of interference mitigation upon coherent data products of fine resolution, high frequency synthetic aperture radars using stretch processing. Novel interference mitigation techniques are introduced that operate on single or multiple apertures of data that increase average coherence compared to existing techniques. New metricsmore » are applied to evaluate multiple mitigation techniques for image quality and average coherence. The underlying mechanism for interference mitigation techniques that affect coherence is revealed.« less

A Study on Integrated Community Based Flood Mitigation with Remote Sensing Technique in Kota Bharu, Kelantan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

'Ainullotfi, A. A.; Ibrahim, A. L.; Masron, T.

2014-02-01

This study is conducted to establish a community based flood management system that is integrated with remote sensing technique. To understand local knowledge, the demographic of the local society is obtained by using the survey approach. The local authorities are approached first to obtain information regarding the society in the study areas such as the population, the gender and the tabulation of settlement. The information about age, religion, ethnic, occupation, years of experience facing flood in the area, are recorded to understand more on how the local knowledge emerges. Then geographic data is obtained such as rainfall data, land use, land elevation, river discharge data. This information is used to establish a hydrological model of flood in the study area. Analysis were made from the survey approach to understand the pattern of society and how they react to floods while the analysis of geographic data is used to analyse the water extent and damage done by the flood. The final result of this research is to produce a flood mitigation method with a community based framework in the state of Kelantan. With the flood mitigation that involves the community's understanding towards flood also the techniques to forecast heavy rainfall and flood occurrence using remote sensing, it is hope that it could reduce the casualties and damage that might cause to the society and infrastructures in the study area.

76 FR 23613 - Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Hazard Mitigation Safe Room Construction

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-27

... Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may provide funding to eligible applicants for eligible, feasible, and... from hazards and their effects. One such activity is the construction and installation of safe rooms to...

Exploring Complex Systems Aspects of Blackout Risk and Mitigation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Newman, David E; Carreras, Benjamin A; Lynch, Vickie E

2011-01-01

Electric power transmission systems are a key infrastructure, and blackouts of these systems have major consequences for the economy and national security. Analyses of blackout data suggest that blackout size distributions have a power law form over much of their range. This result is an indication that blackouts behave as a complex dynamical system. We use a simulation of an upgrading power transmission system to investigate how these complex system dynamics impact the assessment and mitigation of blackout risk. The mitigation of failures in complex systems needs to be approached with care. The mitigation efforts can move the system tomore » a new dynamic equilibrium while remaining near criticality and preserving the power law region. Thus, while the absolute frequency of blackouts of all sizes may be reduced, the underlying forces can still cause the relative frequency of large blackouts to small blackouts to remain the same. Moreover, in some cases, efforts to mitigate small blackouts can even increase the frequency of large blackouts. This result occurs because the large and small blackouts are not mutually independent, but are strongly coupled by the complex dynamics.« less

An academic medical center's response to widespread computer failure.

PubMed

Genes, Nicholas; Chary, Michael; Chason, Kevin W

2013-01-01

As hospitals incorporate information technology (IT), their operations become increasingly vulnerable to technological breakdowns and attacks. Proper emergency management and business continuity planning require an approach to identify, mitigate, and work through IT downtime. Hospitals can prepare for these disasters by reviewing case studies. This case study details the disruption of computer operations at Mount Sinai Medical Center (MSMC), an urban academic teaching hospital. The events, and MSMC's response, are narrated and the impact on hospital operations is analyzed. MSMC's disaster management strategy prevented computer failure from compromising patient care, although walkouts and time-to-disposition in the emergency department (ED) notably increased. This incident highlights the importance of disaster preparedness and mitigation. It also demonstrates the value of using operational data to evaluate hospital responses to disasters. Quantifying normal hospital functions, just as with a patient's vital signs, may help quantitatively evaluate and improve disaster management and business continuity planning.

RE-PLAN: An Extensible Software Architecture to Facilitate Disaster Response Planning

PubMed Central

O’Neill, Martin; Mikler, Armin R.; Indrakanti, Saratchandra; Tiwari, Chetan; Jimenez, Tamara

2014-01-01

Computational tools are needed to make data-driven disaster mitigation planning accessible to planners and policymakers without the need for programming or GIS expertise. To address this problem, we have created modules to facilitate quantitative analyses pertinent to a variety of different disaster scenarios. These modules, which comprise the REsponse PLan ANalyzer (RE-PLAN) framework, may be used to create tools for specific disaster scenarios that allow planners to harness large amounts of disparate data and execute computational models through a point-and-click interface. Bio-E, a user-friendly tool built using this framework, was designed to develop and analyze the feasibility of ad hoc clinics for treating populations following a biological emergency event. In this article, the design and implementation of the RE-PLAN framework are described, and the functionality of the modules used in the Bio-E biological emergency mitigation tool are demonstrated. PMID:25419503

[The 2010 earthquake in Chile: the response of the health system and international cooperation].

PubMed

López Tagle, Elizabeth; Santana Nazarit, Paula

2011-08-01

Understand the health system and international cooperation response to the catastrophic situation left by the earthquake and tsunami of 27 February 2010 in Chile, and draft proposals for improving strategies to mitigate the devastating effects of natural disasters. Descriptive and qualitative study with a first phase involving the analysis of secondary information-such as news articles, official statements, and technical reports-and a second phase involving semistructured interviews of institutional actors in the public health sector responsible for disaster response and users of the health system who acted as leaders and/or managers of the response. The study was conducted between May and October 2010, and information-gathering focused on the Maule, Bío Bío, and Metropolitan regions. Procedures for recording, distributing, and controlling donations were lacking. The health services suffered significant damage, including the complete destruction of 10 hospitals. The presence of field hospitals and foreign medical teams were appreciated by the community. The family health model and the commitment of personnel helped to ensure the quality of the response. While public health management was generally good, problems dealing with mental health issues were encountered due to a lack of local plans and predisaster simulations. The poor were the most affected. Women became social leaders, organizing the community. Although the health response to the emergency was satisfactory, both the health system and the mobilization of international assistance suffered from weaknesses that exacerbated existing inequities, revealing the need for multisectoral participatory mitigation plans for better disaster preparedness.

Predicting and Mitigating Outbreaks of Vector-Borne Disease Utilizing Satellite Remote Sensing Technology and Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estes, Sue M.

2009-01-01

The Public Health application area focuses on Earth science applications to public health and safety, particularly regarding infectious disease, emergency preparedness and response, and environmental health issues. The application explores issues of toxic and pathogenic exposure, as well as natural and man-made hazards and their effects, for risk characterization/mitigation and improvements to health and safety. The program elements of the NASA Applied Sciences Program are: Agricultural Efficiency, Air Quality, Climate, Disaster Management, Ecological Forecasting, Water Resources, Weather, and Public Health.

Climate change and climate variability: personal motivation for adaptation and mitigation

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Global climate change impacts on human and natural systems are predicted to be severe, far reaching, and to affect the most physically and economically vulnerable disproportionately. Society can respond to these threats through two strategies: mitigation and adaptation. Industry, commerce, and government play indispensable roles in these actions but so do individuals, if they are receptive to behavior change. We explored whether the health frame can be used as a context to motivate behavioral reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation measures. Methods In 2008, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in the United States using random digit dialing. Personal relevance of climate change from health threats was explored with the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a conceptual frame and analyzed through logistic regressions and path analysis. Results Of 771 individuals surveyed, 81% (n = 622) acknowledged that climate change was occurring, and were aware of the associated ecologic and human health risks. Respondents reported reduced energy consumption if they believed climate change could affect their way of life (perceived susceptibility), Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.4 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.4 - 4.0), endanger their life (perceived severity), OR = 1.9 (95% CI: 1.1 - 3.1), or saw serious barriers to protecting themselves from climate change, OR = 2.1 (95% CI: 1.2 - 3.5). Perceived susceptibility had the strongest effect on reduced energy consumption, either directly or indirectly via perceived severity. Those that reported having the necessary information to prepare for climate change impacts were more likely to have an emergency kit OR = 2.1 (95% CI: 1.4 - 3.1) or plan, OR = 2.2 (95% CI: 1.5 -3.2) for their household, but also saw serious barriers to protecting themselves from climate change or climate variability, either by having an emergency kit OR = 1.6 (95% CI: 1.1 - 2.4) or an emergency plan OR = 1.5 (95%CI: 1.0 - 2.2). Conclusions Motivation for voluntary mitigation is mostly dependent on perceived susceptibility to threats and severity of climate change or climate variability impacts, whereas adaptation is largely dependent on the availability of information relevant to climate change. Thus, the climate change discourse could be framed from a health perspective to motivate behaviour change. PMID:21600004

Climate change and climate variability: personal motivation for adaptation and mitigation.

PubMed

Semenza, Jan C; Ploubidis, George B; George, Linda A

2011-05-21

Global climate change impacts on human and natural systems are predicted to be severe, far reaching, and to affect the most physically and economically vulnerable disproportionately. Society can respond to these threats through two strategies: mitigation and adaptation. Industry, commerce, and government play indispensable roles in these actions but so do individuals, if they are receptive to behavior change. We explored whether the health frame can be used as a context to motivate behavioral reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation measures. In 2008, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in the United States using random digit dialing. Personal relevance of climate change from health threats was explored with the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a conceptual frame and analyzed through logistic regressions and path analysis. Of 771 individuals surveyed, 81% (n = 622) acknowledged that climate change was occurring, and were aware of the associated ecologic and human health risks. Respondents reported reduced energy consumption if they believed climate change could affect their way of life (perceived susceptibility), Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.4 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.4-4.0), endanger their life (perceived severity), OR = 1.9 (95% CI: 1.1-3.1), or saw serious barriers to protecting themselves from climate change, OR = 2.1 (95% CI: 1.2-3.5). Perceived susceptibility had the strongest effect on reduced energy consumption, either directly or indirectly via perceived severity. Those that reported having the necessary information to prepare for climate change impacts were more likely to have an emergency kit OR = 2.1 (95% CI: 1.4-3.1) or plan, OR = 2.2 (95% CI: 1.5-3.2) for their household, but also saw serious barriers to protecting themselves from climate change or climate variability, either by having an emergency kit OR = 1.6 (95% CI: 1.1-2.4) or an emergency plan OR = 1.5 (95%CI: 1.0-2.2). Motivation for voluntary mitigation is mostly dependent on perceived susceptibility to threats and severity of climate change or climate variability impacts, whereas adaptation is largely dependent on the availability of information relevant to climate change. Thus, the climate change discourse could be framed from a health perspective to motivate behaviour change.

Vaccine-driven pharmacodynamic dissection and mitigation of fenethylline psychoactivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wenthur, Cody J.; Zhou, Bin; Janda, Kim D.

2017-08-01

Fenethylline, also known by the trade name Captagon, is a synthetic psychoactive stimulant that has recently been linked to a substance-use disorder and ‘pharmacoterrorism’ in the Middle East. Although fenethylline shares a common phenethylamine core with other amphetamine-type stimulants, it also incorporates a covalently linked xanthine moiety into its parent structure. These independently active pharmacophores are liberated during metabolism, resulting in the release of a structurally diverse chemical mixture into the central nervous system. Although the psychoactive properties of fenethylline have been reported to differ from those of other synthetic stimulants, the in vivo chemical complexity it manifests upon ingestion has impeded efforts to unambiguously identify the specific species responsible for these effects. Here we develop a ‘dissection through vaccination’ approach, called DISSECTIV, to mitigate the psychoactive effects of fenethylline and show that its rapid-onset and distinct psychoactive properties are facilitated by functional synergy between theophylline and amphetamine. Our results demonstrate that incremental vaccination against a single chemical species within a multi-component mixture can be used to uncover emergent properties arising from polypharmacological activity. We anticipate that DISSECTIV will be used to expose unidentified active chemical species and resolve pharmacodynamic interactions within other chemically complex systems, such as those found in counterfeit or illegal drug preparations, post-metabolic tissue samples and natural product extracts.

Vaccine-driven pharmacodynamic dissection and mitigation of fenethylline psychoactivity.

PubMed

Wenthur, Cody J; Zhou, Bin; Janda, Kim D

2017-08-24

Fenethylline, also known by the trade name Captagon, is a synthetic psychoactive stimulant that has recently been linked to a substance-use disorder and 'pharmacoterrorism' in the Middle East. Although fenethylline shares a common phenethylamine core with other amphetamine-type stimulants, it also incorporates a covalently linked xanthine moiety into its parent structure. These independently active pharmacophores are liberated during metabolism, resulting in the release of a structurally diverse chemical mixture into the central nervous system. Although the psychoactive properties of fenethylline have been reported to differ from those of other synthetic stimulants, the in vivo chemical complexity it manifests upon ingestion has impeded efforts to unambiguously identify the specific species responsible for these effects. Here we develop a 'dissection through vaccination' approach, called DISSECTIV, to mitigate the psychoactive effects of fenethylline and show that its rapid-onset and distinct psychoactive properties are facilitated by functional synergy between theophylline and amphetamine. Our results demonstrate that incremental vaccination against a single chemical species within a multi-component mixture can be used to uncover emergent properties arising from polypharmacological activity. We anticipate that DISSECTIV will be used to expose unidentified active chemical species and resolve pharmacodynamic interactions within other chemically complex systems, such as those found in counterfeit or illegal drug preparations, post-metabolic tissue samples and natural product extracts.

Applying robotics to HAZMAT

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Welch, Richard V.; Edmonds, Gary O.

1994-01-01

The use of robotics in situations involving hazardous materials can significantly reduce the risk of human injuries. The Emergency Response Robotics Project, which began in October 1990 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is developing a teleoperated mobile robot allowing HAZMAT (hazardous materials) teams to remotely respond to incidents involving hazardous materials. The current robot, called HAZBOT III, can assist in locating characterizing, identifying, and mitigating hazardous material incidents without risking entry team personnel. The active involvement of the JPL Fire Department HAZMAT team has been vital in developing a robotic system which enables them to perform remote reconnaissance of a HAZMAT incident site. This paper provides a brief review of the history of the project, discusses the current system in detail, and presents other areas in which robotics can be applied removing people from hazardous environments/operations.

