Invasive exotic plants in the tropical Pacific Islands: Patterns of Diversity

Treesearch

J.S. Denslow; J.C. Space; P.A. Thomas

2009-01-01

Oceanic islands are good model systems with which to explore factors affecting exotic species diversity. Islands vary in size, topography, substrate type, degree of isolation, native species diversity, history, human population characteristics, and economic development. Moreover, islands are highly vulnerable to exotic species establishment. We used AICc analyses of...

Assessment of human-natural system characteristics influencing global freshwater supply vulnerability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padowski, Julie C.; Gorelick, Steven M.; Thompson, Barton H.; Rozelle, Scott; Fendorf, Scott

2015-10-01

Global freshwater vulnerability is a product of environmental and human dimensions, however, it is rarely assessed as such. Our approach identifies freshwater vulnerability using four broad categories: endowment, demand, infrastructure, and institutions, to capture impacts on natural and managed water systems within the coupled human-hydrologic environment. These categories are represented by 19 different endogenous and exogenous characteristics affecting water supply vulnerability. By evaluating 119 lower per capita income countries (<10 725), we find that every nation experiences some form of vulnerability. Institutional vulnerability is experienced most commonly, occurring in 44 nations, and 23 countries suffer deficiencies in all four categories. Of these highly vulnerable countries, Jordan is the most vulnerable, reporting the greatest number of characteristics (5 of 19) at critical vulnerability levels, with Yemen and Djibouti nearly as vulnerable. Surprising similarities in vulnerability were also found among geographically disparate nations such as Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Guatemala. Determining shared patterns of freshwater vulnerability provides insights into why water supply vulnerabilities are manifested in human-water systems at the national scale.

Integrated flash flood vulnerability assessment: Insights from East Attica, Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karagiorgos, Konstantinos; Thaler, Thomas; Heiser, Micha; Hübl, Johannes; Fuchs, Sven

2016-10-01

In the framework of flood risk assessment, vulnerability is a key concept to assess the susceptibility of elements at risk. Besides the increasing amount of studies on flash floods available, in-depth information on vulnerability in Mediterranean countries was missing so far. Moreover, current approaches in vulnerability research are driven by a divide between social scientists who tend to view vulnerability as representing a set of socio-economic factors, and natural scientists who view vulnerability in terms of the degree of loss to an element at risk. Further, vulnerability studies in response to flash flood processes are rarely answered in the literature. In order to close this gap, this paper implemented an integrated vulnerability approach focusing on residential buildings exposed to flash floods in Greece. In general, both physical and social vulnerability was comparable low, which is interpreted as a result from (a) specific building regulations in Greece as well as general design principles leading to less structural susceptibility of elements at risk exposed, and (b) relatively low economic losses leading to less social vulnerability of citizens exposed. The population show high risk awareness and coping capacity to response to natural hazards event and in the same time the impact of the events are quite low, because of the already high use of local protection measures. The low vulnerability score for East Attica can be attributed especially to the low physical vulnerability and the moderate socio-economic well-being of the area. The consequence is to focus risk management strategies mainly in the reduction of the social vulnerability. By analysing both physical and social vulnerability an attempt was made to bridge the gap between scholars from sciences and humanities, and to integrate the results of the analysis into the broader vulnerability context.

Mapping human dimensions of climate change research in the Canadian Arctic.

PubMed

Ford, James D; Bolton, Kenyon; Shirley, Jamal; Pearce, Tristan; Tremblay, Martin; Westlake, Michael

2012-12-01

This study maps current understanding and research trends on the human dimensions of climate change (HDCC) in the eastern and central Canadian Arctic. Developing a systematic literature review methodology, 117 peer reviewed articles are identified and examined using quantitative and qualitative methods. The research highlights the rapid expansion of HDCC studies over the last decade. Early scholarship was dominated by work documenting Inuit observations of climate change, with research employing vulnerability concepts and terminology now common. Adaptation studies which seek to identify and evaluate opportunities to reduce vulnerability to climate change and take advantage of new opportunities remain in their infancy. Over the last 5 years there has been an increase social science-led research, with many studies employing key principles of community-based research. We currently have baseline understanding of climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability in the region, but key gaps are evident. Future research needs to target significant geographic disparities in understanding, consider risks and opportunities posed by climate change outside of the subsistence hunting sector, complement case study research with regional analyses, and focus on identifying and characterizing sustainable and feasible adaptation interventions.

Constructing the Indicators of Assessing Human Vulnerability to Industrial Chemical Accidents: A Consensus-based Fuzzy Delphi and Fuzzy AHP Approach.

PubMed

Fatemi, Farin; Ardalan, Ali; Aguirre, Benigno; Mansouri, Nabiollah; Mohammadfam, Iraj

2017-04-10

Industrial chemical accidents have been increased in developing countries. Assessing the human vulnerability in the residents of industrial areas is necessary for reducing the injuries and causalities of chemical hazards. The aim of this study was to explore the key indicators for the assessment of human vulnerability in the residents living near chemical installations. The indicators were established in the present study based on the Fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP). The reliability of FDM and FAHP was calculated. The indicators of human vulnerability were explored in two sets of social and physical domains. Thirty-five relevant experts participated in this study during March-July 2015. According to experts, the top three indicators of human vulnerability according to the FDM and FAHP were vulnerable groups, population density, and awareness. Detailed sub-vulnerable groups and awareness were developed based on age, chronic or severe diseases, disability, first responders, and residents, respectively. Each indicator and sub-indicator was weighted and ranked and had an acceptable consistency ratio. The importance of social vulnerability indicators are about 7 times more than physical vulnerability indicators. Among the extracted indicators, vulnerable groups had the highest weight and the greatest impact on human vulnerability. however, further research is needed to investigate the applicability of established indicators and generalizability of the results to other studies. Fuzzy Delphi; Fuzzy AHP; Human vulnerability; Chemical hazards.

Constructing the Indicators of Assessing Human Vulnerability to Industrial Chemical Accidents: A Consensus-based Fuzzy Delphi and Fuzzy AHP Approach

PubMed Central

Fatemi, Farin; Ardalan, Ali; Aguirre, Benigno; Mansouri, Nabiollah; Mohammadfam, Iraj

2017-01-01

Introduction: Industrial chemical accidents have been increased in developing countries. Assessing the human vulnerability in the residents of industrial areas is necessary for reducing the injuries and causalities of chemical hazards. The aim of this study was to explore the key indicators for the assessment of human vulnerability in the residents living near chemical installations. Methods: The indicators were established in the present study based on the Fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP). The reliability of FDM and FAHP was calculated. The indicators of human vulnerability were explored in two sets of social and physical domains. Thirty-five relevant experts participated in this study during March-July 2015. Results: According to experts, the top three indicators of human vulnerability according to the FDM and FAHP were vulnerable groups, population density, and awareness. Detailed sub-vulnerable groups and awareness were developed based on age, chronic or severe diseases, disability, first responders, and residents, respectively. Each indicator and sub-indicator was weighted and ranked and had an acceptable consistency ratio. Conclusions: The importance of social vulnerability indicators are about 7 times more than physical vulnerability indicators. Among the extracted indicators, vulnerable groups had the highest weight and the greatest impact on human vulnerability. however, further research is needed to investigate the applicability of established indicators and generalizability of the results to other studies. Key words: Fuzzy Delphi; Fuzzy AHP; Human vulnerability; Chemical hazards PMID:28480124

Human donor milk for the vulnerable infant: a Canadian perspective.

PubMed

Panczuk, Julia; Unger, Sharon; O'Connor, Deborah; Lee, Shoo K

2014-01-01

Breast milk is the normal way to feed infants and is accepted worldwide as the optimal first source of nutrition. Though the majority intend to breastfeed, many mothers of sick, hospitalized newborns, particularly those of very low birth weight, are unable to provide a full volume of milk due to numerous physical and emotional barriers to breastfeeding. This vulnerable population of infants may benefit most from receiving breast milk nutrition and thus pasteurized donor milk should be the first consideration for supplementation when there is an inadequate supply of mother's own milk. This commentary will briefly review the history of milk banking in Canada, as well as the best available evidence for donor milk use in the very low birth weight population, including available economic analyses, with a view to advocate for its use in these vulnerable infants.

Earthquake Vulnerability Assessment for Hospital Buildings Using a Gis-Based Group Multi Criteria Decision Making Approach: a Case Study of Tehran, Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delavar, M. R.; Moradi, M.; Moshiri, B.

2015-12-01

Nowadays, urban areas are threatened by a number of natural hazards such as flood, landslide and earthquake. They can cause huge damages to buildings and human beings which necessitates disaster mitigation and preparation. One of the most important steps in disaster management is to understand all impacts and effects of disaster on urban facilities. Given that hospitals take care of vulnerable people reaction of hospital buildings against earthquake is vital. In this research, the vulnerability of hospital buildings against earthquake is analysed. The vulnerability of buildings is related to a number of criteria including age of building, number of floors, the quality of materials and intensity of the earthquake. Therefore, the problem of seismic vulnerability assessment is a multi-criteria assessment problem and multi criteria decision making methods can be used to address the problem. In this paper a group multi criteria decision making model is applied because using only one expert's judgments can cause biased vulnerability maps. Sugeno integral which is able to take into account the interaction among criteria is employed to assess the vulnerability degree of buildings. Fuzzy capacities which are similar to layer weights in weighted linear averaging operator are calculated using particle swarm optimization. Then, calculated fuzzy capacities are included into the model to compute a vulnerability degree for each hospital.

Freshwater Vulnerability beyond Local Water Stress: Heterogeneous Effects of Water-Electricity Nexus Across the Continental United States.

PubMed

Wang, Ranran; Zimmerman, Julie B; Wang, Chunyan; Font Vivanco, David; Hertwich, Edgar G

2017-09-05

Human health and economic prosperity are vulnerable to freshwater shortage in many parts of the world. Despite a growing literature that examines the freshwater vulnerability in various spatiotemporal contexts, existing knowledge has been conventionally constrained by a territorial perspective. On the basis of spatial analyses of monthly water and electricity flows across 2110 watersheds and three interconnected power systems, this study investigates the water-electricity nexus (WEN)'s transboundary effects on freshwater vulnerability in the continental United States in 2014. The effects are shown to be considerable and heterogeneous across time and space. For at least one month a year, 58 million people living in water-abundant watersheds were exposed to additional freshwater vulnerability by relying on electricity generated by freshwater-cooled thermal energy conversion cycles in highly stressed watersheds; for 72 million people living in highly stressed watersheds, their freshwater vulnerability was mitigated by using imported electricity generated in water-abundant watersheds or power plants running dry cooling or using nonfreshwater for cooling purposes. On the country scale, the mitigation effects were the most significant during September and October, while the additional freshwater vulnerability was more significant in February, March, and December. Due to the WEN's transboundary effects, overall, the freshwater vulnerability was slightly worsened within the Eastern Interconnection, substantially improved within the Western Interconnection, and least affected within the ERCOT Interconnection.

A contribution to the selection of tsunami human vulnerability indicators: conclusions from tsunami impacts in Sri Lanka and Thailand (2004), Samoa (2009), Chile (2010) and Japan (2011)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González-Riancho, P.; Aliaga, B.; Hettiarachchi, S.; González, M.; Medina, R.

2014-12-01

After several tsunami events with disastrous consequences around the world, coastal countries have realized the need to be prepared to minimize human mortality and damage to coastal infrastructures, livelihoods and resources. The international scientific community is striving to develop and validate methodologies for tsunami hazard and vulnerability and risk assessments. The vulnerability of coastal communities is usually assessed through the definition of sets of indicators based on previous literature and/or post-tsunami reports, as well as on the available data for the study site. The aim of this work is to validate in light of past tsunami events the indicators currently proposed by the scientific community to measure human vulnerability, to improve their definition and selection as well as to analyse their validity for different country development profiles. The events analyzed are the 2011 Great Tohoku tsunami, the 2010 Chilean tsunami, the 2009 Samoan tsunami and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The results obtained highlight the need for considering both permanent and temporal human exposure, the former requiring some hazard numerical modelling while the latter is related to site-specific livelihoods, cultural traditions and gender roles. The most vulnerable age groups are the elderly adults and the children, the former having much higher mortality rates. Female mortality is not always higher than male and not always related to dependency issues. Higher numbers of disabled people do not always translate into higher numbers of victims. Besides, it is clear that mortality is not only related to the characteristics of the population but also the buildings. A high correlation has been found between the affected buildings and the number of victims, being very high for completely damaged buildings. Distance to the sea, building materials and expected water depths are highly determining factors regarding the type of damage in buildings.

Genetic k-Means Clustering Approach for Mapping Human Vulnerability to Chemical Hazards in the Industrialized City: A Case Study of Shanghai, China

PubMed Central

Shi, Weifang; Zeng, Weihua

2013-01-01

Reducing human vulnerability to chemical hazards in the industrialized city is a matter of great urgency. Vulnerability mapping is an alternative approach for providing vulnerability-reducing interventions in a region. This study presents a method for mapping human vulnerability to chemical hazards by using clustering analysis for effective vulnerability reduction. Taking the city of Shanghai as the study area, we measure human exposure to chemical hazards by using the proximity model with additionally considering the toxicity of hazardous substances, and capture the sensitivity and coping capacity with corresponding indicators. We perform an improved k-means clustering approach on the basis of genetic algorithm by using a 500 m × 500 m geographical grid as basic spatial unit. The sum of squared errors and silhouette coefficient are combined to measure the quality of clustering and to determine the optimal clustering number. Clustering result reveals a set of six typical human vulnerability patterns that show distinct vulnerability dimension combinations. The vulnerability mapping of the study area reflects cluster-specific vulnerability characteristics and their spatial distribution. Finally, we suggest specific points that can provide new insights in rationally allocating the limited funds for the vulnerability reduction of each cluster. PMID:23787337

Enhanced vulnerability of human proteins towards disease-associated inactivation through divergent evolution.

PubMed

Medina-Carmona, Encarnación; Fuchs, Julian E; Gavira, Jose A; Mesa-Torres, Noel; Neira, Jose L; Salido, Eduardo; Palomino-Morales, Rogelio; Burgos, Miguel; Timson, David J; Pey, Angel L

2017-09-15

Human proteins are vulnerable towards disease-associated single amino acid replacements affecting protein stability and function. Interestingly, a few studies have shown that consensus amino acids from mammals or vertebrates can enhance protein stability when incorporated into human proteins. Here, we investigate yet unexplored relationships between the high vulnerability of human proteins towards disease-associated inactivation and recent evolutionary site-specific divergence of stabilizing amino acids. Using phylogenetic, structural and experimental analyses, we show that divergence from the consensus amino acids at several sites during mammalian evolution has caused local protein destabilization in two human proteins linked to disease: cancer-associated NQO1 and alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase, mutated in primary hyperoxaluria type I. We demonstrate that a single consensus mutation (H80R) acts as a disease suppressor on the most common cancer-associated polymorphism in NQO1 (P187S). The H80R mutation reactivates P187S by enhancing FAD binding affinity through local and dynamic stabilization of its binding site. Furthermore, we show how a second suppressor mutation (E247Q) cooperates with H80R in protecting the P187S polymorphism towards inactivation through long-range allosteric communication within the structural ensemble of the protein. Our results support that recent divergence of consensus amino acids may have occurred with neutral effects on many functional and regulatory traits of wild-type human proteins. However, divergence at certain sites may have increased the propensity of some human proteins towards inactivation due to disease-associated mutations and polymorphisms. Consensus mutations also emerge as a potential strategy to identify structural hot-spots in proteins as targets for pharmacological rescue in loss-of-function genetic diseases. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Gays vs. Russia: media representations, vulnerable bodies and the construction of a (post)modern West

PubMed Central

Wiedlack, M. Katharina

2017-01-01

Abstract This essay analyses the recent focus on Russian human rights violations in Anglophone media, scrutinising the ideological agenda of the visual politics which strategically foreground victimised bodies of Russian dissidents. Notwithstanding the importance of a critique on human rights violations, the article points to the unwanted but very real side effects the current mediatisations of violence have, from structural victimisation and the creation of ‘gay martyrs’ to the resignification of the West as progressive and ‘gay’ and Russia as backward and heterosexual. A close reading of popular press photographs of wounded Russian gay youth and the textual context – arguably representative for the Western media focus on the ‘Eastern’ violation of human rights between 2012 and 2014 – serves to illustrate how an image of Russian nation and Russian state politics is forged within Anglophone media discourses meant to reinforce the positive identity of the self-same by evoking pity, empathy and a responsible helpful attitude toward the endangered othered. The essay argues that Anglophone media’s focus on the vulnerability of Russian LGBTIQ+ bodies, consciously or unconsciously, reduces the subjects to this vulnerability, confirming feelings of moral superiority within the enlightened audience. The study highlights the important role that Russia’s vulnerable citizens play not only in the construction of values such as ‘tolerance’ and ‘acceptance’ and evaluations like ‘progressive’ and ‘modern’, but also in perceptions of the nation and its people and the reaffirmation of the dualistic divide between ‘The East’ and ‘The West’. PMID:29250129

Assessment of Human Health Vulnerability to Climate Variability and Change in Cuba

PubMed Central

Bultó, Paulo Lázaro Ortíz; Rodríguez, Antonio Pérez; Valencia, Alina Rivero; Vega, Nicolás León; Gonzalez, Manuel Díaz; Carrera, Alina Pérez

2006-01-01

In this study we assessed the potential effects of climate variability and change on population health in Cuba. We describe the climate of Cuba as well as the patterns of climate-sensitive diseases of primary concern, particularly dengue fever. Analyses of the associations between climatic anomalies and disease patterns highlight current vulnerability to climate variability. We describe current adaptations, including the application of climate predictions to prevent disease outbreaks. Finally, we present the potential economic costs associated with future impacts due to climate change. The tools used in this study can be useful in the development of appropriate and effective adaptation options to address the increased climate variability associated with climate change. PMID:17185289

Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for Idaho National Laboratory

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

Christopher P. Ischay; Ernest L. Fossum; Polly C. Buotte

2014-10-01

The University of Idaho (UI) was asked to participate in the development of a climate change vulnerability assessment for Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This report describes the outcome of that assessment. The climate change happening now, due in large part to human activities, is expected to continue in the future. UI and INL used a common framework for assessing vulnerability that considers exposure (future climate change), sensitivity (system or component responses to climate), impact (exposure combined with sensitivity), and adaptive capacity (capability of INL to modify operations to minimize climate change impacts) to assess vulnerability. Analyses of climate change (exposure)more » revealed that warming that is ongoing at INL will continue in the coming decades, with increased warming in later decades and under scenarios of greater greenhouse gas emissions. Projections of precipitation are more uncertain, with multi model means exhibiting somewhat wetter conditions and more wet days per year. Additional impacts relevant to INL include estimates of more burned area and increased evaporation and transpiration, leading to reduced soil moisture and plant growth.« less

Social vulnerability and the natural and built environment: a model of flood casualties in Texas.

PubMed

Zahran, Sammy; Brody, Samuel D; Peacock, Walter Gillis; Vedlitz, Arnold; Grover, Himanshu

2008-12-01

Studies on the impacts of hurricanes, tropical storms, and tornados indicate that poor communities of colour suffer disproportionately in human death and injury.(2) Few quantitative studies have been conducted on the degree to which flood events affect socially vulnerable populations. We address this research void by analysing 832 countywide flood events in Texas from 1997-2001. Specifically, we examine whether geographic localities characterised by high percentages of socially vulnerable populations experience significantly more casualties due to flood events, adjusting for characteristics of the natural and built environment. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression models indicate that the odds of a flood casualty increase with the level of precipitation on the day of a flood event, flood duration, property damage caused by the flood, population density, and the presence of socially vulnerable populations. Odds decrease with the number of dams, the level of precipitation on the day before a recorded flood event, and the extent to which localities have enacted flood mitigation strategies. The study concludes with comments on hazard-resilient communities and protection of casualty-prone populations.

A socioeconomic profile of vulnerable land to desertification in Italy.

PubMed

Salvati, Luca

2014-01-01

Climate changes, soil vulnerability, loss in biodiversity, and growing human pressure are threatening Mediterranean-type ecosystems which are increasingly considered as a desertification hotspot. In this region, land vulnerability to desertification strongly depends on the interplay between natural and anthropogenic factors. The present study proposes a multivariate exploratory analysis of the relationship between the spatial distribution of land vulnerability to desertification and the socioeconomic contexts found in three geographical divisions of Italy (north, center and south) based on statistical indicators. A total of 111 indicators describing different themes (demography, human settlements, labor market and human capital, rural development, income and wealth) were used to discriminate vulnerable from non-vulnerable areas. The resulting socioeconomic profile of vulnerable areas in northern and southern Italy diverged significantly, the importance of demographic and economic indicators being higher in southern Italy than in northern Italy. On the contrary, human settlement indicators were found more important to discriminate vulnerable and non-vulnerable areas in northern Italy, suggesting a role for peri-urbanization in shaping the future vulnerable areas. An in-depth knowledge of the socioeconomic characteristics of vulnerable land may contribute to scenarios' modeling and the development of more effective policies to combat desertification. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Vulnerability as a key to authenticity.

PubMed

Daniel, L E

1998-01-01

Vulnerability is explored as a human trait that gives nurses an opportunity to engage in authentic nursing. Vulnerability in both nurse and patient is necessary for the practice of nursing with caring as its basic premise. Philosophic discourse. Vulnerability is explored in terms of its traditional connotation and existential meaning. To be authentic, nurses must be aware of their own vulnerability, recognize themselves in others, and be willing to enter into mutual vulnerability. If nurses deny the opportunity to be vulnerable, they deny the opportunity to participate in humanness and are more likely to dehumanize others.

Soil compaction vulnerability at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Webb, Robert H.; Nussear, Kenneth E.; Carmichael, Shinji; Esque, Todd C.

2014-01-01

Compaction vulnerability of different types of soils by hikers and vehicles is poorly known, particularly for soils of arid and semiarid regions. Engineering analyses have long shown that poorly sorted soils (for example, sandy loams) compact to high densities, whereas well-sorted soils (for example, eolian sand) do not compact, and high gravel content may reduce compaction. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (ORPI) in southwestern Arizona, is affected greatly by illicit activities associated with the United States–Mexico border, and has many soils that resource managers consider to be highly vulnerable to compaction. Using geospatial soils data for ORPI, compaction vulnerability was estimated qualitatively based on the amount of gravel and the degree of sorting of sand and finer particles. To test this qualitative assessment, soil samples were collected from 48 sites across all soil map units, and undisturbed bulk densities were measured. A scoring system was used to create a vulnerability index for soils on the basis of particle-size sorting, soil properties derived from Proctor compaction analyses, and the field undisturbed bulk densities. The results of the laboratory analyses indicated that the qualitative assessments of soil compaction vulnerability underestimated the area of high vulnerability soils by 73 percent. The results showed that compaction vulnerability of desert soils, such as those at ORPI, can be quantified using laboratory tests and evaluated using geographic information system analyses, providing a management tool that managers potentially could use to inform decisions about activities that reduce this type of soil disruption in protected areas.

Human Illness and the Experience of Vulnerability: A Summary and Reflection upon the Opening Keynote by His Grace Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazonde, Isaac N.

2010-01-01

In his speech, "Human Illness and the Experience of Vulnerability," Archbishop Tutu used his experience, eloquence and humour to emphasize the vulnerability of human beings during illness. The Archbishop emphasized the need for healthcare professionals to realize that patients are not simply numbers or cases, but fellow human beings who are in…

Vulnerability to the transmission of human visceral leishmaniasis in a Brazilian urban area

PubMed Central

de Toledo, Celina Roma Sánchez; de Almeida, Andréa Sobral; Chaves, Sergio Augusto de Miranda; Sabroza, Paulo Chagastelles; Toledo, Luciano Medeiros; Caldas, Jefferson Pereira

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To analyze the determinants for the occurrence of human visceral leishmaniasis linked to the conditions of vulnerability. METHODS This is an ecological study, whose spatial analysis unit was the Territorial Analysis Unit in Araguaína, State of Tocantins, Brazil, from 2007 to 2012. We have carried out an analysis of the sociodemographic and urban infrastructure situation of the municipality. Normalized primary indicators were calculated and used to construct the indicators of vulnerability of the social structure, household structure, and urban infrastructure. From them, we have composed a vulnerability index. Kernel density estimation was used to evaluate the density of cases of human visceral leishmaniasis, based on the coordinates of the cases. Bivariate global Moran’s I was used to verify the existence of spatial autocorrelation between the incidence of human visceral leishmaniasis and the indicators and index of vulnerability. Bivariate local Moran’s I was used to identify spatial clusters. RESULTS We have observed a pattern of centrifugal spread of human visceral leishmaniasis in the municipality, where outbreaks of the disease have progressively reached central and peri-urban areas. There has been no correlation between higher incidences of human visceral leishmaniasis and worse living conditions. Statistically significant clusters have been observed between the incidences of human visceral leishmaniasis in both periods analyzed (2007 to 2009 and 2010 to 2012) and the indicators and index of vulnerability. CONCLUSIONS The environment in circumscribed areas helps as protection factor or increases the local vulnerability to the occurrence of human visceral leishmaniasis. The use of methodology that analyzes the conditions of life of the population and the spatial distribution of human visceral leishmaniasis is essential to identify the most vulnerable areas to the spread/maintenance of the disease. PMID:28513764

Retooling CalEnviroScreen: Cumulative Pollution Burden and Race-Based Environmental Health Vulnerabilities in California.

PubMed

Liévanos, Raoul S

2018-04-16

The California Community Environmental Health Screening Tool (CalEnviroScreen) advances research and policy pertaining to environmental health vulnerability. However, CalEnviroScreen departs from its historical foundations and comparable screening tools by no longer considering racial status as an indicator of environmental health vulnerability and predictor of cumulative pollution burden. This study used conceptual frameworks and analytical techniques from environmental health and inequality literature to address the limitations of CalEnviroScreen, especially its inattention to race-based environmental health vulnerabilities. It developed an adjusted measure of cumulative pollution burden from the CalEnviroScreen 2.0 data that facilitates multivariate analyses of the effect of neighborhood racial composition on cumulative pollution burden, net of other indicators of population vulnerability, traffic density, industrial zoning, and local and regional clustering of pollution burden. Principal component analyses produced three new measures of population vulnerability, including Latina/o cumulative disadvantage that represents the spatial concentration of Latinas/os, economic disadvantage, limited English-speaking ability, and health vulnerability. Spatial error regression analyses demonstrated that concentrations of Latinas/os, followed by Latina/o cumulative disadvantage, are the strongest demographic determinants of adjusted cumulative pollution burden. Findings have implications for research and policy pertaining to cumulative impacts and race-based environmental health vulnerabilities within and beyond California.

Retooling CalEnviroScreen: Cumulative Pollution Burden and Race-Based Environmental Health Vulnerabilities in California

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

The California Community Environmental Health Screening Tool (CalEnviroScreen) advances research and policy pertaining to environmental health vulnerability. However, CalEnviroScreen departs from its historical foundations and comparable screening tools by no longer considering racial status as an indicator of environmental health vulnerability and predictor of cumulative pollution burden. This study used conceptual frameworks and analytical techniques from environmental health and inequality literature to address the limitations of CalEnviroScreen, especially its inattention to race-based environmental health vulnerabilities. It developed an adjusted measure of cumulative pollution burden from the CalEnviroScreen 2.0 data that facilitates multivariate analyses of the effect of neighborhood racial composition on cumulative pollution burden, net of other indicators of population vulnerability, traffic density, industrial zoning, and local and regional clustering of pollution burden. Principal component analyses produced three new measures of population vulnerability, including Latina/o cumulative disadvantage that represents the spatial concentration of Latinas/os, economic disadvantage, limited English-speaking ability, and health vulnerability. Spatial error regression analyses demonstrated that concentrations of Latinas/os, followed by Latina/o cumulative disadvantage, are the strongest demographic determinants of adjusted cumulative pollution burden. Findings have implications for research and policy pertaining to cumulative impacts and race-based environmental health vulnerabilities within and beyond California. PMID:29659481

Jordan Water Project: an interdisciplinary evaluation of freshwater vulnerability and security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorelick, S.; Yoon, J.; Rajsekhar, D.; Muller, M. F.; Zhang, H.; Gawel, E.; Klauer, B.; Klassert, C. J. A.; Sigel, K.; Thilmant, A.; Avisse, N.; Lachaut, T.; Harou, J. J.; Knox, S.; Selby, P. D.; Mustafa, D.; Talozi, S.; Haddad, Y.; Shamekh, M.

2016-12-01

The Jordan Water Project, part of the Belmont Forum projects, is an interdisciplinary, international research effort focused on evaluation of freshwater security in Jordan, one of the most water-vulnerable countries in the world. The team covers hydrology, water resources systems analysis, economics, policy evaluation, geography, risk and remote sensing analyses, and model platform development. The entire project team communally engaged in construction of an integrated hydroeconomic model for water supply policy evaluation. To represent water demand and allocation behavior at multiple levels of decision making,the model integrates biophysical modules that simulate natural and engineered hydrologic phenomena with human behavioral modules. Hydrologic modules include spatially-distributed groundwater and surface-water models for the major aquifers and watersheds throughout Jordan. For the human modules, we adopt a multi-agent modeling approach to represent decision-making processes. The integrated model was developed in Pynsim, a new open-source, object-oriented platform in Python for network-based water resource systems. We continue to explore the impacts of future scenarios and interventions.This project had tremendous encouragement and data support from Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation. Modeling technology is being transferred through a companion NSF/USAID PEER project awarded toJordan University of Science and Technology. Individual teams have also conducted a range of studies aimed at evaluating Jordanian and transboundary surface water and groundwater systems. Surveys, interviews, and econometric analyses enabled us to better understandthe behavior of urban households, farmers, private water resellers, water use pattern of the commercial sector and irrigation water user associations. We analyzed nationwide spatial and temporal statistical trends in rainfall, developed urban and national comparative metrics to quantify water supply vulnerability, improved remote sensing methods to estimate crop-water use, and evaluated the impacts of climate change on future drought severity.

Spatio-temporal earthquake risk assessment for the Lisbon Metropolitan Area - A contribution to improving standard methods of population exposure and vulnerability analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freire, Sérgio; Aubrecht, Christoph

2010-05-01

The recent 7.0 M earthquake that caused severe damage and destruction in parts of Haiti struck close to 5 PM (local time), at a moment when many people were not in their residences, instead being in their workplaces, schools, or churches. Community vulnerability assessment to seismic hazard relying solely on the location and density of resident-based census population, as is commonly the case, would grossly misrepresent the real situation. In particular in the context of global (climate) change, risk analysis is a research field increasingly gaining in importance whereas risk is usually defined as a function of hazard probability and vulnerability. Assessment and mapping of human vulnerability has however generally been lagging behind hazard analysis efforts. Central to the concept of vulnerability is the issue of human exposure. Analysis of exposure is often spatially tied to administrative units or reference objects such as buildings, spanning scales from the regional level to local studies for small areas. Due to human activities and mobility, the spatial distribution of population is time-dependent, especially in metropolitan areas. Accurately estimating population exposure is a key component of catastrophe loss modeling, one element of effective risk analysis and emergency management. Therefore, accounting for the spatio-temporal dynamics of human vulnerability correlates with recent recommendations to improve vulnerability analyses. Earthquakes are the prototype for a major disaster, being low-probability, rapid-onset, high-consequence events. Lisbon, Portugal, is subject to a high risk of earthquake, which can strike at any day and time, as confirmed by modern history (e.g. December 2009). The recently-approved Special Emergency and Civil Protection Plan (PEERS) is based on a Seismic Intensity map, and only contemplates resident population from the census as proxy for human exposure. In the present work we map and analyze the spatio-temporal distribution of population in the daily cycle to re-assess exposure to earthquake hazard in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, home to almost three million people. New high-resolution (50 m grids) daytime and nighttime population distribution maps are developed using dasymetric mapping. The modeling approach uses areal interpolation to combine best-available census data and statistics with land use and land cover data. Mobility statistics are considered for mapping daytime distribution, and empirical parameters used for interpolation are obtained from a previous effort in high resolution population mapping of part of the study area. Finally, the population distribution maps are combined with the Seismic Hazard Intensity map to: (1) quantify and compare human exposure to seismic intensity levels in the daytime and nighttime periods, and (2) derive nighttime and daytime overall Earthquake Risk maps. This novel approach yields previously unavailable spatio-temporal population distribution information for the study area, enabling refined and more accurate earthquake risk mapping and assessment. Additionally, such population exposure datasets can be combined with different hazard maps to improve spatio-temporal assessment and risk mapping for any type of hazard, natural or man-made. We believe this improved characterization of vulnerability and risk can benefit all phases of the disaster management process where human exposure has to be considered, namely in emergency planning, risk mitigation, preparedness, and response to an event.

Variability in emotional responsiveness and coping style during active avoidance as a window onto psychological vulnerability to stress.

PubMed

Gorka, Adam X; LaBar, Kevin S; Hariri, Ahmad R

2016-05-01

Individual differences in coping styles are associated with psychological vulnerability to stress. Recent animal research suggests that coping styles reflect trade-offs between proactive and reactive threat responses during active avoidance paradigms, with proactive responses associated with better stress tolerance. Based on these preclinical findings, we developed a novel instructed active avoidance paradigm to characterize patterns of proactive and reactive responses using behavioral, motoric, and autonomic measures in humans. Analyses revealed significant inter-individual variability not only in the magnitude of general emotional responsiveness but also the likelihood to specifically express proactive or reactive responses. In men but not women, individual differences in general emotional responsiveness were linked to increased trait anxiety while proactive coping style was linked to increased trait aggression. These patterns are consistent with preclinical findings and suggest that instructed active avoidance paradigms may be useful in assessing psychological vulnerability to stress using objective behavioral measures. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Human vulnerability, dislocation and resettlement: adaptation processes of river-bank erosion-induced displacees in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Hutton, David; Haque, C Emdad

2004-03-01

The purpose of this research was to identify and analyse patterns of economic and social adaptation among river-bank erosion-induced displacees in Bangladesh. It was hypothesised that the role of social demographic and socio-economic variables in determining the coping ability and recovery of the river-bank erosion-induced displacees is quite significant. The findings of the research reveal that displacees experience substantial socio-economic impoverishment and marginalisation as a consequence of involuntary migration. This in part is a socially constructed process, reflecting inequitable access to land and other resources. Vulnerability to disasters is further heightened by a number of identifiable social and demographic factors including gender, education and age, although extreme poverty and marginalisation create complexity to isolate the relative influence of these variables. The need to integrate hazard analysis and mitigation with the broader economic and social context is discussed. It is argued that the capacity of people to respond to environmental threats is a function of not only the physical forces which affect them, but also of underlying economic and social relationships which increase human vulnerability to risk. Hazard analysis and mitigation can be more effective when it takes into account such social and demographic and socio-economic dimensions of disasters.

Evaluation of the radiolabeled boronic acid-based FAP inhibitor MIP-1232 for atherosclerotic plaque imaging.

PubMed

Meletta, Romana; Müller Herde, Adrienne; Chiotellis, Aristeidis; Isa, Malsor; Rancic, Zoran; Borel, Nicole; Ametamey, Simon M; Krämer, Stefanie D; Schibli, Roger

2015-01-27

Research towards the non-invasive imaging of atherosclerotic plaques is of high clinical priority as early recognition of vulnerable plaques may reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events. The fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAP) was recently proposed as inflammation-induced protease involved in the process of plaque vulnerability. In this study, FAP mRNA and protein levels were investigated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, respectively, in human endarterectomized carotid plaques. A published boronic-acid based FAP inhibitor, MIP-1232, was synthetized and radiolabeled with iodine-125. The potential of this radiotracer to image plaques was evaluated by in vitro autoradiography with human carotid plaques. Specificity was assessed with a xenograft with high and one with low FAP level, grown in mice. Target expression analyses revealed a moderately higher protein level in atherosclerotic plaques than normal arteries correlating with plaque vulnerability. No difference in expression was determined on mRNA level. The radiotracer was successfully produced and accumulated strongly in the FAP-positive SK-Mel-187 melanoma xenograft in vitro while accumulation was negligible in an NCI-H69 xenograft with low FAP levels. Binding of the tracer to endarterectomized tissue was similar in plaques and normal arteries, hampering its use for atherosclerosis imaging.