Evaluation of NDI compressed air foam system (cafs) applied as a retrofit. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duncan, S.

1994-08-01

Army Engineer Firefighting Detachments require increased firefighting capability to compensate for deficiencies in structural, brush, or wildland and large petroleum storage site fires. Additionally, Army fire departments responsible for protection and prevention on posts, camps and stations have difficulty accessing new or emerging technology do not possess state-of-the-art equipment. The results of this evaluation and subsequent projects, will be reported throughout the Army in an attempt to mitigate operational deficiencies and widen the scope of knowledge in the Army fire service. The evaluation of non-developmental retrofitted compressed air foam systems show an efficiency of suppressive capabilities of water superseded bymore » water alone. Retrofitting the equipment was not easy or inexpensive but it was very successful.« less

Satellite sound broadcasting system, portable reception

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Golshan, Nasser; Vaisnys, Arvydas

1990-01-01

Studies are underway at JPL in the emerging area of Satellite Sound Broadcast Service (SSBS) for direct reception by low cost portable, semi portable, mobile and fixed radio receivers. This paper addresses the portable reception of digital broadcasting of monophonic audio with source material band limited to 5 KHz (source audio comparable to commercial AM broadcasting). The proposed system provides transmission robustness, uniformity of performance over the coverage area and excellent frequency reuse. Propagation problems associated with indoor portable reception are considered in detail and innovative antenna concepts are suggested to mitigate these problems. It is shown that, with the marriage of proper technologies a single medium power satellite can provide substantial direct satellite audio broadcast capability to CONUS in UHF or L Bands, for high quality portable indoor reception by low cost radio receivers.

Characterization of attacks on public telephone networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lorenz, Gary V.; Manes, Gavin W.; Hale, John C.; Marks, Donald; Davis, Kenneth; Shenoi, Sujeet

2001-02-01

The U.S. Public Telephone Network (PTN) is a massively connected distributed information systems, much like the Internet. PTN signaling, transmission and operations functions must be protected from physical and cyber attacks to ensure the reliable delivery of telecommunications services. The increasing convergence of PTNs with wireless communications systems, computer networks and the Internet itself poses serious threats to our nation's telecommunications infrastructure. Legacy technologies and advanced services encumber well-known and as of yet undiscovered vulnerabilities that render them susceptible to cyber attacks. This paper presents a taxonomy of cyber attacks on PTNs in converged environments that synthesizes exploits in computer and communications network domains. The taxonomy provides an opportunity for the systematic exploration of mitigative and preventive strategies, as well as for the identification and classification of emerging threats.

Destructive Interactions Between Mitigation Strategies and the Causes of Unexpected Failures in Natural Hazard Mitigation Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Day, S. J.; Fearnley, C. J.

2013-12-01

Large investments in the mitigation of natural hazards, using a variety of technology-based mitigation strategies, have proven to be surprisingly ineffective in some recent natural disasters. These failures reveal a need for a systematic classification of mitigation strategies; an understanding of the scientific uncertainties that affect the effectiveness of such strategies; and an understanding of how the different types of strategy within an overall mitigation system interact destructively to reduce the effectiveness of the overall mitigation system. We classify mitigation strategies into permanent, responsive and anticipatory. Permanent mitigation strategies such as flood and tsunami defenses or land use restrictions, are both costly and 'brittle': when they malfunction they can increase mortality. Such strategies critically depend on the accuracy of the estimates of expected hazard intensity in the hazard assessments that underpin their design. Responsive mitigation strategies such as tsunami and lahar warning systems rely on capacities to detect and quantify the hazard source events and to transmit warnings fast enough to enable at risk populations to decide and act effectively. Self-warning and voluntary evacuation is also usually a responsive mitigation strategy. Uncertainty in the nature and magnitude of the detected hazard source event is often the key scientific obstacle to responsive mitigation; public understanding of both the hazard and the warnings, to enable decision making, can also be a critical obstacle. Anticipatory mitigation strategies use interpretation of precursors to hazard source events and are used widely in mitigation of volcanic hazards. Their critical limitations are due to uncertainties in time, space and magnitude relationships between precursors and hazard events. Examples of destructive interaction between different mitigation strategies are provided by the Tohoku 2011 earthquake and tsunami; recent earthquakes that have impacted population centers with poor enforcement of building codes, unrealistic expectations of warning systems or failures to understand local seismic damage mechanisms; and the interaction of land use restriction strategies and responsive warning strategies around lahar-prone volcanoes. A more complete understanding of the interactions between these different types of mitigation strategy, especially the consequences for the expectations and behaviors of the populations at risk, requires models of decision-making under high levels of both uncertainty and danger. The Observation-Orientation-Decision-Action (OODA) loop model (Boyd, 1987) may be a particularly useful model. It emphasizes the importance of 'orientation' (the interpretation of observations and assessment of their significance for the observer and decision-maker), the feedback between decisions and subsequent observations and orientations, and the importance of developing mitigation strategies that are flexible and so able to respond to the occurrence of the unexpected. REFERENCE: Boyd, J.R. A Discourse on Winning and Losing [http://dnipogo.org/john-r-boyd/

D Applications in Disaster Mitigation and Management: Core Results of Ditac Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaptan, K.; Kavlak, U.; Yilmaz, O.; Celik, O. T.; Manesh, A. K.; Fischer, P.; Lupescu, O.; Ingrassia, P. L.; Ammann, W. J.; Ashkenazi, M.; Arculeo, C.; Komadina, R.; Lechner, K.; Arnim, G. v.; Hreckovski, B.

2013-08-01

According to statistical data, natural disasters as well as the number of people affected by them are occurring with increasing frequency compared to the past. This situation is also seen in Europe Union; So, Strengthening the EU capacity to respond to Disasters is very important. This paper represents the baseline results of the FP-7 founded DITAC project, which aims to develop a holistic and highly structured curriculum for responders and strategic crisis managers. Up-to-date geospatial information is required in order to create an effective disaster response plan. Common sources for geospatial information such as Google Earth, GIS databases, and aerial surveys are frequently outdated, or insufficient. This limits the effectiveness of disaster planning. Disaster Management has become an issue of growing importance. Planning for and managing large scale emergencies is complex. The number of both victims and relief workers is large and the time pressure is extreme. Emergency response and triage systems with 2D user interfaces are currently under development and evaluation. Disasters present a number of spatially related problems and an overwhelming quantity of information. 3D user interfaces are well suited for intuitively solving basic emergency response tasks. Such tasks include commanding rescue agents and prioritizing the disaster victims according to the severity of their medical condition. Further, 3D UIs hold significant potential for improving the coordination of rescuers as well as their awareness of relief workers from other organizations. This paper describes the outline of a module in a Disaster Management Course related to 3D Applications in Disaster Mitigation and Management. By doing this, the paper describes the gaps in existing systems and solutions. Satellite imageries and digital elevation data of Turkey are investigated for detecting sites prone to natural hazards. Digital image processing methods used to enhance satellite data and to produce morphometric maps in order to contribute to the detection of causal factors related to landslides, local site conditions influencing and/or experiencing earthquake damage intensity or those of tsunami and storm surge hazard sites at the coasts.

Communicating Volcanic Hazards in the North Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dehn, J.; Webley, P.; Cunningham, K. W.

2014-12-01

For over 25 years, effective hazard communication has been key to effective mitigation of volcanic hazards in the North Pacific. These hazards are omnipresent, with a large event happening in Alaska every few years to a decade, though in many cases can happen with little or no warning (e.g. Kasatochi and Okmok in 2008). Here a useful hazard mitigation strategy has been built on (1) a large database of historic activity from many datasets, (2) an operational alert system with graduated levels of concern, (3) scenario planning, and (4) routine checks and communication with emergency managers and the public. These baseline efforts are then enhanced in the time of crisis with coordinated talking points, targeted studies and public outreach. Scientists naturally tend to target other scientists as their audience, whereas in effective monitoring of hazards that may only occur on year to decadal timescales, details can distract from the essentially important information. Creating talking points and practice in public communications can help make hazard response a part of the culture. Promoting situational awareness and familiarity can relieve indecision and concerns at the time of a crisis.

Integrating High-Resolution Datasets to Target Mitigation Efforts for Improving Air Quality and Public Health in Urban Neighborhoods

PubMed Central

Shandas, Vivek; Voelkel, Jackson; Rao, Meenakshi; George, Linda

2016-01-01

Reducing exposure to degraded air quality is essential for building healthy cities. Although air quality and population vary at fine spatial scales, current regulatory and public health frameworks assess human exposures using county- or city-scales. We build on a spatial analysis technique, dasymetric mapping, for allocating urban populations that, together with emerging fine-scale measurements of air pollution, addresses three objectives: (1) evaluate the role of spatial scale in estimating exposure; (2) identify urban communities that are disproportionately burdened by poor air quality; and (3) estimate reduction in mobile sources of pollutants due to local tree-planting efforts using nitrogen dioxide. Our results show a maximum value of 197% difference between cadastrally-informed dasymetric system (CIDS) and standard estimations of population exposure to degraded air quality for small spatial extent analyses, and a lack of substantial difference for large spatial extent analyses. These results provide the foundation for improving policies for managing air quality, and targeting mitigation efforts to address challenges of environmental justice. PMID:27527205

Assessing the risks for poliovirus outbreaks in polio-free countries--Africa, 2012-2013.

PubMed

2013-09-20

In 2012, the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the completion of polio eradication a programmatic emergency. Indigenous wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission remains uninterrupted in Nigeria (in the WHO African Region [AFR]) and in Afghanistan and Pakistan (in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region [EMR]). In the WHO AFR, multiple WPV outbreaks have occurred since 2003 after importation of indigenous West African WPV into 21 previously polio-free countries in a "WPV importation belt"* that extends across the continent. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and WHO regional offices have used indicators of population immunity, surveillance quality, and other factors (e.g., high-risk subpopulations and proximity to WPV-affected countries) to assess the risk for outbreaks in polio-free countries and guide the implementation of risk mitigation measures to limit poliovirus transmission after WPV importation and prevent the emergence of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV). Despite risk mitigation efforts, a polio outbreak, first confirmed in May 2013, is ongoing; as of September 10, a total of 178 WPV type 1 (WPV1) cases have been reported in Somalia† (163 cases), Kenya (14 cases) and Ethiopia (1 case), after importation of WPV1 of West African origin. This report summarizes steps taken by the GPEI to assess and mitigate the risks for outbreaks after WPV importation or the emergence of cVDPV in polio-free countries within the WHO AFR's "WPV importation belt." All countries will continue to have some level of risk for WPV outbreaks as long as endemic circulation continues in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

Defining operating rules for mitigation of drought effects on water supply systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossi, G.; Caporali, E.; Garrote, L.; Federici, G. V.

2012-04-01

Reservoirs play a pivotal role for water supply systems regulation and management especially during drought periods. Optimization of reservoir releases, related to drought mitigation rules is particularly required. The hydrologic state of the system is evaluated defining some threshold values, expressed in probabilistic terms. Risk deficit curves are used to reduce the ensemble of possible rules for simulation. Threshold values can be linked to specific actions in an operational context in different levels of severity, i.e. normal, pre-alert, alert and emergency scenarios. A simplified model of the water resources system is built to evaluate the threshold values and the management rules. The threshold values are defined considering the probability to satisfy a given fraction of the demand in a certain time horizon, and are validated with a long term simulation that takes into account the characteristics of the evaluated system. The threshold levels determine some curves that define reservoir releases as a function of existing storage volume. A demand reduction is related to each threshold level. The rules to manage the system in drought conditions, the threshold levels and the reductions are optimized using long term simulations with different hypothesized states of the system. Synthetic sequences of flows with the same statistical properties of the historical ones are produced to evaluate the system behaviour. Performances of different values of reduction and different threshold curves are evaluated using different objective function and performances indices. The methodology is applied to the urban area Firenze-Prato-Pistoia in central Tuscany, in Central Italy. The considered demand centres are Firenze and Bagno a Ripoli that have, accordingly to the census ISTAT 2001, a total of 395.000 inhabitants.

Socio-Technical Perspective on Interdisciplinary Interactions During the Development of Complex Engineered Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McGowan, Anna-Maria R.; Daly, Shanna; Baker, Wayne; Papalambros, panos; Seifert, Colleen

2013-01-01

This study investigates interdisciplinary interactions that take place during the research, development, and early conceptual design phases in the design of large-scale complex engineered systems (LaCES) such as aerospace vehicles. These interactions, that take place throughout a large engineering development organization, become the initial conditions of the systems engineering process that ultimately leads to the development of a viable system. This paper summarizes some of the challenges and opportunities regarding social and organizational issues that emerged from a qualitative study using ethnographic and survey data. The analysis reveals several socio-technical couplings between the engineered system and the organization that creates it. Survey respondents noted the importance of interdisciplinary interactions and their benefits to the engineered system as well as substantial challenges in interdisciplinary interactions. Noted benefits included enhanced knowledge and problem mitigation and noted obstacles centered on organizational and human dynamics. Findings suggest that addressing the social challenges may be a critical need in enabling interdisciplinary interactions

Experimental evaluation and analysis of methane fire and explosion mitigation using isolation valves integrated with a vent system.

PubMed

Ajrash, Mohammed J; Zanganeh, Jafar; Moghtaderi, Behdad

2017-10-05

There has been a surge of interest from the extractive industries in the application of mechanical means to the mitigation of flame deflagration. To verify the implementation and performance of passive and active mitigation protection, a comprehensive experimental investigation has been conducted on a large scale detonation tube, 30m long and 0.5m in diameter, with two mitigation valves (passive and active) and a burst panel venting system. The valves were used alternately to mitigate the flame deflagration of methane in concentrations ranging from 1.25% to 7.5%. The experimental work revealed that locating the passive mitigation valve at 22m distance from the ignition source mitigates the flame by fully isolating the tube. However, closing the valve structure in the axial direction generated another pressure wave upstream, which was approximately the same value as for the original pressure wave upstream. In the case of the active mitigation system, the system perfectly isolated upstream from downstream with no further pressure wave generation. When the vent was located at 6.5m from the ignition source, the total pressure was reduced by 0.48bar. Due to the counter flow of the reflected pressure wave the flame was extinguished at 12.5m from the ignition source. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

75 FR 5925 - Proposed Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-05

... comments, identified by Docket No. FEMA-B-1091, to Kevin C. Long, Acting Chief, Engineering Management..., Acting Chief, Engineering Management Branch, Mitigation Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency... federalism implications under Executive Order 13132. Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. This...

Mobility Case Studies : Where Integrated Corridor Management Has Worked and Why

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-01-11

Background: Modifying the task load of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel may mitigate fatigue, sleep quality and fatigue related risks. A review of the literature addressing task load interventions may benefit EMS administrators as they craf...

Demography and Public Health Emergency Preparedness: Making the Connection

PubMed Central

Katz, Rebecca

2009-01-01

The tools and techniques of population sciences are extremely relevant to the discipline of public health emergency preparedness: protecting and securing the population’s health requires information about that population. While related fields such as security studies have successfully integrated demographic tools into their research and literature, the theoretical and practical connection between the methods of demography and the practice of public health emergency preparedness is weak. This article suggests the need to further the interdisciplinary use of demography by examining the need for a systematic use of population science techniques in public health emergency preparedness. Ultimately, we demonstrate how public health emergency preparedness can incorporate demography to develop more effective preparedness plans. Important policy implications emerge: demographers and preparedness experts need to collaborate more formally in order to facilitate community resilience and mitigate the consequences of public health emergencies. PMID:20694030

How to Break the 9-1-1 Language Barrier. Services are available to help providers communicate with patients who don’t speak English.

PubMed

Kolb, Joseph J

2015-09-01

America's multiethnic composition can create havoc in answering emergency calls and translating patient information on scene. It is incumbent upon EMS services to have a translation strategy and protocol in place to mitigate delays in providing emergency care. While digital translation programs may be of assistance, exercise caution in ensuring information is accurately downloaded to obtain an accurate translation.

The hidden costs of coastal hazards: Implications for risk assessment and mitigation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kunreuther, H.; Platt, R.; Baruch, S.; Bernknopf, R.L.; Buckley, M.; Burkett, V.; Conrad, D.; Davidson, T.; Deutsch, K.; Geis, D.; Jannereth, M.; Knap, A.; Lane, H.; Ljung, G.; McCauley, M.; Mileti, D.; Miller, T.; Morrow, B.; Meyers, J.; Pielke, R.; Pratt, A.; Tripp, J.

2000-01-01

Society has limited hazard mitigation dollars to invest. Which actions will be most cost effective, considering the true range of impacts and costs incurred? In 1997, the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment began a two-year study with a panel of experts to help develop new strategies to identify and reduce the costs of weather-related hazards associated with rapidly increasing coastal development activities.The Hidden Costs of Coastal Hazards presents the panel's findings, offering the first in-depth study that considers the costs of coastal hazards to natural resources, social institutions, business, and the built environment. Using Hurricane Hugo, which struck South Carolina in 1989, as a case study, it provides for the first time information on the full range of economic costs caused by a major coastal hazard event. The book:describes and examines unreported, undocumented, and hidden costs such as losses due to business interruption, reduction in property values, interruption of social services, psychological trauma, damage to natural systems, and othersexamines the concepts of risk and vulnerability, and discusses conventional approaches to risk assessment and the emerging area of vulnerability assessmentrecommends a comprehensive framework for developing and implementing mitigation strategiesdocuments the human impact of Hurricane Hugo and provides insight from those who lived through it.The Hidden Costs of Coastal Hazards takes a structured approach to the problem of coastal hazards, offering a new framework for community-based hazard mitigation along with specific recommendations for implementation. Decisionmakers -- both policymakers and planners -- who are interested in coastal hazard issues will find the book a unique source of new information and insight, as will private-sector decisionmakers including lenders, investors, developers, and insurers of coastal property.

12 CFR 222.90 - Duties regarding the detection, prevention, and mitigation of identity theft.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... mitigation of identity theft. 222.90 Section 222.90 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM FAIR CREDIT REPORTING (REGULATION V) Identity Theft Red Flags § 222.90 Duties regarding the detection, prevention, and mitigation of identity theft. (a) Scope...

12 CFR 222.90 - Duties regarding the detection, prevention, and mitigation of identity theft.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... mitigation of identity theft. 222.90 Section 222.90 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM FAIR CREDIT REPORTING (REGULATION V) Identity Theft Red Flags § 222.90 Duties regarding the detection, prevention, and mitigation of identity theft. (a) Scope...

Review On Feasibility of Using Satellite Imaging for Risk Management of Derailment Related Turnout Component Failures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dindar, Serdar; Kaewunruen, Sakdirat; Osman, Mohd H.

2017-10-01

One of the emerging significant advances in engineering, satellite imaging (SI) is becoming very common in any kind of civil engineering projects e.g., bridge, canal, dam, earthworks, power plant, water works etc., to provide an accurate, economical and expeditious means of acquiring a rapid assessment. Satellite imaging services in general utilise combinations of high quality satellite imagery, image processing and interpretation to obtain specific required information, e.g. surface movement analysis. To extract, manipulate and provide such a precise knowledge, several systems, including geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS), are generally used for orthorectification. Although such systems are useful for mitigating risk from projects, their productiveness is arguable and operational risk after application is open to discussion. As the applicability of any novel application to the railway industry is often measured in terms of whether or not it has gained in-depth knowledge and to what degree, as a result of errors during its operation, this novel application generates risk in ongoing projects. This study reviews what can be achievable for risk management of railway turnouts thorough satellite imaging. The methodology is established on the basis of other published articles in this area and the results of applications to understand how applicable such imagining process is on railway turnouts, and how sub-systems in turnouts can be effectively traced/operated with less risk than at present. As a result of this review study, it is aimed that the railway sector better understands risk mitigation in particular applications.

Regulation of Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF): a Model for Balancing Research, Environmental and Policy Concerns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leinen, M.; Lamotte, R.

2008-12-01

The potential of enhancing carbon sequestration by the biosphere for climate mitigation often raises questions of offsetting effects. These questions become more important as the scale of the enhancement increases. Ocean iron fertilization is accompanied by additional questions related to use of the ocean commons. The London Convention (LC) and London Protocol (LP), international treaties adopted in 1972 and 1996 respectively, were designed to prevent use of the ocean for disposal of toxic, harmful and radioactive pollutants. Recently the LC/LP has been called upon to decide whether climate mitigation activities, such as subseafloor injection of CO2 and OIF, are legal under the framework and, if so, how they should be regulated. The broad consultation with the science community by the LC/LP in developing their perspective, and the involvement of the NGO community in these deliberations, provides a model for the process that the international policy community can use to develop science-based regulatory guidelines for carbon mitigation projects involving the commons. And the substance of that emerging regulatory framework -- built on a national-level permitting process informed by internationally agreed guidelines and standards -- may also serve as a model for the oversight of other emerging technologies that take place in the global commons.

Vector-control response in a post-flood disaster setting, Honiara, Solomon Islands, 2014.

PubMed

Shortus, Matthew; Musto, Jennie; Bugoro, Hugo; Butafa, Charles; Sio, Alison; Joshua, Cynthia

2016-01-01

The close quartering and exposed living conditions in evacuation centres and the potential increase in vector density after flooding in Solomon Islands resulted in an increased risk of exposure for the occupants to vectorborne diseases. In April 2014, Solomon Islands experienced a flash flooding event that affected many areas and displaced a large number of people. In the capital, Honiara, nearly 10 000 people were housed in emergency evacuation centres at the peak of the post-flood emergency. At the time of the floods, the number of dengue cases was increasing, following a record outbreak in 2013. The National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme with the assistance of the World Health Organization implemented an emergency vector-control response plan to provide protection to the at-risk populations in the evacuation centres. The National Surveillance Unit also activated an early warning disease surveillance system to monitor communicable diseases, including dengue and malaria. Timely and strategic application of the emergency interventions probably prevented an increase in dengue and malaria cases in the affected areas. Rapid and appropriate precautionary vector-control measures applied in a post-natural disaster setting can prevent and mitigate vectorborne disease incidences. Collecting vector surveillance data allows better analysis of vector-control operations' effectiveness.

Vector-control response in a post-flood disaster setting, Honiara, Solomon Islands, 2014

PubMed Central

Musto, Jennie; Bugoro, Hugo; Butafa, Charles; Sio, Alison; Joshua, Cynthia

2016-01-01

Problem The close quartering and exposed living conditions in evacuation centres and the potential increase in vector density after flooding in Solomon Islands resulted in an increased risk of exposure for the occupants to vectorborne diseases. Context In April 2014, Solomon Islands experienced a flash flooding event that affected many areas and displaced a large number of people. In the capital, Honiara, nearly 10 000 people were housed in emergency evacuation centres at the peak of the post-flood emergency. At the time of the floods, the number of dengue cases was increasing, following a record outbreak in 2013. Action The National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme with the assistance of the World Health Organization implemented an emergency vector-control response plan to provide protection to the at-risk populations in the evacuation centres. The National Surveillance Unit also activated an early warning disease surveillance system to monitor communicable diseases, including dengue and malaria. Outcome Timely and strategic application of the emergency interventions probably prevented an increase in dengue and malaria cases in the affected areas. Discussion Rapid and appropriate precautionary vector-control measures applied in a post-natural disaster setting can prevent and mitigate vectorborne disease incidences. Collecting vector surveillance data allows better analysis of vector-control operations’ effectiveness. PMID:27757255

Acute gastrointestinal illness following a prolonged community-wide water emergency.

PubMed

Gargano, J W; Freeland, A L; Morrison, M A; Stevens, K; Zajac, L; Wolkon, A; Hightower, A; Miller, M D; Brunkard, J M

2015-10-01

The drinking water infrastructure in the United States is ageing; extreme weather events place additional stress on water systems that can lead to interruptions in the delivery of safe drinking water. We investigated the association between household exposures to water service problems and acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) and acute respiratory illness (ARI) in Alabama communities that experienced a freeze-related community-wide water emergency. Following the water emergency, investigators conducted a household survey. Logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for self-reported AGI and ARI by water exposures. AGI was higher in households that lost water service for ⩾7 days (aPR 2·4, 95% CI 1·1-5·2) and experienced low water pressure for ⩾7 days (aPR 3·6, 95% CI 1·4-9·0) compared to households that experienced normal service and pressure; prevalence of AGI increased with increasing duration of water service interruptions. Investments in the ageing drinking water infrastructure are needed to prevent future low-pressure events and to maintain uninterrupted access to the fundamental public health protection provided by safe water supplies. Households and communities need to increase their awareness of and preparedness for water emergencies to mitigate adverse health impacts.

Perceived Discrimination and Suicide Ideation: Moderating Roles of Anxiety Symptoms and Ethnic Identity among Asian American, African American, and Hispanic Emerging Adults.

PubMed

Cheref, Soumia; Talavera, David; Walker, Rheeda L

2018-05-03

Suicide is a leading cause of death for vulnerable ethnic minority emerging adults in the United States (Web-based injury statistics query and reporting system [WISQARS], 2015). Perceived discrimination (Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40, 2011, 1465) and anxiety symptoms (Asian American Journal of Psychology, 1, 2010, 18) are two predictors that are theoretically and conceptually related, but have yet to be examined in a simultaneous model for suicide ideation. Existing theory and research suggest that these variables activate similar pathways (American Behavioral Scientist, 51, 2007, 551). This study sought to address this gap in the literature by examining the simultaneous relationship between perceived discrimination and anxiety symptoms as predictors of suicide ideation. The moderating effect of anxiety symptoms on the relationship between perceived discrimination and suicide ideation was examined in a multiethnic sample of emerging adults. Results indicated that anxiety symptoms moderated the perceived discrimination-suicide ideation relationship for Hispanic emerging adults, but not for their Asian American and African American counterparts. Furthermore, ethnic identity has been shown to mitigate suicide risk in the face of other stressors (Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 14, 2008, 75). Ethnic identity emerged as a protective factor for Hispanic emerging adults by further interacting with perceived discrimination and anxiety symptoms to negatively predict suicide ideation. The implications of these findings are discussed. © 2018 The American Association of Suicidology.

Automated blood glucose control in type 1 diabetes: A review of progress and challenges.

PubMed

Bertachi, Arthur; Ramkissoon, Charrise M; Bondia, Jorge; Vehí, Josep

2018-03-01

Since the 2000s, research teams worldwide have been working to develop closed-loop (CL) systems able to automatically control blood glucose (BG) levels in patients with type 1 diabetes. This emerging technology is known as artificial pancreas (AP), and its first commercial version just arrived in the market. The main objective of this paper is to present an extensive review of the clinical trials conducted since 2011, which tested various implementations of the AP for different durations under varying conditions. A comprehensive table that contains key information from the selected publications is provided, and the main challenges in AP development and the mitigation strategies used are discussed. The development timelines for different AP systems are also included, highlighting the main evolutions over the clinical trials for each system. Copyright © 2017 SEEN y SED. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Security Attacks and Solutions in Electronic Health (E-health) Systems.

PubMed

Zeadally, Sherali; Isaac, Jesús Téllez; Baig, Zubair

2016-12-01

For centuries, healthcare has been a basic service provided by many governments to their citizens. Over the past few decades, we have witnessed a significant transformation in the quality of healthcare services provided by healthcare organizations and professionals. Recent advances have led to the emergence of Electronic Health (E-health), largely made possible by the massive deployment and adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs). However, cybercriminals and attackers are exploiting vulnerabilities associated primarily with ICTs, causing data breaches of patients' confidential digital health information records. Here, we review recent security attacks reported for E-healthcare and discuss the solutions proposed to mitigate them. We also identify security challenges that must be addressed by E-health system designers and implementers in the future, to respond to threats that could arise as E-health systems become integrated with technologies such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and smart cities.

Landlord project multi-year program plan, fiscal year 1999, WBS 1.5

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dallas, M.D.