Coastal erosion risk assessment using natural and human factors in different scales.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexandrakis, George; Kampanis, Nikolaos

2015-04-01

Climate change, including sea-level rise and increasing storms, raise the threats of coastal erosion. Mitigating and adapting to coastal erosion risks in areas of human interest, like urban areas, culture heritage sites, and areas of economic interest, present a major challenge for society. In this context, decision making needs to be based in reliable risk assessment that includes environmental, social and economic factors. By integrating coastal hazard and risk assessments maps into coastal management plans, risks in areas of interest can be reduced. To address this, the vulnerability of the coast to sea level rise and associated erosion, in terms of expected land loss and socioeconomic importance need to be identified. A holistic risk assessment based in environmental, socioeconomic and economics approach can provide managers information how to mitigate the impact of coastal erosion and plan protection measures. Such an approach needs to consider social, economic and environmental factors, which interactions can be better assessed when distributed and analysed along the geographical space. In this work, estimations of climate change impact to coastline are based on a combination of environmental and economic data analysed in a GIS database. The risk assessment is implemented through the estimation of the vulnerability and exposure variables of the coast in two scales. The larger scale estimates the vulnerability in a regional level, with the use environmental factors with the use of CVI. The exposure variable is estimated by the use of socioeconomic factors. Subsequently, a smaller scale focuses on highly vulnerable beaches with high social and economic value. The vulnerability assessment of the natural processes to the environmental characteristics of the beach is estimated with the use of the Beach Vulnerability Index. As exposure variable, the value of beach width that is capitalized in revenues is implemented through a hedonic pricing model. In this econometric modelling, Beach Value is related with economic and environmental attributes of the beach. All calculations are implemented in a GIS database, organised in five levels. In the first level the gathering of raw data is been made. In the second level data are organized in different scales. Third level, concerns the generating of new thematic data for further use. Risk assessment analysis and cost benefit analysis for protection measures is been made in level four. In the fifth level the results are transformed in user friendly form to be used by coastal managers. As case study area for the application of the method is selected Crete Island, while for the small scale the city of Rethymnon, which at the regional vulnerability analysis was found as high vulnerable. In the small scale vulnerability analysis, the sectors of the beach which are most vulnerable were identified, and risk analysis was made based on the revenue losses. Acknowledgments This work was implemented within the framework of the Action «Supporting Postdoctoral Researchers» of the Operational Program "Education and Lifelong Learning" (Action's Beneficiary: General Secretariat for Research and Technology), and is co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Greek State.

Construction of road network vulnerability evaluation index based on general travel cost

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leng, Jun-qiang; Zhai, Jing; Li, Qian-wen; Zhao, Lin

2018-03-01

With the development of China's economy and the continuous improvement of her urban road network, the vulnerability of the urban road network has attracted increasing attention. Based on general travel cost, this work constructs the vulnerability evaluation index for the urban road network, and evaluates the vulnerability of the urban road network from the perspective of user generalised travel cost. Firstly, the generalised travel cost model is constructed based on vehicle cost, travel time, and traveller comfort. Then, the network efficiency index is selected as an evaluation index of vulnerability: the network efficiency index is composed of the traffic volume and the generalised travel cost, which are obtained from the equilibrium state of the network. In addition, the research analyses the influence of traffic capacity decrease, road section attribute value, and location of road section, on vulnerability. Finally, the vulnerability index is used to analyse the local area network of Harbin and verify its applicability.

Climate change implications and use of early warning systems for global dust storms

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harriman, Lindsey M.

2014-01-01

With increased changes in land cover and global climate, early detection and warning of dust storms in conjunction with effective and widespread information broadcasts will be essential to the prevention and mitigation of future risks and impacts. Human activities, seasonal variations and long-term climatic patterns influence dust storms. More research is needed to analyse these factors of dust mobilisation to create more certainty for the fate of vulnerable populations and ecosystems in the future. Early warning and communication systems, when in place and effectively implemented, can offer some relief to these vulnerable areas. As an issue that affects many regions of the world, there is a profound need to understand the potential changes and ultimately create better early warning systems for dust storms.

Vulnerability assessment of atmospheric environment driven by human impacts.

PubMed

Zhang, Yang; Shen, Jing; Ding, Feng; Li, Yu; He, Li

2016-11-15

Atmospheric environment quality worsening is a substantial threat to public health worldwide, and in many places, air pollution due to the intensification of the human activity is increasing dramatically. However, no studies have been investigated the integration of vulnerability assessment and atmospheric environment driven by human impacts. The objective of this study was to identify and prioritize the undesirable environmental changes as an early warning system for environment managers and decision makers in term of human, atmospheric environment, and social economic elements. We conduct a vulnerability assessment method of atmospheric environment associated with human impact, this method integrates spatial context of Geographic Information System (GIS) tool, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method, ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operators under the Exposure-Sensitivity- Adaptive Capacity (ESA) framework. Decision makers can find out relevant vulnerability assessment results with different vulnerable attitudes. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, China, we further applied this developed method and proved it to be reliable and consistent with the China Environmental Status Bulletin. Results indicate that the vulnerability of atmospheric environment in the BTH region is not optimistic, and environment managers should do more about air pollution. Thus, the most appropriate strategic decision and development program of city or state can be picked out assisting by the vulnerable results. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Migration in the Anthropocene: how collective navigation, environmental system and taxonomy shape the vulnerability of migratory species.

PubMed

Hardesty-Moore, Molly; Deinet, Stefanie; Freeman, Robin; Titcomb, Georgia C; Dillon, Erin M; Stears, Keenan; Klope, Maggie; Bui, An; Orr, Devyn; Young, Hillary S; Miller-Ter Kuile, Ana; Hughey, Lacey F; McCauley, Douglas J

2018-05-19

Recent increases in human disturbance pose significant threats to migratory species using collective movement strategies. Key threats to migrants may differ depending on behavioural traits (e.g. collective navigation), taxonomy and the environmental system (i.e. freshwater, marine or terrestrial) associated with migration. We quantitatively assess how collective navigation, taxonomic membership and environmental system impact species' vulnerability by (i) evaluating population change in migratory and non-migratory bird, mammal and fish species using the Living Planet Database (LPD), (ii) analysing the role of collective navigation and environmental system on migrant extinction risk using International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifications and (iii) compiling literature on geographical range change of migratory species. Likelihood of population decrease differed by taxonomic group: migratory birds were more likely to experience annual declines than non-migrants, while mammals displayed the opposite pattern. Within migratory species in IUCN, we observed that collective navigation and environmental system were important predictors of extinction risk for fishes and birds, but not for mammals, which had overall higher extinction risk than other taxa. We found high phylogenetic relatedness among collectively navigating species, which could have obscured its importance in determining extinction risk. Overall, outputs from these analyses can help guide strategic interventions to conserve the most vulnerable migrations.This article is part of the theme issue 'Collective movement ecology'. © 2018 The Author(s).

Climate Vulnerability and Human Migration in Global Perspective

PubMed Central

Grecequet, Martina; DeWaard, Jack; Hellmann, Jessica J.; Abel, Guy J.

2018-01-01

The relationship between climate change and human migration is not homogenous and depends critically on the differential vulnerability of population and places. If places and populations are not vulnerable, or susceptible, to climate change, then the climate–migration relationship may not materialize. The key to understanding and, from a policy perspective, planning for whether and how climate change will impact future migration patterns is therefore knowledge of the link between climate vulnerability and migration. However, beyond specific case studies, little is known about this association in global perspective. We therefore provide a descriptive, country-level portrait of this relationship. We show that the negative association between climate vulnerability and international migration holds only for countries least vulnerable to climate change, which suggests the potential for trapped populations in more vulnerable countries. However, when analyzed separately by life supporting sector (food, water, health, ecosystem services, human habitat, and infrastructure) and vulnerability dimension (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity), we detect evidence of a relationship among more, but not the most, vulnerable countries. The bilateral (i.e., country-to-country) migration show that, on average, people move from countries of higher vulnerability to lower vulnerability, reducing global risk by 15%. This finding is consistent with the idea that migration is a climate adaptation strategy. Still, ~6% of bilateral migration is maladaptive with respect to climate change, with some movement toward countries with greater climate change vulnerability. PMID:29707262

Climate Vulnerability and Human Migration in Global Perspective.

PubMed

Grecequet, Martina; DeWaard, Jack; Hellmann, Jessica J; Abel, Guy J

2017-05-01

The relationship between climate change and human migration is not homogenous and depends critically on the differential vulnerability of population and places. If places and populations are not vulnerable, or susceptible, to climate change, then the climate-migration relationship may not materialize. The key to understanding and, from a policy perspective, planning for whether and how climate change will impact future migration patterns is therefore knowledge of the link between climate vulnerability and migration. However, beyond specific case studies, little is known about this association in global perspective. We therefore provide a descriptive, country-level portrait of this relationship. We show that the negative association between climate vulnerability and international migration holds only for countries least vulnerable to climate change, which suggests the potential for trapped populations in more vulnerable countries. However, when analyzed separately by life supporting sector (food, water, health, ecosystem services, human habitat, and infrastructure) and vulnerability dimension (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity), we detect evidence of a relationship among more, but not the most, vulnerable countries. The bilateral (i.e., country-to-country) migration show that, on average, people move from countries of higher vulnerability to lower vulnerability, reducing global risk by 15%. This finding is consistent with the idea that migration is a climate adaptation strategy. Still, ~6% of bilateral migration is maladaptive with respect to climate change, with some movement toward countries with greater climate change vulnerability.

Dynamic nuclear envelope phenotype in rats overexpressing mutated human torsinA protein.

PubMed

Yu-Taeger, Libo; Gaiser, Viktoria; Lotzer, Larissa; Roenisch, Tina; Fabry, Benedikt Timo; Stricker-Shaver, Janice; Casadei, Nicolas; Walter, Michael; Schaller, Martin; Riess, Olaf; Nguyen, Huu Phuc; Ott, Thomas; Grundmann-Hauser, Kathrin

2018-05-08

A three-base-pair deletion in the human TOR1A gene is causative for the most common form of primary dystonia, the early-onset dystonia type 1 (DYT1 dystonia). The pathophysiological consequences of this mutation are still unknown.To study the pathology of the mutant torsinA (TOR1A) protein, we have generated a transgenic rat line that overexpresses the human mutant protein under the control of the human TOR1A promoter. This new animal model was phenotyped with several approaches, including behavioral tests and neuropathological analyses. A motor phenotype and cellular and ultrastructural key features of torsinA pathology were found in this new transgenic rat line supporting that it can be used as a model system for investigating the disease development. Analyses of mutant TOR1A protein expression in various brain regions also showed a dynamic expression pattern and a reversible nuclear envelope pathology. These findings suggest the differential vulnerabilities of distinct neuronal subpopulations. Furthermore the reversibility of the nuclear envelope pathology might be a therapeutic target to treat the disease. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

A Toolset for Supporting Iterative Human Automation: Interaction in Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feary, Michael S.

2010-01-01

The addition of automation has greatly extended humans' capability to accomplish tasks, including those that are difficult, complex and safety critical. The majority of Human - Automation Interacton (HAl) results in more efficient and safe operations, ho,,:,ever ertain unpected atomatlon behaviors or "automation surprises" can be frustrating and, In certain safety critical operations (e.g. transporttion, manufacturing control, medicine), may result in injuries or. the loss of life.. (Mellor, 1994; Leveson, 1995; FAA, 1995; BASI, 1998; Sheridan, 2002). This papr describes he development of a design tool that enables on the rapid development and evaluation. of automaton prototypes. The ultimate goal of the work is to provide a design platform upon which automation surprise vulnerability analyses can be integrated.

Relational autonomy in the care of the vulnerable: health care professionals' reasoning in Moral Case Deliberation (MCD).

PubMed

Heidenreich, Kaja; Bremer, Anders; Materstvedt, Lars Johan; Tidefelt, Ulf; Svantesson, Mia

2017-12-14

In Moral Case Deliberation (MCD), healthcare professionals discuss ethically difficult patient situations in their daily practice. There is a lack of knowledge regarding the content of MCD and there is a need to shed light on this ethical reflection in the midst of clinical practice. Thus, the aim of the study was to describe the content of healthcare professionals' moral reasoning during MCD. The design was qualitative and descriptive, and data consisted of 22 audio-recorded inter-professional MCDs, analysed with content analysis. The moral reasoning centred on how to strike the balance between personal convictions about what constitutes good care, and the perceived dissonant care preferences held by the patient. The healthcare professionals deliberated about good care in relation to demands considered to be unrealistic, justifications for influencing the patient, the incapacitated patient's nebulous interests, and coping with the conflict between using coercion to achieve good while protecting human dignity. Furthermore, as a basis for the reasoning, the healthcare professionals reflected on how to establish a responsible relationship with the vulnerable person. This comprised acknowledging the patient as a susceptible human being, protecting dignity and integrity, defining their own moral responsibility, and having patience to give the patient and family time to come to terms with illness and declining health. The profound struggle to respect the patient's autonomy in clinical practice can be understood through the concept of relational autonomy, to try to secure both patients' influence and at the same time take responsibility for their needs as vulnerable humans.

Behaviourally-inhibited temperament and female sex, two vulnerability factors for anxiety disorders, facilitate conditioned avoidance (also) in humans

PubMed Central

Sheynin, Jony; Beck, Kevin D.; Pang, Kevin C.H.; Servatius, Richard J.; Shikari, Saima; Ostovich, Jacqueline; Myers, Catherine E.

2014-01-01

Acquisition and maintenance of avoidance behaviour is a key feature of all human anxiety disorders. Animal models have been useful in understanding how anxiety vulnerability could translate into avoidance learning. For example, behaviourally-inhibited temperament and female sex, two vulnerability factors for clinical anxiety, are associated with faster acquisition of avoidance responses in rodents. However, to date, the translation of such empirical data to human populations has been limited since many features of animal avoidance paradigms are not typically captured in human research. Here, using a computer-based task that captures many features of rodent escape-avoidance learning paradigms, we investigated whether avoidance learning would be faster in humans with inhibited temperament and/or female sex and, if so, whether this facilitation would take the same form. Results showed that, as in rats, both vulnerability factors were associated with facilitated acquisition of avoidance behaviour in humans. Specifically, inhibited temperament was specifically associated with higher rate of avoidance responding, while female sex was associated with longer avoidance duration. These findings strengthen the direct link between animal avoidance work and human anxiety vulnerability, further motivating the study of animal models while also providing a simple testbed for a direct human testing. PMID:24412263

Towards low flow risk maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blauhut, Veit; Stölzle, Michael; Stahl, Kerstin

2017-04-01

Drought induced low flow extremes, despite a variety of management strategies, can cause direct and indirect impacts on socio economic and ecological functions of rivers. These negative effects determine local risk and are a function of the regional drought hazard and the river system's vulnerability. Whereas drought risk analysis is known to be essential for drought management, risk analysis for low flow is less common. Where no distributed hydrological models exist, merely the local hazard at gauging stations is available to represent the entire catchment. Vulnerability information are only sparsely available. Hence, a comprehensive understanding of the drivers of low flow risk along the longitudinal river profile is often lacking. For two different rivers in southwestern Germany, this study analysed major low flow events of the past five decades. Applying a transdisciplinary approach, the hazard component is assessed by hydro-climatic analysis, hydrological modelling and forward looking stress test scenarios; the vulnerability component is estimated by a combination of impact assessment and vulnerability estimation, based on stakeholder workshops, questionnaires and regional characteristics. The results show distinct differences in low flow risk between the catchments and along the river. These differences are due to: hydrogeological characteristics that govern groundwater-surface water interaction, catchment-specific anthropogenic stimuli such as low flow decrease by near-stream groundwater pumping for public water supply or low flow augmentation by treatment plant discharge. Thus, low flow risk is anthropogenically influenced in both ways: positive and negative. Furthermore, the measured longitudinal profiles highlight the impracticability of single gauges to represent quantitative and qualitative conditions of entire rivers. Hence, this work calls for a comprehensive spatially variable consideration of flow characteristics and human influences to analyse low flow risk as the basis for an adequate low flow management.

College graduation reduces vulnerability to STIs/HIV among African-American young adult women.

PubMed

Painter, Julia E; Wingood, Gina M; DiClemente, Ralph J; Depadilla, Lara M; Simpson-Robinson, Lashun

2012-01-01

African-American women are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. The Theory of Gender and Power (TGP) posits that socioeconomic exposures, including educational attainment, place women at increased risk for STIs/HIV. This study examined the association between educational attainment and vulnerability to STIs/HIV, as well as potential TGP-driven mediators of this association, among African-American women. Baseline data were assessed from an STI/HIV prevention intervention for African-American women (n = 848) aged 18 to 29 recruited from three Kaiser Permanente Centers in Atlanta, Georgia. Data collection included a survey of demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral measures and self-collected, laboratory-confirmed vaginal swabs for STIs (trichomoniasis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and human papillomavirus). Multiple regression analyses and multivariate mediation analyses were used to examine the association between educational attainment with a laboratory-confirmed STI and potential TGP mediators. Controlling for age and receipt of public assistance, the odds of an STI diagnosis were 73% lower among participants with a college degree or greater compared with participants who had not completed high school. There were also significant associations between educational attainment and multiple TGP mediators from the sexual division of power and the structure of cathexis. TGP constructs did not mediate the association between educational attainment and laboratory-confirmed STI. The current study suggests that graduating from college may lead to a beneficial reduction in vulnerability to STIs/HIV among African-American women. Findings from this study support expanding structural-level interventions, emphasizing both high school and college graduation, as a means of reducing vulnerability to STIs/HIV among African-American women. Copyright © 2012 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Medieval Iceland, Greenland, and the New Human Condition: A case study in integrated environmental humanities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartman, Steven; Ogilvie, A. E. J.; Ingimundarson, Jón Haukur; Dugmore, A. J.; Hambrecht, George; McGovern, T. H.

2017-09-01

This paper contributes to recent studies exploring the longue durée of human impacts on island landscapes, the impacts of climate and other environmental changes on human communities, and the interaction of human societies and their environments at different spatial and temporal scales. In particular, the paper addresses Iceland during the medieval period (with a secondary, comparative focus on Norse Greenland) and discusses episodes where environmental and climatic changes have appeared to cross key thresholds for agricultural productivity. The paper draws upon international, interdisciplinary research in the North Atlantic region led by the North Atlantic Biocultural Organization (NABO) and the Nordic Network for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies (NIES) in the Circumpolar Networks program of the Integrated History and Future of People on Earth (IHOPE). By interlinking analyses of historically grounded literature with archaeological studies and environmental science, valuable new perspectives can emerge on how these past societies may have understood and coped with such impacts. As climate and other environmental changes do not operate in isolation, vulnerabilities created by socioeconomic factors also beg consideration. The paper illustrates the benefits of an integrated environmental-studies approach that draws on data, methodologies and analytical tools of environmental humanities, social sciences, and geosciences to better understand long-term human ecodynamics and changing human-landscape-environment interactions through time. One key goal is to apply previously unused data and concerted expertise to illuminate human responses to past changes; a secondary aim is to consider how lessons derived from these cases may be applicable to environmental threats and socioecological risks in the future, especially as understood in light of the New Human Condition, the concept transposed from Hannah Arendt's influential framing of the human condition that is foregrounded in the present special issue. This conception admits human agency's role in altering the conditions for life on earth, in large measure negatively, while acknowledging the potential of this self-same agency, if effectively harnessed and properly directed, to sustain essential planetary conditions through a salutary transformation of human perception, understanding and remedial action. The paper concludes that more long-term historical analyses of cultures and environments need to be undertaken at various scales. Past cases do not offer perfect analogues for the future, but they can contribute to a better understanding of how resilience and vulnerability occur, as well as how they may be compromised or mitigated.

Structural drivers of vulnerability to zoonotic disease in Africa.

PubMed

Dzingirai, Vupenyu; Bukachi, Salome; Leach, Melissa; Mangwanya, Lindiwe; Scoones, Ian; Wilkinson, Annie

2017-07-19

This paper argues that addressing the underlying structural drivers of disease vulnerability is essential for a 'One Health' approach to tackling zoonotic diseases in Africa. Through three case studies-trypanosomiasis in Zimbabwe, Ebola and Lassa fever in Sierra Leone and Rift Valley fever in Kenya-we show how political interests, commercial investments and conflict and securitization all generate patterns of vulnerability, reshaping the political ecology of disease landscapes, influencing traditional coping mechanisms and affecting health service provision and outbreak responses. A historical, political economy approach reveals patterns of 'structural violence' that reinforce inequalities and marginalization of certain groups, increasing disease risks. Addressing the politics of One Health requires analysing trade-offs and conflicts between interests and visions of the future. For all zoonotic diseases economic and political dimensions are ultimately critical and One Health approaches must engage with these factors, and not just end with an 'anti-political' focus on institutional and disciplinary collaboration.This article is part of the themed issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being'. © 2017 The Authors.

Structural drivers of vulnerability to zoonotic disease in Africa

PubMed Central

Bukachi, Salome; Mangwanya, Lindiwe; Scoones, Ian

2017-01-01

This paper argues that addressing the underlying structural drivers of disease vulnerability is essential for a ‘One Health’ approach to tackling zoonotic diseases in Africa. Through three case studies—trypanosomiasis in Zimbabwe, Ebola and Lassa fever in Sierra Leone and Rift Valley fever in Kenya—we show how political interests, commercial investments and conflict and securitization all generate patterns of vulnerability, reshaping the political ecology of disease landscapes, influencing traditional coping mechanisms and affecting health service provision and outbreak responses. A historical, political economy approach reveals patterns of ‘structural violence’ that reinforce inequalities and marginalization of certain groups, increasing disease risks. Addressing the politics of One Health requires analysing trade-offs and conflicts between interests and visions of the future. For all zoonotic diseases economic and political dimensions are ultimately critical and One Health approaches must engage with these factors, and not just end with an ‘anti-political’ focus on institutional and disciplinary collaboration. This article is part of the themed issue ‘One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being’. PMID:28584177

A Methodology for Assessing the Seismic Vulnerability of Highway Systems

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

Cirianni, Francis; Leonardi, Giovanni; Scopelliti, Francesco

2008-07-08

Modern society is totally dependent on a complex and articulated infrastructure network of vital importance for the existence of the urban settlements scattered on the territory. On these infrastructure systems, usually indicated with the term lifelines, are entrusted numerous services and indispensable functions of the normal urban and human activity.The systems of the lifelines represent an essential element in all the urbanised areas which are subject to seismic risk. It is important that, in these zones, they are planned according to opportune criteria based on two fundamental assumptions: a) determination of the best territorial localization, avoiding, within limits, the placesmore » of higher dangerousness; b) application of constructive technologies finalized to the reduction of the vulnerability.Therefore it is indispensable that in any modern process of seismic risk assessment the study of the networks is taken in the rightful consideration, to be integrated with the traditional analyses of the buildings.The present paper moves in this direction, dedicating particular attention to one kind of lifeline: the highway system, proposing a methodology of analysis finalized to the assessment of the seismic vulnerability of the system.« less

Mountain Child: Systematic Literature Review.

PubMed

Audsley, Annie; Wallace, Rebecca M M; Price, Martin F

2016-12-01

Objectives This systematic review identifies and reviews both peer-reviewed and 'grey' literature, across a range of disciplines and from diverse sources, relating to the condition of children living in mountain communities in low- and middle-income countries. Findings The literature on poverty in these communities does not generally focus on the particular vulnerabilities of children or the impact of intersecting vulnerabilities on the most marginalised members of communities. However, this literature does contribute analyses of the broader context and variety of factors impacting on human development in mountainous areas. The literature on other areas of children's lives-health, nutrition, child mortality, education, and child labour-focuses more specifically on children's particular vulnerabilities or experiences. However, it sometimes lacks the broader analysis of the many interrelated characteristics of a mountainous environment which impact on children's situations. Themes Nevertheless, certain themes recur across many disciplines and types of literature, and point to some general conclusions: mountain poverty is influenced by the very local specificities of the physical environment; mountain communities are often politically and economically marginalised, particularly for the most vulnerable within these communities, including children; and mountain communities themselves are an important locus for challenging and interrupting cycles of increasing inequality and disadvantage. While this broad-scale review represents a modest first step, its findings provide the basis for further investigation.

Fitness in animals correlates with proximity to discontinuities in body mass distributions.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Angeler, David G.; Allen, Craig R.; Vila-Gispert, Anna; Almeida, David

2014-01-01

Discontinuous structure in landscapes may cause discontinuous, aggregated species body-mass patterns, reflecting the scales of structure available to animal communities within a landscape. Empirical analyses have shown that the location of species within body mass aggregations, which reflect this scale-specific organization, is non-random with regard to several ecological phenomena, including species extinctions. The propensity of declining species to have body masses proximate to discontinuities suggests that transition zones between scaling regimes ultimately decreases the ecological fitness for some species. We test this proposition using vulnerable and unthreatened fish species in Mediterranean streams with differing levels of human impact. We show that the proximity to discontinuities in body mass aggregations (“distance-to-edge”) of more vs. less fit individuals within vulnerable and unthreatened populations differs. Specifically, regression analysis between the scaled mass index, a proxy of animal fitness, and distance-to-edge reveals negative and positive relationships for vulnerable and unthreatened species, respectively. That is, fitness is higher close to discontinuities in vulnerable populations and toward the center of body mass aggregation groups in unthreatened populations. Our results demonstrate the suitability of the discontinuity framework for scrutinizing non-random patterns of environmental impact in populations. Further exploration of the usefulness of this method across other ecosystems and organism groups is warranted.

Economic development and declining vulnerability to climate-related disasters in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Jidong; Han, Guoyi; Zhou, Hongjian; Li, Ning

2018-03-01

Exposure and vulnerability are the main contributing factors of growing impact from climate-related disasters globally. Understanding the spatiotemporal dynamic patterns of vulnerability is important for designing effective disaster risk mitigation and adaptation measures. At national scale, most cross-country studies have suggested that economic vulnerability to disasters decreases as income increases, especially for developing countries. Research covering sub-national climate-related natural disasters is indispensable to obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the effect of regional economic growth on vulnerability reduction. Taking China as a case, this subnational scale study shows that economic development is correlated with the significant reduction in human fatalities but increase in direct economic losses (DELs) from climate-related disasters since 1949. The long-term trend in climate-related disaster vulnerability, reflected by mortality (1978-2015) and DELs (1990-2015) as a share of the total population and Gross Domestic Product, has seen significant decline among all economic regions in China. While notable differences remain among its West, Central and East economic regions, the temporal vulnerability change has been converging. The study further demonstrated that economic development level is correlated with human and economic vulnerability to climate-related disasters, and this vulnerability decreased with the increase of per-capita income. This study suggested that economic development can have nuanced effects on overall human and economic vulnerability to climate-related disasters. We argue that climate change science needs to acknowledge and examine the different pathways of vulnerability effects related to economic development.

Cumulative stress and substantiated maltreatment: the importance of caregiver vulnerability and adult partner violence.

PubMed

Wekerle, Christine; Wall, Anne-Marie; Leung, Eman; Trocmé, Nico

2007-04-01

Our goal is to assess the effect of caregiver vulnerabilities, singly and in combination, on the substantiation of child abuse (physical, sexual) and neglect, while controlling for relevant background variables. We test the moderator role of adult partner violence in qualifying the relationship between caregiver vulnerabilities and maltreatment substantiation. Secondary analyses of the 1998 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Maltreatment (CIS) are used to predict child protective service investigation substantiation versus non-substantiation from a range of caregiver vulnerability factors. Involvement in partner violence was examined as a moderator in the relation between caregiver vulnerabilities and maltreatment substantiation. The CIS is an epidemiological survey of first-reported cases to child protective services, using a random sample of child welfare agencies across Canada. Child welfare workers completed a research form on the child, primary caregiver, family, perpetrator, severity and type of maltreatment, as well as services and court outcomes. All maltreatment classifications were assigned according to the Canadian legal definition of child abuse and neglect. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were used, with stepped entry of: (1) demographic factors, socioeconomic disadvantage, and caregiver's own history of maltreatment; (2) caregiver vulnerability factors; (3) involvement in partner violence; (4) the interaction between caregiver vulnerability and partner violence. Caregiver substance abuse was found to be the single most potent kind of caregiver vulnerability in predicting maltreatment substantiation. When the total number of vulnerabilities was used as the predictor, prediction across all types of maltreatment increased, especially for substantiated neglect. Analyses also showed that the presence of partner violence in the home exacerbated the effect of caregiver vulnerability on substantiation. The total number of caregiver vulnerabilities was the best predictor of the substantiation of child abuse and neglect. This relationship was moderated by the existence of partner violence: high caregiver vulnerability and high partner violence increased the likelihood of substantiation versus non-substantiation. These results suggest that caregiver issues should be considered in tandem with partner relationships. Among child welfare cases, caregiver vulnerability and partner violence are critical targets for child maltreatment prevention and early child protective services intervention.

[Medical research and vulnerable subjects: unemployed people].

PubMed

Niebrój, Lesław

2006-01-01

Although the importance of medical research for the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases is unquestionable, the use of human subjects, however, still presents a complex ethical problem. Moral difficulties occur in particular when the medical research deals with vulnerable subjects. Vulnerable individuals are defined as those who experience diminished actual autonomy. Among the groups which should be considered as being vulnerable are usually listed the following: children, pregnant women, mentally or emotionally disabled, physically disabled, homeless, and institutionalized people. This study addresses key concerns that gave rise to the question of whether unemployed people had to be recognized as vulnerable subjects. The term "vulnerability" was clarified and it was assumed that the "vulnerability" of medical research subjects' had to be understood as a form of continuum from potential, through the circumstantial, temporal, episodic, permanent to inevitable vulnerability. The conclusion was drawn that unemployed people were, at least, potentially vulnerable subjects. Research involving unemployed people presents important moral challenges to researchers and should be undertaken very carefully, following special ethical guidelines.

Vulnerability to Climate Change in Rural Saskatchewan: Case Study of the Rural Municipality of Rudy No. 284

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pittman, Jeremy; Wittrock, Virginia; Kulshreshtha, Surendra; Wheaton, Elaine

2011-01-01

With the likelihood of future changes in climate and climate variability, it is important to understand how human systems may be vulnerable. Rural communities in Saskatchewan having agricultural-based economies are particularly dependent on climate and could be among the most vulnerable human systems in Canada. Future changes in climate are likely…

Economics of human trafficking.

PubMed

Wheaton, Elizabeth M; Schauer, Edward J; Galli, Thomas V

2010-01-01

Because freedom of choice and economic gain are at the heart of productivity, human trafficking impedes national and international economic growth. Within the next 10 years, crime experts expect human trafficking to surpass drug and arms trafficking in its incidence, cost to human well-being, and profitability to criminals (Schauer and Wheaton, 2006: 164-165). The loss of agency from human trafficking as well as from modern slavery is the result of human vulnerability (Bales, 2000: 15). As people become vulnerable to exploitation and businesses continually seek the lowest-cost labour sources, trafficking human beings generates profit and a market for human trafficking is created. This paper presents an economic model of human trafficking that encompasses all known economic factors that affect human trafficking both across and within national borders. We envision human trafficking as a monopolistically competitive industry in which traffickers act as intermediaries between vulnerable individuals and employers by supplying differentiated products to employers. In the human trafficking market, the consumers are employers of trafficked labour and the products are human beings. Using a rational-choice framework of human trafficking we explain the social situations that shape relocation and working decisions of vulnerable populations leading to human trafficking, the impetus for being a trafficker, and the decisions by employers of trafficked individuals. The goal of this paper is to provide a common ground upon which policymakers and researchers can collaborate to decrease the incidence of trafficking in humans.

Vulnerability and risk management of Agave species in the Tehuacán Valley, México.

PubMed

Delgado-Lemus, América; Torres, Ignacio; Blancas, José; Casas, Alejandro

2014-07-03

Our study analysed the vulnerability of the useful Agave species of the Tehuacán Valley, Mexico, considering ecological, cultural and economic aspects, and management types. We hypothesized that management intensity is proportional to the degree of risk of a species in order to decrease its vulnerability. Distribution of Agave species was monitored in 36 types of plant associations. Ethnobotanical studies were conducted in 13 villages and six markets. The vulnerability of each species was calculated by assigning risk values to the variables analysed. The vulnerability and management intensity indexes were estimated through the scores of the first principal component of PCA. Variation of management data explained by ecological, cultural and economic information were analysed through canonical correspondence analyses (CCA). A linear regression analysis identified the relation between vulnerability and management intensity. We recorded presence of agave species in 20 of 36 vegetation types. Out of 34 Agave species, 28 were recorded to have one to 16 use types; 16 species are used as food, 13 for live fences, 13 for producing 'pulque', 11 for fibre and ornamental, 9 for construction. Seven species are used for preparing mescal, activity representing the highest risk. Seven Agave species are exclusively extracted from the wild and the others receive some management type. Incipient cultivation was identified in A. potatorum whose seedlings are grown in nurseries. Intensive cultivation through vegetative propagation occurs with domesticated species of wide distribution in Mexico. The highest management intensity values were recorded in widely distributed, cultivated and domesticated species, but the regionally native species more intensively managed were those with higher demand and economic value, protected by collective regulations because of their scarcity. The regression analysis indicated significant relation (R2=0.677, P<0.001) between vulnerability and management indexes. CCA explained 61.0% of variation of management intensity, mainly by socio-cultural factors (30.32%), whereas ecological data explained 7.6% and the intersection of all factors 21.36%. The highest vulnerability was identified in wild species restrictedly distributed and/or highly extracted. Social pressures may increase the natural vulnerability of some species and these species are particularly those native species receiving some management form.

Mobile populations and HIV/AIDS in Central America and Mexico: research for action.

PubMed

Bronfman, Mario N; Leyva, Rene; Negroni, Mirka J; Rueda, Celina M

2002-12-01

To present a multi-centre study that analyses the socioeconomic, cultural and political contexts that give rise to population mobility, and its relationship to vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections (STI)/HIV/AIDS, in order to provide information that can be used to design appropriate and focused interventions. In each of 11 transit stations (border towns, port cities, areas where mobile populations congregate) in Central America and Mexico, a household survey of the local population was conducted to analyse demographic, socioeconomic characteristics, and information known and opinions held about HIV/AIDS and mobile populations. In-depth interviews with key informants, community members and mobile populations were held to ascertain knowledge about prevention and transmission of STI/HIV/AIDS. Likewise, an ethnographic study was undertaken to identify interactions between local and mobile populations. The transit stations share low educational levels among the local population, few public services, repeated human rights violations, violence, poverty and corrupt authorities. Within this social context, transactional sex, sex for survival, rape and non-professional commercial sex happen in conditions that increase the risk of the transmission of STI/HIV, such as infrequent condom use. Migrant women and sex workers are particularly vulnerable in this context. A wide gap exists between information about STI/HIV transmission and reported prevention practices. Given the conditions that exist in these transit stations, interventions should be multisectoral, sustainable, and should defend the human rights of various groups, including women and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Vulnerability of complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishkovski, Igor; Biey, Mario; Kocarev, Ljupco

2011-01-01

We consider normalized average edge betweenness of a network as a metric of network vulnerability. We suggest that normalized average edge betweenness together with is relative difference when certain number of nodes and/or edges are removed from the network is a measure of network vulnerability, called vulnerability index. Vulnerability index is calculated for four synthetic networks: Erdős-Rényi (ER) random networks, Barabási-Albert (BA) model of scale-free networks, Watts-Strogatz (WS) model of small-world networks, and geometric random networks. Real-world networks for which vulnerability index is calculated include: two human brain networks, three urban networks, one collaboration network, and two power grid networks. We find that WS model of small-world networks and biological networks (human brain networks) are the most robust networks among all networks studied in the paper.

Vulnerability and resilience: a critical nexus.

PubMed

Lotz, Mianna

2016-02-01

Not all forms of human fragility or vulnerability are unavoidable. Sometimes we knowingly and intentionally impose conditions of vulnerability on others; and sometimes we knowingly and intentionally enter into and assume conditions of vulnerability for ourselves (for example, when we decide to trust or forgive, enter into intimate relationships with others, become a parent, become a subject of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, and the like). In this article, I propose a presently overlooked basis on which one might evaluate whether the imposition or assumption of vulnerability is acceptable, and on which one might ground a significant class of vulnerability-related obligations. Distinct from existing accounts of the importance of promoting autonomy in conditions of vulnerability, this article offers a preliminary exploration of the nature, role, and importance of resilience promotion, its relationship to autonomy promotion, and its prospects for improving human wellbeing in autonomy inhibiting conditions.

Rehabilitation of vulnerable groups in emergencies and disasters: A systematic review

PubMed Central

Sheikhbardsiri, Hojjat; Yarmohammadian, Mohammad H.; Rezaei, Fatemeh; Maracy, Mohammad Reza

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Natural and man-made disasters, especially those occurring in large scales not only result in human mortality, but also cause physical, psychological, and social disabilities. Providing effective rehabilitation services in time can decrease the frequency of such disabilities. The aim of the current study was to perform a systematic review related to rehabilitation of vulnerable groups in emergencies and disasters. METHODS: The systematic review was conducted according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The key words “recovery”, “rehabilitation”, “reconstruction”, “transformation”, “transition”, “emergency”, “disaster”, “crisis”, “hazard”, “catastrophe”, “tragedy”, “mass casualty incident”, “women”, “female”, “children”, “pediatric”, “disable”, “handicap”, “elder”, “old” and “vulnerable” were used in combination with Boolean operators OR and AND. ISI Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Ovid, ProQuest, Wiley, Google Scholar were searched. RESULTS: In this study a total of 11 928 articles were considered and 25 articles were selected for final review of rehabilitation of vulnerable groups based on the objective of this study. Twenty-five studies including six qualitative, sixteen cross-sectional and three randomized controlled trials were reviewed for rehabilitation of vulnerable groups in emergencies and disasters. Out of the selected papers, 23 were studied based on rehabilitation after natural disasters and the remaining were man-made disasters. Most types of rehabilitation were physical, social, psychological and economic. CONCLUSION: The review of the papers showed different programs of physical, physiological, economic and social rehabilitations for vulnerable groups after emergencies and disasters. It may help health field managers better implement standard rehabilitation activities for vulnerable groups. PMID:29123602

What actually confers adaptive capacity? Insights from agro-climatic vulnerability of Australian wheat.

PubMed

Bryan, Brett A; Huai, Jianjun; Connor, Jeff; Gao, Lei; King, Darran; Kandulu, John; Zhao, Gang

2015-01-01

Vulnerability assessments have often invoked sustainable livelihoods theory to support the quantification of adaptive capacity based on the availability of capital--social, human, physical, natural, and financial. However, the assumption that increased availability of these capitals confers greater adaptive capacity remains largely untested. We quantified the relationship between commonly used capital indicators and an empirical index of adaptive capacity (ACI) in the context of vulnerability of Australian wheat production to climate variability and change. We calculated ACI by comparing actual yields from farm survey data to climate-driven expected yields estimated by a crop model for 12 regions in Australia's wheat-sheep zone from 1991-2010. We then compiled data for 24 typical indicators used in vulnerability analyses, spanning the five capitals. We analyzed the ACI and used regression techniques to identify related capital indicators. Between regions, mean ACI was not significantly different but variance over time was. ACI was higher in dry years and lower in wet years suggesting that farm adaptive strategies are geared towards mitigating losses rather than capitalizing on opportunity. Only six of the 24 capital indicators were significantly related to adaptive capacity in a way predicted by theory. Another four indicators were significantly related to adaptive capacity but of the opposite sign, countering our theory-driven expectation. We conclude that the deductive, theory-based use of capitals to define adaptive capacity and vulnerability should be more circumspect. Assessments need to be more evidence-based, first testing the relevance and influence of capital metrics on adaptive capacity for the specific system of interest. This will more effectively direct policy and targeting of investment to mitigate agro-climatic vulnerability.

What Actually Confers Adaptive Capacity? Insights from Agro-Climatic Vulnerability of Australian Wheat

PubMed Central

Bryan, Brett A.; Huai, Jianjun; Connor, Jeff; Gao, Lei; King, Darran; Kandulu, John; Zhao, Gang

2015-01-01

Vulnerability assessments have often invoked sustainable livelihoods theory to support the quantification of adaptive capacity based on the availability of capital—social, human, physical, natural, and financial. However, the assumption that increased availability of these capitals confers greater adaptive capacity remains largely untested. We quantified the relationship between commonly used capital indicators and an empirical index of adaptive capacity (ACI) in the context of vulnerability of Australian wheat production to climate variability and change. We calculated ACI by comparing actual yields from farm survey data to climate-driven expected yields estimated by a crop model for 12 regions in Australia’s wheat-sheep zone from 1991–2010. We then compiled data for 24 typical indicators used in vulnerability analyses, spanning the five capitals. We analyzed the ACI and used regression techniques to identify related capital indicators. Between regions, mean ACI was not significantly different but variance over time was. ACI was higher in dry years and lower in wet years suggesting that farm adaptive strategies are geared towards mitigating losses rather than capitalizing on opportunity. Only six of the 24 capital indicators were significantly related to adaptive capacity in a way predicted by theory. Another four indicators were significantly related to adaptive capacity but of the opposite sign, countering our theory-driven expectation. We conclude that the deductive, theory-based use of capitals to define adaptive capacity and vulnerability should be more circumspect. Assessments need to be more evidence-based, first testing the relevance and influence of capital metrics on adaptive capacity for the specific system of interest. This will more effectively direct policy and targeting of investment to mitigate agro-climatic vulnerability. PMID:25668192

Preventing disasters: public health vulnerability reduction as a sustainable adaptation to climate change.

PubMed

Keim, Mark E

2011-06-01

Global warming could increase the number and severity of extreme weather events. These events are often known to result in public health disasters, but we can lessen the effects of these disasters. By addressing the factors that cause changes in climate, we can mitigate the effects of climate change. By addressing the factors that make society vulnerable to the effects of climate, we can adapt to climate change. To adapt to climate change, a comprehensive approach to disaster risk reduction has been proposed. By reducing human vulnerability to disasters, we can lessen--and at times even prevent--their impact. Human vulnerability is a complex phenomenon that comprises social, economic, health, and cultural factors. Because public health is uniquely placed at the community level, it has the opportunity to lessen human vulnerability to climate-related disasters. At the national and international level, a supportive policy environment can enable local adaptation to disaster events. The purpose of this article is to introduce the basic concept of disaster risk reduction so that it can be applied to preventing and mitigating the negative effects of climate change and to examine the role of community-focused public health as a means for lessening human vulnerability and, as a result, the overall risk of climate-related disasters.

Carotid plaque characterization using CT and MRI scans for synergistic image analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Getzin, Matthew; Xu, Yiqin; Rao, Arhant; Madi, Saaussan; Bahadur, Ali; Lennartz, Michelle R.; Wang, Ge

2014-09-01

Noninvasive determination of plaque vulnerability has been a holy grail of medical imaging. Despite advances in tomographic technologies , there is currently no effective way to identify vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques with high sensitivity and specificity. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are widely used, but neither provides sufficient information of plaque properties. Thus, we are motivated to combine CT and MRI imaging to determine if the composite information can better reflect the histological determination of plaque vulnerability. Two human endarterectomy specimens (1 symptomatic carotid and 1 stable femoral) were imaged using Scanco Medical Viva CT40 and Bruker Pharmascan 16cm 7T Horizontal MRI / MRS systems. μCT scans were done at 55 kVp and tube current of 70 mA. Samples underwent RARE-VTR and MSME pulse sequences to measure T1, T2 values, and proton density. The specimens were processed for histology and scored for vulnerability using the American Heart Association criteria. Single modality-based analyses were performed through segmentation of key imaging biomarkers (i.e. calcification and lumen), image registration, measurement of fibrous capsule, and multi-component T1 and T2 decay modeling. Feature differences were analyzed between the unstable and stable controls, symptomatic carotid and femoral plaque, respectively. By building on the techniques used in this study, synergistic CT+MRI analysis may provide a promising solution for plaque characterization in vivo.

TB in Vulnerable Populations

PubMed Central

Ugarte-Gil, César; Caro, Godofredo; Aylas, Rula; Castro, César; Lema, Claudia

2016-01-01

Abstract This article analyzes the factors associated with vulnerability of the Ashaninka, the most populous indigenous Peruvian Amazonian people, to tuberculosis (TB). By applying a human rights-based analytical framework that assesses public policy against human rights standards and principles, and by offering a step-by-step framework for a full assessment of compliance, it provides evidence of the relationship between the incidence of TB among the Ashaninka and Peru’s poor level of compliance with its human rights obligations. The article argues that one of the main reasons for the historical vulnerability of the Ashaninka to diseases such as TB is a lack of political will on the part of the national government to increase public health spending, ensure that resources reach the most vulnerable population, and adopt and invest in a culturally appropriate health system. PMID:27780999

Proposing a Universal Framework for Resilience: Optimizing Risk and Combating Human Vulnerabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarkar, Arunima

2017-04-01

In the recent years we have seen a massive impact of loss created to urban settlements and critical infrastructure as a result of disasters. The disaster risk associates itself vulnerabilities and many complexities which can disrupt the functioning of human society. The uncertain loss created by disasters can present unforeseeable risk which remain unaccounted to human understanding. It is imperative to note that human urbanization and development is correlated with human vulnerabilities and challenges posed by disasters. Disaster risks are aggravated by improper planning of cities, weak framework for urban governance and regulatory regimes and lack of equalities amongst the citizens. The international agenda on disaster risk reduction talks about increasing losses due to disasters associated with development and urbanization. The United Nations announced that the year 1990 was the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. In relation to this, the "Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action" was adopted at the first United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Oceanic Commission coordinated the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2005 where the Hyogo Framework for Action was adopted. The Hyogo Framework for Action: Building the resilience of communities to disaster was adopted by 168 nations after the massive loss caused by Indian ocean tsunami in 2005. The Hyogo Framework proposes to focus on implementation of risk and reliability system to shield disasters, proposes global scientific and community platform for disaster prevention and mitigation etc. The early warning system and its importance as an effective tool for reduction of human vulnerabilities for disaster management was majorly emphasized. It is imperative to highlight that resilience framework is important in order to minimize cost of disruption caused to critical infrastructure and to strengthen and optimize the decision making skill and platform for a better sustainable society. The resilience framework provides a cross-sector and multi-level analysis to tackle the vulnerabilities which can be caused to essential utilities like power, water, transport and various machineries that are essential for human sustainability. The direction of resilience framework focuses on prevention of damage and disruption of disaster, mitigate the loss caused to human society and provide the best response for disaster resilience. Thus, the basic pillars which are important for the implementation of resilience is proper governance framework and transparency which takes into account various cost and risk analysis. Thus a common and universal framework for resilience is the main requirement for mass accessibility. The aim of resilience framework focuses on universal adaptability, coherence and validation. A mixed method analysis has been undertaken in this research paper which focuses on the following issues: • Legal, Institutional and community framework for integrating resilience framework of global north and global south. • Spatial as well as statistical analysis to structuralize disaster risk and resilient framework for disaster management. • Early warning system and emergency response in a comparative scale to analyse the various models of risk and resilience framework implemented in USA, China, Nepal and India for proposing an integrated resilience strategy.

Extreme rainfall, vulnerability and risk: a continental-scale assessment for South America.

PubMed

Vörösmarty, Charles J; Bravo de Guenni, Lelys; Wollheim, Wilfred M; Pellerin, Brian; Bjerklie, David; Cardoso, Manoel; D'Almeida, Cassiano; Green, Pamela; Colon, Lilybeth

2013-11-13

Extreme weather continues to preoccupy society as a formidable public safety concern bearing huge economic costs. While attention has focused on global climate change and how it could intensify key elements of the water cycle such as precipitation and river discharge, it is the conjunction of geophysical and socioeconomic forces that shapes human sensitivity and risks to weather extremes. We demonstrate here the use of high-resolution geophysical and population datasets together with documentary reports of rainfall-induced damage across South America over a multi-decadal, retrospective time domain (1960-2000). We define and map extreme precipitation hazard, exposure, affectedpopulations, vulnerability and risk, and use these variables to analyse the impact of floods as a water security issue. Geospatial experiments uncover major sources of risk from natural climate variability and population growth, with change in climate extremes bearing a minor role. While rural populations display greatest relative sensitivity to extreme rainfall, urban settings show the highest rates of increasing risk. In the coming decades, rapid urbanization will make South American cities the focal point of future climate threats but also an opportunity for reducing vulnerability, protecting lives and sustaining economic development through both traditional and ecosystem-based disaster risk management systems.

Vulnerability assessment of urban ecosystems driven by water resources, human health and atmospheric environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Jing; Lu, Hongwei; Zhang, Yang; Song, Xinshuang; He, Li

2016-05-01

As ecosystem management is a hotspot and urgent topic with increasing population growth and resource depletion. This paper develops an urban ecosystem vulnerability assessment method representing a new vulnerability paradigm for decision makers and environmental managers, as it's an early warning system to identify and prioritize the undesirable environmental changes in terms of natural, human, economic and social elements. The whole idea is to decompose a complex problem into sub-problem, and analyze each sub-problem, and then aggregate all sub-problems to solve this problem. This method integrates spatial context of Geographic Information System (GIS) tool, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method, ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operators, and socio-economic elements. Decision makers can find out relevant urban ecosystem vulnerability assessment results with different vulnerable attitude. To test the potential of the vulnerability methodology, it has been applied to a case study area in Beijing, China, where it proved to be reliable and consistent with the Beijing City Master Plan. The results of urban ecosystem vulnerability assessment can support decision makers in evaluating the necessary of taking specific measures to preserve the quality of human health and environmental stressors for a city or multiple cities, with identifying the implications and consequences of their decisions.

Are older people a vulnerable group? Philosophical and bioethical perspectives on ageing and vulnerability.

PubMed

Bozzaro, Claudia; Boldt, Joachim; Schweda, Mark

2018-05-01

The elderly are often considered a vulnerable group in public and academic bioethical debates and regulations. In this paper, we examine and challenge this assumption and its ethical implications. We begin by systematically delineating the different concepts of vulnerability commonly used in bioethics, before then examining whether these concepts can be applied to old age. We argue that old age should not, in and of itself, be used as a marker of vulnerability, since ageing is a process that can develop in a variety of different ways and is not always associated with particular experiences of vulnerability. We, therefore, turn to more fundamental phenomenological considerations in order to reconstruct from a first person perspective the intricate interconnections between the experiences of ageing and vulnerability. According to this account, ageing and old age are phenomena in which the basic anthropological vulnerability of human beings can manifest itself in an increased likelihood of harm and exploitation. Thus, we plead for a combined model of vulnerability that helps to avoid problems related to the current concepts of vulnerability. We conclude first that old age as such is not a sufficient criterion for being categorized as vulnerable in applied ethics, and second that reflections on ageing can help to develop a better understanding of the central role of vulnerability in human existence and in applied ethics. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Vulnerability and risk management of Agave species in the Tehuacán Valley, México

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Our study analysed the vulnerability of the useful Agave species of the Tehuacán Valley, Mexico, considering ecological, cultural and economic aspects, and management types. We hypothesized that management intensity is proportional to the degree of risk of a species in order to decrease its vulnerability. Methods Distribution of Agave species was monitored in 36 types of plant associations. Ethnobotanical studies were conducted in 13 villages and six markets. The vulnerability of each species was calculated by assigning risk values to the variables analysed. The vulnerability and management intensity indexes were estimated through the scores of the first principal component of PCA. Variation of management data explained by ecological, cultural and economic information were analysed through canonical correspondence analyses (CCA). A linear regression analysis identified the relation between vulnerability and management intensity. Results We recorded presence of agave species in 20 of 36 vegetation types. Out of 34 Agave species, 28 were recorded to have one to 16 use types; 16 species are used as food, 13 for live fences, 13 for producing ‘pulque’, 11 for fibre and ornamental, 9 for construction. Seven species are used for preparing mescal, activity representing the highest risk. Seven Agave species are exclusively extracted from the wild and the others receive some management type. Incipient cultivation was identified in A. potatorum whose seedlings are grown in nurseries. Intensive cultivation through vegetative propagation occurs with domesticated species of wide distribution in Mexico. The highest management intensity values were recorded in widely distributed, cultivated and domesticated species, but the regionally native species more intensively managed were those with higher demand and economic value, protected by collective regulations because of their scarcity. The regression analysis indicated significant relation (R2=0.677, P<0.001) between vulnerability and management indexes. CCA explained 61.0% of variation of management intensity, mainly by socio-cultural factors (30.32%), whereas ecological data explained 7.6% and the intersection of all factors 21.36%. Conclusions The highest vulnerability was identified in wild species restrictedly distributed and/or highly extracted. Social pressures may increase the natural vulnerability of some species and these species are particularly those native species receiving some management form. PMID:24994025

Social, Environmental, and Health Vulnerability to Climate Change: The Case of the Municipalities of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

PubMed

Quintão, Ana Flávia; Brito, Isabela; Oliveira, Frederico; Madureira, Ana Paula; Confalonieri, Ulisses

2017-01-01

Vulnerability to climate change is a complex and dynamic phenomenon involving both social and physical/environmental aspects. It is presented as a method for the quantification of the vulnerability of all municipalities of Minas Gerais, a state in southeastern Brazil. It is based on the aggregation of different kinds of environmental, climatic, social, institutional, and epidemiological variables, to form a composite index. This was named "Index of Human Vulnerability" and was calculated using a software (SisVuClima®) specifically developed for this purpose. Social, environmental, and health data were combined with the climatic scenarios RCP 4.5 and 8.5, downscaled from ETA-HadGEM2-ES for each municipality. The Index of Human Vulnerability associated with the RCP 8.5 has shown a higher vulnerability for municipalities in the southern and eastern parts of the state of Minas Gerais.

Illustrating the coupled human-environment system for vulnerability analysis: three case studies.

PubMed

Turner, B L; Matson, Pamela A; McCarthy, James J; Corell, Robert W; Christensen, Lindsey; Eckley, Noelle; Hovelsrud-Broda, Grete K; Kasperson, Jeanne X; Kasperson, Roger E; Luers, Amy; Martello, Marybeth L; Mathiesen, Svein; Naylor, Rosamond; Polsky, Colin; Pulsipher, Alexander; Schiller, Andrew; Selin, Henrik; Tyler, Nicholas

2003-07-08

The vulnerability framework of the Research and Assessment Systems for Sustainability Program explicitly recognizes the coupled human-environment system and accounts for interactions in the coupling affecting the system's responses to hazards and its vulnerability. This paper illustrates the usefulness of the vulnerability framework through three case studies: the tropical southern Yucatán, the arid Yaqui Valley of northwest Mexico, and the pan-Arctic. Together, these examples illustrate the role of external forces in reshaping the systems in question and their vulnerability to environmental hazards, as well as the different capacities of stakeholders, based on their access to social and biophysical capital, to respond to the changes and hazards. The framework proves useful in directing attention to the interacting parts of the coupled system and helps identify gaps in information and understanding relevant to reducing vulnerability in the systems as a whole.

Projecting Drivers of Human Vulnerability under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) are the new set of alternative futures of societal development that inform global and regional climate change research. They have the potential to foster the integration of socioeconomic scenarios within assessments of future climate-related health impacts. To date, such assessments have primarily superimposed climate scenarios on current socioeconomic conditions only. Until now, the few assessments of future health risks that employed the SSPs have focused on future human exposure—i.e., mainly future population patterns—, neglecting future human vulnerability. This paper first explores the research gaps—mainly linked to the paucity of available projections—that explain such a lack of consideration of human vulnerability under the SSPs. It then highlights the need for projections of socioeconomic variables covering the wide range of determinants of human vulnerability, available at relevant spatial and temporal scales, and accounting for local specificities through sectoral and regional extended versions of the global SSPs. Finally, this paper presents two innovative methods of obtaining and computing such socioeconomic projections under the SSPs—namely the scenario matching approach and an approach based on experts’ elicitation and correlation analyses—and applies them to the case of Europe. They offer a variety of possibilities for practical application, producing projections at sub-national level of various drivers of human vulnerability such as demographic and social characteristics, urbanization, state of the environment, infrastructure, health status, and living arrangements. Both the innovative approaches presented in this paper and existing methods—such as the spatial disaggregation of existing projections and the use of sectoral models—show great potential to enhance the availability of relevant projections of determinants of human vulnerability. Assessments of future climate-related health impacts should thus rely on these methods to account for future human vulnerability—under varying levels of socioeconomic development—and to explore its influence on future health risks under different degrees of climate change. PMID:29562727

Assessment of coastal vulnerability through the use of GIS tools in South Sicily (Italy).

PubMed

Anfuso, Giorgio; Martínez Del Pozo, José Angel

2009-03-01

This study assessed coastal erosion vulnerability along a 90-km sector, which included both erosional and accretionary beaches, and different levels of human occupation. Two aerial photogrammetric flights were used to reconstruct coastal evolution between 1977 and 1999. During this period, extensive accretion was recorded updrift of human structures at harbors and ports, e.g., Scoglitti (105.6 m), Donnalucata (52.8 m), and Pozzallo (94.6 m). Conversely, erosion was recorded in downdrift areas, with maximum values at Modica Stream mouth (63.8 m) and Point Castellazzo (35.2 m). Assessments were subsequently divided into four categories ranging from "high erosion" to "accretion." Several sources were examined to assess human activities and land use. The latter was mapped and divided into four categories, ranging from "very high" to "no capital" land use. Subsequently, coastal erosion vulnerability was assessed by combining land use categories with recorded coastline behavior. Results showed "very high" to "high" vulnerability along 5.8% and 16.6%, respectively, of the littoral, while 20.9% and 56.7%, respectively, was found to exhibit "medium" and "low/very low" vulnerability. A very good agreement between predicted coastal vulnerability and coastal trend had been observed over recent years. Furthermore, several human structures and activities are located within the "imminent collapse zone (ICZ)" which reached maximum values of 17.5 m at Modica Stream and 13.5 m at Point Braccetto.

The stress-vulnerability model how does stress impact on mental illness at the level of the brain and what are the consequences?

PubMed

Goh, Cindy; Agius, Mark

2010-06-01

The stress -vulnerability model (Zubin et al. 1977) is an extremely useful model for identifying and treating relapses of mental illness. We accept that human persons carry genetic and other predisposition to mental illness. However, the question arises as to how stress impacts on a person in order to cause mental illness to develop. Furthermore there arises the issue as to what other effects such stress has on the human body beyond the human brain. Our aim was to research and integrate the current literature in order to establish how stress impacts on the brain at the cellular level, and to establish whether there are other consequences for the human body brought about by the impact of stress on the human brain. Literature Search, using pubmed. We have identified much literature on how stress affects biological mechanisms within the brain, and how it relates to biological vulnerabilities carried by different individuals. We have identified communalities in how the interplay between stress and vulnerability occurs in different disease processes.

Arts across the Disciplines: Using the Voices of the Oppressed and Vulnerable to Inspire Analytical Thinking in the Human Services Curricula

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Ardith A.; McClatchey, Irene S.

2017-01-01

This paper addresses how professors in a Social Work and Human Services Program in the Southeastern United States include voices of the oppressed and vulnerable through art forms to develop analytical thinking to prepare human service practitioners. This pedagogical practice is based on Gardner's discussion of Multiple Intelligences. The authors…

Nursing care of vulnerable populations using a framework of cultural competence, social justice and human rights.

PubMed

Pacquiao, Dula F

2008-04-01

The article attempts to present a model linking cultural competence with advocacy for social justice and protection of human rights in caring for vulnerable groups such as refugees and asylum seekers. Using the human rights principle focuses the moral obligation to address social inequities and suffering of vulnerable populations. Cultural competent care and culturally-congruent actions place the universal principles of social justice and protection of human rights within the cultural contexts of people's lives and the environment in which they are situated. Compassion is identified as the key component for culturally-competent advocacy for social justice and human rights protection. Compassion compels actions advocating social justice and protection of human rights for marginalised and powerless groups. Educational strategies for developing compassion are centered on collaboration, partnership and advocacy. Integration of experiential and didactic learning relevant to cultural competent care for refugees and asylum seekers are recommended.

A systematic review of dynamics in climate risk and vulnerability assessments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jurgilevich, Alexandra; Räsänen, Aleksi; Groundstroem, Fanny; Juhola, Sirkku

2017-01-01

Understanding climate risk is crucial for effective adaptation action, and a number of assessment methodologies have emerged. We argue that the dynamics of the individual components in climate risk and vulnerability assessments has received little attention. In order to highlight this, we systematically reviewed 42 sub-national climate risk and vulnerability assessments. We analysed the assessments using an analytical framework with which we evaluated (1) the conceptual approaches to vulnerability and exposure used, (2) if current or future risks were assessed, and (3) if and how changes over time (i.e. dynamics) were considered. Of the reviewed assessments, over half addressed future risks or vulnerability; and of these future-oriented studies, less than 1/3 considered both vulnerability and exposure dynamics. While the number of studies that include dynamics is growing, and while all studies included socio-economic aspects, often only biophysical dynamics was taken into account. We discuss the challenges of assessing socio-economic and spatial dynamics, particularly the poor availability of data and methods. We suggest that future-oriented studies assessing risk dynamics would benefit from larger stakeholder involvement, discussion of the assessment purpose, the use of multiple methods, inclusion of uncertainty/sensitivity analyses and pathway approaches.

Symptoms of anxiety and depression in medical students and in humanities students: relationship with big-five personality dimensions and vulnerability to stress.

PubMed

Bunevicius, Adomas; Katkute, Arune; Bunevicius, Robertas

2008-11-01

To evaluate the prevalence of anxiety and depression in medical students and in humanities students. To assess the relationship between symptoms of anxiety, symptoms of depression and Big-Five personality dimensions and vulnerability to stress in medical students. Randomly selected 338 medical students and 73 humanities students were evaluated for symptoms of anxiety and depression using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), for Big-Five personality dimensions using the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), and for vulnerability to stress using the Stress Vulnerability Scale (SVS). Symptoms of anxiety and symptoms of depression were prevalent in medical students (43% and 14%, respectively) and in humanities students (52% and 12%, respectively). In medical students the score on the HADS anxiety subscale and the score on the HADS depression subscale correlated negatively with the score on the TIPI Emotional Stability scale (r = -0.39, p < 0.01 and r = -0.2, p < 0.01, respectively) and correlated positively with the score on the SVS (r = 0.38, p < 0.01 and r = 0.44, p < 0.01, respectively). Symptoms of anxiety and depression are prevalent in medical students and in humanities students. Severity of symptoms of anxiety and symptoms of depression in medical students is negatively related to emotional stability and positively related to stress vulnerability.

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.

Spatial distribution and health risk assessment for groundwater contamination from intensive pesticide use in arid areas.

PubMed

El Alfy, Mohamed; Faraj, Turki

2017-02-01

Arid and semiarid areas face major challenges in the management of scarce groundwater. This valuable resource is under pressures of population, economic expansion, contamination and over-exploitation. This research investigates groundwater vulnerability to pesticide contamination in the Al-Kharj area of Saudi Arabia. It explores the spatial distribution of pesticide concentrations in groundwater and other relevant factors. Thin permeable soils, permeable aquifers and shallow water tables, which are prevalent in the area, are especially vulnerable to pesticides. Analyses of 40 groundwater samples were performed using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer coupled with a quadrupole mass spectrometer with a GC column. The analysis was conducted to detect 32 pesticides from different chemical families, and a total of 22 pesticides were detected. All 40 water samples were positive for at least one of the pesticides studied. In total, 21 compounds were above the quantification limit and 10 of them exceeded the legal limit. Total pesticide levels ranged from 0.18 to 2.21 μg/L, and 68 % of the analyzed samples exceeded the maximum allowable pesticide concentrations established by the European Community. Comparison of the daily intake peak (DIP) and daily intake mean (DIM) relative to the acceptable daily intake (ADI) shows that groundwater contamination with pesticides is a serious problem. Prolonged exposure to pesticides can cause adverse effects to human health and the ecosystem. Spatial distribution maps of groundwater contamination were developed using GIS. These maps will help risk managers identify vulnerable sources and provide a relative assessment of pesticide hazards to human health and the environment.

Examining social, physical, and environmental dimensions of tornado vulnerability in Texas.

PubMed

Siebeneck, Laura

2016-01-01

To develop a vulnerability model that captures the social, physical, and environmental dimensions of tornado vulnerability of Texas counties. Guided by previous research and methodologies proposed in the hazards and emergency management literature, a principle components analysis is used to create a tornado vulnerability index. Data were gathered from open source information available through the US Census Bureau, American Community Surveys, and the Texas Natural Resources Information System. Texas counties. The results of the model yielded three indices that highlight geographic variability of social vulnerability, built environment vulnerability, and tornado hazard throughout Texas. Further analyses suggest that counties with the highest tornado vulnerability include those with high population densities and high tornado risk. This article demonstrates one method for assessing statewide tornado vulnerability and presents how the results of this type of analysis can be applied by emergency managers towards the reduction of tornado vulnerability in their communities.

Social vulnerability and bullying in children with Asperger syndrome.

PubMed

Sofronoff, Kate; Dark, Elizabeth; Stone, Valerie

2011-05-01

Children with Asperger syndrome (AS) have IQ within the normal range but specific impairments in theory of mind, social interaction and communication skills. The majority receive education in mainstream schools and research suggests they are bullied more than typically developing peers. The current study aimed to evaluate factors that predict bullying for such children and also to examine a new measure, the Social Vulnerability Scale (SVS). One hundred and thirty three parents of children with AS completed the SVS and of these 92 parents completed both the SVS and questionnaires measuring anxiety, anger, behaviour problems, social skills and bullying. Regression analyses revealed that these variables together strongly predicted bullying, but that social vulnerability was the strongest predictor. Test-re-test and internal consistency analyses of the SVS demonstrated sound psychometric properties and factor analyses revealed two sub-scales: gullibility and credulity. Limitations of the study are acknowledged and suggestions for future research discussed.

Hierarchical Coloured Petrinet Based Healthcare Infrastructure Interdependency Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nivedita, N.; Durbha, S.

2014-11-01

To ensure a resilient Healthcare Critical Infrastructure, understanding the vulnerabilities and analysing the interdependency on other critical infrastructures is important. To model this critical infrastructure and its dependencies, Hierarchal Coloured petri net modelling approach for simulating the vulnerability of Healthcare Critical infrastructure in a disaster situation is studied.. The model enables to analyse and understand various state changes, which occur when there is a disruption or damage to any of the Critical Infrastructure, and its cascading nature. It also enables to explore optimal paths for evacuation during the disaster. The simulation environment can be used to understand and highlight various vulnerabilities of Healthcare Critical Infrastructure during a flood disaster scenario; minimize consequences; and enable timely, efficient response.

LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY APPROACHES FOR DETECTING, MAPPING, AND ASSESSING THE VULNERABILITY OF DEPRESSIONAL WETLANDS

EPA Science Inventory

U.S. EPA is using a landscape ecology approach to assess the ecological/hydrologic functions and related human values of depressional wetlands along coastal Texas, considered to be vulnerable to human disturbance. Many of those wetlands may be at high risk because of recent court...

Human Performance in Continuous Operations: Volume 1. Human Performance Guidelines

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-12-01

seemingly capable of enduring unusual degrees of stress and fatigue when nec- essary. When a soldier is driven by the motivation to survive, by exemplary...Vulnerabilities to degradation --Artillery 470 PS4 -?--- -. Armor Task Vulnerabilit.y The pattern of vulnurabihlties Ior tank platoon personnel (tl’Fiure 8. 2

Characterizing and Measuring Maliciousness for Cybersecurity Risk Assessment

PubMed Central

King, Zoe M.; Henshel, Diane S.; Flora, Liberty; Cains, Mariana G.; Hoffman, Blaine; Sample, Char

2018-01-01

Cyber attacks have been increasingly detrimental to networks, systems, and users, and are increasing in number and severity globally. To better predict system vulnerabilities, cybersecurity researchers are developing new and more holistic approaches to characterizing cybersecurity system risk. The process must include characterizing the human factors that contribute to cyber security vulnerabilities and risk. Rationality, expertise, and maliciousness are key human characteristics influencing cyber risk within this context, yet maliciousness is poorly characterized in the literature. There is a clear absence of literature pertaining to human factor maliciousness as it relates to cybersecurity and only limited literature relating to aspects of maliciousness in other disciplinary literatures, such as psychology, sociology, and law. In an attempt to characterize human factors as a contribution to cybersecurity risk, the Cybersecurity Collaborative Research Alliance (CSec-CRA) has developed a Human Factors risk framework. This framework identifies the characteristics of an attacker, user, or defender, all of whom may be adding to or mitigating against cyber risk. The maliciousness literature and the proposed maliciousness assessment metrics are discussed within the context of the Human Factors Framework and Ontology. Maliciousness is defined as the intent to harm. Most maliciousness cyber research to date has focused on detecting malicious software but fails to analyze an individual’s intent to do harm to others by deploying malware or performing malicious attacks. Recent efforts to identify malicious human behavior as it relates to cybersecurity, include analyzing motives driving insider threats as well as user profiling analyses. However, cyber-related maliciousness is neither well-studied nor is it well understood because individuals are not forced to expose their true selves to others while performing malicious attacks. Given the difficulty of interviewing malicious-behaving individuals and the potential untrustworthy nature of their responses, we aim to explore the maliciousness as a human factor through the observable behaviors and attributes of an individual from their actions and interactions with society and networks, but to do so we will need to develop a set of analyzable metrics. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to review human maliciousness-related literature in diverse disciplines (sociology, economics, law, psychology, philosophy, informatics, terrorism, and cybersecurity); and (2) to identify an initial set of proposed assessment metrics and instruments that might be culled from in a future effort to characterize human maliciousness within the cyber realm. The future goal is to integrate these assessment metrics into holistic cybersecurity risk analyses to determine the risk an individual poses to themselves as well as other networks, systems, and/or users. PMID:29459838

Characterizing and Measuring Maliciousness for Cybersecurity Risk Assessment.

PubMed

King, Zoe M; Henshel, Diane S; Flora, Liberty; Cains, Mariana G; Hoffman, Blaine; Sample, Char

2018-01-01

Cyber attacks have been increasingly detrimental to networks, systems, and users, and are increasing in number and severity globally. To better predict system vulnerabilities, cybersecurity researchers are developing new and more holistic approaches to characterizing cybersecurity system risk. The process must include characterizing the human factors that contribute to cyber security vulnerabilities and risk. Rationality, expertise, and maliciousness are key human characteristics influencing cyber risk within this context, yet maliciousness is poorly characterized in the literature. There is a clear absence of literature pertaining to human factor maliciousness as it relates to cybersecurity and only limited literature relating to aspects of maliciousness in other disciplinary literatures, such as psychology, sociology, and law. In an attempt to characterize human factors as a contribution to cybersecurity risk, the Cybersecurity Collaborative Research Alliance (CSec-CRA) has developed a Human Factors risk framework. This framework identifies the characteristics of an attacker, user, or defender, all of whom may be adding to or mitigating against cyber risk. The maliciousness literature and the proposed maliciousness assessment metrics are discussed within the context of the Human Factors Framework and Ontology. Maliciousness is defined as the intent to harm. Most maliciousness cyber research to date has focused on detecting malicious software but fails to analyze an individual's intent to do harm to others by deploying malware or performing malicious attacks. Recent efforts to identify malicious human behavior as it relates to cybersecurity, include analyzing motives driving insider threats as well as user profiling analyses. However, cyber-related maliciousness is neither well-studied nor is it well understood because individuals are not forced to expose their true selves to others while performing malicious attacks. Given the difficulty of interviewing malicious-behaving individuals and the potential untrustworthy nature of their responses, we aim to explore the maliciousness as a human factor through the observable behaviors and attributes of an individual from their actions and interactions with society and networks, but to do so we will need to develop a set of analyzable metrics. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to review human maliciousness-related literature in diverse disciplines (sociology, economics, law, psychology, philosophy, informatics, terrorism, and cybersecurity); and (2) to identify an initial set of proposed assessment metrics and instruments that might be culled from in a future effort to characterize human maliciousness within the cyber realm. The future goal is to integrate these assessment metrics into holistic cybersecurity risk analyses to determine the risk an individual poses to themselves as well as other networks, systems, and/or users.

Evaluating the importance of human-modified lands for neotropical bird conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Petit, L.J.; Petit, D.R.

2003-01-01

Development of effective conservation plans for terrestrial animals will require some assessment of which human-modified and natural habitats can support populations of priority species. We examined bird communities associated with 11 natural and human-modified habitats in Panama and assessed the importance of those habitats for species of different vulnerability to disturbance. We calculated habitat importance scores using both relative habitat preferences and vulnerability scores for all species present. Species of moderate and high vulnerability were primarily those categorized as forest specialists or forest generalists. As expected, even species-rich nonforest habitats provided little conservation value for the most vulnerable species. However, shaded coffee plantations and gallery forest corridors were modified habitats with relatively high conservation value. Sugar cane fields and Caribbean pine plantations offered virtually no conservation value for birds. Our method of assessing the conservation importance of different habitats is useful because it considers the types of species present and the potential role of the habitat in the conservation of those species (i.e., habitat preference). This method of habitat evaluation could be tailored to other conservation contexts with any measure of species vulnerability desired.

Vulnerabilities of ecosystems across U.S. National Parks to biome shifts, wildfire changes, and invasive species due to climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez, P.; Eigenbrod, F.; Early, R.; Wang, F.; Notaro, M.; Williams, J. W.

2016-12-01

U.S. national parks conserve globally unique biodiversity. Yet, historical impacts of climate change and future vulnerabilities threaten species and ecosystems across this system of protected areas. Spatial analyses of historical climate and downscaled future climate projections show climate trends across the system. Spatial analyses of vegetation and wildfire (using a dynamic global vegetation model), habitat fragmentation (using remote sensing-derived land cover), and invasive species introduction and establishment show patterns of future vulnerability across the 50 U.S. states and 412 U.S. national parks. Results reveal high historical and projected temperature increases and precipitation changes, projected increases of wildfire across western U.S. national parks, high vulnerability to biome shifts and habitat fragmentation of up to one-third of National Park System area, and high vulnerability to invasive species of one-ninth of National Park System area. Ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, desert Southwest, and Laurentian Great Lakes are highly vulnerable to upslope and poleward shifts of the North America sequence of biomes: temperate shrubland - temperate broadleaf forest - temperate mixed forest - temperate conifer forest - subalpine and boreal forest - alpine and tundra. These areas include Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, and Yosemite National Parks. The southwestern U.S., including Grand Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, is vulnerable to increases in wildfire. The eastern and midwestern U.S., including Great Smokey Mountains and Voyageurs National Parks, are highly vulnerable to invasive species. These results identify vulnerable areas and potential refugia to help prioritize areas for future natural resource management actions and biodiversity conservation in U.S. national parks.