The MYWP technical baseline describes the work to be accomplished by the Project and the technical standards which govern that work. The mission of Landlord Project is to provide more maintenance replacement of general infrastructure facilities and systems to facilitate the Hanford Site cleanup mission. Also, once an infrastructure facility or system is no longer needed the Landlord Project transitions the facility to final closure/removal through excess, salvage or demolition. Landlord Project activities will be performed in an environmentally sound, safe, economical, prudent, and reliable manner. The Landlord Project consists of the following facilities systems: steam, water, liquid sanitary waste,more » electrical distribution, telecommunication, sanitary landfill, emergency services, general purpose offices, general purpose shops, general purpose warehouses, environmental supports facilities, roads, railroad, and the site land. The objectives for general infrastructure support are reflected in two specific areas, (1) Core Infrastructure Maintenance, and (2) Infrastructure Risk Mitigation.« less

Overview of Risk Mitigation for Safety-Critical Computer-Based Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Torres-Pomales, Wilfredo

2015-01-01

This report presents a high-level overview of a general strategy to mitigate the risks from threats to safety-critical computer-based systems. In this context, a safety threat is a process or phenomenon that can cause operational safety hazards in the form of computational system failures. This report is intended to provide insight into the safety-risk mitigation problem and the characteristics of potential solutions. The limitations of the general risk mitigation strategy are discussed and some options to overcome these limitations are provided. This work is part of an ongoing effort to enable well-founded assurance of safety-related properties of complex safety-critical computer-based aircraft systems by developing an effective capability to model and reason about the safety implications of system requirements and design.

Risk Mitigation of Emerging Zoonoses: Hendra Virus and Non-Vaccinating Horse Owners.

PubMed

Manyweathers, J; Field, H; Jordan, D; Longnecker, N; Agho, K; Smith, C; Taylor, M

2017-12-01

Hendra virus was identified in horses and humans in 1994, in Queensland, Australia. Flying foxes are the natural host. Horses are thought to acquire infection by direct or indirect contact with infected flying fox urine. Humans are infected from close contact with infected horses. To reduce risk of infection in horses and humans, Australian horse owners are encouraged to vaccinate horses against the virus and adopt property risk mitigation practices that focus on reducing flying fox horse contact and contamination of horses' environment with flying fox bodily fluids. This study investigates uptake of four Hendra virus risk mitigation practices in a sample of non- and partially vaccinating horse owners living close to previous Hendra virus cases. Protection motivation theory was used to develop a conceptual model to investigate risk perception and coping factors associated with uptake of risk mitigation practices. An online survey was administered via Facebook pages of veterinary clinics close to previous Hendra virus cases. Factors associated with uptake of risk mitigation practices were investigated using univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression. Belief that a risk mitigation practice would be effective in reducing Hendra virus risk was significantly associated with the uptake of that practice. Issues around the practicality of implementing risk mitigation practices were found to be the greatest barrier to uptake. Factors that relate to risk immediacy, such as nearby infection, were identified as more likely to trigger uptake of risk mitigation practices. The role of veterinarians in supporting Hendra risk mitigation was identified as more influential than that of respected others or friends. Findings from this study are being used to assist stakeholders in Australia responsible for promotion of risk mitigation practice in identifying additional pathways and reliable influencing factors that could be utilized for engaging and communicating with horse owners to promote Hendra virus risk mitigation behaviour. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

AGWA DESIGN DOCUMENTATION: MIGRATING TO ARCGIS AND THE INTERNET

EPA Science Inventory

Rapid post-fire watershed assessment to identify potential trouble spots for erosion and flooding can potentially aid land managers and Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) teams in deploying mitigation and rehabilitation resources.

These decisions are inherently co...

75 FR 5909 - Proposed Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-05

..., identified by Docket No. FEMA-B-1085, to Kevin C. Long, Acting Chief, Engineering Management Branch... Chief, Engineering Management Branch, Mitigation Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C... federalism implications under Executive Order 13132. Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. This...

75 FR 31373 - Proposed Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-03

..., identified by Docket No. FEMA-B-1105, to Kevin C. Long, Acting Chief, Engineering Management Branch... Chief, Engineering Management Branch, Mitigation Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C... federalism implications under Executive Order 13132. Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. This...

75 FR 34415 - Proposed Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-17

..., identified by Docket No. FEMA-B-1114, to Kevin C. Long, Acting Chief, Engineering Management Branch... Chief, Engineering Management Branch, Mitigation Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C... federalism implications under Executive Order 13132. Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. This...

Situational Factors Associated With Burnout Among Emergency Department Nurses.

PubMed

Rozo, Jose Andres; Olson, DaiWai M; Thu, Hlaing Sue; Stutzman, Sonja E

2017-06-01

Emergency departments are high-stress environments for patients and clinicians. As part of the clinical team, nurses experience this stress daily and are subject to high levels of burnout, which has been shown to lead to hypertension, depression, and anxiety. Presence of these diseases may also contribute to burnout, creating a cycle of stress and illness. This prospective qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to better understand factors associated with burnout among emergency department nurses. Burnout manifests itself in multiple modes, can affect nurses' decisions to leave the profession, and must be addressed to mitigate the phenomenon.

A comparison of work stressors in higher and lower resourced emergency medicine health settings.

PubMed

de Haan, Sebastian; Lamprecht, Hein; Howlett, Michael K; Fraser, Jacqueline; Sohi, Dylan; Adisesh, Anil; Atkinson, Paul R

2018-04-06

CLINICIAN'S CAPSULE What is known about the topic? Emergency physicians and trainees have high rates of stress and burnout. What did this study ask? How do reported stressors for emergency physicians and trainees differ between high and low resource settings? What did this study find? Trainees in the low resource setting reported higher stressors. Trainees reported higher levels of stressors than specialists in general. Why does this study matter to clinicians? High levels of reported stressors among trainees, and in low resource settings should be acknowledged and mitigated where possible.

Emerging Public Health Challenges of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Related to Changes in the Pathogen, the Population, and the Environment.

PubMed

Karmali, Mohamed A

2017-02-01

Emerging public health challenges of Shiga toxin (stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) include the occurrence of more frequent or severe disease and risk factors shifts associated with changes, often interconnected, in the pathogen, the population, and the environment. In 3 outbreaks with heightened severity attributed to enhanced pathogen virulence, including the acquisition of an stx2 phage in 1 outbreak, population and environmental factors likely contributed significantly to disease outcomes. Evolving population risk factors that are associated with more severe disease include consumption of fresh produce, contact with STEC-contaminated environments, demographics, socioeconomic status, and immunity. Risks of increasing STEC environmental pollution are related to continued intensification of agriculture and super-shedder cattle. Mitigation strategies include surveillance and research on emerging STEC, development of effective communications and public education strategies, and improved policies and interventions to mitigate risks, including those related to the contamination of produce and the environment, using a "One Health" approach. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

The financial management of catastrophic flood risks in emerging-economy countries.

PubMed

Kunreuther, Howard C; Linnerooth-Bayer, Joanne

2003-06-01

This article examines the potential of pre- and post-disaster instruments for funding disaster response and recovery and for creating incentives for flood loss mitigation in countries with emerging or transition economies. As a concrete case, we discuss the disaster recovery arrangements following the 1997 flood disaster in Poland. We examine the advantages and limitations of hedging instruments, which are instruments for transferring the risk to investors either through insurance or capital market-based securities. We compare these mechanisms with financing instruments whereby the government sets aside funds prior to a disaster or taps its own funding sources after the event occurs. We show how hedging instruments can be designed to create incentives for the mitigation of damage to public infrastructure using the flood proofing of a water-treatment plant on the hypothetical Topping River as an illustrative example. We conclude that hedging instruments can be an attractive alternative to financing instruments that have been traditionally used in the poorer, emerging-economy countries to fund disaster recovery. Since very poor countries are likely to have difficulty paying the price of protection prior to a disaster, we suggest that international lending institutions consider innovations for subsidizing these payments.

A Heuristic Decision Making Model to Mitigate Adverse Consequences in a Network Centric Warfare/Sense and Respond System

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-05-01

made. 4. Do military decision makers identify / analyze adverse consequences presently? Few do based on this research and most don’t do it effectively ...A HEURISTIC DECISION MAKING MODEL TO MITIGATE ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES IN A NETWORK CENTRIC WARFARE / SENSE AND RESPOND SYSTEM...ENS/05-01 A HEURISTIC DECISION MAKING MODEL TO MITIGATE ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES IN A NETWORK CENTRIC WARFARE / SENSE AND RESPOND SYSTEM

Assessing the safety effects of cooperative intelligent transport systems: A bowtie analysis approach.

PubMed

Ehlers, Ute Christine; Ryeng, Eirin Olaussen; McCormack, Edward; Khan, Faisal; Ehlers, Sören

2017-02-01

The safety effects of cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) are mostly unknown and associated with uncertainties, because these systems represent emerging technology. This study proposes a bowtie analysis as a conceptual framework for evaluating the safety effect of cooperative intelligent transport systems. These seek to prevent road traffic accidents or mitigate their consequences. Under the assumption of the potential occurrence of a particular single vehicle accident, three case studies demonstrate the application of the bowtie analysis approach in road traffic safety. The approach utilizes exemplary expert estimates and knowledge from literature on the probability of the occurrence of accident risk factors and of the success of safety measures. Fuzzy set theory is applied to handle uncertainty in expert knowledge. Based on this approach, a useful tool is developed to estimate the effects of safety-related cooperative intelligent transport systems in terms of the expected change in accident occurrence and consequence probability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

48 CFR 3.1104 - Mitigation or waiver.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Mitigation or waiver. 3... for Contractor Employees Performing Acquisition Functions 3.1104 Mitigation or waiver. (a) In... impose conditions that provide mitigation of a personal conflict of interest or grant a waiver. (c) This...

48 CFR 3.1104 - Mitigation or waiver.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Mitigation or waiver. 3... for Contractor Employees Performing Acquisition Functions 3.1104 Mitigation or waiver. (a) In... impose conditions that provide mitigation of a personal conflict of interest or grant a waiver. (c) This...

48 CFR 3.1104 - Mitigation or waiver.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Mitigation or waiver. 3... for Contractor Employees Performing Acquisition Functions 3.1104 Mitigation or waiver. (a) In... impose conditions that provide mitigation of a personal conflict of interest or grant a waiver. (c) This...

The effectiveness of mitigation for reducing radon risk in single-family Minnesota homes.

PubMed

Steck, Daniel J

2012-09-01

Increased lung cancer incidence has been linked with long-term exposure to elevated residential radon. Experimental studies have shown that soil ventilation can be effective in reducing radon concentrations in single-family homes. Most radon mitigation systems in the U.S. are installed by private contractors. The long-term effectiveness of these systems is not well known, since few state radon programs regulate or independently confirm post-mitigation radon concentrations. The effectiveness of soil ventilation systems in Minnesota was measured for 140 randomly selected clients of six professional mitigators. Homeowners reported pre-mitigation radon screening concentrations that averaged 380 Bq m (10.3 pCi L). Long term post-mitigation radon measurements on the two lowest floors show that, even years after mitigation, 97% of these homes have concentrations below the 150 Bq m U.S. Environmental Protection Agency action level. The average post-mitigation radon in the houses was 30 Bq m, an average observed reduction of >90%. If that reduction was maintained over the lifetime of the 1.2 million Minnesotans who currently reside in single-family homes with living space radon above the EPA action level, approximately 50,000 lives could be extended for nearly two decades by preventing radon-related lung cancers.

ARkStorm@Tahoe: Stakeholder perspectives on vulnerabilities and preparedness for an extreme storm event in the greater Lake Tahoe, Reno, and Carson City region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Albano, Christine M.; Cox, Dale A.; Dettinger, Michael; Shaller, Kevin; Welborn, Toby L.; McCarthy, Maureen

2014-01-01

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are strongly linked to extreme winter precipitation events in the Western U.S., accounting for 80 percent of extreme floods in the Sierra Nevada and surrounding lowlands. In 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey developed the ARkStorm extreme storm scenario for California to quantify risks from extreme winter storms and to allow stakeholders to better explore and mitigate potential impacts. To explore impacts on natural resources and communities in montane and adjacent environments, we downscaled the scenario to the greater Lake Tahoe, Reno and Carson City region of northern Nevada and California. This ArkStorm@Tahoe scenario was presented at six stakeholder meetings, each with a different geographic and subject matter focus. Discussions were facilitated by the ARkStorm@Tahoe team to identify social and ecological vulnerabilities to extreme winter storms, science and information needs, and proactive measures that might minimize impacts from this type of event. Information collected in these meetings was used to develop a tabletop emergency response exercise and set of recommendations for increasing resilience to extreme winter storm events in both Tahoe and the downstream communities of Northern Nevada.Over 300 individuals participated in ARkStorm@Tahoe stakeholder meetings and the emergency response exercise, including representatives from emergency response, natural resource and ecosystem management, health and human services, public utilities, and businesses. Interruption of transportation, communications, and lack of power and backup fuel supplies were identified as the most likely and primary points of failure across multiple sectors and geographies, as these interruptions have cascading effects on natural and human systems by impeding emergency response efforts. Other key issues that arose in discussions included contamination risks to water supplies and aquatic ecosystems, especially in the Tahoe Basin and Pyramid Lake, interagency coordination, credentialing, flood management, and coordination of health and human services during such an event. Mitigation options were identified for each of the key issues. Several science needs were identified, particularly the need for improved flood inundation maps. Finally, key lessons learned were identified and may help to increase preparedness, response and recovery from extreme storms in the future.

How Can Advanced Imaging Be Used to Mitigate Potential Breast Cancer Overdiagnosis?

PubMed Central

Rahbar, Habib; McDonald, Elizabeth S.; Lee, Janie M.; Partridge, Savannah C.; Lee, Christoph I.

2016-01-01

Radiologists, as administrators and interpreters of screening mammography, are considered by some to be major contributors to the potential harms of screening, including overdiagnosis and overtreatment. In this article, we outline current efforts within the breast imaging community towards mitigating screening harms, including the widespread adoption of tomosynthesis and potentially adjusting screening frequency and thresholds for image-guided breast biopsy. However, the emerging field of breast radiomics may offer the greatest promise for reducing overdiagnosis by identifying imaging-based biomarkers strongly associated with tumor biology and, therefore, helping prevent the harms of unnecessary treatment for indolent cancers. PMID:27017136

Assessing Transit Oriented Development Strategies with a New Combined Modal Split and Traffic Assignment Model

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-08-30

Transit oriented development (TOD) has emerged in recent years as a promising paradigm to promote public transportation, increase active transportation usage, mitigate congestion, and alleviate air pollution. However, there is a lack of analytic stud...