Inclusion of vulnerable groups in health policies: Regional policies on health priorities in Africa

PubMed Central

Eide, Arne Henning; Amin, Mutamad; MacLachlan, Malcom; Mannan, Hasheem

2013-01-01

Background If access to equitable health care is to be achieved for all, policy documents must mention and address in some detail different needs of groups vulnerable to not accessing such health care. If these needs are not addressed in the policy documents, there is little chance that they will be addressed at the stage of implementation. Objectives This paper reports on an analysis of 11 African Union (AU) policy documents to ascertain the frequency and the extent of mention of 13 core concepts in relation to 12 vulnerable groups, with a specific focus on people with disabilities. Method The paper applied the EquiFrame analytical framework to the 11 AU policy documents. The 11 documents were analysed in terms of how many times a core concept was mentioned and the extent of information on how the core concept should be addressed at the implementation level. Each core concept mention was further analysed in terms of the vulnerable group in referred to. Results The analysis of regional AU policies highlighted the broad nature of the reference made to vulnerable groups, with a lack of detailed specifications of different needs of different groups. This is confirmed in the highest vulnerable group mention being for ‘universal’. The reading of the documents suggests that vulnerable groups are homogeneous in their needs, which is not the case. There is a lack of recognition of different needs of different vulnerable groups in accessing health care. Conclusion The need for more information and knowledge on the needs of all vulnerable groups is evident. The current lack of mention and of any detail on how to address needs of vulnerable groups will significantly impair the access to equitable health care for all. PMID:28729986

HIV and tuberculosis co-infection among migrants in Europe: A systematic review on the prevalence, incidence and mortality

PubMed Central

Fronteira, Inês; Couto, Isabel; Machado, Diana; Viveiros, Miguel; Abecasis, Ana B.; Dias, Sónia

2017-01-01

Background International human migration has been rapidly growing. Migrants coming from low and middle income countries continue to be considerably vulnerable and at higher risk for infectious diseases, namely HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and tuberculosis (TB). In Europe, the number of patients with HIV-TB co-infection has been increasing and migration could be one of the potential driving forces. Objective This systematic review aims to improve the understanding on the burden of HIV-TB co-infection among migrants in Europe and to assess whether these populations are particularly vulnerable to this co-infection compared to nationals. Design MEDLINE®, Web of Science® and Scopus® databases were searched from March to April 2016 using combinations of keywords. Titles and abstracts were screened and studies meeting the inclusion criteria proceeded for full-text revision. These articles were then selected for data extraction on the prevalence, incidence and mortality. Results The majority of HIV-TB prevalence data reported in the analysed studies, including extrapulmonary/disseminated TB forms, was higher among migrant vs. nationals, some of the studies even showing increasing trends over time. Additionally, while HIV-TB incidence rates have decreased among migrants and nationals, migrants are still at a higher risk for this co-infection. Migrants with HIV-TB co-infection were also more prone to unsuccessful treatment outcomes, death and drug resistant TB. However, contradicting results also showed lower mortality compared to nationals. Conclusions Overall, a disproportionate vulnerability of migrants to acquire the HIV-TB co-infection was observed across studies. Such vulnerability has been associated to low socioeconomic status, poor living conditions and limited access to healthcare. Adequate social support, early detection, appropriate treatment, and adequate access to healthcare are key improvements to tackle HIV-TB co-infection among these populations. PMID:28957400

Assessment of Coastal Vulnerability Through the Use of GIS Tools in South Sicily (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anfuso, Giorgio; Martínez Del Pozo, José Ángel

2009-03-01

This study assessed coastal erosion vulnerability along a 90-km sector, which included both erosional and accretionary beaches, and different levels of human occupation. Two aerial photogrammetric flights were used to reconstruct coastal evolution between 1977 and 1999. During this period, extensive accretion was recorded updrift of human structures at harbors and ports, e.g., Scoglitti (105.6 m), Donnalucata (52.8 m), and Pozzallo (94.6 m). Conversely, erosion was recorded in downdrift areas, with maximum values at Modica Stream mouth (63.8 m) and Point Castellazzo (35.2 m). Assessments were subsequently divided into four categories ranging from “high erosion” to “accretion.” Several sources were examined to assess human activities and land use. The latter was mapped and divided into four categories, ranging from “very high” to “no capital” land use. Subsequently, coastal erosion vulnerability was assessed by combining land use categories with recorded coastline behavior. Results showed “very high” to “high” vulnerability along 5.8% and 16.6%, respectively, of the littoral, while 20.9% and 56.7%, respectively, was found to exhibit “medium” and “low/very low” vulnerability. A very good agreement between predicted coastal vulnerability and coastal trend had been observed over recent years. Furthermore, several human structures and activities are located within the “imminent collapse zone (ICZ)” which reached maximum values of 17.5 m at Modica Stream and 13.5 m at Point Braccetto.

Development of a coastal dune vulnerability index for Mediterranean ecosystems: A useful tool for coastal managers?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciccarelli, D.; Pinna, M. S.; Alquini, F.; Cogoni, D.; Ruocco, M.; Bacchetta, G.; Sarti, G.; Fenu, G.

2017-03-01

Coastal dune ecosystems have been severely degraded as a result of excessive natural resource exploitation, urbanisation, industrial growth, and worldwide tourism. Coastal management often requires the use of vulnerability indices to facilitate the decision-making process. The main objective of this study was to develop a Mediterranean dune vulnerability index (MDVI) for sandy coasts, starting from the existing dune vulnerability index (DVI) proposed by Garcia-Mora et al. (2001) related to the oceanic coasts. Given that the Mediterranean sandy coasts are quite different from the Atlantic coasts, several adjustments and integrations were introduced. Our proposed index is based on the following five main group of factors: geomorphological conditions of the dune systems (GCD), marine influence (MI), aeolian effect (AE), vegetation condition (VC), and human effect (HE), for a total of 51 variables derived (and adapted) from the bibliography or proposed for the first time in this study. For each coastal site, a total vulnerability index, ranging from 0 (very low vulnerability) to 1 (very high vulnerability), was calculated as the unweighted average of the five partial vulnerability indices. Index computation was applied to 23 coastal dune systems of two different contexts in Italy, i.e. peninsular and continental island territories representative of the W-Mediterranean Basin, in order to compare the dune systems with different geomorphology, shoreline dynamics, and human pressure. In particular, our research addressed the following two questions: (1) Which variables are the most critical for the Italian coastal systems? (2) How can the coastal dune vulnerability index be used to develop appropriate strategies of conservation and management for these ecosystems? Cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling separated the peninsular from the insular sites, both of which were characterised by low to moderate values of vulnerability (0.32 < MDVI < 0.49). The most critical factors for the coastal systems examined in this study were marine negative influence, low stabilising ability of vegetation, and human disturbance. Hence, coastal managers are encouraged to plan specific management actions such as protection of foredunes from marine factors (particularly erosion), to promote dune formation with the reintroduction of native dune builder species and to minimise human pressure where vulnerability depends on these variables.

Vulnerability, diversity and scarcity: on universal rights.

PubMed

Turner, Bryan Stanley; Dumas, Alex

2013-11-01

This article makes a contribution to the on-going debates about universalism and cultural relativism from the perspective of sociology. We argue that bioethics has a universal range because it relates to three shared human characteristics,--human vulnerability, institutional precariousness and scarcity of resources. These three components of our argument provide support for a related notion of 'weak foundationalism' that emphasizes the universality and interrelatedness of human experience, rather than their cultural differences. After presenting a theoretical position on vulnerability and human rights, we draw on recent criticism of this approach in order to paint a more nuanced picture. We conclude that the dichotomy between universalism and cultural relativism has some conceptual merit, but it also has obvious limitations when we consider the political economy of health and its impact on social inequality.

No Pet or Their Person Left Behind: Increasing the Disaster Resilience of Vulnerable Groups through Animal Attachment, Activities and Networks.

PubMed

Thompson, Kirrilly; Every, Danielle; Rainbird, Sophia; Cornell, Victoria; Smith, Bradley; Trigg, Joshua

2014-05-07

Increased vulnerability to natural disasters has been associated with particular groups in the community. This includes those who are considered de facto vulnerable (children, older people, those with disabilities etc.) and those who own pets (not to mention pets themselves). The potential for reconfiguring pet ownership from a risk factor to a protective factor for natural disaster survival has been recently proposed. But how might this resilience-building proposition apply to vulnerable members of the community who own pets or other animals? This article addresses this important question by synthesizing information about what makes particular groups vulnerable, the challenges to increasing their resilience and how animals figure in their lives. Despite different vulnerabilities, animals were found to be important to the disaster resilience of seven vulnerable groups in Australia. Animal attachment and animal-related activities and networks are identified as underexplored devices for disseminating or 'piggybacking' disaster-related information and engaging vulnerable people in resilience building behaviors (in addition to including animals in disaster planning initiatives in general). Animals may provide the kind of innovative approach required to overcome the challenges in accessing and engaging vulnerable groups. As the survival of humans and animals are so often intertwined, the benefits of increasing the resilience of vulnerable communities through animal attachment is twofold: human and animal lives can be saved together.

On the Science-Policy Bridge: Do Spatial Heat Vulnerability Assessment Studies Influence Policy?

PubMed

Wolf, Tanja; Chuang, Wen-Ching; McGregor, Glenn

2015-10-23

Human vulnerability to heat varies at a range of spatial scales, especially within cities where there can be noticeable intra-urban differences in heat risk factors. Mapping and visualizing intra-urban heat vulnerability offers opportunities for presenting information to support decision-making. For example the visualization of the spatial variation of heat vulnerability has the potential to enable local governments to identify hot spots of vulnerability and allocate resources and increase assistance to people in areas of greatest need. Recently there has been a proliferation of heat vulnerability mapping studies, all of which, to varying degrees, justify the process of vulnerability mapping in a policy context. However, to date, there has not been a systematic review of the extent to which the results of vulnerability mapping studies have been applied in decision-making. Accordingly we undertook a comprehensive review of 37 recently published papers that use geospatial techniques for assessing human vulnerability to heat. In addition, we conducted an anonymous survey of the lead authors of the 37 papers in order to establish the level of interaction between the researchers as science information producers and local authorities as information users. Both paper review and author survey results show that heat vulnerability mapping has been used in an attempt to communicate policy recommendations, raise awareness and induce institutional networking and learning, but has not as yet had a substantive influence on policymaking or preventive action.

Flood hazard, vulnerability, and risk assessment for human life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, T.; Chang, T.; Lai, J.; Hsieh, M.; Tan, Y.; Lin, Y.

2011-12-01

Flood risk assessment is an important issue for the countries suffering tropical cyclones and monsoon. Taiwan is located in the hot zone of typhoon tracks in the Western Pacific. There are three to five typhoons landing Taiwan every year. Typhoons and heavy rainfalls often cause inundation disaster rising with the increase of population and the development of social economy. The purpose of this study is to carry out the flood hazard, vulnerability and risk in term of human life. Based on the concept that flood risk is composed by flood hazard and vulnerability, a inundation simulation is performed to evaluate the factors of flood hazard for human life according to base flood (100-year return period). The flood depth, velocity and rising ratio are the three factors of flood hazards. Furthermore, the factors of flood vulnerability are identified in terms of human life that are classified into two main factors, residents and environment. The sub factors related to residents are the density of population and the density of vulnerable people including elders, youngers and disabled persons. The sub factors related to environment include the the number of building floors, the locations of buildings, the and distance to rescue center. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is adopted to determine the weights of these factors. The risk matrix is applied to show the risk from low to high based on the evaluation of flood hazards and vulnerabilities. The Tseng-Wen River watershed is selected as the case study because a serious flood was induced by Typhoon Morakot in 2009, which produced a record-breaking rainfall of 2.361mm in 48 hours in the last 50 years. The results of assessing the flood hazard, vulnerability and risk in term of human life could improve the emergency operation for flood disaster to prepare enough relief goods and materials during typhoon landing.

Inflammation and vascular remodeling in the ventral hippocampus contributes to vulnerability to stress.

PubMed

Pearson-Leary, J; Eacret, D; Chen, R; Takano, H; Nicholas, B; Bhatnagar, S

2017-06-27

During exposure to chronic stress, some individuals engage in active coping behaviors that promote resiliency to stress. Other individuals engage in passive coping that is associated with vulnerability to stress and with anxiety and depression. In an effort to identify novel molecular mechanisms that underlie vulnerability or resilience to stress, we used nonbiased analyses of microRNAs in the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) to identify those miRNAs differentially expressed in active (long-latency (LL)/resilient) or passive (short-latency (SL)/vulnerable) rats following chronic social defeat. In the vHPC of active coping rats, miR-455-3p level was increased, while miR-30e-3p level was increased in the vHPC of passive coping rats. Pathway analyses identified inflammatory and vascular remodeling pathways as enriched by genes targeted by these microRNAs. Utilizing several independent markers for blood vessels, inflammatory processes and neural activity in the vHPC, we found that SL/vulnerable rats exhibit increased neural activity, vascular remodeling and inflammatory processes that include both increased blood-brain barrier permeability and increased number of microglia in the vHPC relative to control and resilient rats. To test the relevance of these changes for the development of the vulnerable phenotype, we used pharmacological approaches to determine the contribution of inflammatory processes in mediating vulnerability and resiliency. Administration of the pro-inflammatory cytokine vascular endothelial growth factor-164 increased vulnerability to stress, while the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam attenuated vulnerability. Collectively, these results show that vulnerability to stress is determined by a re-designed neurovascular unit characterized by increased neural activity, vascular remodeling and pro-inflammatory mechanisms in the vHPC. These results suggest that dampening inflammatory processes by administering anti-inflammatory agents reduces vulnerability to stress. These results have translational relevance as they suggest that administration of anti-inflammatory agents may reduce the impact of stress or trauma in vulnerable individuals.

Inflammation and vascular remodeling in the ventral hippocampus contributes to vulnerability to stress

PubMed Central

Pearson-Leary, J; Eacret, D; Chen, R; Takano, H; Nicholas, B; Bhatnagar, S

2017-01-01

During exposure to chronic stress, some individuals engage in active coping behaviors that promote resiliency to stress. Other individuals engage in passive coping that is associated with vulnerability to stress and with anxiety and depression. In an effort to identify novel molecular mechanisms that underlie vulnerability or resilience to stress, we used nonbiased analyses of microRNAs in the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) to identify those miRNAs differentially expressed in active (long-latency (LL)/resilient) or passive (short-latency (SL)/vulnerable) rats following chronic social defeat. In the vHPC of active coping rats, miR-455-3p level was increased, while miR-30e-3p level was increased in the vHPC of passive coping rats. Pathway analyses identified inflammatory and vascular remodeling pathways as enriched by genes targeted by these microRNAs. Utilizing several independent markers for blood vessels, inflammatory processes and neural activity in the vHPC, we found that SL/vulnerable rats exhibit increased neural activity, vascular remodeling and inflammatory processes that include both increased blood–brain barrier permeability and increased number of microglia in the vHPC relative to control and resilient rats. To test the relevance of these changes for the development of the vulnerable phenotype, we used pharmacological approaches to determine the contribution of inflammatory processes in mediating vulnerability and resiliency. Administration of the pro-inflammatory cytokine vascular endothelial growth factor-164 increased vulnerability to stress, while the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam attenuated vulnerability. Collectively, these results show that vulnerability to stress is determined by a re-designed neurovascular unit characterized by increased neural activity, vascular remodeling and pro-inflammatory mechanisms in the vHPC. These results suggest that dampening inflammatory processes by administering anti-inflammatory agents reduces vulnerability to stress. These results have translational relevance as they suggest that administration of anti-inflammatory agents may reduce the impact of stress or trauma in vulnerable individuals. PMID:28654094

Inter-model variability in hydrological extremes projections for Amazonian sub-basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andres Rodriguez, Daniel; Garofolo, Lucas; Lázaro de Siqueira Júnior, José; Samprogna Mohor, Guilherme; Tomasella, Javier

2014-05-01

Irreducible uncertainties due to knowledge's limitations, chaotic nature of climate system and human decision-making process drive uncertainties in Climate Change projections. Such uncertainties affect the impact studies, mainly when associated to extreme events, and difficult the decision-making process aimed at mitigation and adaptation. However, these uncertainties allow the possibility to develop exploratory analyses on system's vulnerability to different sceneries. The use of different climate model's projections allows to aboard uncertainties issues allowing the use of multiple runs to explore a wide range of potential impacts and its implications for potential vulnerabilities. Statistical approaches for analyses of extreme values are usually based on stationarity assumptions. However, nonstationarity is relevant at the time scales considered for extreme value analyses and could have great implications in dynamic complex systems, mainly under climate change transformations. Because this, it is required to consider the nonstationarity in the statistical distribution parameters. We carried out a study of the dispersion in hydrological extremes projections using climate change projections from several climate models to feed the Distributed Hydrological Model of the National Institute for Spatial Research, MHD-INPE, applied in Amazonian sub-basins. This model is a large-scale hydrological model that uses a TopModel approach to solve runoff generation processes at the grid-cell scale. MHD-INPE model was calibrated for 1970-1990 using observed meteorological data and comparing observed and simulated discharges by using several performance coeficients. Hydrological Model integrations were performed for present historical time (1970-1990) and for future period (2010-2100). Because climate models simulate the variability of the climate system in statistical terms rather than reproduce the historical behavior of climate variables, the performances of the model's runs during the historical period, when feed with climate model data, were tested using descriptors of the Flow Duration Curves. The analyses of projected extreme values were carried out considering the nonstationarity of the GEV distribution parameters and compared with extremes events in present time. Results show inter-model variability in a broad dispersion on projected extreme's values. Such dispersion implies different degrees of socio-economic impacts associated to extreme hydrological events. Despite the no existence of one optimum result, this variability allows the analyses of adaptation strategies and its potential vulnerabilities.

Vulnerability of southern plains agriculture to climate change

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Climate is a key driver for all ecological and economic systems; therefore, climate change introduces additional uncertainty and vulnerability into these systems. Agriculture represents a major land use that is critical to the survival of human societies and it is highly vulnerable to climate. Clima...

Defining Resilience and Vulnerability Based on Ontology Engineering Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumazawa, T.; Matsui, T.; Endo, A.

2014-12-01

It is necessary to reflect the concepts of resilience and vulnerability into the assessment framework of "Human-Environmental Security", but it is also in difficulty to identify the linkage between both concepts because of the difference of the academic community which has discussed each concept. The authors have been developing the ontology which deals with the sustainability of the social-ecological systems (SESs). Resilience and vulnerability are also the concepts in the target world which this ontology covers. Based on this point, this paper aims at explicating the semantic relationship between the concepts of resilience and vulnerability based on ontology engineering approach. For this purpose, we first examine the definitions of resilience and vulnerability which the existing literatures proposed. Second, we incorporate the definitions in the ontology dealing with sustainability of SESs. Finally, we focus on the "Water-Energy-Food Nexus Index" to assess Human-Environmental Security, and clarify how the concepts of resilience and vulnerability are linked semantically through the concepts included in these index items.

Importance of biometrics to addressing vulnerabilities of the U.S. infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arndt, Craig M.; Hall, Nathaniel A.

2004-08-01

Human identification technologies are important threat countermeasures in minimizing select infrastructure vulnerabilities. Properly targeted countermeasures should be selected and integrated into an overall security solution based on disciplined analysis and modeling. Available data on infrastructure value, threat intelligence, and system vulnerabilities are carefully organized, analyzed and modeled. Prior to design and deployment of an effective countermeasure; the proper role and appropriateness of technology in addressing the overall set of vulnerabilities is established. Deployment of biometrics systems, as with other countermeasures, introduces potentially heightened vulnerabilities into the system. Heightened vulnerabilities may arise from both the newly introduced system complexities and an unfocused understanding of the set of vulnerabilities impacted by the new countermeasure. The countermeasure's own inherent vulnerabilities and those introduced by the system's integration with the existing system are analyzed and modeled to determine the overall vulnerability impact. The United States infrastructure is composed of government and private assets. The infrastructure is valued by their potential impact on several components: human physical safety, physical/information replacement/repair cost, potential contribution to future loss (criticality in weapons production), direct productivity output, national macro-economic output/productivity, and information integrity. These components must be considered in determining the overall impact of an infrastructure security breach. Cost/benefit analysis is then incorporated in the security technology deployment decision process. Overall security risks based on system vulnerabilities and threat intelligence determines areas of potential benefit. Biometric countermeasures are often considered when additional security at intended points of entry would minimize vulnerabilities.

Understanding Risk Tolerance and Building an Effective Safety Culture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loyd, David

2018-01-01

Estimates range from 65-90 percent of catastrophic mishaps are due to human error. NASA's human factors-related mishaps causes are estimated at approximately 75 percent. As much as we'd like to error-proof our work environment, even the most automated and complex technical endeavors require human interaction... and are vulnerable to human frailty. Industry and government are focusing not only on human factors integration into hazardous work environments, but also looking for practical approaches to cultivating a strong Safety Culture that diminishes risk. Industry and government organizations have recognized the value of monitoring leading indicators to identify potential risk vulnerabilities. NASA has adapted this approach to assess risk controls associated with hazardous, critical, and complex facilities. NASA's facility risk assessments integrate commercial loss control, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) Process Safety, API (American Petroleum Institute) Performance Indicator Standard, and NASA Operational Readiness Inspection concepts to identify risk control vulnerabilities.

The influence of urban heat islands and socioeconomic factors on the spatial distribution of Aedes aegypti larval habitats.

PubMed

De Azevedo, Thiago S; Bourke, Brian Patrick; Piovezan, Rafael; Sallum, Maria Anice M

2018-05-08

We addressed the potential associations among the temporal and spatial distribution of larval habitats of Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti, the presence of urban heat islands and socioeconomic factors. Data on larval habitats were collected in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil, from 2004 to 2006, and spatial and temporal variations were analysed using a wavelet-based approach. We quantified urban heat islands by calculating surface temperatures using the results of wavelet analyses and grey level transformation from Thematic Mapper images (Landsat 5). Ae. aegypti larval habitats were geo-referenced corresponding to the wavelet analyses to test the potential association between geographical distribution of habitats and surface temperature. In an inhomogeneous spatial point process, we estimated the frequency of occurrence of larval habitats in relation to temperature. The São Paulo State Social Vulnerability Index in the municipality of Santa Barbára d'Oeste was used to test the potential association between presence of larval habitats and social vulnerability. We found abundant Ae. aegypti larval habitats in areas of higher surface temperature and social vulnerability and fewer larval habitats in areas with lower surface temperature and social vulnerability.

Defining and Measuring Coastal Vulnerability and Resilience to Natural Hazards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, M. K.; Hoagland, P.

2014-12-01

Accounting for an estimated 23 percent of the world's population, coastal communities face many types of natural hazards. In particular, they may be vulnerable to the effects of tropical cyclones, flooding due to tsunamis or storm surges, erosion, saltwater intrusion, and subsidence. These coastal hazards are further exacerbated by population growth and climate change. There is a lack of consensus in the literature about what constitutes vulnerability (negative impacts) and resilience (recovery from negative impacts) and how to measure these phenomena. While some important work has focused on the long-term effects of coastal hazards on economic growth, little has been done to understand, in quantitative terms, the extent to which coastal communities may be vulnerable to such hazards and, if so, whether they can be resilient. We surveyed nine indicators of human well-being in order to determine their potential suitability as measures of coastal vulnerability or resilience. Some measures, such as the Gross Domestic Product, the Human Development Index, and the Gini coefficient, comprise economic or distributional indicators of human welfare; others, such as the Social Vulnerability Index, are more complex and difficult to interpret. We selected per capita personal income as the most viable indicator, due largely to its simplicity and its availability over several decades. We used it to examine human community vulnerability and resilience to a specific coastal hazard—significant storm surges from major coastal hurricanes—in several US coastal metropolitan areas. We compiled data on per capita personal income from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis for 15 to 20 years prior and subsequent to four major hurricanes: Hugo, which hit the Charleston, South Carolina, metropolitan area in 1989; Bob, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in 1991; Andrew, Miami, Florida, in 1992; and Opal, Pensacola, Florida, in 1995. Intervention analysis using linear regression suggests that these coastal areas exhibited the full range of possible combinations of vulnerability and resilience.

Assessing social vulnerability to climate change in human communities near public forests and grasslands: a framework for resource managers and planners

Treesearch

A. Paige Fischer; Travis Paveglio; Matthew Carroll; Daniel Murphy; Hannah Brenkert-Smith

2013-01-01

Public land management agencies have incorporated the concept of vulnerability into protocols for assessing and planning for climate change impacts on public forests and grasslands. However, resource managers and planners have little guidance for how to address the social aspects of vulnerability in these assessments and plans. Failure to assess social vulnerability to...

Rethinking Vulnerability in the Age of Anthropocene: Toward Ecologizing Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Huey-li

2017-01-01

In this essay, Huey-li Li argues that, although precariousness has always been embedded in human existence, our human vulnerability has been heightened by seemingly omnipresent and omnipotent risks in the modern era, ranging from the 9/11 terroristic attacks and nuclear meltdowns to infectious disease outbreaks and climate change. Li unravels some…

Building human resilience: the role of public health preparedness and response as an adaptation to climate change.

PubMed

Keim, Mark E

2008-11-01

Global climate change will increase the probability of extreme weather events, including heatwaves, drought, wildfire, cyclones, and heavy precipitation that could cause floods and landslides. Such events create significant public health needs that can exceed local capacity to respond, resulting in excess morbidity or mortality and in the declaration of disasters. Human vulnerability to any disaster is a complex phenomenon with social, economic, health, and cultural dimensions. Vulnerability to natural disasters has two sides: the degree of exposure to dangerous hazards (susceptibility) and the capacity to cope with or recover from disaster consequences (resilience). Vulnerability reduction programs reduce susceptibility and increase resilience. Susceptibility to disasters is reduced largely by prevention and mitigation of emergencies. Emergency preparedness and response and recovery activities--including those that address climate change--increase disaster resilience. Because adaptation must occur at the community level, local public health agencies are uniquely placed to build human resilience to climate-related disasters. This article discusses the role of public health in reducing human vulnerability to climate change within the context of select examples for emergency preparedness and response.

Cultural knowledge and local vulnerability in African American communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller Hesed, Christine D.; Paolisso, Michael

2015-07-01

Policymakers need to know what factors are most important in determining local vulnerability to facilitate effective adaptation to climate change. Quantitative vulnerability indices are helpful in this endeavour but are limited in their ability to capture subtle yet important aspects of vulnerability such as social networks, knowledge and access to resources. Working with three African American communities on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, we systematically elicit local cultural knowledge on climate change and connect it with a scientific vulnerability framework. The results of this study show that: a given social-ecological factor can substantially differ in the way in which it affects local vulnerability, even among communities with similar demographics and climate-related risks; and social and political isolation inhibits access to sources of adaptive capacity, thereby exacerbating local vulnerability. These results show that employing methods for analysing cultural knowledge can yield new insights to complement those generated by quantitative vulnerability indices.

Automated Software Vulnerability Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sezer, Emre C.; Kil, Chongkyung; Ning, Peng

Despite decades of research, software continues to have vulnerabilities. Successful exploitations of these vulnerabilities by attackers cost millions of dollars to businesses and individuals. Unfortunately, most effective defensive measures, such as patching and intrusion prevention systems, require an intimate knowledge of the vulnerabilities. Many systems for detecting attacks have been proposed. However, the analysis of the exploited vulnerabilities is left to security experts and programmers. Both the human effortinvolved and the slow analysis process are unfavorable for timely defensive measure to be deployed. The problem is exacerbated by zero-day attacks.

Introduction to the special issue on “Understanding and predicting change in the coastal ecosystems of the northern Gulf of Mexico”

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brock, John C.; Barras, John A.; Williams, S. Jeffress

2013-01-01

The coastal region of the northern Gulf of Mexico owes its current landscape structure to an array of tectonic, erosional and depositional, climatic, geochemical, hydrological, ecological, and human processes that have resulted in some of the world's most complex, dynamic, productive, and threatened ecosystems. Catastrophic hurricane landfalls, ongoing subsidence and erosion exacerbated by sea-level rise, disintegration of barrier island chains, and high rates of wetland loss have called attention to the vulnerability of northern Gulf coast ecosystems, habitats, built infrastructure, and economy to natural and anthropogenic threats. The devastating hurricanes of 2005 (Katrina and Rita) motivated the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program and partnering researchers to pursue studies aimed at understanding and predicting landscape change and the associated storm hazard vulnerability of northern Gulf coast region ecosystems and human communities. Attaining this science goal requires increased knowledge of landscape evolution on geologic, historical, and human time scales, and analysis of the implications of such changes in the natural and built components of the landscape for hurricane impact susceptibility. This Special Issue of the Journal of Coastal Research communicates northern Gulf of Mexico research results that (1) improve knowledge of prior climates and depositional environments, (2) assess broad regional ecosystem structure and change over Holocene to human time scales, (3) undertake process studies and change analyses of dynamic landscape components, and (4) integrate framework, climate, variable time and spatial scale mapping, monitoring, and discipline-specific process investigations within interdisciplinary studies.

Extreme rainfall, vulnerability and risk: a continental-scale assessment for South America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vorosmarty, Charles J.; de Guenni, Lelys Bravo; Wollheim, Wilfred M.; Pellerin, Brian A.; Bjerklie, David M.; Cardoso, Manoel; D'Almeida, Cassiano; Colon, Lilybeth

2013-01-01

Extreme weather continues to preoccupy society as a formidable public safety concern bearing huge economic costs. While attention has focused on global climate change and how it could intensify key elements of the water cycle such as precipitation and river discharge, it is the conjunction of geophysical and socioeconomic forces that shapes human sensitivity and risks to weather extremes. We demonstrate here the use of high-resolution geophysical and population datasets together with documentary reports of rainfall-induced damage across South America over a multi-decadal, retrospective time domain (1960–2000). We define and map extreme precipitation hazard, exposure, affectedpopulations, vulnerability and risk, and use these variables to analyse the impact of floods as a water security issue. Geospatial experiments uncover major sources of risk from natural climate variability and population growth, with change in climate extremes bearing a minor role. While rural populations display greatest relative sensitivity to extreme rainfall, urban settings show the highest rates of increasing risk. In the coming decades, rapid urbanization will make South American cities the focal point of future climate threats but also an opportunity for reducing vulnerability, protecting lives and sustaining economic development through both traditional and ecosystem-based disaster risk management systems.

Social, Environmental, and Health Vulnerability to Climate Change: The Case of the Municipalities of Minas Gerais, Brazil

PubMed Central

Brito, Isabela; Oliveira, Frederico; Madureira, Ana Paula

2017-01-01

Vulnerability to climate change is a complex and dynamic phenomenon involving both social and physical/environmental aspects. It is presented as a method for the quantification of the vulnerability of all municipalities of Minas Gerais, a state in southeastern Brazil. It is based on the aggregation of different kinds of environmental, climatic, social, institutional, and epidemiological variables, to form a composite index. This was named “Index of Human Vulnerability” and was calculated using a software (SisVuClima®) specifically developed for this purpose. Social, environmental, and health data were combined with the climatic scenarios RCP 4.5 and 8.5, downscaled from ETA-HadGEM2-ES for each municipality. The Index of Human Vulnerability associated with the RCP 8.5 has shown a higher vulnerability for municipalities in the southern and eastern parts of the state of Minas Gerais. PMID:28465693

Knockdown of desmin in zebrafish larvae affects interfilament spacing and mechanical properties of skeletal muscle.

PubMed

Li, Mei; Andersson-Lendahl, Monika; Sejersen, Thomas; Arner, Anders

2013-03-01

Skeletal muscle was examined in zebrafish larvae in order to address questions related to the function of the intermediate filament protein desmin and its role in the pathogenesis of human desminopathy. A novel approach including mechanical and structural studies of 4-6-d-old larvae was applied. Morpholino antisense oligonucleotides were used to knock down desmin. Expression was assessed using messenger RNA and protein analyses. Histology and synchrotron light-based small angle x-ray diffraction were applied. Functional properties were analyzed with in vivo studies of swimming behavior and with in vitro mechanical examinations of muscle. The two desmin genes normally expressed in zebrafish could be knocked down by ~50%. This resulted in a phenotype with disorganized muscles with altered attachments to the myosepta. The knockdown larvae were smaller and had diminished swimming activity. Active tension was lowered and muscles were less vulnerable to acute stretch-induced injury. X-ray diffraction revealed wider interfilament spacing. In conclusion, desmin intermediate filaments are required for normal active force generation and affect vulnerability during eccentric work. This is related to the role of desmin in anchoring sarcomeres for optimal force transmission. The results also show that a partial lack of desmin, without protein aggregates, is sufficient to cause muscle pathology resembling that in human desminopathy.

Assessing the ecological vulnerability of the upper reaches of the Minjiang River.

PubMed

Zhang, Jifei; Sun, Jian; Ma, Baibing; Du, Wenpeng

2017-01-01

The upper reaches of the Minjiang River (URMR), located on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in southwestern China, are an important component of the ecological barrier of the Upper Yangtze River Basin. Climate change and human activities have increased the ecological sensitivity and vulnerability of the region, which may pose a threat to the ecological security of the Yangtze River Basin and have negative impacts on local social and economic development. In this study, we analyzed land use and cover change (LUCC) of the URMR between 2000 and 2010, and found that the total rate of LUCC was less than 0.50% during this period. In addition, net primary production (NPP) was employed to describe the changes in ecosystem sensitivity and vulnerability, and the results demonstrated that slightly and moderately sensitive and vulnerable zones occupied the largest area, distributed mainly in forest, shrub, and grassland ecosystems. However, compared with the period from 2000 to 2005, the ecological sensitivity and vulnerability showed a worsening trend in the period 2005-2010. Exploring the relationship between vulnerability/sensitivity and environmental factors, we found that sensitivity and vulnerability were positively correlated with precipitation (>700 mm) and aridity index (>36 mm/°C). The results highlight that the future ecological sensitivity and vulnerability of URMR should be further investigated, and that the LUCC induced by human activities and climate change have caused alteration of in ecosystem vulnerability.

Assessment of composite index methods for agricultural vulnerability to climate change.

PubMed

Wiréhn, Lotten; Danielsson, Åsa; Neset, Tina-Simone S

2015-06-01

A common way of quantifying and communicating climate vulnerability is to calculate composite indices from indicators, visualizing these as maps. Inherent methodological uncertainties in vulnerability assessments, however, require greater attention. This study examines Swedish agricultural vulnerability to climate change, the aim being to review various indicator approaches for assessing agricultural vulnerability to climate change and to evaluate differences in climate vulnerability depending on the weighting and summarizing methods. The reviewed methods are evaluated by being tested at the municipal level. Three weighting and summarizing methods, representative of climate vulnerability indices in general, are analysed. The results indicate that 34 of 36 method combinations differ significantly from each other. We argue that representing agricultural vulnerability in a single composite index might be insufficient to guide climate adaptation. We emphasize the need for further research into how to measure and visualize agricultural vulnerability and into how to communicate uncertainties in both data and methods. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the Science-Policy Bridge: Do Spatial Heat Vulnerability Assessment Studies Influence Policy?

PubMed Central

Wolf, Tanja; Chuang, Wen-Ching; McGregor, Glenn

2015-01-01

Human vulnerability to heat varies at a range of spatial scales, especially within cities where there can be noticeable intra-urban differences in heat risk factors. Mapping and visualizing intra-urban heat vulnerability offers opportunities for presenting information to support decision-making. For example the visualization of the spatial variation of heat vulnerability has the potential to enable local governments to identify hot spots of vulnerability and allocate resources and increase assistance to people in areas of greatest need. Recently there has been a proliferation of heat vulnerability mapping studies, all of which, to varying degrees, justify the process of vulnerability mapping in a policy context. However, to date, there has not been a systematic review of the extent to which the results of vulnerability mapping studies have been applied in decision-making. Accordingly we undertook a comprehensive review of 37 recently published papers that use geospatial techniques for assessing human vulnerability to heat. In addition, we conducted an anonymous survey of the lead authors of the 37 papers in order to establish the level of interaction between the researchers as science information producers and local authorities as information users. Both paper review and author survey results show that heat vulnerability mapping has been used in an attempt to communicate policy recommendations, raise awareness and induce institutional networking and learning, but has not as yet had a substantive influence on policymaking or preventive action. PMID:26512681

The Role of Physicists in Anti-Terrorism: Transportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fainberg, Anthony

2002-04-01

Physicists, along with many other categories of scientists, participate in efforts against terrorism in a multitude of ways, including developing explosive detectors, sensors, security procedures, technical analyses, and decision tools. Transportation, especially civil aviation, is a field of focus within the anti- and counterterrorism arenas. The most spectacular terrorist acts have generally aimed at this sector and this trend is likely to continue. Physicists play their roles in all sectors: government, private industry, and even academia. Defense against terrorism has become a national priority in the United States, and one may expect the roles of scientific experts to become more important. The tactics of terrorists will change and develop, so it will become necessary to develop ever more sophisticated measures to fight them. Technology is part of the answer, but human factors, vulnerability analyses, threat assessment, and security procedures are equally important.

The evolution of capture myopathy in hooved mammals: a model for human stress cardiomyopathy?

PubMed

Blumstein, Daniel T; Buckner, Janet; Shah, Sajan; Patel, Shane; Alfaro, Michael E; Natterson-Horowitz, Barbara

2015-07-21

Capture myopathy (CM) syndromes in wildlife may be a model for human stress cardiomyopathy, including Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Emotional stress or grief may trigger heart attack-like symptoms, and occasionally, sudden death in some humans. Similarly, wildlife exposed to predatory stresses, chase, or capture occasionally results in sudden death. To better understand the nature of vulnerability to stress-induced sudden death, we studied cases of CM in hooved mammals-ungulates-and hypothesized that CM would be associated with a syndrome of longevity-related traits. We reconstructed the evolution of CM in ungulates then determined how a set of life history traits explained variation in the likelihood that CM was reported. CM is broadly reported, but not in all genera, and phylogenetic analyses suggest that it is an evolutionarily labile trait. We found that the following traits were significantly associated with reports of CM: greater brain mass, faster maximum running speed, greater minimum group size and greater maximum longevity. CM may be an unavoidable consequence of adaptations to reduce predation risk that include increased running speed, sociality and having larger brains. Moreover, longer-lived species seem to be more likely to be susceptible to CM. Exploring variable susceptibility to CM highlights the evolutionary origins of the disorder, potential basic mechanisms that underlie vulnerability to the phenomenon, and the potential for reduction of risk through modification of life history trajectory. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Foundation for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health.

Prevalence and seasonality of six respiratory viruses during five consecutive epidemic seasons in Belgium.

PubMed

Ramaekers, Kaat; Keyaerts, Els; Rector, Annabel; Borremans, Annie; Beuselinck, Kurt; Lagrou, Katrien; Van Ranst, Marc

2017-09-01

Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) are a major health problem, especially in young children and the elderly. Insights into the seasonality of respiratory viruses can help us understand when the burden on society is highest and which age groups are most vulnerable. We monitored six respiratory viruses during five consecutive seasons (2011-2016) in Belgium. Patient specimens (n=22876), tested for one or more of the following respiratory viruses, were included in this analysis: Influenza viruses (IAV & IBV), Human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV), Human metapneumovirus (hMPV), Adenovirus (ADV) and Human parainfluenza virus (hPIV). Data were analysed for four age categories: <6y, 6-17y, 18-64y and ≥65y. Children <6y had the highest infection rates (39% positive vs. 20% positive adults) and the highest frequency of co-infections. hRSV (28%) and IAV (32%) caused the most common respiratory viral infections and followed, like hMPV, a seasonal pattern with winter peaks. hRSV followed an annual pattern with two peaks: first in young children and ±7 weeks later in elderly. This phenomenon has not been described in literature so far. hPIV and ADV occurred throughout the year with higher rates in winter. Children <6y are most vulnerable for respiratory viral infections and have a higher risk for co-infections. hRSV and IAV are the most common respiratory infections with peaks during the winter season in Belgium. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Coastal Vulnerability to Erosion Processes: Study Cases from Different Countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anfuso, Giorgio; Martinez Del Pozo, Jose Angel; Rangel-Buitrago, Nelson

2010-05-01

When natural processes affect or threaten human activities or infrastructures they become a natural hazard. In order to prevent the natural hazards impact and the associated economic and human losses, coastal managers need to know the intrinsic vulnerability of the littoral, using information on the physical and ecological coastal features, human occupation and present and future shoreline trends. The prediction of future coastline positions can be based on the study of coastal changes which have occurred over recent decades. Vertical aerial photographs, satellite imagery and maps are very useful data sources for the reconstruction of coast line changes at long (>60 years) and medium (between 60 and 10 years) temporal and spatial scales. Vulnerability maps have been obtained for several coastal sectors around the world through the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), computer-assisted multivariate analysis and numerical models. In the USA, "Flood Insurance Rate Maps" have been created by the government and "Coastal Zone Hazard Maps" have been prepared for coastal stretches affected by hurricane Hugo. In Spain, the vulnerability of the Ebro and an Andalusia coastal sector were investigated over different time scales. McLaughlin et al., (2002) developed a GIS based coastal vulnerability index for the Northern Ireland littoral that took into account socio-economic activities and coastal resistance to erosion and energetic characteristics. Lizárraga et al., (2001) combined beach reduction at Rosario (Mexico) with the probability of damage to landward structures, obtaining a vulnerability matrix. In this work several coastal vulnerability maps have also been created by comparing data on coastal erosion/accretion and land use along different coastal sectors in Italy, Morocco and Colombia. Keywords: Hazard, Vulnerability, Coastal Erosion, Italy, Morocco, Colombia.

Applying a Comprehensive Contextual Climate Change Vulnerability Framework to New Zealand's Tourism Industry.

PubMed

Hopkins, Debbie

2015-03-01

Conceptualisations of 'vulnerability' vary amongst scholarly communities, contributing to a wide variety of applications. Research investigating vulnerability to climate change has often excluded non-climatic changes which may contribute to degrees of vulnerability perceived or experienced. This paper introduces a comprehensive contextual vulnerability framework which incorporates physical, social, economic and political factors which could amplify or reduce vulnerability. The framework is applied to New Zealand's tourism industry to explore its value in interpreting a complex, human-natural environment system with multiple competing vulnerabilities. The comprehensive contextual framework can inform government policy and industry decision making, integrating understandings of climate change within the broader context of internal and external social, physical, economic, and institutional stressors.

GIS-Mapping and Statistical Analyses to Identify Climate-Vulnerable Communities and Populations Exposed to Superfund Sites

EPA Science Inventory

Climate change-related cumulative health risks are expected to be disproportionately greater for overburdened communities, due to differential proximity and exposures to chemical sources and flood zones. Communities and populations vulnerable to climate change-associated impacts ...

Vulnerability of port and harbor communities to earthquake and tsunami hazards: The use of GIS in community hazard planning

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wood, Nathan J.; Good, James W.

2004-01-01

AbstractEarthquakes and tsunamis pose significant threats to Pacific Northwest coastal port and harbor communities. Developing holistic mitigation and preparedness strategies to reduce the potential for loss of life and property damage requires community-wide vulnerability assessments that transcend traditional site-specific analyses. The ability of a geographic information system (GIS) to integrate natural, socioeconomic, and hazards information makes it an ideal assessment tool to support community hazard planning efforts. This article summarizes how GIS was used to assess the vulnerability of an Oregon port and harbor community to earthquake and tsunami hazards, as part of a larger risk-reduction planning initiative. The primary purposes of the GIS were to highlight community vulnerability issues and to identify areas that both are susceptible to hazards and contain valued port and harbor community resources. Results of the GIS analyses can help decision makers with limited mitigation resources set priorities for increasing community resiliency to natural hazards.

Temporal trends in human vulnerability to excessive heat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheridan, Scott C.; Allen, Michael J.

2018-04-01

Over recent decades, studies have examined various morbidity and mortality outcomes associated with heat exposure. This review explores the collective knowledge of the temporal trends of heat on human health, with regard to the hypothesis that humans are less vulnerable to heat events presently than in the past. Using Web of Science and Scopus, the authors identified all peer-reviewed articles that contained keywords on human impact (e.g. mortality, morbidity) and meteorological component (e.g. heat, heatwave). After sorting, a total of 71 articles, both case studies and epidemiological studies, contained explicit assessments of temporal trends in human vulnerability, and thus were used in this review. Most of the studies utilized mortality data, focused on the developed world, and showed a general decrease in heat sensitivity. Factors such as the implementation of a heat warning system, increased awareness, and improved quality of life were cited as contributing factors that led to the decreased impact of heat. Despite the overall recent decreases in heat vulnerability, spatial variability was shown, and differences with respect to health outcomes were also discussed. Several papers noted increases in heat’s impact on human health, particularly when unprecedented conditions occurred. Further, many populations, from outdoor workers to rural residents, in addition to the populations in much of the developing world, have been significantly underrepresented in research to date, and temporal changes in their vulnerability should be assessed in future studies. Moreover, continued monitoring and improvement of heat intervention is needed; with projected changes in the frequency, duration, and intensity of heat events combined with shifts in demographics, heat will remain a major public health issue moving forward.

A problem-oriented approach to understanding adaptation: lessons learnt from Alpine Shire, Victoria Australia.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roman, Carolina

2010-05-01

Climate change is gaining attention as a significant strategic issue for localities that rely on their business sectors for economic viability. For businesses in the tourism sector, considerable research effort has sought to characterise the vulnerability to the likely impacts of future climate change through scenarios or ‘end-point' approaches (Kelly & Adger, 2000). Whilst useful, there are few demonstrable case studies that complement such work with a ‘start-point' approach that seeks to explore contextual vulnerability (O'Brien et al., 2007). This broader approach is inclusive of climate change as a process operating within a biophysical system and allows recognition of the complex interactions that occur in the coupled human-environmental system. A problem-oriented and interdisciplinary approach was employed at Alpine Shire, in northeast Victoria Australia, to explore the concept of contextual vulnerability and adaptability to stressors that include, but are not limited to climatic change. Using a policy sciences approach, the objective was to identify factors that influence existing vulnerabilities and that might consequently act as barriers to effective adaptation for the Shire's business community involved in the tourism sector. Analyses of results suggest that many threats, including the effects climate change, compete for the resources, strategy and direction of local tourism management bodies. Further analysis of conditioning factors revealed that many complex and interacting factors define the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of the Shire's tourism sector to the challenges of global change, which collectively have more immediate implications for policy and planning than long-term future climate change scenarios. An approximation of the common interest, i.e. enhancing capacity in business acumen amongst tourism operators, would facilitate adaptability and sustainability through the enhancement of social capital in this business community. Kelly, P. M., & Adger, W. N. (2000). Theory and practice in assessing vulnerability to climatic change and facilitating adaptation. Climatic Change, 47, 325-352. O'Brien, K., Eriksen, S., Nygaard, L. P., & Schjolden, A. (2007). Why different interpretations of vulnerability matter in climate change discourses. Climate Policy, 7, 73-88.

In Search of the Third Eye, When the Two Others Are Shamefacedly Shut? Comment on "Are Sexual and Reproductive Health Policies Designed for All? Vulnerable Groups in Policy Documents of Four European Countries and Their Involvement in Policy Development".

PubMed

Keygnaert, Ines

2016-02-11

Ivanova et al explored how vulnerable groups and principles of human rights are incorporated into national sexual and reproductive health (SRH) policies in 4 countries. They adapted the EquiFrame of Amin and colleagues of 2011, to SRH vulnerable groups which we believe could now be used for analysis of national SRH polices beyond those 4 countries. Although we fully agree with the authors' two main findings that vulnerable groups and human rights' principles are not sufficiently integrated in SRH policies nor granted the possibility to participate in the process of development in those four countries, we do believe that these shortcomings are not limited to those countries only nor to the identified vulnerable groups either. We are convinced that the issue of SRH as such is still framed within a very limited logic for all with vulnerable groups being perceived as an extra threat or an extra burden. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Childhood physical abuse and aggression: Shame and narcissistic vulnerability.

PubMed

Keene, Amanda C; Epps, James

2016-01-01

This study examined narcissistic vulnerability and shame-proneness as potential mediators between childhood physical abuse (CPA) and adult anger and aggression. Participants were 400 undergraduate students, 134 of whom had a history of CPA. All participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing history of CPA, shame-proneness, narcissistic vulnerability, physical aggression, trait anger, and hostility. Results indicated abused participants were more angry and aggressive and experienced higher levels of shame-proneness and narcissistic vulnerability than nonabused participants. Multiple mediation analyses showed that narcissistic vulnerability, but not shame-proneness, partially mediated the relation between abuse and physical aggression. However, narcissistic vulnerability and shame-proneness both emerged as partial mediators between abuse and the anger and hostility variables. These findings suggest that narcissistic vulnerability and shame-proneness may function as mediators of adjustment following childhood maltreatment. Study limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fear-Conditioning Mechanisms Associated with Trait Vulnerability to Anxiety in Humans

PubMed Central

Indovina, Iole; Robbins, Trevor W.; Núñez-Elizalde, Anwar O.; Dunn, Barnaby D.; Bishop, Sonia J.

2011-01-01

Summary Investigations of fear conditioning in rodents and humans have illuminated the neural mechanisms underlying cued and contextual fear. A critical question is how personality dimensions such as trait anxiety act through these mechanisms to confer vulnerability to anxiety disorders, and whether humans' ability to overcome acquired fears depends on regulatory skills not characterized in animal models. In a neuroimaging study of fear conditioning in humans, we found evidence for two independent dimensions of neurocognitive function associated with trait vulnerability to anxiety. The first entailed increased amygdala responsivity to phasic fear cues. The second involved impoverished ventral prefrontal cortical (vPFC) recruitment to downregulate both cued and contextual fear prior to omission (extinction) of the aversive unconditioned stimulus. These two dimensions may contribute to symptomatology differences across anxiety disorders; the amygdala mechanism affecting the development of phobic fear and the frontal mechanism influencing the maintenance of both specific fears and generalized anxiety. PMID:21315265

Population structure of an endemic vulnerable species, the Jamaican boa (Epicrates subflavus).

PubMed

Tzika, Athanasia C; Koenig, Susan; Miller, Ricardo; Garcia, Gerardo; Remy, Christophe; Milinkovitch, Michel C

2008-01-01

The Jamaican boa (Epicrates subflavus; also called Yellow boa) is an endemic species whose natural populations greatly and constantly declined since the late 19th century, mainly because of predation by introduced species, human persecution, and habitat destruction. In-situ conservation of the Jamaican boa is seriously hindered by the lack of information on demographic and ecological parameters as well as by a poor understanding of the population structure and species distribution in the wild. Here, using nine nuclear microsatellite loci and a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from 87 wild-born individuals, we present the first molecular genetic analyses focusing on the diversity and structure of the natural populations of the Jamaican boa. A model-based clustering analysis of multilocus microsatellite genotypes identifies three groups that are also significantly differentiated on the basis of F-statistics. Similarly, haplotypic network reconstruction methods applied on the cytochrome b haplotypes isolated here identify two well-differentiated haplogroups separated by four to six fixed mutations. Bayesian and metaGA analyses of the mitochondrial data set combined with sequences from other Boidae species indicate that rooting of the haplotypic network occurs most likely between the two defined haplogroups. Both analyses (based on nuclear and mitochondrial markers) underline an Eastern vs. (Western + Central) pattern of differentiation in agreement with geological data and patterns of differentiation uncovered in other vertebrate and invertebrate Jamaican species. Our results provide important insights for improving management of ex-situ captive populations and for guiding the development of proper in-situ species survival and habitat management plans for this spectacular, yet poorly known and vulnerable, snake.

Climate vulnerability of drinking water supplies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selmeczi, Pál; Homolya, Emese; Rotárné Szalkai, Ágnes

2016-04-01

Extreme weather conditions in Hungary led to difficulties in drinking water management on diverse occasions in the past. Due to reduced water resources and the coexisting high demand for drinking water in dry summer periods the availability of a number of water supplies became insufficient therefore causing limitations in water access. In some other cases, as a result of floods and flash floods over karstic areas evolving in consequence of excessive precipitation, several water supplies had to be excluded in order to avoid the risk of infections. More frequent occurrence of extreme weather conditions and further possible changes in the future induce the necessity for an analysis of the vulnerability of drinking water resources to climate change. Since 95% of the total drinking water supply in Hungary originates from subsurface layers, significance of groundwater resources is outstanding. The aim of our work carried out in the frames of the NAGiS (National Adaptation Geo-information System) project was to build up a methodology for the study and determination of the vulnerability of drinking water supplies to climate. The task covered analyses of climatic parameters influencing drinking water supplies principally and hydrogeological characteristics of the geological media that significantly determines vulnerability. Effects on drinking water resources and their reduction or exclusion may imply societal and economic consequences therefore we extended the analyses to the investigation of possibilities concerning the adaptation capacity to changed conditions. We applied the CIVAS (Climate Impact and Vulnerability Assessment Scheme) model developed in the frames of the international climate research project CLAVIER (Climate Change and Variability: Impact on Central and Eastern Europe) to characterize climate vulnerability of drinking water supplies. The CIVAS model, being based on the combined evaluation of exposure, sensitivity and adaptability, provides a unified methodical scheme to quantitative climatic impact assessment. We investigate the effects of climate change in the integrated context of exposure, sensitivity, impact, adaptive capacity and vulnerability, thus apart from the expected environmental changes societal and economic processes are also taken into account. Climate vulnerability has been determined on the basis of the distribution and categorisation of the chosen indicators. Further effects, independent of climate change and caused by anthropogenic activity, result in similar phenomena. It is often difficult to differentiate between natural and anthropogenic effects that occur simultaneously therefore in the analyses of vulnerability anthropogenic activity is needed to be taken into account. We determined climate vulnerability using data of two different climate models and for two separate future time periods. Results on the basis of both climate model projections suggest that a considerable number of regions in the area under investigation appear to be vulnerable to climate change to a certain extent and vulnerability intensifies to the end of the 21th century.

Toward Establishing the Validity of the Transformative Optimism Construct Measurement for Tsunami Preparedness: A Structural Equation Model for Visitors of the Pacific Northwest Coast

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rios-Uribe, Carlos Andres

2009-01-01

Measurements of social constructs that evaluate natural hazard preparedness are important to decrease natural hazard vulnerability. Preparedness reduces natural hazard impacts and human vulnerability. Investment in education and education research contribute to human sustainable development and natural hazard preparedness. Faced with other needs,…

Can Neglected Tropical Diseases Compromise Human Wellbeing in Sex-, Age-, and Trait-Specific Ways?

PubMed Central

Geary, David C.

2016-01-01

Traits that facilitate competition for reproductive resources or that influence mate choice have evolved to signal resilience to infectious disease and other stressors. As a result, the dynamics of competition and choice can, in theory, be used to generate predictions about sex-, age-, and trait-specific vulnerabilities for any sexually reproducing species, including humans. These dynamics and associated vulnerabilities are reviewed for nonhuman species, focusing on traits that are compromised by exposure to parasites. Using the same approach, sex-, age-, and trait-specific vulnerabilities to parasitic disease are illustrated for children’s and adolescent’s physical growth and fitness. Suggestions are then provided for widening the assessment of human vulnerabilities to include age-appropriate measures of behavioral (e.g., children’s play) and cognitive (e.g., language fluency) traits. These are traits that are likely to be compromised by infection in age- and sex-specific ways. Inclusion of these types of measures in studies of neglected tropic diseases has the potential to provide a more nuanced understanding of how these diseases undermine human wellbeing and may provide a useful means to study the efficacy of associated treatments. PMID:27077746

Assessing the ecological vulnerability of the upper reaches of the Minjiang River

PubMed Central

Sun, Jian; Ma, Baibing; Du, Wenpeng

2017-01-01

The upper reaches of the Minjiang River (URMR), located on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in southwestern China, are an important component of the ecological barrier of the Upper Yangtze River Basin. Climate change and human activities have increased the ecological sensitivity and vulnerability of the region, which may pose a threat to the ecological security of the Yangtze River Basin and have negative impacts on local social and economic development. In this study, we analyzed land use and cover change (LUCC) of the URMR between 2000 and 2010, and found that the total rate of LUCC was less than 0.50% during this period. In addition, net primary production (NPP) was employed to describe the changes in ecosystem sensitivity and vulnerability, and the results demonstrated that slightly and moderately sensitive and vulnerable zones occupied the largest area, distributed mainly in forest, shrub, and grassland ecosystems. However, compared with the period from 2000 to 2005, the ecological sensitivity and vulnerability showed a worsening trend in the period 2005–2010. Exploring the relationship between vulnerability/sensitivity and environmental factors, we found that sensitivity and vulnerability were positively correlated with precipitation (>700 mm) and aridity index (>36 mm/°C). The results highlight that the future ecological sensitivity and vulnerability of URMR should be further investigated, and that the LUCC induced by human activities and climate change have caused alteration of in ecosystem vulnerability. PMID:28753635

Mapping social-ecological vulnerability to inform local decision making.

PubMed

Thiault, Lauric; Marshall, Paul; Gelcich, Stefan; Collin, Antoine; Chlous, Frédérique; Claudet, Joachim

2018-04-01

An overarching challenge of natural resource management and biodiversity conservation is that relationships between people and nature are difficult to integrate into tools that can effectively guide decision making. Social-ecological vulnerability offers a valuable framework for identifying and understanding important social-ecological linkages, and the implications of dependencies and other feedback loops in the system. Unfortunately, its implementation at local scales has hitherto been limited due at least in part to the lack of operational tools for spatial representation of social-ecological vulnerability. We developed a method to map social-ecological vulnerability based on information on human-nature dependencies and ecosystem services at local scales. We applied our method to the small-scale fishery of Moorea, French Polynesia, by combining spatially explicit indicators of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of both the resource (i.e., vulnerability of reef fish assemblages to fishing) and resource users (i.e., vulnerability of fishing households to the loss of fishing opportunity). Our results revealed that both social and ecological vulnerabilities varied considerably through space and highlighted areas where sources of vulnerability were high for both social and ecological subsystems (i.e., social-ecological vulnerability hotspots) and thus of high priority for management intervention. Our approach can be used to inform decisions about where biodiversity conservation strategies are likely to be more effective and how social impacts from policy decisions can be minimized. It provides a new perspective on human-nature linkages that can help guide sustainability management at local scales; delivers insights distinct from those provided by emphasis on a single vulnerability component (e.g., exposure); and demonstrates the feasibility and value of operationalizing the social-ecological vulnerability framework for policy, planning, and participatory management decisions. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

College Students' Ageist Behavior: The Role of Aging Knowledge and Perceived Vulnerability to Disease

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stahl, Sarah T.; Metzger, Aaron

2013-01-01

This cross-sectional study examined the associations among perceived vulnerability to disease, aging knowledge, and ageism (positive and negative) in a sample of undergraduate students enrolled in a human development course (N = 649; M age = 19.94 years, SD = 2.84 years). Perceived vulnerability to disease and aging knowledge were associated with…

Martial Arts and Socially Vulnerable Youth. An Analysis of Flemish Initiatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Theeboom, Marc; De Knop, Paul; Wylleman, Paul

2008-01-01

Notwithstanding the lack of empirical support for its positive socio-psychological effects, numerous educators and welfare workers make use of martial arts in their work with socially vulnerable youth. Using qualitative methodology, the aims, approaches and personal experiences were analysed of teachers and co-ordinators involved in specific…

Classifying rarity and abundance at a regional scale: Implementation within a new ecoinformatics tool

EPA Science Inventory

One factor that determines a species vulnerability to extinction is its rarity in the environment and a goal of many species analyses is to evaluate geographic patterns of abundance. In an attempt to assess vulnerability to climate change, we evaluated relative species abundance...

Hydrogeology, Ground-Water-Age Dating, Water Quality, and Vulnerability of Ground Water to Contamination in a Part of the Whitewater Valley Aquifer System near Richmond, Indiana, 2002-2003

USGS Publications Warehouse

Buszka, Paul M.; Watson, Lee R.; Greeman, Theodore K.

2007-01-01

Results of detailed water-quality analyses, ground-waterage dating, and dissolved-gas analyses indicated the vulnerability of ground water to specific types of contamination, the sequence of contaminant introduction to the aquifer relative to greenfield development, and processes that may mitigate the contamination. Concentrations of chloride and sodium and chloride/bromide weight ratios in sampled water from five wells indicated the vulnerability of the upper aquifer to roaddeicer contamination. Ground-water-age estimates from these wells indicated the onset of upgradient road-deicer use within the previous 25 years. Nitrate in the upper aquifer predates the post-1972 development, based on a ground-water-age date (30 years) and the nitrate concentration (5.12 milligrams per liter as nitrogen) in water from a deep well. Vulnerability of the aquifer to nitrate contamination is limited partially by denitrification. Detection of one to four atrazine transformation products in water samples from the upper aquifer indicated biological and hydrochemical processes that may limit the vulnerability of the ground water to atrazine contamination. Microbial processes also may limit the aquifer vulnerability to small inputs of halogenated aliphatic compounds, as indicated by microbial transformations of trichlorofluoromethane and trichlorotrifluoroethane relative to dichlorodifluoromethane. The vulnerability of ground water to contamination in other parts of the aquifer system also may be mitigated by hydrodynamic dispersion and biologically mediated transformations of nitrate, pesticides, and some organic compounds. Identification of the sequence of contamination and processes affecting the vulnerability of ground water to contamination would have been unlikely with conventional assessment methods.

Knowledge and exercise of human rights, and barriers and facilitators to claiming rights: a cross-sectional study of female sex workers and high-risk men who have sex with men in Andhra Pradesh, India.

PubMed

Ganju, Deepika; Patel, Sangram Kishor; Prabhakar, Parimi; Adhikary, Rajatashurva

2016-11-17

HIV prevention interventions recognize the need to protect the rights of key populations and support them to claim their rights as a vulnerability reduction strategy. This study explores knowledge of human rights, and barriers and facilitators to claiming rights, among female sex workers (FSWs) and high-risk men who have sex with men (HR-MSM) who are beneficiaries of a community mobilization intervention in Andhra Pradesh, India. Data are drawn from a cross-sectional survey (2014) among 2400 FSWs and 1200 HR-MSM. Human rights awareness was assessed by asking respondents if they had heard of human rights (yes/no); those reporting awareness of rights were asked to spontaneously name specific rights from the following five pre-defined categories: right to health; dignity/equality; education; property; and freedom from discrimination. Respondents were classified into two groups: more knowledgeable (could identify two or more rights) and less knowledgeable (could identify one or no right). Univariate and bivariate analyses and chi-square tests were used. Data were analyzed using STATA 11.2. Overall 17% FSWs and 8% HR-MSM were not aware of their rights. Among those aware, 62% and 31% respectively were aware of just one or no right (less knowledgeable); only around half (54% vs 57%) were aware of health rights, and fewer (20% vs 16%) aware of their right to freedom from discrimination. Notably, 27% and 17% respectively had not exercised their rights. Barriers to claiming rights among FSWs and HR-MSM were neighbors (35% vs 37%), lack of knowledge (15% vs 14%), stigma (13% vs 22%) and spouse (19% FSWs). Community organizations (COs) were by far the leading facilitator in claiming rights (57% vs 72%). The study findings show that awareness of human rights is limited among FSWs and HR-MSM, and a large proportion have not claimed their rights, elevating their HIV vulnerability. For a sustained HIV response, community mobilization efforts must focus on building key populations' awareness of rights, and addressing the multiple barriers to claiming rights, with a view to creating a safe environment where vulnerable groups can demand and use services without fear of stigma, discrimination and violation of rights.

How Should We Treat the Vulnerable?: Qualitative Study of Authoritative Ethics Documents.

PubMed

Zagorac, Ivana

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to explore what actual guidance is provided by authoritative ethics documents regarding the recognition and protection of the vulnerable. The documents included in this analysis are the Belmont Report, the Declaration of Helsinki, The Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) Guidelines, and the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, including its supplementary report on vulnerability. A qualitative analysis of these documents was conducted in light of three questions: what is vulnerability, who are the vulnerable, and how should the vulnerable be protected? The results show significant differences among the documents regarding the first two questions. None of the documents provides any guidance on the third question (how to protect the vulnerable). These results suggest a great discrepancy between the acknowledged importance of the concept of vulnerability and a general understanding of the scope, content, and practical implications of vulnerability.

Assessing Climate Vulnerabilities of Food Distribution Center Sites in Greater Boston and Their Regional Implications: Climate Adaptation Planning in Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teferra, A.; Watson, C.; Douglas, E. M.

2016-12-01

The Metro Boston region, an area whose civic leaders have been at the forefront of climate resilience initiatives in recent years, is finalizing a flood vulnerability assessment of food distribution center sites located north of Boston, with the support of the University of Massachusetts Boston and the American Geophysical Union's Thriving Earth Exchange program. The community-scientist collaboration emerged because of the need for more local analyses of the area to inform climate resiliency policy and planning actions for the region. A significant amount of the metro region's food supply passes through two major distribution centers in the cities of Everett and Chelsea, just north of the Mystic River. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), on behalf of the Metro Boston Climate Preparedness Taskforce, is working with Chris Watson and Ellen Douglas of UMass Boston to build on existing analyses of the region's food system and climate vulnerabilities and to develop a report identifying flood risk exposure to the sites. The analysis brings in dynamic modeling techniques that incorporate storm surge and sea level rise projections under different climate scenarios, and aims to align methodologies with those of other regional analyses, such as Climate Ready Boston and the City of Cambridge's Vulnerability Assessment. The study is helping to inform MAPC's and the Metro Boston Climate Preparedness Taskforce's understanding of this critical food distribution infrastructure, illustrate the larger regional implications of climate impacts on food distribution in the Greater Boston area, and guide the development of site-specific strategies for addressing identified vulnerabilities.

Political commitment for vulnerable populations during donor transition.

PubMed

Rodríguez, Daniela C; Whiteside, Alan; Bennett, Sara

2017-02-01

The responsibilities for the programmatic, technical and financial support of health programmes are increasingly being passed from external donors to governments. Programmes for family planning, human immunodeficiency virus, immunization, malaria and tuberculosis have already faced such donor transition, which is a difficult and often political process. Wherever programmes and services aimed at vulnerable populations are primarily supported by donors, the post-transition future is uncertain. Overreliance on donor support is often a reflection of limited domestic political commitment. Limited commitment, which is frequently expressed as the persecution of vulnerable groups, poses a risk to individuals as well as to the effectiveness and sustainability of health programmes. We argue that, for reasons linked to human rights, the social contract and the cost-effectiveness of health promotion, prevention and treatment programmes, it is critical that governments sustain health services for vulnerable populations during and after donor transition. Although civil society organizations could help by engaging with government stakeholders, pushing to change social norms and supporting mechanisms that demand accountability, they may be constrained by economic, political and social factors. Vulnerable populations need to be actively involved in the planning and implementation of donor transition - to ensure that their voice and needs are taken into account and to establish a platform that improves visibility and accountability. As transitions spread across all aspects of global health, transparent conversations about the building and sustainment of political commitment for health services for vulnerable populations become a critical human rights issue.

Use of modeling to identify vulnerabilities to human error in laparoscopy.

PubMed

Funk, Kenneth H; Bauer, James D; Doolen, Toni L; Telasha, David; Nicolalde, R Javier; Reeber, Miriam; Yodpijit, Nantakrit; Long, Myra

2010-01-01

This article describes an exercise to investigate the utility of modeling and human factors analysis in understanding surgical processes and their vulnerabilities to medical error. A formal method to identify error vulnerabilities was developed and applied to a test case of Veress needle insertion during closed laparoscopy. A team of 2 surgeons, a medical assistant, and 3 engineers used hierarchical task analysis and Integrated DEFinition language 0 (IDEF0) modeling to create rich models of the processes used in initial port creation. Using terminology from a standardized human performance database, detailed task descriptions were written for 4 tasks executed in the process of inserting the Veress needle. Key terms from the descriptions were used to extract from the database generic errors that could occur. Task descriptions with potential errors were translated back into surgical terminology. Referring to the process models and task descriptions, the team used a modified failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) to consider each potential error for its probability of occurrence, its consequences if it should occur and be undetected, and its probability of detection. The resulting likely and consequential errors were prioritized for intervention. A literature-based validation study confirmed the significance of the top error vulnerabilities identified using the method. Ongoing work includes design and evaluation of procedures to correct the identified vulnerabilities and improvements to the modeling and vulnerability identification methods. Copyright 2010 AAGL. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

GIS and local knowledge in disaster management: a case study of flood risk mapping in Viet Nam.

PubMed

Tran, Phong; Shaw, Rajib; Chantry, Guillaume; Norton, John

2009-03-01

Linking community knowledge with modern techniques to record and analyse risk related data is one way of engaging and mobilising community capacity. This paper discusses the use of the Geographic Information System (GIS) at the local level and the need for integrating modern technology and indigenous knowledge into disaster management. It suggests a way to mobilise available human and technical resources in order to strengthen a good partnership between local communities and local and national institutions. The paper also analyses the current vulnerability of two communes by correlating hazard risk and loss/damage caused by disasters and the contribution that domestic risk maps in the community can make to reduce this risk. The disadvantages, advantages and lessons learned from the GIS flood risk mapping project are presented through the case study of the Quang Tho Commune in Thua Thien Hue province, central Viet Nam.

Research on vulnerability assessments of the Huanghe (Yellow River) delta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

qiao, shuqing; shi, xuefa

2014-05-01

Coastal zone located at the juncture of the sea, river and land, and under the influence of both land and ocean (including atmosphere), especially the sea-level rise and human activities, are vulnerable to environment and ecology. At highest risk are coastal zone of South, Southeast and East Asia with dense populations, low elevations and inadequate adaptive capacity. In China, more than 40% of the population live on the 15% of the land in coastal area and more than 70% cities located around the coastal area. The Chinese coastal region, especially river delta area has been experienced erosion, seawater intrusion and decrease in biodiversity under the combined influence of sea-level rise, tectonic subsidence and flooding. Furthermore, some kinds of human activity, such as land use, building, dam construction, reclamation from the sea and waste dumping strengthen the vulnerability of environment and ecosystem in coastal region. The coastal hazards (e.g. coastal erosion, seawater intrusion, land subsidence) and vulnerability of the Huanghe (Yelllow River) delta area are studied during the past several years. A systematic coastal assessment index is built and an evaluation model is developed using the development platform of Visual studio.Net 2005. The assessment index system includes two parts, inherent (sea level rise rate, elevation, morphology, water and sediment discharge, mean tidal range, mean wave height etc) and specific vulnerability index (population density, GDP, land utilization, protection structures etc). The assessment index are determined the weight using Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. Based on the research results, we better understand the current status and future change of coastal vulnerability and hazards, discuss the impact of the natural possess and human activities. Furthermore, we provide defending strategies for coastal zone vulnerability and typical coastal hazards.

Protecting the unprotected: mixed-method research on drug use, sex work and rights in Pakistan's fight against HIV/AIDS.

PubMed

Mayhew, S; Collumbien, M; Qureshi, A; Platt, L; Rafiq, N; Faisel, A; Lalji, N; Hawkes, S

2009-04-01

To investigate the nature and extent of human rights abuses against three vulnerable groups (injecting drug users (IDUs) and male and female sex workers), to understand the social and sexual linkages between them and to examine how protecting their rights could enhance the impact of HIV prevention policies. In-depth interviews were carried out with 38 high-risk respondents (IDUs and female, male and transgender sex workers) and a bio-behavioural survey was performed of 813 IDU/sex worker respondents in Rawalpindi. People in all vulnerable groups interacted both sexually and socially. All groups experienced human rights abuses by state and non-state actors which increased their HIV risk. Non-state actors, including relations and sex worker clients, are responsible for verbal, physical and sexual violence. State actors (particularly police) perpetrate harassment, exploitation and abuse of all vulnerable groups with impunity. Health service providers fail to provide adequate services for vulnerable groups. High levels of discrimination and abuse of human dignity of all groups studied were revealed. This violates their physical and mental integrity and also leads to an increased risk of HIV. The sexual and social interactions between groups mean that human rights abuses experienced by one high-risk group can increase the risk of HIV both for them and other groups. The protection of human rights needs to become an integral part of a multisector response to the risk of HIV/AIDS by state and non-state agencies. The Government of Pakistan should work at both legal and programme levels to protect the rights of, and minimise discrimination against, groups vulnerable to HIV in order to reduce the potential for the spread of HIV before the epidemic takes hold.

Climate Justice in Rural Southeastern United States: A Review of Climate Change Impacts and Effects on Human Health.

PubMed

Gutierrez, Kristie S; LePrevost, Catherine E

2016-02-03

Climate justice is a local, national, and global movement to protect at-risk populations who are disproportionately affected by climate change. The social context for this review is the Southeastern region of the United States, which is particularly susceptible to climate change because of the geography of the area and the vulnerabilities of the inhabiting populations. Negative human health effects on variable and vulnerable populations within the Southeast region due to changing climate are concerning, as health threats are not expected to produce parallel effects among all individuals. Vulnerable communities, such as communities of color, indigenous people, the geographically isolated, and those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged and already experiencing poor environmental quality, are least able to respond and adapt to climate change. Focusing on vulnerable populations in the Southeastern United States, this review is a synthesis of the recent (2010 to 2015) literature-base on the health effects connected to climate change. This review also addresses local and regional mitigation and adaptation strategies for citizens and leaders to combat direct and indirect human health effects related to a changing climate.

Health needs and nursing care.

PubMed

Petersen, Cristina Buischi; Lima, Regina Aparecida Garcia de; Boemer, Magali Roseira; Rocha, Semiramis Melani Melo

2016-01-01

to present the concept of needs according to different approaches to discuss the possibility of health care that incorporates a broader view of human vulnerabilities in health services. the arguments are founded on nursing theorists who worked on the construction of frameworks relevant to care, based on needs and on philosophers who show the possibility of identifying the vulnerabilities of human beings, defending art as a therapeutic instrument that can promote health care. although care can acquire a new dimension with the introduction of art, according to certain perspectives, philosophical studies on ethics and aesthetics should be resumed to identify human vulnerabilities that can in fact be compensated by sensible understanding of the outer world. To incorporate art in nursing care requires studies from theorists to be recovered, deepening concepts and working on empirical investigations for their adequate use.

How to simulate pedestrian behaviors in seismic evacuation for vulnerability reduction of existing buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quagliarini, Enrico; Bernardini, Gabriele; D'Orazio, Marco

2017-07-01

Understanding and representing how individuals behave in earthquake emergencies would be essentially to assess the impact of vulnerability reduction strategies on existing buildings in seismic areas. In fact, interactions between individuals and the scenario (modified by the earthquake occurrence) are really important in order to understand the possible additional risks for people, especially during the evacuation phase. The current approach is based on "qualitative" aspects, in order to define best practice guidelines for Civil Protection and populations. On the contrary, a "quantitative" description of human response and evacuation motion in similar conditions is urgently needed. Hence, this work defines the rules for pedestrians' earthquake evacuation in urban scenarios, by taking advantages of previous results of real-world evacuation analyses. In particular, motion laws for pedestrians is defined by modifying the Social Force model equation. The proposed model could be used for evaluating individuals' evacuation process and so for defining operative strategies for interferences reduction in critical urban fabric parts (e.g.: interventions on particular buildings, evacuation strategies definition, city parts projects).