44 CFR 67.4 - Proposed flood elevation determination.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Proposed flood elevation..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program APPEALS FROM PROPOSED FLOOD ELEVATION DETERMINATIONS § 67.4 Proposed flood elevation determination. The Federal...

44 CFR 67.4 - Proposed flood elevation determination.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program APPEALS FROM PROPOSED FLOOD ELEVATION DETERMINATIONS § 67.4 Proposed flood elevation determination. The Federal... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Proposed flood elevation...

78 FR 43899 - Changes in Flood Hazard Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-22

..., ``Flood Insurance.'') Dated: July 2, 2013. Roy E. Wright, Deputy Associate Administrator for Mitigation...] Changes in Flood Hazard Determinations AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION: Final notice. SUMMARY: New or modified Base (1% annual-chance) Flood Elevations (BFEs), base flood depths...

44 CFR 67.4 - Proposed flood elevation determination.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program APPEALS FROM PROPOSED FLOOD ELEVATION DETERMINATIONS § 67.4 Proposed flood elevation determination. The Federal... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Proposed flood elevation...

Institutional misfit and environmental change: A systems approach to address ocean acidification.

PubMed

Ekstrom, Julia A; Crona, Beatrice I

2017-01-15

Emerging environmental threats often lack sufficient governance to address the full extent of the problem. An example is ocean acidification which is a growing concern in fishing and aquaculture economies worldwide, but has remained a footnote in environmental policy at all governance levels. However, existing legal jurisdictions do account for some aspects of the system relating to ocean acidification and these may be leveraged to support adapting to and mitigating ocean acidification. We refine and apply a methodological framework that helps objectively evaluate governance, from a social-ecological systems perspective. We assess how well a set of extant US institutions fits with the social-ecological interactions pertinent to ocean acidification. The assessment points to measured legal gaps, for which we evaluate the government authorities most appropriate to help fill these gaps. The analysis is conducted on United State federal statutes and regulations. Results show quantitative improvement of institutional fit over time (2006 to 2013), but a substantial number of measured legal gaps persist especially around acknowledging local sources of acidification and adaptation strategies to deal with or avoid impacts. We demonstrate the utility of this framework to evaluate the governance surrounding any emerging environmental threat as a first step to guiding the development of jurisdictionally realistic solutions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Beyond a series of security nets: Applying STAMP & STPA to port security

DOE PAGES

Williams, Adam D.

2015-11-17

Port security is an increasing concern considering the significant role of ports in global commerce and today’s increasingly complex threat environment. Current approaches to port security mirror traditional models of accident causality -- ‘a series of security nets’ based on component reliability and probabilistic assumptions. Traditional port security frameworks result in isolated and inconsistent improvement strategies. Recent work in engineered safety combines the ideas of hierarchy, emergence, control and communication into a new paradigm for understanding port security as an emergent complex system property. The ‘System-Theoretic Accident Model and Process (STAMP)’ is a new model of causality based on systemsmore » and control theory. The associated analysis process -- System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) -- identifies specific technical or procedural security requirements designed to work in coordination with (and be traceable to) overall port objectives. This process yields port security design specifications that can mitigate (if not eliminate) port security vulnerabilities related to an emphasis on component reliability, lack of coordination between port security stakeholders or economic pressures endemic in the maritime industry. As a result, this article aims to demonstrate how STAMP’s broader view of causality and complexity can better address the dynamic and interactive behaviors of social, organizational and technical components of port security.« less

Beyond a series of security nets: Applying STAMP & STPA to port security

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, Adam D.

Port security is an increasing concern considering the significant role of ports in global commerce and today’s increasingly complex threat environment. Current approaches to port security mirror traditional models of accident causality -- ‘a series of security nets’ based on component reliability and probabilistic assumptions. Traditional port security frameworks result in isolated and inconsistent improvement strategies. Recent work in engineered safety combines the ideas of hierarchy, emergence, control and communication into a new paradigm for understanding port security as an emergent complex system property. The ‘System-Theoretic Accident Model and Process (STAMP)’ is a new model of causality based on systemsmore » and control theory. The associated analysis process -- System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) -- identifies specific technical or procedural security requirements designed to work in coordination with (and be traceable to) overall port objectives. This process yields port security design specifications that can mitigate (if not eliminate) port security vulnerabilities related to an emphasis on component reliability, lack of coordination between port security stakeholders or economic pressures endemic in the maritime industry. As a result, this article aims to demonstrate how STAMP’s broader view of causality and complexity can better address the dynamic and interactive behaviors of social, organizational and technical components of port security.« less

National Standard of the Russian Federation for Space Debris Mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loginov, S.; Yakovlev, M.; Mikhailov, M.; Popkova, L.

2009-03-01

Normative and technical document that define requirements for the mitigation of human-produced near-earth space pollution develops in Russian Federation.NATIONAL STANDARD of the Russian Federation GOST R 52925-2008 «SPACE TECHNOLOGY ITEMS. General Requirements on Space Systems for the Mitigation of Human-Produced near-Earth Space Pollution» was approved in 2008 and entered into force since 1st January of 2009. Requirements of this standard harmonized with requirements of «UN SPACE DEBRIS MITIGATION GUIDELINESÈ»This standard consists of six parts:- Scope;- References to Standards;- Terms & Definitions;- Abbreviations;- General Provisions;- General Requirements on Space Systems for the Mitigation of Human-Produced near-Earth Space Pollution.

Minding the Cyber-Physical Gap: Model-Based Analysis and Mitigation of Systemic Perception-Induced Failure.

PubMed

Mordecai, Yaniv; Dori, Dov

2017-07-17

The cyber-physical gap (CPG) is the difference between the 'real' state of the world and the way the system perceives it. This discrepancy often stems from the limitations of sensing and data collection technologies and capabilities, and is inevitable at some degree in any cyber-physical system (CPS). Ignoring or misrepresenting such limitations during system modeling, specification, design, and analysis can potentially result in systemic misconceptions, disrupted functionality and performance, system failure, severe damage, and potential detrimental impacts on the system and its environment. We propose CPG-Aware Modeling & Engineering (CPGAME), a conceptual model-based approach to capturing, explaining, and mitigating the CPG. CPGAME enhances the systems engineer's ability to cope with CPGs, mitigate them by design, and prevent erroneous decisions and actions. We demonstrate CPGAME by applying it for modeling and analysis of the 1979 Three Miles Island 2 nuclear accident, and show how its meltdown could be mitigated. We use ISO-19450:2015-Object Process Methodology as our conceptual modeling framework.

Satellite SAR interferometric techniques applied to emergency mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stefanova Vassileva, Magdalena; Riccardi, Paolo; Lecci, Daniele; Giulio Tonolo, Fabio; Boccardo Boccardo, Piero; Chiesa, Giuliana; Angeluccetti, Irene

2017-04-01

This paper aim to investigate the capabilities of the currently available SAR interferometric algorithms in the field of emergency mapping. Several tests have been performed exploiting the Copernicus Sentinel-1 data using the COTS software ENVI/SARscape 5.3. Emergency Mapping can be defined as "creation of maps, geo-information products and spatial analyses dedicated to providing situational awareness emergency management and immediate crisis information for response by means of extraction of reference (pre-event) and crisis (post-event) geographic information/data from satellite or aerial imagery". The conventional differential SAR interferometric technique (DInSAR) and the two currently available multi-temporal SAR interferometric approaches, i.e. Permanent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Small BAseline Subset (SBAS), have been applied to provide crisis information useful for the emergency management activities. Depending on the considered Emergency Management phase, it may be distinguished between rapid mapping, i.e. fast provision of geospatial data regarding the area affected for the immediate emergency response, and monitoring mapping, i.e. detection of phenomena for risk prevention and mitigation activities. In order to evaluate the potential and limitations of the aforementioned SAR interferometric approaches for the specific rapid and monitoring mapping application, five main factors have been taken into account: crisis information extracted, input data required, processing time and expected accuracy. The results highlight that DInSAR has the capacity to delineate areas affected by large and sudden deformations and fulfills most of the immediate response requirements. The main limiting factor of interferometry is the availability of suitable SAR acquisition immediately after the event (e.g. Sentinel-1 mission characterized by 6-day revisiting time may not always satisfy the immediate emergency request). PSI and SBAS techniques are suitable to produce monitoring maps for risk prevention and mitigation purposes. Nevertheless, multi-temporal techniques require large SAR temporal datasets, i.e. 20 and more images. Being the Sentinel-1 missions operational only since April 2014, multi-mission SAR datasets should be therefore exploited to carry out historical analysis.

Emergency Responses and Health Consequences after the Fukushima Accident; Evacuation and Relocation.

PubMed

Hasegawa, A; Ohira, T; Maeda, M; Yasumura, S; Tanigawa, K

2016-04-01

The Fukushima accident was a compounding disaster following the strong earthquake and huge tsunami. The direct health effects of radiation were relatively well controlled considering the severity of the accident, not only among emergency workers but also residents. Other serious health issues include deaths during evacuation, collapse of the radiation emergency medical system, increased mortality among displaced elderly people and public healthcare issues in Fukushima residents. The Fukushima mental health and lifestyle survey disclosed that the Fukushima accident caused severe psychological distress in the residents from evacuation zones. In addition to psychiatric and mental health problems, there are lifestyle-related problems such as an increase proportion of those overweight, an increased prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidaemia and changes in health-related behaviours among evacuees; all of which may lead to an increased cardiovascular disease risk in the future. The effects of a major nuclear accident on societies are diverse and enduring. The countermeasures should include disaster management, long-term general public health services, mental and psychological care, behavioural and societal support, in addition to efforts to mitigate the health effects attributable to radiation. Copyright © 2016 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Radon mitigation for the SuperCDMS SNOLAB dark matter experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Street, J.; Bunker, R.; Miller, E. H.; Schnee, R. W.; Snyder, S.; So, J.

2018-01-01

A potential background for the SuperCDMS SNOLAB dark matter experiment is from radon daughters that have plated out onto detector surfaces. To reach desired backgrounds, understanding plate-out rates during detector fabrication as well as mitigating radon in surrounding air is critical. A radon mitigated cleanroom planned at SNOLAB builds upon a system commissioned at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SD Mines). The ultra-low radon cleanroom at SD Mines has air supplied by a vacuum-swing-adsorption radon mitigation system that has achieved >1000× reduction for a cleanroom activity consistent with zero and <0.067 Bq m-3 at 90% confidence. Our simulation of this system, validated against calibration data, provides opportunity for increased understanding and optimization for this and future systems.

The assessment of seismic hazard for Gori, (Georgia) and preliminary studies of seismic microzonation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gogoladze, Z.; Moscatelli, M.; Giallini, S.; Avalle, A.; Gventsadze, A.; Kvavadze, N.; Tsereteli, N.

2016-12-01

Seismic risk is a crucial issue for South Caucasus, which is the main gateway between Asia and Europe. The goal of this work is to propose new methods and criteria for defining an overall approach aimed at assessing and mitigating seismic risk in Georgia. In this reguard seismic microzonation represents a highly useful tool for seismic risk assessmentin land management, for design of buildings or structures and for emergency planning.Seismic microzonation assessment of local seismic hazard,which is a component of seismicity resulting from specific local characteristics which cause local amplification and soil instability, through identification of zones with seismically homogeneous behavior. This paper presents the results of preliminary study of seismic microzonation of Gori, Georgia. Gori is and is located in the Shida Kartli region and on both sides of Liachvi and Mtkvari rivers, with area of about 135 km2around the Gori fortress. Gori is located in Achara-Trialeti fold-thrust belt, that is tectonically unstable. Half of all earthquakes in Gori area with magnitude M≥3.5 have happened along this fault zone and on basis of damage caused by previous earthquakes, this territory show the highest level of risk (the maximum value of direct losses) in central part of the town. The seismic microzonation map of level 1 for Gori was carried out using: 1) Already available data (i.e., topographic map and boreholes data), 2) Results of new geological surveys and 3) Geophysical measurements (i.e., MASW and noise measurements processed with HVSR technique). Our preliminary results highlight the presence of both stable zones susceptible to local amplifications and unstable zones susceptible to geological instability. Our results are directed to establish set of actions aimed at risk mitigation before initial onset of emergency, and to management of the emergency once the seismic event has occurred. The products obtained, will contain the basic elements of an integrated system aimed at reducing risk and improving over all safety of people and infrastructure in Georgia.

GB-InSAR monitoring and observational method for landslide emergency management: the Montaguto earthflow (AV, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrigno, Federica; Gigli, Giovanni; Fanti, Riccardo; Intrieri, Emanuele; Casagli, Nicola

2017-06-01

On 10 March 2010, because of the heavy rainfall in the preceding days, the Montaguto landslide (Southern Italy) reactivated, affecting both state road 90 Delle Puglie and the Rome-Bari railway. A similar event occurred on May 2005 and on September 2009. As a result, the National Civil Protection Department (DPC) started an accurate monitoring and analysis program. A monitoring project using the GB-InSAR (ground-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar) system was emplaced to investigate the landslide kinematics, plan urgent safety measures for risk mitigation and design long-term stabilization work.Here, we present the GB-InSAR monitoring system results and its applications in the observational method (OM) approach. GB-InSAR is an established instrument for long-term campaigns aimed at early warning and monitoring during construction works. Our paper further develops these aspects in that it highlights how the OM based on the GB-InSAR technique can produce savings in terms of cost and time in engineering projects without compromising safety. This study focuses on the key role played by the monitoring activities during the design and planning activities, with special reference to the emergency phase.

Moving beyond too little, too late: managing emerging infectious diseases in wild populations requires international policy and partnerships

USGS Publications Warehouse

Voyles, Jamie; Kilpatrick, A. Marm; Collins, James P.; Fisher, Matthew C.; Frick, Winifred F.; McCallum, Hamish I.; Willis, Craig K.R.; Blehert, David S.; Murray, Kris A.; Puschendorf, Robert; Rosenblum, Erica Bree; Bolker, Benjamin M.; Cheng, Tina L.; Langwig, Kate E.; Linder, Daniel L.; Toothman, Mary; Wilber, Mark Q.; Briggs, Cheryl J.