Tennessee's In-state Vulnerability Assessment for a "Rapid Dissemination of Human Immunodeficiency Virus or Hepatitis C Virus Infection" Event Utilizing Data About the Opioid Epidemic.

PubMed

Rickles, Michael; Rebeiro, Peter F; Sizemore, Lindsey; Juarez, Paul; Mutter, Mitchell; Wester, Carolyn; McPheeters, Melissa

2018-05-17

Knowing which factors contribute to county-level vulnerability to a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/hepatitis C virus (HCV) outbreak, and which counties are most vulnerable, guides public health and clinical interventions. We therefore examined the impact of locally available indicators related to the opioid epidemic on prior national models of HIV/HCV outbreak vulnerability. Tennessee's 95 counties were the study sample. Predictors from 2012 and 2013 were used, mirroring prior methodology from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Acute HCV incidence was the proxy measure of county-level vulnerability. Seventy-eight predictors were identified as potentially predictive for HIV/HCV vulnerability. We used multiple dimension reduction techniques to determine predictors for inclusion and Poisson regression to generate a composite index score ranking county-level vulnerability for HIV/HCV. There was overlap of high-risk counties with the national analysis (25 of 41 counties). The distribution of vulnerability reinforces earlier research indicating that eastern Tennessee is at particularly high risk but also demonstrates that the entire state has high vulnerability. Prior research placed Tennessee among the top states for opioid prescribing, acute HCV infection, and greatest risk for an HIV/HCV outbreak. Given this confluence of risk, the Tennessee Department of Health expanded upon prior work to include more granular, local data, including on opioid prescribing. We also explored nonfatal and fatal overdoses. The more complete statewide view of risk generated, not only in eastern counties but also in the western corridor, will enable local officials to monitor vulnerability and better target resources.

Stereotype Threat Vulnerability: A Psychometric Investigation of the Social Identities and Attitudes Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Leann V.; Cokley, Kevin

2016-01-01

The authors investigated the psychometric properties of the Social Identities and Attitudes Scale developed by Picho and Brown, which captures an individual's vulnerability to Stereotype Threat effects. Confirmatory factor analyses and group invariance tests conducted on a diverse sample of 516 college students revealed adequate reliability and…

Psychological Distress and Mortality: Are Women More Vulnerable?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferraro, Kenneth F.; Nuriddin, Tariqah A.

2006-01-01

Does psychological distress increase mortality risk? If it does, are women more vulnerable than men to the effect of distress on mortality? Drawing from cumulative disadvantage theory, these questions are addressed with data from a 20-year follow-up of a national sample of adults ages 25-74. Event history analyses were performed to examine…

76 FR 54507 - Proposed Generic Communication; Draft NRC Generic Letter 2011-XX: Seismic Risk Evaluations for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-01

... design estimates. Analyses performed under the Generic Issue program (GIP) indicated the need to evaluate... Examination of External Events (IPEEE) for Severe Accident Vulnerabilities,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML031150485) to request that each licensee identify and report to the NRC all plant- specific vulnerabilities to...

Static and dynamic bending has minor effects on xylem hydraulics of conifer branches (Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris)

PubMed Central

Mayr, Stefan; Bertel, Clara; Dämon, Birgit; Beikircher, Barbara

2014-01-01

The xylem hydraulic efficiency and safety is usually measured on mechanically unstressed samples, although trees may be exposed to combined hydraulic and mechanical stress in the field. We analysed changes in hydraulic conductivity and vulnerability to drought-induced embolism during static bending of Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris branches as well as the effect of dynamic bending on the vulnerability. We hypothesized this mechanical stress to substantially impair xylem hydraulics. Intense static bending caused an only small decrease in hydraulic conductance (−19.5 ± 2.4% in P. abies) but no shift in vulnerability thresholds. Dynamic bending caused a 0.4 and 0.8 MPa decrease of the water potential at 50 and 88% loss of conductivity in P. sylvestris, but did not affect vulnerability thresholds in P. abies. With respect to applied extreme bending radii, effects on plant hydraulics were surprisingly small and are thus probably of minor eco-physiological importance. More importantly, results indicate that available xylem hydraulic analyses (of conifers) sufficiently reflect plant hydraulics under field conditions. PMID:24697679

The relationship between parental overprotection and health-related quality of life in pediatric cancer: the mediating role of perceived child vulnerability.

PubMed

Hullmann, Stephanie E; Wolfe-Christensen, Cortney; Meyer, William H; McNall-Knapp, Rene Y; Mullins, Larry L

2010-11-01

The current study sought to examine the relation of parental overprotection and perceived child vulnerability to parent-reported health-related quality of life in parents of children with cancer. Parents (N = 89) of children who had been diagnosed with cancer completed measures of parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, and parent-proxy report of health-related quality of life. After controlling for theoretically relevant covariates, parental overprotection and perceived child vulnerability were both found to be significantly related to child health-related quality of life. Additional analyses revealed that perceived child vulnerability mediated the relationship between overprotective parenting behaviors and the child's health-related quality of life. The findings highlight the need to assess for these discrete parenting variables in parents of children with cancer and to develop interventions to target parental perceptions of vulnerability.

Quantifying human vulnerability in rural areas: case study of Tutova Hills (Eastern Romania)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stângă, I. C.; Grozavu, A.

2012-06-01

This paper aims to assess the vulnerability at regional level, the model and the proposed indicators being explicitly intended for an essentially rural region, in this case-Tutova Hills (Eastern Romania). Five categories of variables were taken into account to define the vulnerability components: rural habitat, demographic features, agriculture, environmental quality and emergency situations. For each one, five variables were analyzed and ranked based on the level of determination or subordination. In order to ensure the flexibility of the model and to avoid the criteria duplication in assessing vulnerability, only a single indicator of each category was retained and included in analysis: total number of inhabitants, dependency ratio, weight of arable land on slope categories, weight of land under forestry and road accessibility of villages. The selected indicators were mathematically processed in order to maximize their relevance and to unitary express the results in the spread 0-1. Also, values of each indicator were grouped into four classes, corresponding to the level of vulnerability: low, medium, high and very high. A general index was obtained through the integration of vulnerability factors in an equation based on the geometric mean. Spatial analysis was based on features of the MicroImages TNTmips 7.3. software, which allow the vulnerability mapping. This approach argues and states that vulnerability assessment through indicator-based methods can be made only according to the level and scale of analysis and related to natural or human conditions of a region.

The vulnerabilities of the power-grid system: renewable microgrids as an alternative source of energy.

PubMed

Meyer, Victor; Myres, Charles; Bakshi, Nitin

2010-03-01

The objective of this paper is to analyse the vulnerabilities of current power-grid systems and to propose alternatives to using fossil fuel power generation and infrastructure solutions in the form of microgrids, particularly those from renewable energy sources. One of the key potential benefits of microgrids, apart from their inherent sustainability and ecological advantages, is increased resilience. The analysis is targeted towards the context of business process outsourcing in India. However, much of the research on vulnerabilities has been derived from the USA and as such many of the examples cite vulnerabilities in the USA and other developed economies. Nevertheless, the vulnerabilities noted are to a degree common to all grid systems, and so the analysis may be more broadly applicable.

Vulnerability curves vs. vulnerability indicators: application of an indicator-based methodology for debris-flow hazards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papathoma-Köhle, Maria

2016-08-01

The assessment of the physical vulnerability of elements at risk as part of the risk analysis is an essential aspect for the development of strategies and structural measures for risk reduction. Understanding, analysing and, if possible, quantifying physical vulnerability is a prerequisite for designing strategies and adopting tools for its reduction. The most common methods for assessing physical vulnerability are vulnerability matrices, vulnerability curves and vulnerability indicators; however, in most of the cases, these methods are used in a conflicting way rather than in combination. The article focuses on two of these methods: vulnerability curves and vulnerability indicators. Vulnerability curves express physical vulnerability as a function of the intensity of the process and the degree of loss, considering, in individual cases only, some structural characteristics of the affected buildings. However, a considerable amount of studies argue that vulnerability assessment should focus on the identification of these variables that influence the vulnerability of an element at risk (vulnerability indicators). In this study, an indicator-based methodology (IBM) for mountain hazards including debris flow (Kappes et al., 2012) is applied to a case study for debris flows in South Tyrol, where in the past a vulnerability curve has been developed. The relatively "new" indicator-based method is being scrutinised and recommendations for its improvement are outlined. The comparison of the two methodological approaches and their results is challenging since both methodological approaches deal with vulnerability in a different way. However, it is still possible to highlight their weaknesses and strengths, show clearly that both methodologies are necessary for the assessment of physical vulnerability and provide a preliminary "holistic methodological framework" for physical vulnerability assessment showing how the two approaches may be used in combination in the future.

Fear-conditioning mechanisms associated with trait vulnerability to anxiety in humans.

PubMed

Indovina, Iole; Robbins, Trevor W; Núñez-Elizalde, Anwar O; Dunn, Barnaby D; Bishop, Sonia J

2011-02-10

Investigations of fear conditioning in rodents and humans have illuminated the neural mechanisms underlying cued and contextual fear. A critical question is how personality dimensions such as trait anxiety act through these mechanisms to confer vulnerability to anxiety disorders, and whether humans' ability to overcome acquired fears depends on regulatory skills not characterized in animal models. In a neuroimaging study of fear conditioning in humans, we found evidence for two independent dimensions of neurocognitive function associated with trait vulnerability to anxiety. The first entailed increased amygdala responsivity to phasic fear cues. The second involved impoverished ventral prefrontal cortical (vPFC) recruitment to downregulate both cued and contextual fear prior to omission (extinction) of the aversive unconditioned stimulus. These two dimensions may contribute to symptomatology differences across anxiety disorders; the amygdala mechanism affecting the development of phobic fear and the frontal mechanism influencing the maintenance of both specific fears and generalized anxiety. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Vulnerability-specific stress generation: An examination of negative cognitive and interpersonal styles

PubMed Central

Liu, Richard T.; Alloy, Lauren B.; Mastin, Becky M.; Choi, Jimmy Y.; Boland, Elaine M.; Jenkins, Abby L.

2014-01-01

Although there is substantial evidence documenting the stress generation effect in depression (i.e., the tendency for depression-prone individuals to experience higher rates of life stress to which they contribute), additional research is required to advance current understanding of the specific types of dependent stress (i.e., events influenced by characteristics and attendant behaviors of the individual) relevant to this effect. The present study tested an extension of the stress generation hypothesis, in which the content of dependent stress that is produced by depression-prone individuals is contingent upon, and matches, the nature of their particular vulnerabilities. This extension was tested within the context of two cognitive models (i.e., hopelessness theory [Abramson, Metalsky, & Alloy, 1989] and Cole’s [1990, 1991] competency-based model) and two interpersonal models (i.e., Swann’s [1987] self-verification theory and Coyne’s [1976] interpersonal theory) of depression. Overall, support was obtained for vulnerability-specific stress generation. Specifically, in analyses across vulnerability domains, evidence of stress-generation specificity was found for all domain-specific cognitive vulnerabilities except self-perceived social competence. The within-domain analyses for cognitive vulnerabilities produced more mixed results, but were largely supportive. Additionally, excessive reassurance-seeking was specifically predictive of dependent stress in the social domain, and moderated, but did not mediate, the relation between negative inferential styles overall and in the interpersonal domain and their corresponding generated stress. Finally, no evidence was found for a stress generation effect with negative feedback-seeking. PMID:24679143

Gene expression profiles in anatomically and functionally distinct regions of the normal aged human brain

PubMed Central

Liang, Winnie S.; Dunckley, Travis; Beach, Thomas G.; Grover, Andrew; Mastroeni, Diego; Walker, Douglas G.; Caselli, Richard J.; Kukull, Walter A.; McKeel, Daniel; Morris, John C.; Hulette, Christine; Schmechel, Donald; Alexander, Gene E.; Reiman, Eric M.; Rogers, Joseph; Stephan, Dietrich A.

2008-01-01

In this article, we have characterized and compared gene expression profiles from laser capture microdissected neurons in six functionally and anatomically distinct regions from clinically and histopathologically normal aged human brains. These regions, which are also known to be differentially vulnerable to the histopathological and metabolic features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), include the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus (limbic and paralimbic areas vulnerable to early neurofibrillary tangle pathology in AD), posterior cingulate cortex (a paralimbic area vulnerable to early metabolic abnormalities in AD), temporal and prefrontal cortex (unimodal and heteromodal sensory association areas vulnerable to early neuritic plaque pathology in AD), and primary visual cortex (a primary sensory area relatively spared in early AD). These neuronal profiles will provide valuable reference information for future studies of the brain, in normal aging, AD and other neurological and psychiatric disorders. PMID:17077275

Challenges and Opportunities for Integrating Social Science Perspectives into Climate and Global Change Assessments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larson, E. K.; Li, J.; Zycherman, A.

2017-12-01

Integration of social science into climate and global change assessments is fundamental for improving understanding of the drivers, impacts and vulnerability of climate change, and the social, cultural and behavioral challenges related to climate change responses. This requires disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge as well as integrational and translational tools for linking this knowledge with the natural and physical sciences. The USGCRP's Social Science Coordinating Committee (SSCC) is tasked with this challenge and is working to integrate relevant social, economic and behavioral knowledge into processes like sustained assessments. This presentation will discuss outcomes from a recent SSCC workshop, "Social Science Perspectives on Climate Change" and their applications to sustained assessments. The workshop brought academic social scientists from four disciplines - anthropology, sociology, geography and archaeology - together with federal scientists and program managers to discuss three major research areas relevant to the USGCRP and climate assessments: (1) innovative tools, methods, and analyses to clarify the interactions of human and natural systems under climate change, (2) understanding of factors contributing to differences in social vulnerability between and within communities under climate change, and (3) social science perspectives on drivers of global climate change. These disciplines, collectively, emphasize the need to consider socio-cultural, political, economic, geographic, and historic factors, and their dynamic interactions, to understand climate change drivers, social vulnerability, and mitigation and adaptation responses. They also highlight the importance of mixed quantitative and qualitative methods to explain impacts, vulnerability, and responses at different time and spatial scales. This presentation will focus on major contributions of the social sciences to climate and global change research. We will discuss future directions for sustained assessments that integrate and reflect the social science understanding of the complex relationships between social and natural worlds in a changing climate, and factors that impact effective mitigation and adaptation strategies that address risks and vulnerabilities of climate change.

Vulnerability assessment of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods using Remote Sensing and GIS in North Sikkim (India), Eastern Himalaya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aggarwal, Suruchi; Probha Devi, Juna; Thakur, Praveen Kumar; Rai, Suresh Chand

2016-04-01

Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) occur when glacier melt water dammed by a moraine is released in short time. Such floods may lead to disastrous events posing, therefore, a huge threat to human lives and infrastructure. A devastating GLOF in Uttarakhand, India, on 17 July 2013 has led to the loss of all villages in a stretch of 18 km downstream the lake and the loss of more than 5000 lives. The present study evaluates all 16 glacial lakes (with an area >0.1 km²) in the Thangu valley, northern Sikkim (India), eastern Himalaya, with respect to potential threats for the downstream areas. The hazard criteria for the study include slope, aspect and distance of the respective parent glacier, change in the lake area, dam characteristics and lake depth. For the most hazardous lakes, the socio-economic conditions in the downstream areas (settlements and infrastructure) are analysed regarding the impact of potential GLOFs. For the vulnerability analysis, we used various satellite products including LANDSAT, RESOUCESAT-1 and 2, RISAT-1 imageries and ASTER GDEM covering the period from 1977 to 2014. For lake mapping, we applied the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI). A Land Use Land Cover (LULC) map of the study area showing in-situ observations is serving as driving factor for the vulnerability analysis. The results of the study show that almost all evaluated glacial lakes were expanding during the study period (1977-2014). Combining the hazard criteria for the lakes, 5 of the 16 studied glacial lakes are identified as highly hazardous. In the downstream area, there are two villages with 200 inhabitants and an army camp within the zone of highest vulnerability. The identified vulnerability zones may be used by the local authorities to take caution of the threatened villages and infrastructure and for risk analysis for planned future hydropower plants.

Assessment of groundwater vulnerability by applying the modified DRASTIC model in Beihai City, China.

PubMed

Wu, Xiaoyu; Li, Bin; Ma, Chuanming

2018-05-01

This study assesses vulnerability of groundwater to pollution in Beihai City, China, as a support of groundwater resource protection. The assessment result not only objectively reflects potential possibility of groundwater to contamination but also provides scientific basis for the planning and utilization of groundwater resources. This study optimizes the parameters consisting of natural factors and human factors upon the DRASTIC model and modifies the ratings of these parameters, based on the local environmental conditions for the study area. And a weight of each parameter is assigned by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to reduce the subjectivity of humans to vulnerability assessment. The resulting scientific ratings and weights of modified DRASTIC model (AHP-DRASTLE model) contribute to obtain the more realistic assessment of vulnerability of groundwater to contaminant. The comparison analysis validates the accuracy and rationality of the AHP-DRASTLE model and shows it suits the particularity of the study area. The new assessment method (AHP-DRASTLE model) can provide a guide for other scholars to assess the vulnerability of groundwater to contamination. The final vulnerability map for the AHP-DRASTLE model shows four classes: highest (2%), high (29%), low (55%), and lowest (14%). The vulnerability map serves as a guide for decision makers on groundwater resource protection and land use planning at the regional scale and that it is adapted to a specific area.

Simplified spacecraft vulnerability assessments at component level in early design phase at the European Space Agency's Concurrent Design Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kempf, Scott; Schäfer, Frank K.; Cardone, Tiziana; Ferreira, Ivo; Gerené, Sam; Destefanis, Roberto; Grassi, Lilith

2016-12-01

During recent years, the state-of-the-art risk assessment of the threat posed to spacecraft by micrometeoroids and space debris has been expanded to the analysis of failure modes of internal spacecraft components. This method can now be used to perform risk analyses for satellites to assess various failure levels - from failure of specific sub-systems to catastrophic break-up. This new assessment methodology is based on triple-wall ballistic limit equations (BLEs), specifically the Schäfer-Ryan-Lambert (SRL) BLE, which is applicable for describing failure threshold levels for satellite components following a hypervelocity impact. The methodology is implemented in the form of the software tool Particle Impact Risk and vulnerability Analysis Tool (PIRAT). During a recent European Space Agency (ESA) funded study, the PIRAT functionality was expanded in order to provide an interface to ESA's Concurrent Design Facility (CDF). The additions include a geometry importer and an OCDT (Open Concurrent Design Tool) interface. The new interface provides both the expanded geometrical flexibility, which is provided by external computer aided design (CAD) modelling, and an ease of import of existing data without the need for extensive preparation of the model. The reduced effort required to perform vulnerability analyses makes it feasible for application during early design phase, at which point modifications to satellite design can be undertaken with relatively little extra effort. The integration of PIRAT in the CDF represents the first time that vulnerability analyses can be performed in-session in ESA's CDF and the first time that comprehensive vulnerability studies can be applied cost-effectively in early design phase in general.

DARKDROID: Exposing the Dark Side of Android Marketplaces

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

Moreover, our approaches can detect apps containing both intentional and unintentional vulnerabilities, such as unsafe code loading mechanisms and...Security, Static Analysis, Dynamic Analysis, Malware Detection , Vulnerability Scanning 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT UU 18...applications in a DoD context. ................... 1 1.2.2 Develop sophisticated whole-system static analyses to detect malicious Android applications

Media Use and Children's Perceptions of Societal Threat and Personal Vulnerability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Comer, Jonathan S.; Furr, Jami M.; Beidas, Rinad S.; Babyar, Heather M.; Kendall, Philip C.

2008-01-01

This study examined children's media use (i.e., amount of television and Internet usage) and relationships to children's perceptions of societal threat and personal vulnerability. The sample consisted of 90 community youth aged 7 to 13 years (M = 10.8; 52.2% male) from diverse economic backgrounds. Analyses found children's television use to be…

Prioritization of gene conservation activities in the face of changing climates

Treesearch

J. Bradley St.Clair; Andy Bower; Vicky Erickson; Glenn Howe

2017-01-01

Several analyses have been done or are underway to evaluate the vulnerability of individual forest tree species to climate change. Species vulnerability assessments allow managers to allocate limited resources to the management of those species that are most threatened. But we also know that threats to individual populations of species may vary across the landscape,...

Some Contributions from Latin American Career Counselling for Dealing with Situations of Psychosocial Vulnerability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ribeiro, Marcelo Afonso; da Conceição Coropos Uvaldo, Maria; da Silva, Fabiano Fonseca

2015-01-01

Facing a working world more flexible, unstable and potentially generator of vulnerabilities, the career counselling has required contemporary approaches that meet these demands, which ones have been present in Latin America for a long time. Thus, the present paper aimed to analyse some Latin American proposals and highlight general principles to…

Vulnerability and Resilience in Women with Arthritis: Test of a Two-Factor Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Bruce W.; Zautra, Alex J.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test a 2-factor model of affective health in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA; n = 82) or osteoarthritis (OA; n = 88). Positive and negative social interactions and affect were assessed for 11 consecutive weeks. For each participant, Vulnerability and Resilience factors were created from factor analyses of…

Are Sexual and Reproductive Health Policies Designed for All? Vulnerable Groups in Policy Documents of Four European Countries and Their Involvement in Policy Development.

PubMed

Ivanova, Olena; Dræbel, Tania; Tellier, Siri

2015-08-12

Health policies are important instruments for improving population health. However, experience suggests that policies designed for the whole population do not always benefit the most vulnerable. Participation of vulnerable groups in the policy-making process provides an opportunity for them to influence decisions related to their health, and also to exercise their rights. This paper presents the findings from a study that explored how vulnerable groups and principles of human rights are incorporated into national sexual and reproductive health (SRH) policies of 4 selected countries (Spain, Scotland, Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine). It also aimed at discussing the involvement of vulnerable groups in SRH policy development from the perspective of policy-makers. Literature review, health policy analysis and 5 semi-structured interviews with policy-makers were carried out in this study. Content analysis of SRH policies was performed using the EquiFrame analytical framework. The study revealed that vulnerable groups and core principles of human rights are differently addressed in SRH policies within 4 studied countries. The opinions of policy-makers on the importance of mentioning vulnerable groups in policy documents and the way they ought to be mentioned varied, but they agreed that a clear definition of vulnerability, practical examples, and evidences on health status of these groups have to be included. In addition, different approaches to vulnerable group's involvement in policy development were identified during the interviews and the range of obstacles to this process was discussed by respondents. Incorporation of vulnerable groups in the SRH policies and their involvement in policy development were found to be important in addressing SRH of these groups and providing an opportunity for them to advocate for equal access to healthcare and exercise their rights. Future research on this topic should include representatives of vulnerable communities which could help to build a dialogue and present the problem from multiple perspectives. © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Are Sexual and Reproductive Health Policies Designed for All? Vulnerable Groups in Policy Documents of Four European Countries and Their Involvement in Policy Development

PubMed Central

Ivanova, Olena; Dræbel, Tania; Tellier, Siri

2015-01-01

Background: Health policies are important instruments for improving population health. However, experience suggests that policies designed for the whole population do not always benefit the most vulnerable. Participation of vulnerable groups in the policy-making process provides an opportunity for them to influence decisions related to their health, and also to exercise their rights. This paper presents the findings from a study that explored how vulnerable groups and principles of human rights are incorporated into national sexual and reproductive health (SRH) policies of 4 selected countries (Spain, Scotland, Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine). It also aimed at discussing the involvement of vulnerable groups in SRH policy development from the perspective of policy-makers. Methods: Literature review, health policy analysis and 5 semi-structured interviews with policy-makers were carried out in this study. Content analysis of SRH policies was performed using the EquiFrame analytical framework. Results: The study revealed that vulnerable groups and core principles of human rights are differently addressed in SRH policies within 4 studied countries. The opinions of policy-makers on the importance of mentioning vulnerable groups in policy documents and the way they ought to be mentioned varied, but they agreed that a clear definition of vulnerability, practical examples, and evidences on health status of these groups have to be included. In addition, different approaches to vulnerable group’s involvement in policy development were identified during the interviews and the range of obstacles to this process was discussed by respondents. Conclusion: Incorporation of vulnerable groups in the SRH policies and their involvement in policy development were found to be important in addressing SRH of these groups and providing an opportunity for them to advocate for equal access to healthcare and exercise their rights. Future research on this topic should include representatives of vulnerable communities which could help to build a dialogue and present the problem from multiple perspectives. PMID:26673176

The Vulnerability Formation Mechanism and Control Strategy of the Oil and Gas Pipeline City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Y. L.; Han, L.

2017-12-01

Most of the pipelines of oil and gas pipelines in our country have been for more than 25 years. These pipes are buried underground and was difficult to daily test. In addition, it was vulnerable to environmental, corrosion and natural disasters, So there is a hidden nature of accidents. The rapid development of urbanization, population accumulation, dense building and insufficient safety range are all the reasons for the frequent accidents of oil and gas pipelines. Therefore, to appraise and know the safe condition of the city various regions oil and gas pipelines is vital significant. In order to ensure the safety of oil and gas pipeline city, this paper defines the connotation of oil and gas pipeline city vulnerability according to the previous research on vulnerability. Then from three perspectives of environment, structure and behavior, based on the analytical paradigm of “structure—vulnerability conduct—performance” about oil and gas, the influential indicators of vulnerable oil and gas pipelines were analysed, the vulnerability mechanism framework of Oil and gas pipeline city was also constructed. Finally, the paper proposed the regulating strategy of the vulnerability of the oil and gas pipeline city to decrease its vulnerability index, which can be realize the city’s vulnerability evaluation and provides new ideas for the sustainable development of the city.

No Pet or Their Person Left Behind: Increasing the Disaster Resilience of Vulnerable Groups through Animal Attachment, Activities and Networks

PubMed Central

Thompson, Kirrilly; Every, Danielle; Rainbird, Sophia; Cornell, Victoria; Smith, Bradley; Trigg, Joshua

2014-01-01

Simple Summary The potential for reconfiguring pet ownership from a risk factor to a protective factor for natural disaster survival has been recently proposed. But how might this resilience-building proposition apply to members of the community who are already considered vulnerable? This article addresses this important question by synthesizing information about what makes seven particular groups vulnerable, the challenges to increasing their resilience and how animals figure in their lives. It concludes that animal attachment could provide a novel conduit for accessing, communicating with and motivating vulnerable people to engage in resilience building behaviors that promote survival and facilitate recovery. Abstract Increased vulnerability to natural disasters has been associated with particular groups in the community. This includes those who are considered de facto vulnerable (children, older people, those with disabilities etc.) and those who own pets (not to mention pets themselves). The potential for reconfiguring pet ownership from a risk factor to a protective factor for natural disaster survival has been recently proposed. But how might this resilience-building proposition apply to vulnerable members of the community who own pets or other animals? This article addresses this important question by synthesizing information about what makes particular groups vulnerable, the challenges to increasing their resilience and how animals figure in their lives. Despite different vulnerabilities, animals were found to be important to the disaster resilience of seven vulnerable groups in Australia. Animal attachment and animal-related activities and networks are identified as underexplored devices for disseminating or ‘piggybacking’ disaster-related information and engaging vulnerable people in resilience building behaviors (in addition to including animals in disaster planning initiatives in general). Animals may provide the kind of innovative approach required to overcome the challenges in accessing and engaging vulnerable groups. As the survival of humans and animals are so often intertwined, the benefits of increasing the resilience of vulnerable communities through animal attachment is twofold: human and animal lives can be saved together. PMID:26480038

Core concepts of human rights and inclusion of vulnerable groups in the mental health policies of Malawi, Namibia, and Sudan

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background One of the most crucial steps towards delivering judicious and comprehensive mental health care is the formulation of a policy and plan that will navigate mental health systems. For policy-makers, the challenges of a high-quality mental health system are considerable: the provision of mental health services to all who need them, in an equitable way, in a mode that promotes human rights and health outcomes. Method EquiFrame, a novel policy analysis framework, was used to evaluate the mental health policies of Malawi, Namibia, and Sudan. The health policies were assessed in terms of their coverage of 21 predefined Core Concepts of human rights (Core Concept Coverage), their stated quality of commitment to said Core Concepts (Core Concept Quality), and their inclusion of 12 Vulnerable Groups (Vulnerable Group Coverage). In relation to these summary indices, each policy was also assigned an Overall Summary Ranking, in terms of it being of High, Moderate, or Low quality. Results Substantial variability was identified across EquiFrame’s summary indices for the mental health policies of Malawi, Namibia, and Sudan. However, all three mental health policies scored high on Core Concept Coverage. Particularly noteworthy was the Sudanese policy, which scored 86% on Core Concept Coverage, and 92% on Vulnerable Group Coverage. Particular deficits were evident in the Malawian mental health policy, which scored 33% on Vulnerable Group Coverage and 47% on Core Concept Quality, and was assigned an Overall Summary Ranking of Low accordingly. The Overall Summary Ranking for the Namibian Mental Health Policy was High; for the Sudanese Mental Health Policy was Moderate; and for the Malawian Mental Health Policy was Low. Conclusions If human rights and equity underpin policy formation, it is more likely that they will be inculcated in health service delivery. EquiFrame may provide a novel and valuable tool for mental health policy analysis in relation to core concepts of human rights and inclusion of vulnerable groups, a key practical step in the successful realization of the Millennium Development Goals. PMID:23406583

Evaluating County-Level Heat Vulnerability and Social Inequity in the United States through Climate and Socioeconomic Indices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gannon, C.

2016-12-01

Climate change will have many impacts on human health, perhaps most directly through extreme heat. High temperature and humidity combinations inhibit the body's ability to cool through physiological responses such as sweating. In conjunction with extended periods of extreme heat and shifted seasonality, these conditions are particularly dangerous. Current research and literature can be used to show where dangerous heat and humidity conditions are likely to be most prevalent, or where populations vulnerable to heat stress reside. To provide a better assessment of overall heat vulnerability, however, many complex factors, such as relative changes in temperature patterns or local socioeconomic conditions, must also be considered. Here, we utilize a multivariate approach to establish county-level risk scores by combining the most relevant indicators for heat vulnerability with climate model projections of wet bulb globe temperature, a metric useful for understanding how the human body will respond to conditions of high heat and humidity. We present our findings as an ESRI ArcOnline Story Map with data aggregated at the county-level in the continental United States. This format allows users to access maps showing each county's score in four categories related to heat vulnerability: heat and humidity hazards, population vulnerability, medical access, and physical infrastructure. A final map showcases a composite heat vulnerability score for each county, with comparisons to state and national averages. Our tool, part of the White House's Climate Data Initiative, is presented as a series of maps with a normalized scoring system to provide clear and easy access to the indicators most relevant to evaluating heat vulnerability at a local level. Ultimately, this readily available tool with general indices helps community decision makers communicate heat vulnerability and identify which resilience factors are most critical to improving local resilience.

Wilderness-dependent wildlife: The large and carnivorous

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mattson, David J.

1997-01-01

Wilderness is vital to the conservation of wildlife species that are prone to conflict with humans and vulnerable to human-caused mortality. These species tend to be large and are often carnivorous. Such animals are typically problematic for humans because they kill livestock and, occasionally, humans, and cause inordinate damage to crops. The vulnerability of large herbivores and carnivores to humans is exacerbated by vigorous markets for wild meat and other body parts, widespread human poverty, and human societies prone to the breakdown of civil order. The survival of wilderness-dependent wildlife is thus not only linked to the preservation of extensive wilderness but is also affected by the health of human societies. Because overt intervention has limited uses in the preservation of wilderness-dependent wildlife, these animals pose a special problem for humanity. Their survival requires that we forgo domination of a substantial portion of the remaining wildlands on Earth.

Do we have a moral responsibility to compensate for vulnerable groups? A discussion on the right to health for LGBT people.

PubMed

Ekmekci, Perihan Elif

2017-09-01

Vulnerability is a broad concept widely addressed in recent scholarly literature. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are among the vulnerable populations with significant disadvantages related to health and the social determinants of health. Medical ethics discourse tackles vulnerability from philosophical and political perspectives. LGBT people experience several disadvantages from both perspectives. This article aims to justify the right to health for LGBT people and their particular claims regarding healthcare because they belong to a vulnerable group. Rawls' theory of justice and Norman Daniels' normal functioning approach will be discussed in this context. Despite the fact that the right to health can be justified by Daniels' normal functioning approach, there is still a theoretical gap in justifying the right to health for particular vulnerable populations such as LGBT peopleand discussing society's duty to compensate for these disadvantages. In search of solid theoretical grounds for the justification of the right to health for LGBT people, the present author takes the opportunity to utilize Daniels' flexible definition of normal functioning to show that normal functioning not only varies by age but also by different states of human existence, including sexual orientation and gender identity, and to propose replacing the life span approach with normal states of human existence.

An Integrated Approach for Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Düzgün, H. S.; Yücemen, M. S.; Kalaycioglu, H. S.

2009-04-01

The earthquake risk for an urban area has increased over the years due to the increasing complexities in urban environments. The main reasons are the location of major cities in hazard prone areas, growth in urbanization and population and rising wealth measures. In recent years physical examples of these factors are observed through the growing costs of major disasters in urban areas which have stimulated a demand for in-depth evaluation of possible strategies to manage the large scale damaging effects of earthquakes. Understanding and formulation of urban earthquake risk requires consideration of a wide range of risk aspects, which can be handled by developing an integrated approach. In such an integrated approach, an interdisciplinary view should be incorporated into the risk assessment. Risk assessment for an urban area requires prediction of vulnerabilities related to elements at risk in the urban area and integration of individual vulnerability assessments. However, due to complex nature of an urban environment, estimating vulnerabilities and integrating them necessities development of integrated approaches in which vulnerabilities of social, economical, structural (building stock and infrastructure), cultural and historical heritage are estimated for a given urban area over a given time period. In this study an integrated urban earthquake vulnerability assessment framework, which considers vulnerability of urban environment in a holistic manner and performs the vulnerability assessment for the smallest administrative unit, namely at neighborhood scale, is proposed. The main motivation behind this approach is the inability to implement existing vulnerability assessment methodologies for countries like Turkey, where the required data are usually missing or inadequate and decision makers seek for prioritization of their limited resources in risk reduction in the administrative districts from which they are responsible. The methodology integrates socio-economical, structural, coastal, ground condition, organizational vulnerabilities, as well as accessibility to critical services within the framework. The proposed framework has the following eight components: Seismic hazard analysis, soil response analysis, tsunami inundation analysis, structural vulnerability analysis, socio-economic vulnerability analysis, accessibility to critical services, GIS-based integrated vulnerability assessment, and visualization of vulnerabilities in 3D virtual city model The integrated model for various vulnerabilities obtained for the urban area is developed in GIS environment by using individual vulnerability assessments for considered elements at risk and serve for establishing the backbone of the spatial decision support system. The stages followed in the model are: Determination of a common mapping unit for each aspect of urban earthquake vulnerability, formation of a geo-database for the vulnerabilities, evaluation of urban vulnerability based on multi attribute utility theory with various weighting algorithms, mapping of the evaluated integrated earthquake risk in geographic information systems (GIS) in the neighborhood scale. The framework is also applicable to larger geographical mapping scales, for example, the building scale. When illustrating the results in building scale, 3-D visualizations with remote sensing data is used so that decision-makers can easily interpret the outputs. The proposed vulnerability assessment framework is flexible and can easily be applied to urban environments at various geographical scales with different mapping units. The obtained total vulnerability maps for the urban area provide a baseline for the development of risk reduction strategies for the decision makers. Moreover, as several aspects of elements at risk for an urban area is considered through vulnerability analyses, effect on changes in vulnerability conditions on the total can easily be determined. The developed approach also enables decision makers to monitor temporal and spatial changes in the urban environment due to implementation of risk reduction strategies.

Mapping Of Leptospirosis Environmental Risk Factors and Determining the Level of Leptospirosis Vulnerable Zone In Demak District Using Remote Sensing Image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahayu, Siti; Sakundarno Adi, Mateus; Saraswati, Lintang Dian

2018-02-01

Leptospirosis, a zoonotic disease, transmitted to human trough contact with contaminated animal urine and contaminated environment. Demak District is an endemic area where cases increased in the past 2 years. The aim of the study was to map environmental risk factor of Leptospirosis and to determine Leptospirosis vulnerable zone using cross-sectional study design. There were 42 cases mapped by GPS and overlaid using remote sensing (Quickbird image) by using ArcView program then interpreted by Spatial Feature and Spatial Analyses. Leptospirosis cases were spread out and grouped in Demak Sub District area. More cases were males (61.9%), 21-50 years old age group (59.3%) and farmers (40.4%). Spatial analyses showed that all the leptospirosis cases took place in the area with low plain <47 msl, rainfall ≥220 mm/month (64.7%), clay soil (100%), buffer river <50 m (71.4%), presence of rat (100%), wastewater disposal (100%), waste disposal facilities (97.7%), flood's profile (28.6%), tidal inundation's profile (7.1%), vegetation (59.5%). Leptospirosis high-risk zone was in 37,801.8 ha (41.32%), moderate risk zone was 43,570.23 ha (48.55%), and low-risk zone was 9,090.96 ha (10.13%). Densely populated housing, bad environment condition, and the presence of rat and puddles that were contaminated by rat's urine were risk factors of Leptospirosis cases in Demak District.