2015-01-01

Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are on the rise due to multiple factors, including human facilitated movement of pathogens, broad-scale landscape changes, and perturbations to ecological systems (Jones et al. 2008; Fisher et al. 2012). Epidemics in wildlife are problematic because they can lead to pathogen spillover to new host organisms, erode biodiversity and threaten ecosystems that sustain human societies (Fisher et al. 2012; Kilpatrick 2011). There have been recent calls for large-scale research approaches to combat threats EIDs pose to wildlife (Sleeman 2013). While it is true that developing new analytical models, diagnostic assays and molecular tools will significantly avance outr abilities to respond to disease threats, we also propose that addressing difficult problems in EIDs will require considerable shofts in international health policy and infrastructure. While there are currently international organizations responsbile for rapidly initiating and coordinating preventative measures to control infectious diseases in human, livestock, and arable systems, there are few comparable instiutions that have the authority to implement transnational responses to EIDs in wildlife. This absence of well-developed infastructure hampers the rapid responses necessary to mitigate international spread of EIDs.

One Health: Understanding and Improving Human, Animal, and Environmental Health as a Connected System Across NOAA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giltz, S.; Trtanj, J.; Jones, H.

2017-12-01

The One Health concept recognizes that the health of humans is inextricably linked with the health of animals and the environment. With a growing world population, changing climate, and increased global travel One Health approaches are increasingly useful. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides key stakeholders in the public health sector with the environmental intelligence they need to mitigate emerging health threats. The NOAA One Health Working Group's mission is to integrate and coordinate the network of observing systems and in situ sensors, detection and diagnostic capacity, research and modeling efforts, and sustained engagement with health partners to deliver useful information to public health and resource management communities. The NOAA One Health group divides its broad focus into themes: thermal extremes, water-borne disease, seafood security, Arctic, wildlife and zoonotic disease, vector-borne disease, and air quality (including wildfire). The group connects the work being done throughout NOAA to coordinate One Health related efforts, increase information sharing, promote interdisciplinary approaches, and work towards better disease prevention. We are working to enhance NOAA Science and services to deliver useful information on current and emerging health risks and benefits to health decision makers.

Biological warfare agents

PubMed Central

Thavaselvam, Duraipandian; Vijayaraghavan, Rajagopalan

2010-01-01

The recent bioterrorist attacks using anthrax spores have emphasized the need to detect and decontaminate critical facilities in the shortest possible time. There has been a remarkable progress in the detection, protection and decontamination of biological warfare agents as many instrumentation platforms and detection methodologies are developed and commissioned. Even then the threat of biological warfare agents and their use in bioterrorist attacks still remain a leading cause of global concern. Furthermore in the past decade there have been threats due to the emerging new diseases and also the re-emergence of old diseases and development of antimicrobial resistance and spread to new geographical regions. The preparedness against these agents need complete knowledge about the disease, better research and training facilities, diagnostic facilities and improved public health system. This review on the biological warfare agents will provide information on the biological warfare agents, their mode of transmission and spread and also the detection systems available to detect them. In addition the current information on the availability of commercially available and developing technologies against biological warfare agents has also been discussed. The risk that arise due to the use of these agents in warfare or bioterrorism related scenario can be mitigated with the availability of improved detection technologies. PMID:21829313

Spatiotemporal trends in the discovery of new swine infectious agents.

PubMed

Fournié, Guillaume; Kearsley-Fleet, Lianne; Otte, Joachim; Pfeiffer, Dirk Udo

2015-09-28

A literature review was conducted to assess the spatiotemporal trend and diversity of infectious agents that were newly found in pigs between 1985 and 2010. We identified 173 new variants from 91 species, of which 73 species had not been previously described in pigs. These new species, of which one third was zoonotic, were taxonomically diverse. They were identified throughout the study period, predominantly in the main pork producing countries, with the rate of discovery of new virus variants doubling within the last 10 years of the study period. Whilst infectious agent species newly detected in high-income countries were more likely to be associated with higher virulence, zoonotic agents prevailed in low- and middle-income countries. Although this trend is influenced by factors conditioning infectious agent detection - diagnostic methods, surveillance efforts, research interests -, it may suggest that different scales and types of production systems promote emergence of certain types of infectious agents. Considering the rapid transformation of the swine industry, concerted efforts are needed for improving our understanding of the factors influencing the emergence of infectious agents. This information then needs to inform the design of risk-based surveillance systems and strategies directly mitigating the risk associated with these factors.

UNDERSTANDING METHANE EMISSIONS SOURCES AND VIABLE MITIGATION MEASURES IN THE NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS: RUSSIAN AND U.S. EXPERIENCE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ishkov, A.; Akopova, Gretta; Evans, Meredydd

This article will compare the natural gas transmission systems in the U.S. and Russia and review experience with methane mitigation technologies in the two countries. Russia and the United States (U.S.) are the world's largest consumers and producers of natural gas, and consequently, have some of the largest natural gas infrastructure. This paper compares the natural gas transmission systems in Russia and the U.S., their methane emissions and experiences in implementing methane mitigation technologies. Given the scale of the two systems, many international oil and natural gas companies have expressed interest in better understanding the methane emission volumes and trendsmore » as well as the methane mitigation options. This paper compares the two transmission systems and documents experiences in Russia and the U.S. in implementing technologies and programs for methane mitigation. The systems are inherently different. For instance, while the U.S. natural gas transmission system is represented by many companies, which operate pipelines with various characteristics, in Russia predominately one company, Gazprom, operates the gas transmission system. However, companies in both countries found that reducing methane emissions can be feasible and profitable. Examples of technologies in use include replacing wet seals with dry seals, implementing Directed Inspection and Maintenance (DI&M) programs, performing pipeline pump-down, applying composite wrap for non-leaking pipeline defects and installing low-bleed pneumatics. The research methodology for this paper involved a review of information on methane emissions trends and mitigation measures, analytical and statistical data collection; accumulation and analysis of operational data on compressor seals and other emission sources; and analysis of technologies used in both countries to mitigate methane emissions in the transmission sector. Operators of natural gas transmission systems have many options to reduce natural gas losses. Depending on the value of gas, simple, low-cost measures, such as adjusting leaking equipment components, or larger-scale measures, such as installing dry seals on compressors, can be applied.« less

The Effect of Mitigation Policy on Regional Climate Impacts on the U.S. Electric Sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohen, S. M.; Sun, Y.; Strzepek, K.; McFarland, J.; Boehlert, B.; Fant, C.

2017-12-01

Climate change can influence the U.S. electricity sector in many ways, the nature of which can be shaped by energy and environmental policy choices. Changing temperatures affect electricity demand largely through heating and cooling needs, and temperatures also affect generation and transmission system performance. Altered precipitation patterns affect the regional and seasonal distribution of surface water runoff, which changes hydropower operation and thermal cooling water availability. The extent to which these stimuli influence U.S. power sector operation and planning will depend to some extent on whether or not proactive policies are enacted to mitigate these impacts. Mitigation policies such as CO2 emissions limits or technology restrictions can change the makeup of the electricity system while reducing the extent of climate change itself. We use the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS), a U.S. electric sector capacity expansion model, to explore electric sector evolution through 2050 under alternative climate and policy assumptions. The model endogenously represents climate impacts on load, power system performance, cooling water availability, and hydropower, allowing internally consistent system responses to climate change along with projected technology, market, and policy conditions. We compare climate impacts across 5 global circulation models for a 8.5 W/m2 representative concentration pathway (RCP) without a climate mitigation policy and a 4.5 W/m2 RCP with climate mitigation. Climate drivers affect the capacity and generation mix at the national and regional levels, with relative growth of wind, solar, and natural gas-based technologies depending on local electricity system characteristics. These differences affect regional economic impacts, measured here as changes to electricity price and system costs. Mitigation policy reduces the economic and system impacts of climate change largely by moderating temperature-induced load but also by lessening water- and temperature-based performance constraints. Policy impacts are nuanced and region-specific, and this analysis underscores the importance of climate mitigation policy to regional electricity system planning decisions.

Coupling Radar Rainfall Estimation and Hydrological Modelling For Flash-flood Hazard Mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borga, M.; Creutin, J. D.

Flood risk mitigation is accomplished through managing either or both the hazard and vulnerability. Flood hazard may be reduced through structural measures which alter the frequency of flood levels in the area. The vulnerability of a community to flood loss can be mitigated through changing or regulating land use and through flood warning and effective emergency response. When dealing with flash-flood hazard, it is gener- ally accepted that the most effective way (and in many instances the only affordable in a sustainable perspective) to mitigate the risk is by reducing the vulnerability of the involved communities, in particular by implementing flood warning systems and community self-help programs. However, both the inherent characteristics of the at- mospheric and hydrologic processes involved in flash-flooding and the changing soci- etal needs provide a tremendous challenge to traditional flood forecasting and warning concepts. In fact, the targets of these systems are traditionally localised like urbanised sectors or hydraulic structures. Given the small spatial scale that characterises flash floods and the development of dispersed urbanisation, transportation, green tourism and water sports, human lives and property are exposed to flash flood risk in a scat- tered manner. This must be taken into consideration in flash flood warning strategies and the investigated region should be considered as a whole and every section of the drainage network as a potential target for hydrological warnings. Radar technology offers the potential to provide information describing rain intensities almost contin- uously in time and space. Recent research results indicate that coupling radar infor- mation to distributed hydrologic modelling can provide hydrologic forecasts at all potentially flooded points of a region. Nevertheless, very few flood warning services use radar data more than on a qualitative basis. After a short review of current under- standing in this area, two issues are examined: advantages and caveats of using radar rainfall estimates in operational flash flood forecasting, methodological problems as- sociated to the use of hydrological models for distributed flash flood forecasting with rainfall input estimated from radar.

Emergence, institutionalization and renewal: Rhythms of adaptive governance in complex social-ecological systems.

PubMed

Chaffin, Brian C; Gunderson, Lance H

2016-01-01

Adaptive governance provides the capacity for environmental managers and decision makers to confront variable degrees of uncertainty inherent to complex social-ecological systems. Current theoretical conceptualizations of adaptive governance represent a series of structures and processes best suited for either adapting or transforming existing environmental governance regimes towards forms flexible enough to confront rapid ecological change. As the number of empirical examples of adaptive governance described in the literature grows, the conceptual basis of adaptive governance remains largely under theorized. We argue that reconnecting adaptive governance with foundational concepts of ecological resilience-specifically Panarchy and the adaptive cycle of complex systems-highlights the importance of episodic disturbances and cross-scale interactions in triggering reorganizations in governance. By envisioning the processes of adaptive governance through the lens of Panarchy, scholars and practitioners alike will be better able to identify the emergence of adaptive governance, as well as take advantage of opportunities to institutionalize this type of governance in pursuit of sustainability outcomes. The synergistic analysis of adaptive governance and Panarchy can provide critical insight for analyzing the role of social dynamics during oscillating periods of stability and instability in social-ecological systems. A deeper understanding of the potential for cross-scale interactions to shape adaptive governance regimes may be useful as society faces the challenge of mitigating the impacts of global environmental change. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A dynamic feedback-control toll pricing methodology : a case study on Interstate 95 managed lanes.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-06-01

Recently, congestion pricing emerged as a cost-effective and efficient strategy to mitigate the congestion problem on freeways. This study develops a feedback-control based dynamic toll approach to formulate and solve for optimal tolls. The study com...

Spatial dynamics of the vegetation community associated with an invasive emergent macrophyte in a regulated river.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Successful management of riverine ecosystems often requires mitigation of alien plant invasions. Understanding how environmental variation within watersheds influences distribution and spread of invasive plants is essential to restoring impacted ecological functions and conserving native plant commu...

76 FR 30376 - Alabama; Amendment No. 12 to Notice of a Major Disaster Declaration

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-25

... April 28, 2011. Cherokee, Choctaw, Colbert, Etowah, Fayette, Hale, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence... protective measures [Categories A and B], including direct Federal assistance, under the Public Assistance... Disasters); 97.039, Hazard Mitigation Grant) W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management...

RAPID POST-FIRE HYDROLOGIC WATERSHED ASSESSMENT USING THE AGWA GIS-BASED HYDROLOGIC MODELING TOOL

EPA Science Inventory

Rapid post-fire watershed assessment to identify potential trouble spots for erosion and flooding can potentially aid land managers and Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) teams in deploying mitigation and rehabilitation resources.

These decisions are inherently co...

44 CFR 204.43 - Ineligible costs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Ineligible costs. 204.43... Ineligible costs. Costs not directly associated with the incident period are ineligible. Ineligible costs include the following: (a) Costs incurred in the mitigation, management, and control of undeclared fires...

44 CFR 61.14 - Standard Flood Insurance Policy Interpretations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND RATES § 61.14 Standard Flood Insurance Policy Interpretations. (a... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Standard Flood Insurance...

44 CFR 61.14 - Standard Flood Insurance Policy Interpretations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND RATES § 61.14 Standard Flood Insurance Policy Interpretations. (a... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Standard Flood Insurance...

44 CFR 61.14 - Standard Flood Insurance Policy Interpretations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND RATES § 61.14 Standard Flood Insurance Policy Interpretations. (a... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Standard Flood Insurance...

44 CFR 61.14 - Standard Flood Insurance Policy Interpretations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND RATES § 61.14 Standard Flood Insurance Policy Interpretations. (a... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Standard Flood Insurance...

44 CFR 61.14 - Standard Flood Insurance Policy Interpretations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND RATES § 61.14 Standard Flood Insurance Policy Interpretations. (a... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Standard Flood Insurance...

The Status of Fusarium Mycotoxins in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Emerging Trends and Post-Harvest Mitigation Strategies towards Food Control.