Integrated assessment of social and environmental sustainability dynamics in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta, Bangladesh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicholls, R. J.; Hutton, C. W.; Lázár, A. N.; Allan, A.; Adger, W. N.; Adams, H.; Wolf, J.; Rahman, M.; Salehin, M.

2016-12-01

Deltas provide diverse ecosystem services and benefits for their populations. At the same time, deltas are also recognised as one of the most vulnerable coastal environments, with a range of drivers operating at multiple scales, from global climate change and sea-level rise to deltaic-scale subsidence and land cover change. These drivers threaten these ecosystem services, which often provide livelihoods for the poorest communities in these regions. The imperative to maintain ecosystem services presents a development challenge: how to develop deltaic areas in ways that are sustainable and benefit all residents including the most vulnerable. Here we present an integrated framework to analyse changing ecosystem services in deltas and the implications for human well-being, focussing in particular on the provisioning ecosystem services of agriculture, inland and offshore capture fisheries, aquaculture and mangroves that directly support livelihoods. The framework is applied to the world's most populated delta, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta within Bangladesh. The framework adopts a systemic perspective to represent the principal biophysical and socio-ecological components and their interaction. A range of methods are integrated within a quantitative framework, including biophysical and socio-economic modelling and analyses of governance through scenario development. The approach is iterative, with learning both within the project team and with national policy-making stakeholders. The analysis is used to explore physical and social outcomes for the delta under different scenarios and policy choices. We consider how the approach is transferable to other deltas and potentially other coastal areas.

Understanding and Responding to Youth Substance Use: The Contribution of a Health and Human Rights Framework

PubMed Central

Gruskin, Sofia; Plafker, Karen; Smith-Estelle, Allison

2001-01-01

This article examines the utility of a health and human rights framework for conceptualizing and responding to the causes and consequences of substance use among young people. It provides operational definitions of “youth” and “substances,” a review of current international and national efforts to address substance use among youths, and an introduction to human rights and the intersection between health and human rights. A methodology for modeling vulnerability in relation to harmful substance use is introduced and contemporary international and national responses are discussed. When governments uphold their obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights, vulnerability to harmful substance use and its consequences can be reduced. PMID:11726374

Climate Justice in Rural Southeastern United States: A Review of Climate Change Impacts and Effects on Human Health

PubMed Central

Gutierrez, Kristie S.; LePrevost, Catherine E.

2016-01-01

Climate justice is a local, national, and global movement to protect at-risk populations who are disproportionately affected by climate change. The social context for this review is the Southeastern region of the United States, which is particularly susceptible to climate change because of the geography of the area and the vulnerabilities of the inhabiting populations. Negative human health effects on variable and vulnerable populations within the Southeast region due to changing climate are concerning, as health threats are not expected to produce parallel effects among all individuals. Vulnerable communities, such as communities of color, indigenous people, the geographically isolated, and those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged and already experiencing poor environmental quality, are least able to respond and adapt to climate change. Focusing on vulnerable populations in the Southeastern United States, this review is a synthesis of the recent (2010 to 2015) literature-base on the health effects connected to climate change. This review also addresses local and regional mitigation and adaptation strategies for citizens and leaders to combat direct and indirect human health effects related to a changing climate. PMID:26848673

Vulnerability to the transmission of human visceral leishmaniasis in a Brazilian urban area.

PubMed

Toledo, Celina Roma Sánchez de; Almeida, Andréa Sobral de; Chaves, Sergio Augusto de Miranda; Sabroza, Paulo Chagastelles; Toledo, Luciano Medeiros; Caldas, Jefferson Pereira

2017-05-15

To analyze the determinants for the occurrence of human visceral leishmaniasis linked to the conditions of vulnerability. This is an ecological study, whose spatial analysis unit was the Territorial Analysis Unit in Araguaína, State of Tocantins, Brazil, from 2007 to 2012. We have carried out an analysis of the sociodemographic and urban infrastructure situation of the municipality. Normalized primary indicators were calculated and used to construct the indicators of vulnerability of the social structure, household structure, and urban infrastructure. From them, we have composed a vulnerability index. Kernel density estimation was used to evaluate the density of cases of human visceral leishmaniasis, based on the coordinates of the cases. Bivariate global Moran's I was used to verify the existence of spatial autocorrelation between the incidence of human visceral leishmaniasis and the indicators and index of vulnerability. Bivariate local Moran's I was used to identify spatial clusters. We have observed a pattern of centrifugal spread of human visceral leishmaniasis in the municipality, where outbreaks of the disease have progressively reached central and peri-urban areas. There has been no correlation between higher incidences of human visceral leishmaniasis and worse living conditions. Statistically significant clusters have been observed between the incidences of human visceral leishmaniasis in both periods analyzed (2007 to 2009 and 2010 to 2012) and the indicators and index of vulnerability. The environment in circumscribed areas helps as protection factor or increases the local vulnerability to the occurrence of human visceral leishmaniasis. The use of methodology that analyzes the conditions of life of the population and the spatial distribution of human visceral leishmaniasis is essential to identify the most vulnerable areas to the spread/maintenance of the disease. Analisar determinantes para a ocorrência da leishmaniose visceral humana vinculados às condições de vulnerabilidade. Estudo ecológico, cuja unidade de análise espacial foi a Unidade de Análise Territorial em Araguaína, TO, de 2007 a 2012. Foi realizada análise da situação sociodemográfica e de infraestrutura urbana no município. Indicadores primários normalizados foram calculados e utilizados na construção de indicadores de vulnerabilidade de estrutura social, de estrutura domiciliar e de infraestrutura urbana. A partir deles, foi composto um índice de vulnerabilidade. A estimativa de Kernel foi utilizada para avaliar a densidade de casos de leishmaniose visceral humana, com base nas coordenadas dos casos. O I-Moran Global Bivariado foi empregado para verificar a existência de autocorrelação espacial entre a incidência de leishmaniose visceral humana e os indicadores e índice de vulnerabilidade. I-Moran Local Bivariado foi utilizado para identificar clusters espaciais. Foi observado um padrão de disseminação centrífuga da leishmaniose visceral humana no município, em que surtos da doença atingiram progressivamente áreas centrais e periurbanas. Houve correlação entre maiores incidências de leishmaniose visceral humana e piores condições de vida. Foram observados clusters estatisticamente significativos entre as incidências de leishmaniose visceral humana nos dois períodos analisados (2007 a 2009 e 2010 a 2012) e os indicadores e índice de vulnerabilidade. O ambiente em áreas circunscritas contribui como fator de proteção ou aumenta a vulnerabilidade local à ocorrência de leishmaniose visceral humana. O uso de metodologia que analisa as condições de vida da população e distribuição espacial da leishmaniose visceral humana é essencial na identificação de áreas mais vulneráveis à disseminação/manutenção da doença.

Predicting and setting conservation priorities for Bolivian mammals based on biological correlates of the risk of decline.

PubMed

Peñaranda, Diego A; Simonetti, Javier A

2015-06-01

The recognition that growing proportions of species worldwide are endangered has led to the development of comparative analyses to elucidate why some species are more prone to extinction than others. Understanding factors and patterns of species vulnerability might provide an opportunity to develop proactive conservation strategies. Such comparative analyses are of special concern at national scales because this is the scale at which most conservation initiatives take place. We applied powerful ensemble learning models to test for biological correlates of the risk of decline among the Bolivian mammals to understand species vulnerability at a national scale and to predict the population trend for poorly known species. Risk of decline was nonrandomly distributed: higher proportions of large-sized taxa were under decline, whereas small-sized taxa were less vulnerable. Body mass, mode of life (i.e., aquatic, terrestrial, volant), geographic range size, litter size, home range, niche specialization, and reproductive potential were strongly associated with species vulnerability. Moreover, we found interacting and nonlinear effects of key traits on the risk of decline of mammals at a national scale. Our model predicted 35 data-deficient species in decline on the basis of their biological vulnerability, which should receive more attention in order to prevent their decline. Our results highlight the relevance of comparative analysis at relatively narrow geographical scales, reveal previously unknown factors related to species vulnerability, and offer species-by-species outcomes that can be used to identify targets for conservation, especially for insufficiently known species. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

EPA'S REGIONAL VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM: TOOLS TO FACILITATE REGIONAL TO LOCAL DECISION-MAKING

EPA Science Inventory

EPA's Regional Vulnerability Assessment (ReVA) program is developing and testing approaches to conducting comparative environmental risk assessments at the regional scale, considering impacts to ecological human, and fiscal health endpoints. It seeks an objective and quantifiable...

[Vulnerability assessment of eco-environment in Yimeng mountainous area of Shandong Province based on SRP conceptual model].

PubMed

Liu, Zheng-jia; Yu, Xing-xiu; Li, Lei; Huang, Mei

2011-08-01

Based on the ecological sensitivity-resilience-pressure (SRP) conceptual model, and selecting 13 indices including landscape diversity index, soil erosion, and elevation, etc. , the vulnerability of the eco-environment in Yimeng mountainous area of Shandong Province was assessed under the support of GIS and by using principal component analysis and hierarchy analytical method. According to the eco-environmental vulnerability index (EVI) values, the eco-environment vulnerability of study area was classified into 5 levels, i.e., slight (<1.8), light (1.8-2.8), moderate (2.8-3.5), heavy (3.5-4.0), and extreme vulnerability (>4.0). In the study area, moderately vulnerable area occupied 43.3% of the total, while the slightly, lightly, heavily, and extremely vulnerable areas occupied 6.1%, 33.8%, 15.9%, and 0.9%, respectively. The heavily and extremely vulnerable areas mainly located in the topographically complicated hilly area or the hill-plain ecotone with frequent human activities.

Static and dynamic bending has minor effects on xylem hydraulics of conifer branches (Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris).

PubMed

Mayr, Stefan; Bertel, Clara; Dämon, Birgit; Beikircher, Barbara

2014-09-01

The xylem hydraulic efficiency and safety is usually measured on mechanically unstressed samples, although trees may be exposed to combined hydraulic and mechanical stress in the field. We analysed changes in hydraulic conductivity and vulnerability to drought-induced embolism during static bending of Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris branches as well as the effect of dynamic bending on the vulnerability. We hypothesized this mechanical stress to substantially impair xylem hydraulics. Intense static bending caused an only small decrease in hydraulic conductance (-19.5 ± 2.4% in P. abies) but no shift in vulnerability thresholds. Dynamic bending caused a 0.4 and 0.8 MPa decrease of the water potential at 50 and 88% loss of conductivity in P. sylvestris, but did not affect vulnerability thresholds in P. abies. With respect to applied extreme bending radii, effects on plant hydraulics were surprisingly small and are thus probably of minor eco-physiological importance. More importantly, results indicate that available xylem hydraulic analyses (of conifers) sufficiently reflect plant hydraulics under field conditions. © 2014 The Authors. Plant, Cell & Environment published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Region-specific vulnerability to lipid peroxidation and evidence of neuronal mechanisms for polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis in the healthy adult human central nervous system.

PubMed

Naudí, Alba; Cabré, Rosanna; Dominguez-Gonzalez, Mayelin; Ayala, Victoria; Jové, Mariona; Mota-Martorell, Natalia; Piñol-Ripoll, Gerard; Gil-Villar, Maria Pilar; Rué, Montserrat; Portero-Otín, Manuel; Ferrer, Isidre; Pamplona, Reinald

2017-05-01

Lipids played a determinant role in the evolution of the brain. It is postulated that the morphological and functional diversity among neural cells of the human central nervous system (CNS) is projected and achieved through the expression of particular lipid profiles. The present study was designed to evaluate the differential vulnerability to oxidative stress mediated by lipids through a cross-regional comparative approach. To this end, we compared 12 different regions of CNS of healthy adult subjects, and the fatty acid profile and vulnerability to lipid peroxidation, were determined by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), respectively. In addition, different components involved in PUFA biosynthesis, as well as adaptive defense mechanisms against lipid peroxidation, were also measured by western blot and immunohistochemistry, respectively. We found that: i) four fatty acids (18.1n-9, 22:6n-3, 20:1n-9, and 18:0) are significant discriminators among CNS regions; ii) these differential fatty acid profiles generate a differential selective neural vulnerability (expressed by the peroxidizability index); iii) the cross-regional differences for the fatty acid profiles follow a caudal-cranial gradient which is directly related to changes in the biosynthesis pathways which can be ascribed to neuronal cells; and iv) the higher the peroxidizability index for a given human brain region, the lower concentration of the protein damage markers, likely supported by the presence of adaptive antioxidant mechanisms. In conclusion, our results suggest that there is a region-specific vulnerability to lipid peroxidation and offer evidence of neuronal mechanisms for polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis in the human central nervous system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A vulnerability assessment of 300 species in Florida: threats from sea level rise, land use, and climate change.

PubMed

Reece, Joshua Steven; Noss, Reed F; Oetting, Jon; Hoctor, Tom; Volk, Michael

2013-01-01

Species face many threats, including accelerated climate change, sea level rise, and conversion and degradation of habitat from human land uses. Vulnerability assessments and prioritization protocols have been proposed to assess these threats, often in combination with information such as species rarity; ecological, evolutionary or economic value; and likelihood of success. Nevertheless, few vulnerability assessments or prioritization protocols simultaneously account for multiple threats or conservation values. We applied a novel vulnerability assessment tool, the Standardized Index of Vulnerability and Value, to assess the conservation priority of 300 species of plants and animals in Florida given projections of climate change, human land-use patterns, and sea level rise by the year 2100. We account for multiple sources of uncertainty and prioritize species under five different systems of value, ranging from a primary emphasis on vulnerability to threats to an emphasis on metrics of conservation value such as phylogenetic distinctiveness. Our results reveal remarkable consistency in the prioritization of species across different conservation value systems. Species of high priority include the Miami blue butterfly (Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri), Key tree cactus (Pilosocereus robinii), Florida duskywing butterfly (Ephyriades brunnea floridensis), and Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium). We also identify sources of uncertainty and the types of life history information consistently missing across taxonomic groups. This study characterizes the vulnerabilities to major threats of a broad swath of Florida's biodiversity and provides a system for prioritizing conservation efforts that is quantitative, flexible, and free from hidden value judgments.

The Vulnerability of Study Participants in the Context of Transnational Biomedical Research: From Conceptual Considerations to Practical Implications.

PubMed

Orth, Helen Grete; Schicktanz, Silke

2017-08-01

Outsourcing clinical trials sponsored by pharmaceutical companies from industrialized countries to low- (middle)-income countries - summarized as transnational biomedical research (TBR) - has lead to many concerns about ethical standards. Whether study participants are particularly vulnerable is one of those concerns. However, the concept of vulnerability is still vague and varies in its definition. Despite the fact that important international ethical guidelines such as the Declaration of Helsinki by the World Medical Association or the Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects by the Council of International Organizations of Medical Sciences refer to vulnerability as ethical principle, each of their approaches are different. To overcome these shortcomings, we analyze and unite different approaches of vulnerability and develop practical criteria in order to operationalize the concept especially for the context of TBR. These criteria refer to the context of a study as well as the characteristics and the current living situation of study participants. Based on a case study of an HIV-vaccine-trial conducted in India we demonstrate how those criteria can be applied in a retrospective way to identify potential ethical conflicts. The criteria can also indicate a prospective function for ethical pre-assessment. For this, we provide an outlook for three major topics: 1. Vulnerability as a normative concept: Different ways of protection; 2. The relevance of transparency and 3. Vulnerability as an instrument to increase decision participation of human subjects. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluating the Characteristics of Social Vulnerability to Wildfire: Demographics, Perceptions, and Parcel Characteristics.

PubMed

Paveglio, Travis B; Prato, Tony; Edgeley, Catrin; Nalle, Darek

2016-09-01

A large body of research focuses on identifying patterns of human populations most at risk from hazards and the factors that help explain performance of mitigations that can help reduce that risk. One common concept in such studies is social vulnerability-human populations' potential exposure to, sensitivity from and ability to reduce negative impacts from a hazard. While there is growing interest in social vulnerability for wildfire, few studies have critically evaluated the characteristics that scholars often indicate influence social vulnerability to that hazard. This research utilizes surveys, wildfire simulations, and GIS data to test the relationships between select demographic, perceptual and parcel characteristics of property owners against empirically simulated metrics for wildfire exposure or wildfire-related damages and their performance of mitigation actions. Our results from Flathead County, MT, USA, suggest that parcel characteristics such as property value, building value, and the year structures were built explaining a significant amount of the variance in elements of social vulnerability. Demographic characteristics commonly used in social vulnerability analysis did not have significant relationships with measures of wildfire exposure or vulnerability. Part-time or full-time residency, age, perceived property risk, and year of development were among the few significant determinants of residents' performance of fuel reduction mitigations, although the significance of these factors varied across the levels of fuel reduction performed by homeowners. We use these and other results to argue for a renewed focus on the finer-scale characteristics that expose some populations to wildfire risk more than others.

The influence of diabetes distress on digital interventions for diabetes management in vulnerable people with type 2 diabetes: A qualitative study of patient perspectives.

PubMed

Mathiesen, Anne Sophie; Thomsen, Thordis; Jensen, Tonny; Schiøtz, Charlotte; Langberg, Henning; Egerod, Ingrid

2017-09-01

Digital interventions for improving diabetes management in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are used universally. Digital interventions are defined as any intervention accessed and taking input from people with T2DM in the form of a web-based or mobile phone-based app to improve diabetes self-management. However, the current confidence in digital interventions threatens to augment social inequalities in health, also known as the "digital divide". To counteract dissemination of the digital divide, we aimed to assess the potential of a tailored digital intervention for improving diabetes management in vulnerable people with T2DM. A qualitative design using semi-structured in-depth interviews to explore the perspectives of 12 vulnerable people with T2DM. Interviews were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Vulnerability was defined by the presence of one or more comorbidities, one or more lifestyle risk factors, poor diabetes management, low educational level and low health literacy. The main themes identified were: "Dealing with diabetes distress" characterized by psychological avoidance mechanisms; "Suffering informational confusion" dealing with inconsistent information; "Experiencing digital alienation" dealing with loss of freedom when technology invades the private sphere; and "Missing the human touch" preferring human interaction over digital contact. Vulnerable people with T2DM are unprepared for digital interventions for disease management. Experiencing diabetes distress may be an intermediate mechanism leading to nonadherence to digital interventions and the preference for human interaction in vulnerable people with T2DM. Future interventions could include a designated caregiver and an allocated buddy to provide support and assist uptake of digital interventions for diabetes management.

[Socioeconomic vulnerability and obesity in Chilean schoolchildren attending first grade: comparison between 2009 and 2013].

PubMed

Herrera, Juan Carlos; Lira, Mariana; Kain, Juliana

2017-12-01

Although obesity is related to socioeconomic level, studies are inconclusive. To determine obesity risk according to socioeconomic vulnerability among Chilean children (1st grade) in 2009 and 2013 and assess its change during that period, by sex and geographical area. Cross-sectional study (N = 175,462 in 2009) and (N = 189,055 in 2013) which included: weight, height, rural / urban, gender and vulnerability obtained from JUNAEB's survey. BMI Z, % obesity and 3 categories of vulnerability (very vulnerable, moderate, non-vulnerable) were determined. For the descriptive analyses, we used t tests and for predictor variables (2 categories of vulnerability) and outcome (obesity) by sex and area, we used %2. Logistic regression models determined OR to develop obesity by. % obesity was 19.6% and 24.1% in 2009 and 2013, higher in boys. In urban and rural areas respectively, OR to develop obesity were: 0.85 (0.82-0.88) and 0.70 (0.64-0.75) in the most vulnerable students and 0.94 (0.91-0.97) and 0.81 (0.74-0.88) in those with moderate vulnerability in 2009 and 0.96 (0.93-0.98) and 0.89 (0.82-0.96) in the most vulnerable students and 0.99 (0.96-1.02) and 0.94 (0.86-1.02) in students with moderate vulnerability in 2013. The highest increase in obesity was observed among the most vulnerable group from rural areas (16, 6 to 24.3%). vulnerability. The non-vulnerable group had the highest % obesity. Although the most vulnerable students in rural areas had the lowest obesity risk in both years, the highest increase in obesity during the period, occurred in that group.

Groundwater vulnerability assessment for the Banyas Catchment of the Syrian coastal area using GIS and the RISKE method.

PubMed

Kattaa, Bassam; Al-Fares, Walid; Al Charideh, Abdul Rahman

2010-05-01

Vulnerability assessment to delineate areas that are more susceptible to contamination from anthropogenic sources has become an important element for sensible resource management and landuse planning. This contribution aims at estimating aquifer vulnerability by applying the RISKE model in Banyas Catchment Area (BCA), Tartous Prefecture, west Syria. An additional objective is to demonstrate the combined use of the RISKE model and a geographical information system (GIS) as an effective method for groundwater pollution risk assessment. The RISKE model uses five environmental parameters (Rock of aquifer media, Infiltration, Soil media, Karst, and Epikarst) to characterize the hydro-geological setting and evaluate aquifer vulnerability. The elevated eastern and low western part of the study area was dominated by high vulnerability classes, while the middle part was characterized by moderate vulnerability classes. Based on the vulnerability analysis, it was found that 2% and 39% of BCA is under low and high vulnerability to groundwater contamination, respectively, while more than 52% and 5% of the area of BCA can be designated as an area of moderate and very high vulnerability to groundwater contamination, respectively. The GIS technique has provided an efficient environment for analyses and high capabilities of handling a large amount of spatial data. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Indicators: Human Disturbance

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Human disturbance is a measure of the vulnerability of aquatic resources to a variety of harmful human activities such as tree removal, road building, construction near shorelines/streambanks, and artificial hardening of lakeshores with retaining walls.

Reduced connectivity and inter-hemispheric symmetry of the sensory system in a rat model of vulnerability to developing depression.

PubMed

Ben-Shimol, E; Gass, N; Vollmayr, B; Sartorius, A; Goelman, G

2015-12-03

Defining the markers corresponding to a high risk of developing depression in humans would have major clinical significance; however, few studies have been conducted since they are not only complex but also require homogeneous groups. This study compared congenital learned helpless (cLH) rats, selectively bred for high stress sensitivity and learned helplessness (LH) behavior, to congenital non-learned helpless (cNLH) rats that were bred for resistance to uncontrollable stress. Naïve cLH rats show some depression-like behavior but full LH behavior need additional stress, making this model ideal for studying vulnerability to depression. Resting-state functional connectivity obtained from seed correlation analysis was calculated for multiple regions that were selected by anatomy AND by a data-driven approach, independently. Significance was determined by t-statistic AND by permutation analysis, independently. A significant reduction in functional connectivity was observed by both analyses in the cLH rats in the sensory, motor, cingulate, infralimbic, accumbens and the raphe nucleus. These reductions corresponded primarily to reduced inter-hemispheric connectivity. The main reduction however was in the sensory system. It is argued that reduced connectivity and inter-hemispheric connectivity of the sensory system reflects an internal convergence state which may precede other depressive symptomatology and therefore could be used as markers for vulnerability to the development of depression. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change moderated by habitat intactness.

PubMed

Eigenbrod, Felix; Gonzalez, Patrick; Dash, Jadunandan; Steyl, Ilse

2015-01-01

The combined effects of climate change and habitat loss represent a major threat to species and ecosystems around the world. Here, we analyse the vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change based on current levels of habitat intactness and vulnerability to biome shifts, using multiple measures of habitat intactness at two spatial scales. We show that the global extent of refugia depends highly on the definition of habitat intactness and spatial scale of the analysis of intactness. Globally, 28% of terrestrial vegetated area can be considered refugia if all natural vegetated land cover is considered. This, however, drops to 17% if only areas that are at least 50% wilderness at a scale of 48×48 km are considered and to 10% if only areas that are at least 50% wilderness at a scale of 4.8×4.8 km are considered. Our results suggest that, in regions where relatively large, intact wilderness areas remain (e.g. Africa, Australia, boreal regions, South America), conservation of the remaining large-scale refugia is the priority. In human-dominated landscapes, (e.g. most of Europe, much of North America and Southeast Asia), focusing on finer scale refugia is a priority because large-scale wilderness refugia simply no longer exist. Action to conserve such refugia is particularly urgent since only 1 to 2% of global terrestrial vegetated area is classified as refugia and at least 50% covered by the global protected area network. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Single cell gene expression profiling in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Ginsberg, Stephen D; Che, Shaoli; Counts, Scott E; Mufson, Elliott J

2006-07-01

Development and implementation of microarray techniques to quantify expression levels of dozens to hundreds to thousands of transcripts simultaneously within select tissue samples from normal control subjects and neurodegenerative diseased brains has enabled scientists to create molecular fingerprints of vulnerable neuronal populations in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders. A goal is to sample gene expression from homogeneous cell types within a defined region without potential contamination by expression profiles of adjacent neuronal subpopulations and nonneuronal cells. The precise resolution afforded by single cell and population cell RNA analysis in combination with microarrays and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based analyses allows for relative gene expression level comparisons across cell types under different experimental conditions and disease progression. The ability to analyze single cells is an important distinction from global and regional assessments of mRNA expression and can be applied to optimally prepared tissues from animal models of neurodegeneration as well as postmortem human brain tissues. Gene expression analysis in postmortem AD brain regions including the hippocampal formation and neocortex reveals selectively vulnerable cell types share putative pathogenetic alterations in common classes of transcripts, for example, markers of glutamatergic neurotransmission, synaptic-related markers, protein phosphatases and kinases, and neurotrophins/neurotrophin receptors. Expression profiles of vulnerable regions and neurons may reveal important clues toward the understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of various neurological diseases and aid in identifying rational targets toward pharmacotherapeutic interventions for progressive, late-onset neurodegenerative disorders such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD.

Analysis of Human Disturbance and Ecological Security Evolution in Oasis in Arid Area Based on LUCC: A Case Study of Oasis in the Northern Tianshan Mountain Slope Economic Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, W. J.; Chen, M. H.; Zhang, Q.; Liu, S. S.; Yang, J. N.

2017-07-01

Oases in arid areas are environmentally and economically vulnerable regions. Study on ecological security of oases in arid areas is of great significance to the stability and the economic development of oases. Based on Land Use/Land Cover data in 1965, 1980, 1995, 2005 and 2015, the study analyze the temporal and spatial changes in human disturbance and ecological security of oases in the Northern Tianshan Mountain Slope Economic Zone (NTMSEZ) in recent 50 years by establishing the ecological security index (ESI) through human disturbance index and landscape vulnerability index. The results showed that: in recent 50 years, the human disturbance of the NTMSEZ has been increased to current moderate human impacts. Urban construction, oasis expansion and farmland reclamation are the main factors of the increment. The human disturbance in Urumchi, Shihezi, Kuitun, Miquan and Changji is higher than that in other oases and that in core areas of oasis is higher than other areas. The ESI of the NTMSEZ increases firstly and then decreases. In most areas, the ESI is “relatively unsafe” and “critical”. However, there are increasingly more vulnerable areas, moving northwestwards and expanding southwards. The ESI gradually presents a “NW-SE” trend of zonal distribution pattern.

Prioritizing vulnerable children: why should we address inequity?

PubMed

Joshua, P; Zwi, K; Moran, P; White, L

2015-11-01

Children and young people from vulnerable population groups, including Indigenous Australians, those in out of home care, those with disabilities and those from refugee families, have difficulties in accessing health services and are at high risk of adverse outcomes, driving population health inequity. Although heterogeneous, these groups face common disadvantage and shared challenges in health service utilization. This study aims to analyse the demographics of vulnerable child populations in NSW, the rationale for focussing on their health needs and strategies for addressing population health inequity. A literature review was undertaken on vulnerable child populations and successful strategies for improving their health outcomes. NSW data on vulnerable children were collated. Vulnerable children in NSW are estimated to comprise 10-20% of the childhood population. Efforts to improve their health and well-being can be justified based on child rights, a focus on equity and effectiveness of care, public opinion and the evidence base supporting such interventions. Targeted (subpopulation specific) interventions and delivery of universally applied (population wide) strategies that disproportionately benefit vulnerable populations have been shown to be effective in reducing healthcare disparities. Most available information relates to specific vulnerable population groups. However, some effective strategies and key principles are broadly applicable to the vulnerable child population as a whole. Vulnerable children should be a key focus of healthcare interventions if inequities are to be addressed. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Modelling homogeneous regions of social vulnerability to malaria in Rwanda.

PubMed

Bizimana, Jean Pierre; Kienberger, Stefan; Hagenlocher, Michael; Twarabamenye, Emmanuel

2016-03-31

Despite the decline in malaria incidence due to intense interventions, potentials for malaria transmission persist in Rwanda. To eradicate malaria in Rwanda, strategies need to expand beyond approaches that focus solely on malaria epidemiology and also consider the socioeconomic, demographic and biological/disease-related factors that determine the vulnerability of potentially exposed populations. This paper analyses current levels of social vulnerability to malaria in Rwanda by integrating a set of weighted vulnerability indicators. The paper uses regionalisation techniques as a spatially explicit approach for delineating homogeneous regions of social vulnerability to malaria. This overcomes the limitations of administrative boundaries for modelling the trans-boundary social vulnerability to malaria. The utilised approach revealed high levels of social vulnerability to malaria in the highland areas of Rwanda, as well as in remote areas where populations are more susceptible. Susceptibility may be due to the populations' lacking the capacity to anticipate mosquito bites, or lacking resilience to cope with or recover from malaria infection. By highlighting the most influential indicators of social vulnerability to malaria, the applied approach indicates which vulnerability domains need to be addressed, and where appropriate interventions are most required. Interventions to improve the socioeconomic development in highly vulnerable areas could prove highly effective, and provide sustainable outcomes against malaria in Rwanda. This would ultimately increase the resilience of the population and their capacity to better anticipate, cope with, and recover from possible infection.

Determinants of physician utilization, emergency room use, and hospitalizations among populations with multiple health vulnerabilities.

PubMed

Small, La Fleur F

2011-09-01

Understanding the factors that influence differing types of health care utilization within vulnerable groups can serve as a basis for projecting future health care needs, forecasting future health care expenditures, and influencing social policy. In this article the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations is used to evaluate discretionary (physician visits) and non-discretionary (emergency room visits, and hospitalizations) health utilization patterns of a sample of 1466 respondents with one or more vulnerable health classification. Reported vulnerabilities include: (1) persons with substance disorders; (2) homeless persons; (3) persons with mental health problems; (4) victims of violent crime; (5) persons diagnosed with HIV/AIDS; (6) and persons in receipt of public benefits. Hierarchical logistic regression is used on three nested models to model factors that influence physician visits, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations. Additionally, bivariate logistic regression analyses are completed using a vulnerability index to evaluate the impact of increased numbers of vulnerability on all three forms of health care utilization. Findings from this study suggest the Behavioral Model of Vulnerable Populations be employed in future research regarding health care utilization patterns among vulnerable populations. This article encourages further research investigating the cumulative effect of health vulnerabilities on the use of non-discretionary services so that this behavior could be better understood and appropriate social policies and behavioral interventions implemented.

Traits influencing range contraction in New Zealand's endemic forest birds.

PubMed

Parlato, Elizabeth H; Armstrong, Doug P; Innes, John G

2015-10-01

Understanding vulnerability of endemic taxa to predation is clearly important for conservation management. In New Zealand, predation by introduced mammals such as rats and mustelids is widely recognized as the primary factor responsible for declines of indigenous fauna. The aim of our study was to evaluate the vulnerability of New Zealand's surviving endemic forest bird species to impacts of introduced mammalian predators, and identify key life history attributes underlying this vulnerability. We measured range contraction following the introduction of exotic mammalian predators for 23 endemic forest bird species using information on both pre-human and current distributions. We used Bayesian modeling techniques to analyze whether variation in range contraction was associated with life history traits potentially influencing species' predation vulnerability, while accounting for phylogenetic relatedness. Our results showed that the extent of range contraction varied greatly among species, with some species remaining in available forest habitat throughout most of their pre-human range, and others having disappeared completely from the main islands. Cavity nesting was the key trait associated with more extensive range decline, suggesting that cavity-nesting species are more vulnerable to predation than species that nest in more open sites.

From nature-dominated to human-dominated environmental changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messerli, Bruno; Grosjean, Martin; Hofer, Thomas; Núñez, Lautaro; Pfister, Christian

2000-01-01

To what extent is it realistic and useful to view human history as a sequence of changes from highly vulnerable societies of hunters and gatherers through periods with less vulnerable, well buffered and highly productive agrarian-urban societies to a world with regions of extreme overpopulation and overuse of life support systems, so that vulnerability to climatic-environmental changes and extreme events is again increasing? This question cannot be fully answered in our present state of knowledge, but at least we can try to illustrate, with three case studies from different continents, time periods and ecosystems, some fundamental changes in the relationship between natural processes and human activities that occur, as we pass from a nature-dominated to a human dominated environment. 1. Early-mid Holocene: Nature dominated environment — human adaptation, mitigation, and migration. In the central Andes, the Holocene climate changed from humid (10,800-8000 BP) to extreme arid (8000-3600 BP) conditions. Over the same period, prehistoric hunting communities adopted a more sedentary pattern of resource use by settling close to the few perennial water bodies, where they began the process of domesticating camelids around 5000 BP and irrigation from about 3100 BP. 2. Historical period: An agrarian society in transition from an "enduring" to an innovative human response. Detailed documentary evidence from Western Europe may be used to reconstruct quite precisely the impacts of climatic variations on agrarian societies. The period considered spans a major transition from an apparently passive response to the vagaries of the environment during the 16th century to an active and innovative attitude from the onset of the agrarian revolution in the late 18th century through to the present day. The associated changes in technology and in agricultural practices helped to create a society better able to survive the impact of climatic extremes. 3. The present day: A human dominated environment with increasing vulnerability of societies and economies to extreme events and natural variability. The third example, dealing with the history and impact of floods in Bangladesh, shows the increasing vulnerability of an over-exploited and human-dominated ecosystem. Measurements exist for a short time only (decades), historical data allow a prolongation of the record into the last century, and paleo-research provides the long-term record of processes operating over millennia. The long-term paleo-perspective is essential for a better understanding of future potential impacts on an increasingly human-dominated environment. Understanding today's global change processes calls for several new perspectives and synergisms: the integration of biophysically oriented climate change research with research about the increasingly dominant processes of human forcing, a focus on overexploited or limited natural resources and on vulnerable and critical regions, fuller use of our understanding of variability on a range of different timescales: "The present without a past has no future".

Do Seasons Have an Influence on the Incidence of Depression? The Use of an Internet Search Engine Query Data as a Proxy of Human Affect

PubMed Central

Yang, Albert C.; Huang, Norden E.; Peng, Chung-Kang; Tsai, Shih-Jen

2010-01-01

Background Seasonal depression has generated considerable clinical interest in recent years. Despite a common belief that people in higher latitudes are more vulnerable to low mood during the winter, it has never been demonstrated that human's moods are subject to seasonal change on a global scale. The aim of this study was to investigate large-scale seasonal patterns of depression using Internet search query data as a signature and proxy of human affect. Methodology/Principal Findings Our study was based on a publicly available search engine database, Google Insights for Search, which provides time series data of weekly search trends from January 1, 2004 to June 30, 2009. We applied an empirical mode decomposition method to isolate seasonal components of health-related search trends of depression in 54 geographic areas worldwide. We identified a seasonal trend of depression that was opposite between the northern and southern hemispheres; this trend was significantly correlated with seasonal oscillations of temperature (USA: r = −0.872, p<0.001; Australia: r = −0.656, p<0.001). Based on analyses of search trends over 54 geological locations worldwide, we found that the degree of correlation between searching for depression and temperature was latitude-dependent (northern hemisphere: r = −0.686; p<0.001; southern hemisphere: r = 0.871; p<0.0001). Conclusions/Significance Our findings indicate that Internet searches for depression from people in higher latitudes are more vulnerable to seasonal change, whereas this phenomenon is obscured in tropical areas. This phenomenon exists universally across countries, regardless of language. This study provides novel, Internet-based evidence for the epidemiology of seasonal depression. PMID:21060851

Seismic vulnerability assessment to earthquake at urban scale: A case of Mostaganem city in Algeria

PubMed Central

Benanane, Abdelkader; Boutaraa, Zohra

2018-01-01

The focus of this study was the seismic vulnerability assessment of buildings constituting Mostaganem city in Algeria. Situated 320 km to the west of Algiers, Mostaganem city encompasses a valuable cultural and architectural built heritage. The city has suffered several moderate earthquakes in recent years; this has led to extensive structural damage to old structures, especially unreinforced historical buildings. This study was divided into two essential steps, the first step being to establish fragility curves based on a non-linear static pushover analysis for each typology and height of buildings. Twenty-seven pushover analyses were performed by means of SAP2000 software (three analyses for each type of building). The second step was to adopt the US HAZUS software and to modify it to suit the typical setting and parameters of the city of Mostaganem. A seismic vulnerability analysis of Mostaganem city was conducted using HAZUS software after inputting the new parameters of the fragility curves established within the first step. The results indicated that the number of poor-quality buildings expected to be totally destroyed under a 5.5 Mw earthquake scenario could reach more than 28 buildings. Three percent of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings were completely damaged and 10% were extensively damaged. Of the concrete frame buildings, 6% were extensively damaged and 19% were moderately damaged. According to the built year, 6% of both concrete frame and URM buildings built before 1980 are estimated to be collapsing. Buildings constructed between 1980 and 1999 are more resistant; 8% of those structures were extensively damaged and 18% were moderately damaged. Only 10% of buildings constructed after 1999 were moderately damaged. The results also show that the main hospital of the city, built before 1960, will be extensively damaged during an earthquake of 5.5 Mw. The number of human casualties could reach several hundreds – 10.5% of residents of URM buildings are injured or dead. Compared with the URM buildings, concrete frame buildings have lower casualty rates of 1.5% and 0.5% for those built before and after 1980, respectively. It was concluded that Mostaganem city belongs to seismic vulnerable zones in Algeria; in this regard, an action plan is needed for the rehabilitation of old constructions. In addition, the effectiveness of establishing and introducing new and appropriate fragility curves was demonstrated.