PubMed

Chilaka, Cynthia Adaku; De Boevre, Marthe; Atanda, Olusegun Oladimeji; De Saeger, Sarah

2017-01-05

Fusarium fungi are common plant pathogens causing several plant diseases. The presence of these molds in plants exposes crops to toxic secondary metabolites called Fusarium mycotoxins. The most studied Fusarium mycotoxins include fumonisins, zearalenone, and trichothecenes. Studies have highlighted the economic impact of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium . These arrays of toxins have been implicated as the causal agents of wide varieties of toxic health effects in humans and animals ranging from acute to chronic. Global surveillance of Fusarium mycotoxins has recorded significant progress in its control; however, little attention has been paid to Fusarium mycotoxins in sub-Saharan Africa, thus translating to limited occurrence data. In addition, legislative regulation is virtually non-existent. The emergence of modified Fusarium mycotoxins, which may contribute to additional toxic effects, worsens an already precarious situation. This review highlights the status of Fusarium mycotoxins in sub-Saharan Africa, the possible food processing mitigation strategies, as well as future perspectives.

A network-patch methodology for adapting agent-based models for directly transmitted disease to mosquito-borne disease.

PubMed

Manore, Carrie A; Hickmann, Kyle S; Hyman, James M; Foppa, Ivo M; Davis, Justin K; Wesson, Dawn M; Mores, Christopher N

2015-01-01

Mosquito-borne diseases cause significant public health burden and are widely re-emerging or emerging. Understanding, predicting, and mitigating the spread of mosquito-borne disease in diverse populations and geographies are ongoing modelling challenges. We propose a hybrid network-patch model for the spread of mosquito-borne pathogens that accounts for individual movement through mosquito habitats, extending the capabilities of existing agent-based models (ABMs) to include vector-borne diseases. The ABM are coupled with differential equations representing 'clouds' of mosquitoes in patches accounting for mosquito ecology. We adapted an ABM for humans using this method and investigated the importance of heterogeneity in pathogen spread, motivating the utility of models of individual behaviour. We observed that the final epidemic size is greater in patch models with a high risk patch frequently visited than in a homogeneous model. Our hybrid model quantifies the importance of the heterogeneity in the spread of mosquito-borne pathogens, guiding mitigation strategies.

The Status of Fusarium Mycotoxins in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Emerging Trends and Post-Harvest Mitigation Strategies towards Food Control

PubMed Central

Chilaka, Cynthia Adaku; De Boevre, Marthe; Atanda, Olusegun Oladimeji; De Saeger, Sarah

2017-01-01

Fusarium fungi are common plant pathogens causing several plant diseases. The presence of these molds in plants exposes crops to toxic secondary metabolites called Fusarium mycotoxins. The most studied Fusarium mycotoxins include fumonisins, zearalenone, and trichothecenes. Studies have highlighted the economic impact of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium. These arrays of toxins have been implicated as the causal agents of wide varieties of toxic health effects in humans and animals ranging from acute to chronic. Global surveillance of Fusarium mycotoxins has recorded significant progress in its control; however, little attention has been paid to Fusarium mycotoxins in sub-Saharan Africa, thus translating to limited occurrence data. In addition, legislative regulation is virtually non-existent. The emergence of modified Fusarium mycotoxins, which may contribute to additional toxic effects, worsens an already precarious situation. This review highlights the status of Fusarium mycotoxins in sub-Saharan Africa, the possible food processing mitigation strategies, as well as future perspectives. PMID:28067768

Climate change mitigation and adaptation in the land use sector: from complementarity to synergy.

PubMed

Duguma, Lalisa A; Minang, Peter A; van Noordwijk, Meine

2014-09-01

Currently, mitigation and adaptation measures are handled separately, due to differences in priorities for the measures and segregated planning and implementation policies at international and national levels. There is a growing argument that synergistic approaches to adaptation and mitigation could bring substantial benefits at multiple scales in the land use sector. Nonetheless, efforts to implement synergies between adaptation and mitigation measures are rare due to the weak conceptual framing of the approach and constraining policy issues. In this paper, we explore the attributes of synergy and the necessary enabling conditions and discuss, as an example, experience with the Ngitili system in Tanzania that serves both adaptation and mitigation functions. An in-depth look into the current practices suggests that more emphasis is laid on complementarity-i.e., mitigation projects providing adaptation co-benefits and vice versa rather than on synergy. Unlike complementarity, synergy should emphasize functionally sustainable landscape systems in which adaptation and mitigation are optimized as part of multiple functions. We argue that the current practice of seeking co-benefits (complementarity) is a necessary but insufficient step toward addressing synergy. Moving forward from complementarity will require a paradigm shift from current compartmentalization between mitigation and adaptation to systems thinking at landscape scale. However, enabling policy, institutional, and investment conditions need to be developed at global, national, and local levels to achieve synergistic goals.

Northeast Oregon Wildlife Mitigation Project : Final Environmental Assessment.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration; Nez Perce Tribe

1996-08-01

Development of the hydropower system in the Columbia River Basin has had far-reaching effects on many species of wildlife. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is responsible for mitigating the loss of wildlife habitat caused by the Federal portion of this system, as allocated to the purpose of power production. BPA needs to mitigate for loss of wildlife habitat in the Snake River Subbasin.

Floods of May 2006 and April 2007 in Southern Maine

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lombard, Pamela J.

2009-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey Maine Water Science Center has worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for decades to document the magnitude and extent of major floods in Maine. Reports describing the May 2006 and April 2007 floods in southern Maine are examples of this cooperative relationship. The documentation of peak stream elevations and peak streamflow magnitudes and recurrence intervals provides essential information for the delineation of flood plains and for flood-mitigation decisions by local, State, and Federal emergency management officials.

Thermionic system evaluated test (TSET) facility description

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fairchild, Jerry F.; Koonmen, James P.; Thome, Frank V.

1992-01-01

A consortium of US agencies are involved in the Thermionic System Evaluation Test (TSET) which is being supported by the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO). The project is a ground test of an unfueled Soviet TOPAZ-II in-core thermionic space reactor powered by electrical heat. It is part of the United States' national thermionic space nuclear power program. It will be tested in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the New Mexico Engineering Research Institute complex by the Phillips Laboratoty, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the University of New Mexico. One of TSET's many objectives is to demonstrate that the US can operate and test a complete space nuclear power system, in the electrical heater configuration, at a low cost. Great efforts have been made to help reduce facility costs during the first phase of this project. These costs include structural, mechanical, and electrical modifications to the existing facility as well as the installation of additional emergency systems to mitigate the effects of utility power losses and alkali metal fires.

A Combined Energy Management Algorithm for Wind Turbine/Battery Hybrid System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altin, Necmi; Eyimaya, Süleyman Emre

2018-03-01

From an energy management standpoint, natural phenomena such as solar irradiation and wind speed are uncontrolled variables, so the correlation between the energy generated by renewable energy sources and energy demand cannot always be predicted. For this reason, energy storage systems are used to provide more efficient renewable energy systems. In these systems, energy management systems are used to control the energy storage system and establish a balance between the generated power and the power demand. In addition, especially in wind turbines, rapidly varying wind speeds cause wind power fluctuations, which threaten the power system stability, especially at high power levels. Energy storage systems are also used to mitigate the power fluctuations and sustain the power system's stability. In these systems, another controller which controls the energy storage system power to mitigate power fluctuations is required. These two controllers are different from each other. In this study, a combined energy management algorithm is proposed which can perform both as an energy control system and a power fluctuation mitigation system. The proposed controller is tested with wind energy conversion system modeled in MATLAB/Simulink. Simulation results show that the proposed controller acts as an energy management system while, at the same time, mitigating power fluctuations.

ASSESSMENT PROTOCOLS - DURABILITY OF PERFORMANCE OF A HOME RADON REDUCTION SYSTEM FOR SUB-SLAB DEPRESSURIZA- TION SYSTEMS

EPA Science Inventory

This handbook contains protocols that compare the immediate performance of subslab depressurization (SSD) mitigation system with performance months or years later. These protocols provide a methodology to test SSD radon mitigation systems in situ to determine long-term performanc...

Mitigation of methane emission from an old unlined landfill in Klintholm, Denmark using a passive biocover system.

PubMed

Scheutz, Charlotte; Pedersen, Rasmus Broe; Petersen, Per Haugsted; Jørgensen, Jørgen Henrik Bjerre; Ucendo, Inmaculada Maria Buendia; Mønster, Jacob G; Samuelsson, Jerker; Kjeldsen, Peter

2014-07-01

Methane generated at landfills contributes to global warming and can be mitigated by biocover systems relying on microbial methane oxidation. As part of a closure plan for an old unlined landfill without any gas management measures, an innovative biocover system was established. The system was designed based on a conceptual model of the gas emission patterns established through an initial baseline study. The study included construction of gas collection trenches along the slopes of the landfill where the majority of the methane emissions occurred. Local compost materials were tested as to their usefulness as bioactive methane oxidizing material and a suitable compost mixture was selected. Whole site methane emission quantifications based on combined tracer release and downwind measurements in combination with several local experimental activities (gas composition within biocover layers, flux chamber based emission measurements and logging of compost temperatures) proved that the biocover system had an average mitigation efficiency of approximately 80%. The study showed that the system also had a high efficiency during winter periods with temperatures below freezing. An economic analysis indicated that the mitigation costs of the biocover system were competitive to other existing greenhouse gas mitigation options. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat Mitigation Plan for Hungry Horse Hydroelectric Project, Final Report.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bissell, Gael

1985-01-01

This report describes the proposed mitigation plan for wildlife losses attributable to the construction of the Hungry Horse hydroelectric project. In this report, mitigation objectives and alternatives, the recommended mitigation projects, and the crediting system for each project are described by each target species. Mitigation objectives for each species (group) were established based on the loss estimates but tailored to the recommended projects. 13 refs., 3 figs., 19 tabs.

Global trends in satellite-based emergency mapping

USGS Publications Warehouse

Voigt, Stefan; Giulio-Tonolo, Fabio; Lyons, Josh; Kučera, Jan; Jones, Brenda; Schneiderhan, Tobias; Platzeck, Gabriel; Kaku, Kazuya; Hazarika, Manzul Kumar; Czaran, Lorant; Li, Suju; Pedersen, Wendi; James, Godstime Kadiri; Proy, Catherine; Muthike, Denis Macharia; Bequignon, Jerome; Guha-Sapir, Debarati

2016-01-01

Over the past 15 years, scientists and disaster responders have increasingly used satellite-based Earth observations for global rapid assessment of disaster situations. We review global trends in satellite rapid response and emergency mapping from 2000 to 2014, analyzing more than 1000 incidents in which satellite monitoring was used for assessing major disaster situations. We provide a synthesis of spatial patterns and temporal trends in global satellite emergency mapping efforts and show that satellite-based emergency mapping is most intensively deployed in Asia and Europe and follows well the geographic, physical, and temporal distributions of global natural disasters. We present an outlook on the future use of Earth observation technology for disaster response and mitigation by putting past and current developments into context and perspective.

The impact of bathymetry input on flood simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khanam, M.; Cohen, S.

2017-12-01

Flood prediction and mitigation systems are inevitable for improving public safety and community resilience all over the worldwide. Hydraulic simulations of flood events are becoming an increasingly efficient tool for studying and predicting flood events and susceptibility. A consistent limitation of hydraulic simulations of riverine dynamics is the lack of information about river bathymetry as most terrain data record water surface elevation. The impact of this limitation on the accuracy on hydraulic simulations of flood has not been well studies over a large range of flood magnitude and modeling frameworks. Advancing our understanding of this topic is timely given emerging national and global efforts for developing automated flood predictions systems (e.g. NOAA National Water Center). Here we study the response of flood simulation to the incorporation of different bathymetry and floodplain surveillance source. Different hydraulic models are compared, Mike-Flood, a 2D hydrodynamic model, and GSSHA, a hydrology/hydraulics model. We test a hypothesis that the impact of inclusion/exclusion of bathymetry data on hydraulic model results will vary in its magnitude as a function of river size. This will allow researcher and stake holders more accurate predictions of flood events providing useful information that will help local communities in a vulnerable flood zone to mitigate flood hazards. Also, it will help to evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of different modeling frameworks and gage their dependency on detailed bathymetry input data.

Vaccine-driven pharmacodynamic dissection and mitigation of Captagon psychoactivity

PubMed Central

Wenthur, Cody J; Zhou, Bin; Janda, Kim D

2017-01-01

SUMMARY PARAGRAPH Fenethylline, also known as Captagon, is a synthetic psychoactive stimulant that has recently been linked to substance use disorder and ‘pharmacoterrorism’ in the Middle East.1–4 Although fenethylline shares a common phenethylamine core with other amphetamine-type stimulants, it additionally incorporates a covalently-linked xanthine moiety into its parent structure.5,6 These independently-active pharmacophores are liberated during metabolism, resulting in a structurally-diverse chemical mixture being deployed to the central nervous system.7–9 Although fenethylline’s psychoactive properties have been reported to differ from other synthetic stimulants, the in vivo chemical complexity it manifests upon ingestion has impeded efforts to unambiguously identify the specific species responsible for these effects.10,11 Here we develop a ‘dissection through vaccination’ approach, called DISSECTIV, to mitigate fenethylline’s psychoactivity and show that its rapid-onset and distinct psychoactive properties are facilitated by functional synergy between theophylline and amphetamine. Our results demonstrate that incremental vaccination against single chemical species within a multi-component mixture can be used to uncover emergent properties arising from polypharmacologic activity. We anticipate that DISSECTIV will be employed to expose unidentified active chemical species and illuminate pharmacodynamic interactions within other chemically complex systems, such as those found in counterfeit or illegal drug preparations, post-metabolic tissue samples, and natural product extracts. PMID:28813419

Economic risk assessment of drought impacts on irrigated agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez-Nicolas, A.; Pulido-Velazquez, M.; Macian-Sorribes, H.

2017-07-01

In this paper we present an innovative framework for an economic risk analysis of drought impacts on irrigated agriculture. It consists on the integration of three components: stochastic time series modelling for prediction of inflows and future reservoir storages at the beginning of the irrigation season; statistical regression for the evaluation of water deliveries based on projected inflows and storages; and econometric modelling for economic assessment of the production value of agriculture based on irrigation water deliveries and crop prices. Therefore, the effect of the price volatility can be isolated from the losses due to water scarcity in the assessment of the drought impacts. Monte Carlo simulations are applied to generate probability functions of inflows, which are translated into probabilities of storages, deliveries, and finally, production value of agriculture. The framework also allows the assessment of the value of mitigation measures as reduction of economic losses during droughts. The approach was applied to the Jucar river basin, a complex system affected by multiannual severe droughts, with irrigated agriculture as the main consumptive demand. Probability distributions of deliveries and production value were obtained for each irrigation season. In the majority of the irrigation districts, drought causes a significant economic impact. The increase of crop prices can partially offset the losses from the reduction of production due to water scarcity in some districts. Emergency wells contribute to mitigating the droughts' impacts on the Jucar river system.

A malicious pattern detection engine for embedded security systems in the Internet of Things.

PubMed

Oh, Doohwan; Kim, Deokho; Ro, Won Woo

2014-12-16

With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), a large number of physical objects in daily life have been aggressively connected to the Internet. As the number of objects connected to networks increases, the security systems face a critical challenge due to the global connectivity and accessibility of the IoT. However, it is difficult to adapt traditional security systems to the objects in the IoT, because of their limited computing power and memory size. In light of this, we present a lightweight security system that uses a novel malicious pattern-matching engine. We limit the memory usage of the proposed system in order to make it work on resource-constrained devices. To mitigate performance degradation due to limitations of computation power and memory, we propose two novel techniques, auxiliary shifting and early decision. Through both techniques, we can efficiently reduce the number of matching operations on resource-constrained systems. Experiments and performance analyses show that our proposed system achieves a maximum speedup of 2.14 with an IoT object and provides scalable performance for a large number of patterns.

Reliability enhancement of APR + diverse protection system regarding common cause failures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oh, Y. G.; Kim, Y. M.; Yim, H. S.

2012-07-01

The Advanced Power Reactor Plus (APR +) nuclear power plant design has been developed on the basis of the APR1400 (Advanced Power Reactor 1400 MWe) to further enhance safety and economics. For the mitigation of Anticipated Transients Without Scram (ATWS) as well as Common Cause Failures (CCF) within the Plant Protection System (PPS) and the Emergency Safety Feature - Component Control System (ESF-CCS), several design improvement features have been implemented for the Diverse Protection System (DPS) of the APR + plant. As compared to the APR1400 DPS design, the APR + DPS has been designed to provide the Safety Injectionmore » Actuation Signal (SIAS) considering a large break LOCA accident concurrent with the CCF. Additionally several design improvement features, such as channel structure with redundant processing modules, and changes of system communication methods and auto-system test methods, are introduced to enhance the functional reliability of the DPS. Therefore, it is expected that the APR + DPS can provide an enhanced safety and reliability regarding possible CCF in the safety-grade I and C systems as well as the DPS itself. (authors)« less

Complex Controls on Groundwater Quality in Growing Mid-sized Cities: A Case Study Focused on Nitrate and Emerging Contaminants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohr, C. A.; Godsey, S.; Welhan, J. A.; Larson, D. M.; Lohse, K. A.; Finney, B.; Derryberry, D.

2015-12-01

Many regions rely on quality groundwater to support urban growth. Groundwater quality often responds in a complex manner to stressors such as land use change, climate change, or policy decisions. Urban growth patterns in mid-sized cities, especially ones that are growing urban centers in water-limited regions in the western US, control and are controlled by water availability and its quality. We present a case study from southeastern Idaho where urban growth over the past 20 years has included significant ex-urban expansion of houses that rely on septic systems rather than city sewer lines for their wastewater treatment. Septic systems are designed to mitigate some contaminants, but not others. In particular, nitrates and emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, are not removed by most septic systems. Thus, even well-maintained septic systems at sufficiently high densities can impact down gradient water quality. Here we present patterns of nitrate concentrations over the period from 1985-2015 from the Lower Portneuf River Valley in southeastern Idaho. Concentrations vary from 0.03 to 27.09 nitrate-nitrogen mg/L, with average values increasing significantly over the 30 year time period from 3.15 +/- 0.065 to 3.57 +/- 0.43 mg/L. We examine temporal changes in locations of nitrate hotspots, and present pilot data on emerging contaminants of concern. Initial results suggest that high nitrate levels are generally associated with higher septic densities, but that this pattern is influenced by legacy agricultural uses and strongly controlled by underlying aquifer properties. Future work will include more detailed hydrological modeling to predict changes in hotspot locations under potential climate change scenarios.

Assessing existing drought monitoring and forecasting capacities, mitigation and adaptation practices in Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nyabeze, W. R.; Dlamini, L.; Lahlou, O.; Imani, Y.; Alaoui, S. B.; Vermooten, J. S. A.

2012-04-01

Drought is one of the major natural hazards in many parts of the world, including Africa and some regions in Europe. Drought events have resulted in extensive damages to livelihoods, environment and economy. In 2011, a consortium consisting of 19 organisations from both Africa and Europe started a project (DEWFORA) aimed at developing a framework for the provision of early warning and response through drought impact mitigation for Africa. This framework covers the whole chain from monitoring and vulnerability assessment to forecasting, warning, response and knowledge dissemination. This paper presents the first results of the capacity assessment of drought monitoring and forecasting systems in Africa, the existing institutional frameworks and drought mitigation and adaptation practices. Its focus is particularly on the historical drought mitigation and adaptation actions identified in the North Africa - Maghreb Region (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) and in the Southern Africa - Limpopo Basin. This is based on an extensive review of historical drought experiences. From the 1920's to 2009, the study identified 37 drought seasons in the North African - Maghreb Region and 33 drought seasons in the Southern Africa - Limpopo Basin. Existing literature tends to capture the spatial extent of drought at national and administrative scale in great detail. This is driven by the need to map drought impacts (food shortage, communities affected) in order to inform drought relief efforts (short-term drought mitigation measures). However, the mapping of drought at catchment scale (hydrological unit), required for longer-term measures, is not well documented. At regional level, both in North Africa and Southern Africa, two organisations are involved in drought monitoring and forecasting, while at national level 22 organisations are involved in North Africa and 37 in Southern Africa. Regarding drought related mitigation actions, the inventory shows that the most common actions implemented in Africa in the past include food aid, drought relief programs, growing of drought tolerate crops, saving livestock, water efficiency and construction or rehabilitation of boreholes, wells and small dams. In the North Africa - Maghreb Region and in the Southern Africa - Limpopo Basin, respectively 73 and 39 organisations involved in drought mitigation, are identified, dealing with agriculture extension services (28), food aid (11), policy (11), advocacy (10) and water supply (3). The most common adaptation actions identified are water harvesting, construction of water infrastructure, rehabilitation of traditional/cultural practices or implementation of technologies, water conservation, crop monitoring and crop diversification. Regarding involvement of organisations in drought adaptation, 18 organisations in the North Africa - Maghreb Region and 20 in Southern Africa - Limpopo Basin are identified. These organisations are involved in water infrastructure development or management (7), agriculture extension services (7) and policy development (13). The paper clearly shows that there is need to improve the existing monitoring and early warning systems at continental, regional, national and local scales. It also shows that a lot of organisations emerge when there is a drought and are involved in drought mitigation but only a few are involved in drought adaptation.

Disaster Coverage Predication for the Emerging Tethered Balloon Technology: Capability for Preparedness, Detection, Mitigation, and Response.

PubMed

Alsamhi, Saeed H; Samar Ansari, Mohd; Rajput, Navin S

2018-04-01

A disaster is a consequence of natural hazards and terrorist acts, which have significant potential to disrupt the entire wireless communication infrastructure. Therefore, the essential rescue squads and recovery operations during a catastrophic event will be severely debilitated. To provide efficient communication services, and to reduce casualty mortality and morbidity during the catastrophic events, we proposed the Tethered Balloon technology for disaster preparedness, detection, mitigation, and recovery assessment. The proposed Tethered Balloon is applicable to any type of disaster except for storms. The Tethered Balloon is being actively researched and developed as a simple solution to improve the performance of rescues, facilities, and services of emergency medical communication in the disaster area. The most important requirement for rescue and relief teams during or after the disaster is a high quality of service of delivery communication services to save people's lives. Using our proposed technology, we report that the Tethered Balloon has a large disaster coverage area. Therefore, the rescue and research teams are given higher priority, and their performance significantly improved in the particular coverage area. Tethered Balloon features made it suitable for disaster preparedness, mitigation, and recovery. The performance of rescue and relief teams was effective and efficient before and after the disaster as well as can be continued to coordinate the relief teams until disaster recovery. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:222-231).

Introduction of an Emergency Response Plan for flood loading of Sultan Abu Bakar Dam in Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Said, N. F. Md; Sidek, L. M.; Basri, H.; Muda, R. S.; Razad, A. Z. Abdul

2016-03-01

Sultan Abu Bakar Dam Emergency Response Plan (ERP) is designed to assist employees for identifying, monitoring, responding and mitigation dam safety emergencies. This paper is outlined to identification of an organization chart, responsibility for emergency management team and triggering level in Sultan Abu Bakar Dam ERP. ERP is a plan that guides responsibilities for proper operation of Sultan Abu Bakar Dam in respond to emergency incidents affecting the dam. Based on this study four major responsibilities are needed for Abu Bakar Dam owing to protect any probable risk for downstream which they can be Incident Commander, Deputy Incident Commander, On-Scene Commander, Civil Engineer. In conclusion, having organization charts based on ERP studies can be helpful for decreasing the probable risks in any projects such as Abu Bakar Dam and it is a way to identify and suspected and actual dam safety emergencies.

Climate mitigation and the future of tropical landscapes.

PubMed

Thomson, Allison M; Calvin, Katherine V; Chini, Louise P; Hurtt, George; Edmonds, James A; Bond-Lamberty, Ben; Frolking, Steve; Wise, Marshall A; Janetos, Anthony C

2010-11-16

Land-use change to meet 21st-century demands for food, fuel, and fiber will depend on many interactive factors, including global policies limiting anthropogenic climate change and realized improvements in agricultural productivity. Climate-change mitigation policies will alter the decision-making environment for land management, and changes in agricultural productivity will influence cultivated land expansion. We explore to what extent future increases in agricultural productivity might offset conversion of tropical forest lands to crop lands under a climate mitigation policy and a contrasting no-policy scenario in a global integrated assessment model. The Global Change Assessment Model is applied here to simulate a mitigation policy that stabilizes radiative forcing at 4.5 W m(-2) (approximately 526 ppm CO(2)) in the year 2100 by introducing a price for all greenhouse gas emissions, including those from land use. These scenarios are simulated with several cases of future agricultural productivity growth rates and the results downscaled to produce gridded maps of potential land-use change. We find that tropical forests are preserved near their present-day extent, and bioenergy crops emerge as an effective mitigation option, only in cases in which a climate mitigation policy that includes an economic price for land-use emissions is in place, and in which agricultural productivity growth continues throughout the century. We find that idealized land-use emissions price assumptions are most effective at limiting deforestation, even when cropland area must increase to meet future food demand. These findings emphasize the importance of accounting for feedbacks from land-use change emissions in global climate change mitigation strategies.

Development of cost effective fenceline monitoring methods to support advanced leak detection and repair strategies

EPA Science Inventory

Improved mitigation of fugitive emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is an important emerging topic in many industrial sectors. Efficacious leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs of the future yiel...

44 CFR 65.16 - Standard Flood Hazard Determination Form and Instructions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Standard Flood Hazard... MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program IDENTIFICATION AND MAPPING OF SPECIAL HAZARD AREAS § 65.16 Standard Flood Hazard Determination...

75 FR 30418 - Tennessee; Amendment No. 9 to Notice of a Major Disaster Declaration

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-01

..., DeKalb, Dickson, Fayette, Hardeman, Lawrence, Macon, Maury, Perry, Robertson, Rutherford, Shelby, Sumner... Assistance and assistance for debris removal and emergency protective measures (Categories A and B...--Public Assistance (Presidentially Declared Disasters); 97.039, Hazard Mitigation Grant. W. Craig Fugate...

44 CFR 206.226 - Restoration of damaged facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... accordance with § 206.221(e)(3)), sewer services, wastewater treatment, communications, emergency medical... to project approval or be a legal Federal or State requirement applicable to the type of restoration... applicable standards. The cost of any requirements for hazard mitigation placed on restoration projects by...

44 CFR 206.226 - Restoration of damaged facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... accordance with § 206.221(e)(3)), sewer services, wastewater treatment, communications, emergency medical... to project approval or be a legal Federal or State requirement applicable to the type of restoration... applicable standards. The cost of any requirements for hazard mitigation placed on restoration projects by...

44 CFR 206.226 - Restoration of damaged facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... accordance with § 206.221(e)(3)), sewer services, wastewater treatment, communications, emergency medical... to project approval or be a legal Federal or State requirement applicable to the type of restoration... applicable standards. The cost of any requirements for hazard mitigation placed on restoration projects by...

PDA Cell Substrate Task Force: Emerging Technologies for Virus Detection Technical Document--A Progress Report.

PubMed

King, Kathryn; Wiebe, Michael

2011-01-01

CONFERENCE PROCEEDING Proceedings of the PDA/FDA Adventitious Viruses in Biologics: Detection and Mitigation Strategies Workshop in Bethesda, MD, USA; December 1-3, 2010 Guest Editors: Arifa Khan (Bethesda, MD), Patricia Hughes (Bethesda, MD) and Michael Wiebe (San Francisco, CA).

A bill to authorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency to award mitigation financial assistance in certain areas affected by wildfire.

THOMAS, 113th Congress

Sen. Udall, Mark [D-CO

2013-07-30

Senate - 07/30/2013 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

44 CFR 62.22 - Judicial review.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Judicial review. 62.22... HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program SALE OF INSURANCE AND ADJUSTMENT OF CLAIMS Claims Adjustment, Claims Appeals, and Judicial Review § 62.22 Judicial review. (a) Upon...

44 CFR 61.13 - Standard Flood Insurance Policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE COVERAGE AND RATES § 61.13 Standard Flood Insurance Policy. (a) Incorporation of forms. Each of the... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Standard Flood Insurance...