How Nature-Based Tourism Might Increase Prey Vulnerability to Predators.

PubMed

Geffroy, Benjamin; Samia, Diogo S M; Bessa, Eduardo; Blumstein, Daniel T

2015-12-01

Tourism can be deleterious for wildlife because it triggers behavioral changes in individuals with cascading effects on populations and communities. Among these behavioral changes, animals around humans often reduce their fearfulness and antipredator responses towards humans. A straightforward prediction is that habituation to humans associated with tourism would negatively influence reaction to predators. This could happen indirectly, where human presence decreases the number of natural predators and thus prey become less wary, or directly, where human-habituated individuals become bolder and thus more vulnerable to predation. Building on ideas from the study of traits associated with domestication and urbanization, we develop a framework to understand how behavioral changes associated with nature-based tourism can impact individual fitness, and thus the demographic trajectory of a population. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Machine learning algorithm accurately detects fMRI signature of vulnerability to major depression.

PubMed

Sato, João R; Moll, Jorge; Green, Sophie; Deakin, John F W; Thomaz, Carlos E; Zahn, Roland

2015-08-30

Standard functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses cannot assess the potential of a neuroimaging signature as a biomarker to predict individual vulnerability to major depression (MD). Here, we use machine learning for the first time to address this question. Using a recently identified neural signature of guilt-selective functional disconnection, the classification algorithm was able to distinguish remitted MD from control participants with 78.3% accuracy. This demonstrates the high potential of our fMRI signature as a biomarker of MD vulnerability. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predicting vulnerability to hopelessness. A longitudinal analysis.

PubMed

Bonner, R L; Rich, A R

1991-01-01

The role of loneliness, irrational beliefs, and deficient reasons for living in predicting vulnerability to hopelessness under conditions of negative life stress was examined. Subjects (N = 178) completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Rational Beliefs Inventory, and the Reasons for Living Inventory at the beginning of the semester. Then, at midterm, measures of negative life stress, depression, and hopelessness were obtained from the same subjects. It was hypothesized that the vulnerability factors would interact with negative life stress to predict hopelessness, independent of depressed mood. The results of multiple regression analyses supported this hypothesis. Implications for research, prevention, and treatment are noted.

A pragmatic analysis of vulnerability in clinical research.

PubMed

Wendler, David

2017-09-01

Identifying which subjects are vulnerable, and implementing safeguards to protect them, is widely regarded as essential to clinical research. Commentators have endorsed a number of responses to these challenges and have thereby made significant progress in understanding vulnerability in clinical research. At the same time, this literature points to a central contradiction which calls into question its potential to protect vulnerable subjects in practice. Specifically, analysis suggests that all human subjects are vulnerable and vulnerability in clinical research is comparative and context dependent, in the sense that individuals are vulnerable relative to others and in some contexts only. Yet, if everyone is vulnerable, there seems to be no point in citing the vulnerability of some individuals. Moreover, the conclusion that everyone is vulnerable seems inconsistent with the claims that vulnerability is comparative and context dependent, raising concern over whether it will be possible to develop a comprehensive account of vulnerability that is internally consistent. The solution to this dilemma lies in recognition of the fact that the practical significance of claims regarding vulnerability depends on the context in which they are used. The claims that appear to lead to the central contradiction are in fact accurate conclusions that follow from different uses of the term 'vulnerability'. The present manuscript describes this 'pragmatic' approach to vulnerability in clinical research and considers its implications for ensuring that subjects receive appropriate protection. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Hydrologic vulnerability of tribal reservation lands across the U.S.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, C., Jr.; Leibowitz, S. G.; Sawicz, K. A.; Comeleo, R. L.; Stratton, L. E.

2017-12-01

We apply the hydrologic landscapes (HL) concept to assess the hydrologic vulnerability to climate of the United States (U.S.) with special emphasis on tribal lands. The basic assumption of the HL approach is that catchments that share similar physical and climatic characteristics are expected to have similar hydrologic characteristics. We map climate vulnerability by integrating a retrospective analysis of historical climate and hydrology into the HL approach, comparing this baseline of variability with future projections of temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, snow accumulation, climatic moisture, surplus water, and seasonality of the water surplus. Projections that are not within two standard deviations of the historical decadal average contribute to the vulnerability index for each metric. This allows stakeholders and/or water resource managers to understand the potential impacts of future conditions. The resulting vulnerability maps show that temperature and potential evapotranspiration are consistently projected to have high vulnerability indices across the U.S. including all tribal reservations. Precipitation vulnerability is not as spatially-uniform as temperature. Most areas with snow are projected to experience significant changes in future snow accumulation. The seasonality vulnerability map shows that mountainous areas in the West are most prone to changes in seasonality. This paper illustrates how the HL approach can help assess climatic and hydrologic vulnerability for disadvantaged groups across the U.S. By combining the HL concept and climate vulnerability analyses, we provide an approach that can assist tribal resource managers to perform vulnerability assessments and adaptation plans, which is a major priority for the tribes nationwide.

A new GIS-based tsunami risk evaluation: MeTHuVA (METU tsunami human vulnerability assessment) at Yenikapı, Istanbul

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cankaya, Zeynep Ceren; Suzen, Mehmet Lutfi; Yalciner, Ahmet Cevdet; Kolat, Cagil; Zaytsev, Andrey; Aytore, Betul

2016-07-01

Istanbul is a mega city with various coastal utilities located on the northern coast of the Sea of Marmara. At Yenikapı, there are critical vulnerable coastal utilities, structures, and active metropolitan life. Fishery ports, commercial ports, small craft harbors, passenger terminals of intercity maritime transportation, waterfront commercial and/or recreational structures with residential/commercial areas and public utility areas are some examples of coastal utilization that are vulnerable to marine disasters. Therefore, the tsunami risk in the Yenikapı region is an important issue for Istanbul. In this study, a new methodology for tsunami vulnerability assessment for areas susceptible to tsunami is proposed, in which the Yenikapı region is chosen as a case study. Available datasets from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Turkish Navy are used as inputs for high-resolution GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) evaluation of tsunami risk in Yenikapı. Bathymetry and topography database is used for high-resolution tsunami numerical modeling where the tsunami hazard, in terms of coastal inundation, is deterministically computed using the NAMI DANCE numerical code, considering earthquake worst case scenarios. In order to define the tsunami human vulnerability of the region, two different aspects, vulnerability at location and evacuation resilience maps were created using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) method of MCDA. A vulnerability at location map is composed of metropolitan use, geology, elevation, and distance from shoreline layers, whereas an evacuation resilience map is formed by slope, distance within flat areas, distance to buildings, and distance to road networks layers. The tsunami risk map is then computed by the proposed new relationship which uses flow depth maps, vulnerability at location maps, and evacuation resilience maps.

Drivers and Pattern of Social Vulnerability to Flood in Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fasona, M.

2016-12-01

Lagos is Africa's second largest city and a city-state in southwest Nigeria. Population and economic activities in the city are concentrated in the greater Lagos metropolitan area - a group of barrier islands less than a thousand square kilometer. Several physical factors and critical human-environmental conditions contribute to high flood vulnerability across the city. Flood impact is highly denominated and the poor tend to suffer more due to higher risk of exposure and poor adaptive capacity. In this study we present the pattern of social vulnerability to flooding across the Lagos metropolis and argued that the pattern substantially reflects the pattern and severity of flooding impact on people across the metropolis. Twenty nine social indicators and experiences including poverty profile, housing conditions, education, population and demography, social network, and communication, among others, were considered. The data were collated through field survey and subjected to principal component analysis. The results were processed into raster surfaces using GIS for social vulnerability characterization at neighborhood levels. The results suggest the social status indicators, neighborhood standing and social networks indictors, the indicators of emergency responses and security, and the neighborhood conditions, in that order, are the most important determinants of social vulnerability. Six of the 16 LGAs in metropolitan Lagos have high social vulnerability. Neighborhoods that combine poor social status indicators and poor neighborhood standing and social networks are found to have high social vulnerability whereas other poor neighborhoods with strong social networks performed better. We conclude that improved human living condition and social network and communication in poor urban neighborhoods are important to reducing social vulnerability to flooding in the metropolis.

REGIONAL VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT: CREATING A CONTEXT FOR EVALUATING STREAM ACIDIFICATION

EPA Science Inventory

USEPA's Regional Vulnerability Assessment (ReVA) program is designed to identify ecosystems that are likely to vary beyond the range of natural variability and thereby experience reduced ecological integrity as a result of natural and human-induced stressors. ReVA makes use of r...

Home range and habitat use of the Vulnerable Virginia northern flying squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus in the Central Appalachian Mountains, USA

Treesearch

Jennifer M. Menzel; W. Mark Ford; John W. Edwards; Tamara M. Terry

2006-01-01

The Virginia northern flying squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus is a Vulnerable sciurid that has experienced a 90% reduction of suitable high elevation boreal montane forest habitat over the last century in the central Appalachians of West Virginia and Virginia, USA. Using radiotelemetry and GIs analyses we examined the species' home range size...

A rainfall risk analysis thanks to an GIS based estimation of urban vulnerability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renard, Florent; Pierre-Marie, Chapon

2010-05-01

The urban community of Lyon, situated in France in the north of the Rhône valley, comprises 1.2 million inhabitants within 515 km ². With such a concentration of issues, policy makers and local elected officials therefore attach great importance to the management of hydrological risks, particularly due to the inherent characteristics of the territory. If the hazards associated with these risks in the territory of Lyon have been the subject of numerous analyses, studies on the vulnerability of greater Lyon are rare and have common shortcomings that impair their validity. We recall that the risk is seen as the classic relationship between the probability of occurrence of hazards and vulnerability. In this article, this vulnerability will be composed of two parts. The first one is the sensitivity of the stakes facing hydrological hazards as urban runoff, that is to say, their propensity to suffer damage during a flood (Gleize and Reghezza, 2007). The second factor is their relative importance in the functioning of the community. Indeed, not all the stakes could provide the same role and contribution to the Greater Lyon. For example, damage to the urban furniture such as bus shelter seems less harmful to the activities of the urban area than that of transport infrastructure (Renard and Chapon, 2010). This communication proposes to assess the vulnerability of Lyon urban area facing to hydrological hazards. This territory is composed of human, environmental and material stakes. The first part of this work is to identify all these issues so as to completeness. Then, is it required to build a "vulnerability index" (Tixier et al, 2006). Thus, it is necessary to use methods of multicriteria decision aid to evaluate the two components of vulnerability: the sensitivity and the contribution to the functioning of the community. Finally, the results of the overall vulnerability are presented, and then coupled to various hazards related to water such as runoff associated with heavy rains, to locate areas of risk in the urban area. The targets that share the same rank of this vulnerability index do not possess the same importance, or the same sensitivity to the flood hazard. Therefore, the second part of this work is to define the priorities and sensitivities of different targets based on the judgments of experts. Multicriteria decision methods are used to prioritize elements and are therefore adapted to the modelling of the sensitivity of the issues of greater Lyon (Griot, 2008). The purpose of these methods is the assessment of priorities between the different components of the situation. Thomas Saaty's analytic hierarchy process (1980) is the most frequently used because of its many advantages. On this basis, the formal calculations of priorities and sensitivities of the elements have been conducted. These calculations are based on the judgments of experts. Indeed, during semi-structured interview, the 38 experts in our sample delivered a verdict on issues that seem relatively more important than others by binary comparison. They carry the same manner to determine sensitivity's stakes to hazard flooding. Finally, the consistency of answers given by experts is validated by calculating a ratio of coherence, and their results are aggregated to provide functions of priority (based on the relative importance of each stakes), and functions of sensitivity (based on the relative sensitivity of each stakes). From these functions of priority and sensitivity is obtained the general function of vulnerability. The vulnerability functions allow defining the importance of the stakes of Greater Lyon and their sensitivity to hydrological hazards. The global vulnerability function is obtained from sensitivity and priority functions and shows the great importance of human issues (75 %). The vulnerability factor of environmental targets represents 12 % of the global vulnerability function, as much as the materials issues. However, it can be seen that the environmental and material stakes do not represent the same weight into the priority and sensitivity functions. Indeed, the environmental issues seem more important than the material ones (17 % for the environmental stakes whereas only 5 % for the material stakes in the priority function), but less sensitive to an hydrological hazard (6 % for the environmental issues while 20 % for the material issues in the sensitivity function). Similarly, priority functions and sensitivity are established for all stakes at all levels. The stakes are then converted into a mesh form (100 meters wide). This will standardize the collection framework and the heterogeneous nature of data to allow their comparison. Finally, it is obtained a detailed, consistent and objective vulnerability of the territory of Greater Lyon. At the end, to get a direct reading of risk, combination of hazard and vulnerability, it is overlaid the two maps.

Prisoners as Living Donors: A Vulnerabilities Analysis.

PubMed

Ross, Lainie Friedman; Thistlethwaite, J Richard

2018-01-01

Although national guidelines exist for evaluating the eligibility of potential living donors and for procuring their informed consent, no special protections or considerations exist for potential living donors who are incarcerated. Human research subject protections in the United States are codified in the Federal Regulations, 45 CFR 46, and special protections are given to prisoners. Living donor transplantation has parallels with human subject research in that both activities are performed with the primary goal of benefiting third parties. In this article, we describe what special considerations should be provided to prisoners as potential living donors using a vulnerabilities approach adapted from the human research subject protection literature.

Orphans and at-risk children in Haiti: vulnerabilities and human rights issues postearthquake.

PubMed

Nicholas, Patrice K; George, Erin K; Raymond, Nadia; Lewis-OʼConnor, Annie; Victoria, Stephanie; Lucien, Sergeline; Peters-Lewis, Angelleen; Hickey, Nancy; Corless, Inge B; Tyer-Viola, Lynda; Davis, Sheila M; Barry, Donna; Marcelin, Naomie; Valcourt, Roodeline

2012-01-01

The vulnerability of children in Haiti has increased dramatically since the earthquake in January 2010. Prior to the earthquake, the prevalence of orphans and at-risk children was high but since the earthquake, more than 1 million people-with more than 380,000 children remaining displaced and living in over 1200 displacement sites. These existing conditions leave orphans and at-risk children vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and increased risk of HIV/AIDS. This article will focus on the complex issues affecting orphans and at-risk children and the intersection with HIV/AIDS and human rights. Specific recommendations by United Nations Children's Fund are discussed. Nursing in Haiti must address the policy-related and population-specific approaches for the care of children living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

[The Helsinki Declaration: relativism and vulnerability].

PubMed

Diniz, D; Corrêa, M

2001-01-01

The Helsinki Declaration is a crucial ethical landmark for clinical research involving human beings. Since the Declaration was issued, a series of revisions and modifications have been introduced into the original text, but they have not altered its humanist approach or its international force for regulating clinical research. A proposal for an extensive revision of the Declaration's underlying ethical principles has been debated for the past four years. If the proposal is approved, international clinical research involving human beings will be modified, further increasing the vulnerability of certain social groups. This article discusses the historical process involved in passing the Helsinki Declaration and the most recent debate on the new draft. The article analyzes the new text's social implications for underdeveloped countries, arguing for a political approach to the vulnerability concept.

Social justice, access and quality of healthcare in an age of austerity: users' perspective from rural Iceland.

PubMed

Gustafsdottir, Sonja S; Fenger, Kristjana; Halldorsdottir, Sigridur; Bjarnason, Thoroddur

2017-01-01

Iceland is sparsely populated but social justice and equity has been emphasised within healthcare. The aim of the study is to examine healthcare services in Fjallabyggð, in rural northern Iceland, from users' perspective and evaluate social justice, access and quality of healthcare in an age of austerity. Mixed-method approach with transformative design was used. First, data were collected with questionnaires (response rate of 53% [N=732] in 2009 and 30% [N=415] in 2012), and analysed statistically, followed by 10 interviews with healthcare users (2009 and 2014). The results were integrated and interpreted within Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model. There was significantly less satisfaction with accessibility and variety of healthcare services in 2012 after services downsizing. Solid primary healthcare, good local elderly care, some freedom in healthcare choice and reliable emergency services were considered fundamental for life in a rural area. Equal access to healthcare is part of a fundamental human right. In times of economic downturn, people in rural areas, who are already vulnerable, may become even more vulnerable and disadvantaged, seriously threatening social justice and equity. With severe cutbacks in vitally important healthcare services people may eventually choose to self-migrate.

Social justice, access and quality of healthcare in an age of austerity: users’ perspective from rural Iceland

PubMed Central

Gustafsdottir, Sonja S.; Fenger, Kristjana; Halldorsdottir, Sigridur; Bjarnason, Thoroddur

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Iceland is sparsely populated but social justice and equity has been emphasised within healthcare. The aim of the study is to examine healthcare services in Fjallabyggð, in rural northern Iceland, from users’ perspective and evaluate social justice, access and quality of healthcare in an age of austerity. Mixed-method approach with transformative design was used. First, data were collected with questionnaires (response rate of 53% [N=732] in 2009 and 30% [N=415] in 2012), and analysed statistically, followed by 10 interviews with healthcare users (2009 and 2014). The results were integrated and interpreted within Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model. There was significantly less satisfaction with accessibility and variety of healthcare services in 2012 after services downsizing. Solid primary healthcare, good local elderly care, some freedom in healthcare choice and reliable emergency services were considered fundamental for life in a rural area. Equal access to healthcare is part of a fundamental human right. In times of economic downturn, people in rural areas, who are already vulnerable, may become even more vulnerable and disadvantaged, seriously threatening social justice and equity. With severe cutbacks in vitally important healthcare services people may eventually choose to self-migrate. PMID:28762300

Vulnerability assessment including tangible and intangible components in the index composition: An Amazon case study of flooding and flash flooding.

PubMed

Andrade, Milena Marília Nogueira de; Szlafsztein, Claudio Fabian

2018-07-15

The vulnerability of cities and communities in the Amazon to flooding and flash flooding is increasing. The effects of extreme events on populations vary across landscapes, causing vulnerability to differ spatially. Traditional vulnerability studies in Brazil and across the world have used the vulnerability index for the country and, more recently, municipality scales. The vulnerability dimensions are exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. For each of these dimensions, there is a group of indicators that constitutes a vulnerability index using quantitative data. Several vulnerability assessments have used sensitivity and exposure analyses and, recently, adaptive capacity has been considered. The Geographical Information Systems (GIS) analysis allows spatial regional modeling using quantitative vulnerability indicators. This paper presents a local-scale vulnerability assessment in an urban Amazonian area, Santarém City, using interdisciplinary methods. Data for exposure and sensitivity were gathered by remote sensing and census data, respectively. However, adaptive capacity refers to local capacities, whether infrastructural or not, and the latter were gathered by qualitative participatory methods. For the mixed data used to study adaptive capacity, we consider tangible components for countable infrastructure that can cope with hazards, and intangible components that reflect social activities based on risk perceptions and collective action. The results indicate that over 80% of the area is highly or moderately vulnerable to flooding and flash flooding. Exposure and adaptive capacity were determinants of the results. Lower values of adaptive capacity play a significant role in vulnerability enhancement. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Urban water - a new frontier in isotope hydrology.

PubMed

Ehleringer, James R; Barnette, Janet E; Jameel, Yusuf; Tipple, Brett J; Bowen, Gabriel J

2016-01-01

Isotope hydrology has focused largely on landscapes away from densely inhabited regions. In coming decades, it will become increasingly more important to focus on water supplies and dynamics within urban systems. Stable isotope analyses provide important information to water managers within large cities, particularly in arid regions where evaporative histories of water sources, vulnerabilities, and reliabilities of the water supplies can be major issues. Here the spatial and vertical understanding of water supporting urban systems that comes from stable isotope analyses can serve as a useful management tool. We explore this research frontier using the coupled natural-human landscape of the Salt Lake Valley, USA, with its greater than one million inhabitants. We first provide data on the stable isotope ratios of the hydrologic system's primary components: precipitation, incoming surface waters, and terminus waters in this closed basin. We then explore the spatial and temporal patterns of drinking waters within the urban landscape and the new opportunities to better link isotope ratio data with short- and long-term management interests of water managers.

Analysing news media coverage of the 2015 Nepal earthquake using a community capitals lens: implications for disaster resilience.

PubMed

Dhakal, Subas P

2018-04-01

South Asia is one of the regions of the world most vulnerable to natural disasters. Although news media analyses of disasters have been conducted frequently in various settings globally, there is little research on populous South Asia. This paper begins to fill this gap by evaluating local and foreign news media coverage of the earthquake in Nepal on 25 April 2015. It broadens the examination of news media coverage of disaster response beyond traditional framing theory, utilising community capitals (built, cultural, financial, human, natural, political, and social) lens to perform a thematic content analysis of 405 news items. Overall, financial and natural capital received the most and the least emphasis respectively. Statistically significant differences between local and foreign news media were detected vis-à-vis built, financial, and political capital. The paper concludes with a discussion of the social utility of news media analysis using the community capitals framework to inform disaster resilience. © 2018 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2018.

Towards collation and modelling of the global cost of armed violence on civilians.

PubMed

Taback, Nathan; Coupland, Robin

2005-01-01

A method is described which translates qualitative reports about armed violence into meaningful quantitative data allowing an evidence-based approach to the causes and effects of the global health impact of armed violence on unarmed people. Analysis of 100 randomly selected news reports shows that the type of weapon used, the psychological aspect of the violence, the number of weapons in use and the victims' vulnerability independently influence the mortality of victims. Data collated by the same method could be analysed together with indicators of poverty, development and health so illuminating the relationship between such indicators and degradation of peoples' physical security through acts of armed violence. The method could also help uphold the laws of war and human rights.

Lifestyles and routine activities of South African teenagers at risk of being trafficked for involuntary prostitution.

PubMed

Lutya, Thozama Mandisa

2010-12-01

The United Nations estimates that 79% of teenage girls trafficked globally every year are forced into involuntary prostitution. About 247 000 South African children work in exploitative conditions; about 40 000 South African female teenagers work as prostitutes. This paper investigates lifestyles and routine activities of teenagers at risk of being trafficked for involuntary prostitution. The key concepts involuntary prostitution, intergenerational sex and exploitative conditions are defined in relation to the lifestyles and routine activities of South African female teenagers. Human trafficking for involuntary prostitution is described, based on a literature review. Lifestyle exposure and routine activities theories help to explain the potential victimisation of these teenagers in human trafficking for involuntary prostitution. Actual lifestyle and routine activities of South African teenagers and risky behaviours (substance abuse, intergenerational sex and child prostitution) are discussed as factors that make teens vulnerable to such trafficking. This paper recommends that human trafficking prevention efforts (awareness programmes and information campaigns) be directed at places frequented by human traffickers and teenagers in the absence of a capable guardian to reduce victimisation, as traffickers analyse the lifestyles and routine activities of their targets. South Africa should also interrogate entrenched practices such as intergenerational sex.

Religious communities and HIV prevention: an intervention-study using a human rights-based approach

PubMed Central

Paiva, V.; Garcia, J.; Rios, L.F.; Santos, A.O.; Terto, V.; Munõz-Laboy, M.

2011-01-01

Religious communities have been a challenge to HIV prevention globally. Focusing on the acceptability component of the right to health, this intervention study examined how local Catholic, Evangelical and Afro-Brazilian religious communities can collaborate to foster young people’s sexual health and ensure their access to comprehensive HIV prevention in their communities in Brazil. This article describes the process of a three-stage sexual health promotion and HIV prevention initiative that used a multicultural human rights approach to intervention. Methods included 27 in-depth interviews with religious authorities on sexuality, AIDS prevention and human rights, and training 18 young people as research-agents, who surveyed 177 youth on the same issues using self-administered questionnaires. The results, analysed using a rights-based perspective on health and the vulnerability framework, were discussed in daylong interfaith workshops. Emblematic of the collaborative process, workshops are the focus of the analysis. Our findings suggest that this human rights framework is effective in increasing inter-religious tolerance and in providing a collective understanding of the sexuality and prevention needs of youth from different religious communities, and also serves as a platform for the expansion of state AIDS programmes based on laical principles. PMID:20373192

Functioning before and after a major depressive episode: pre-existing vulnerability or scar? A prospective three-wave population-based study.

PubMed

Bos, E H; Ten Have, M; van Dorsselaer, S; Jeronimus, B F; de Graaf, R; de Jonge, P

2018-01-14

The vulnerability hypothesis suggests that impairments after remission of depressive episodes reflect a pre-existing vulnerability, while the scar hypothesis proposes that depression leaves residual impairments that confer risk of subsequent episodes. We prospectively examined vulnerability and scar effects in mental and physical functioning in a representative Dutch population sample. Three waves were used from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study-2, a population-based study with a 6-years follow-up. Mental and physical functioning were assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36). Major depressive disorder (MDD) was assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 3.0. Vulnerability effects were examined by comparing healthy controls (n = 2826) with individuals who developed a first-onset depressive episode during first follow-up but did not have a lifetime diagnosis of MDD at baseline (n = 181). Scarring effects were examined by comparing pre- and post-morbid functioning in individuals who developed a depressive episode after baseline that was remitted at the third wave (n = 108). Both mental (B = -5.4, s.e. = 0.9, p < 0.001) and physical functioning (B = -8.2, s.e. = 1.1, p < 0.001) at baseline were lower in individuals who developed a first depressive episode after baseline compared with healthy controls. This effect was most pronounced in people who developed a severe episode. No firm evidence of scarring in mental or physical functioning was found. In unadjusted analyses, physical functioning was still lowered post-morbidly (B = -5.1, s.e. = 2.1, p = 0.014), but this effect disappeared in adjusted analyses. Functional impairments after remission of depression seem to reflect a pre-existing vulnerability rather than a scar.

BEACH GRASS INVASIONS AND COASTAL FLOOD PROTECTION: FORECASTING THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON COASTAL VULNERABILITY

EPA Science Inventory

Our work will yield an increased general understanding of interactions among the alteration of coastal ecosystem, species invasions, climate change, and human risk in coastal environments. In addition, we will conduct a quantitative vulnerability assessment of a specific coast...

Licensing of Children's Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terpstra, Jake

The purpose of licensing is to provide protection in circumstances in which people are vulnerable and to mandate that positive services will be provided. The common denominator of human vulnerability in licensed children's services is the fact that the children are in the care of someone other than their families. Licensed services include family…

Using enteric pathogens to assess sources of fecal contamination in the silurian dolomite aquifer: preliminary results

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The fractured Silurian dolomite aquifer is an important, but vulnerable, source of drinking water in northeast Wisconsin. Areas underlain by the Silurian dolomite aquifer are extremely vulnerable to groundwater contamination from various land-use activities, especially the disposal of human wastewat...

Political and Educational Springboard or Straitjacket? Theorising Post/Human Subjects in an Age of Vulnerability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ecclestone, Kathryn; Goodley, Daniel

2016-01-01

Contemporary discourses of social justice in education, disability, mental health, social policy and feminist studies are refracted increasingly through concerns about psychological and structural vulnerabilities created by the crises of late capitalism. Focusing on developments in British social policy generally and educational research…

A Vulnerability Assessment of 300 Species in Florida: Threats from Sea Level Rise, Land Use, and Climate Change

PubMed Central

Reece, Joshua Steven; Noss, Reed F.; Oetting, Jon; Hoctor, Tom; Volk, Michael

2013-01-01

Species face many threats, including accelerated climate change, sea level rise, and conversion and degradation of habitat from human land uses. Vulnerability assessments and prioritization protocols have been proposed to assess these threats, often in combination with information such as species rarity; ecological, evolutionary or economic value; and likelihood of success. Nevertheless, few vulnerability assessments or prioritization protocols simultaneously account for multiple threats or conservation values. We applied a novel vulnerability assessment tool, the Standardized Index of Vulnerability and Value, to assess the conservation priority of 300 species of plants and animals in Florida given projections of climate change, human land-use patterns, and sea level rise by the year 2100. We account for multiple sources of uncertainty and prioritize species under five different systems of value, ranging from a primary emphasis on vulnerability to threats to an emphasis on metrics of conservation value such as phylogenetic distinctiveness. Our results reveal remarkable consistency in the prioritization of species across different conservation value systems. Species of high priority include the Miami blue butterfly (Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri), Key tree cactus (Pilosocereus robinii), Florida duskywing butterfly (Ephyriades brunnea floridensis), and Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium). We also identify sources of uncertainty and the types of life history information consistently missing across taxonomic groups. This study characterizes the vulnerabilities to major threats of a broad swath of Florida’s biodiversity and provides a system for prioritizing conservation efforts that is quantitative, flexible, and free from hidden value judgments. PMID:24260447

The classification and assessment of vulnerability of man-land system of oasis city in arid area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Chao; Lei, Jun; Jin, Fengjun

2013-12-01

Oasis city system is the center of the man-land relationship in arid area and it is the most influential spatial and temporal multiple dynamic system. Oasis city system is not only the largest area where artificial disturbances occur at a regional scale but also the most concentrated area of human activity in arid area. In this study, we developed an applicable and convenient method to assess vulnerability of man-land system of oasis cities with vulnerability indicator system, respectively evaluating the sensitivity, adaptability and vulnerability of the eco-environment system, the economic system and the social system. The results showed that the sensitivity and vulnerability of oasis cities in Xinjiang, China have significant differences while their adaptability does little. In order to find the inherent differences in the vulnerability of oasis cities, triangle methodology has been adopted to divide Xinjiang oasis cities into five types. Some adaptive developing policies specific for individual cities are also proposed based on their vulnerability type and constraining factors.

Vulnerable subjects? The case of nonhuman animals in experimentation.

PubMed

Johnson, Jane

2013-12-01

The concept of vulnerability is deployed in bioethics to, amongst other things, identify and remedy harms to participants in research, yet although nonhuman animals in experimentation seem intuitively to be vulnerable, this concept and its attendant protections are rarely applied to research animals. I want to argue, however, that this concept is applicable to nonhuman animals and that a new taxonomy of vulnerability developed in the context of human bioethics can be applied to research animals. This taxonomy does useful explanatory work, helping to pinpoint the limitations of the 3Rs/welfare approach currently adopted in the context of animal experimentation. On this account, the 3Rs/welfare approach fails to deliver for nonhuman animals in experimentation because it effectively addresses only one element of their vulnerability (inherent) and paradoxically through the institution of Animal Ethics Committees intended to protect experimental animals in fact generates new vulnerabilities that exacerbate their already precarious situation.

[Assessment of eco-environmental vulnerability of Hainan Island, China].

PubMed

Huang, Bao-rong; Ouyang, Zhi-yun; Zhang, Hui-zhi; Zhang, Li-hua; Zheng, Hua

2009-03-01

Based on the assessment method of environmental vulnerability constructed by SOPAC and UNEP, this paper constructed an indicator system from three sub-themes including hazard, resistance, and damage to assess the eco-environmental vulnerability of Hainan Island. The results showed that Hainan Island was suffering a middling level eco-environmental hazard, and the main hazards came from some intensive human activities such as intensive agriculture, mass tourism, mining, and a mass of solid wastes thrown by islanders and tourists. Some geographical characters such as larger land area, larger altitude range, integrated geographical form, and abundant habitat types endowed Hainan Island higher resistance to environmental hazards. However, disturbed by historical accumulative artificial and natural hazards, the Island ecosystem had showed serious ecological damage, such as soil degradation and biodiversity loss. Comprehensively considered hazard, resistance, damage, and degradation, the comprehensive environmental vulnerability of the Island was at a middling level. Some indicators showed lower vulnerability, but some showed higher vulnerability.

[Research advances in vulnerability assessment of natural ecosystem response to climate change].

PubMed

Zhao, Hui-xia; Wu, Shao-hong; Jiang, Lu-guang

2007-02-01

Climate change with global warming as the sign has been caught great attention by the governments, international organizations, and scientists in the world. Human society and natural ecosystem are both exposed to climate change, and more and more people are waked up by its increasing harm. Vulnerability analysis and assessment are the key and basis for adapting and mitigating climate change, being the highlight in the research fields of climate change and ecology in recent years. The vulnerability assessment of climate change is being carried out in various research fields and on different scales, and much progress has been made. This paper introduced the concept of vulnerability, and summarized the research progress in vulnerability assessment of climate change, with the focus on the frame and methodology of vulnerability assessment of natural ecosystem response to climate change. The existed problems and future prospects in this research area were also discussed.

Vulnerability-attention analysis for space-related activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ford, Donnie; Hays, Dan; Lee, Sung Yong; Wolfsberger, John

1988-01-01

Techniques for representing and analyzing trouble spots in structures and processes are discussed. Identification of vulnerable areas usually depends more on particular and often detailed knowledge than on algorithmic or mathematical procedures. In some cases, machine inference can facilitate the identification. The analysis scheme proposed first establishes the geometry of the process, then marks areas that are conditionally vulnerable. This provides a basis for advice on the kinds of human attention or machine sensing and control that can make the risks tolerable.

Global-scale river flood vulnerability in the last 50 years.

PubMed

Tanoue, Masahiro; Hirabayashi, Yukiko; Ikeuchi, Hiroaki

2016-10-26

The impacts of flooding are expected to rise due to population increases, economic growth and climate change. Hence, understanding the physical and spatiotemporal characteristics of risk drivers (hazard, exposure and vulnerability) is required to develop effective flood mitigation measures. Here, the long-term trend in flood vulnerability was analysed globally, calculated from the ratio of the reported flood loss or damage to the modelled flood exposure using a global river and inundation model. A previous study showed decreasing global flood vulnerability over a shorter period using different disaster data. The long-term analysis demonstrated for the first time that flood vulnerability to economic losses in upper-middle, lower-middle and low-income countries shows an inverted U-shape, as a result of the balance between economic growth and various historical socioeconomic efforts to reduce damage, leading to non-significant upward or downward trends. We also show that the flood-exposed population is affected by historical changes in population distribution, with changes in flood vulnerability of up to 48.9%. Both increasing and decreasing trends in flood vulnerability were observed in different countries, implying that population growth scenarios considering spatial distribution changes could affect flood risk projections.

Global-scale river flood vulnerability in the last 50 years

PubMed Central

Tanoue, Masahiro; Hirabayashi, Yukiko; Ikeuchi, Hiroaki

2016-01-01

The impacts of flooding are expected to rise due to population increases, economic growth and climate change. Hence, understanding the physical and spatiotemporal characteristics of risk drivers (hazard, exposure and vulnerability) is required to develop effective flood mitigation measures. Here, the long-term trend in flood vulnerability was analysed globally, calculated from the ratio of the reported flood loss or damage to the modelled flood exposure using a global river and inundation model. A previous study showed decreasing global flood vulnerability over a shorter period using different disaster data. The long-term analysis demonstrated for the first time that flood vulnerability to economic losses in upper-middle, lower-middle and low-income countries shows an inverted U-shape, as a result of the balance between economic growth and various historical socioeconomic efforts to reduce damage, leading to non-significant upward or downward trends. We also show that the flood-exposed population is affected by historical changes in population distribution, with changes in flood vulnerability of up to 48.9%. Both increasing and decreasing trends in flood vulnerability were observed in different countries, implying that population growth scenarios considering spatial distribution changes could affect flood risk projections. PMID:27782160

The thermal environment of the human being on the global scale.

PubMed

Jendritzky, Gerd; Tinz, Birger

2009-11-11

The close relationship between human health, performance, well-being and the thermal environment is obvious. Nevertheless, most studies of climate and climate change impacts show amazing shortcomings in the assessment of the environment. Populations living in different climates have different susceptibilities, due to socio-economic reasons, and different customary behavioural adaptations. The global distribution of risks of hazardous thermal exposure has not been analysed before. To produce maps of the baseline and future bioclimate that allows a direct comparison of the differences in the vulnerability of populations to thermal stress across the world. The required climatological data fields are obtained from climate simulations with the global General Circulation Model ECHAM4 in T106-resolution. For the thermo-physiologically relevant assessment of these climate data a complete heat budget model of the human being, the 'Perceived Temperature' procedure has been applied which already comprises adaptation by clothing to a certain degree. Short-term physiological acclimatisation is considered via Health Related Assessment of the Thermal Environment. The global maps 1971-1980 (control run, assumed as baseline climate) show a pattern of thermal stress intensities as frequencies of heat. The heat load for people living in warm-humid climates is the highest. Climate change will lead to clear differences in health-related thermal stress between baseline climate and the future bioclimate 2041-2050 based on the 'business-as-usual' greenhouse gas scenario IS92a. The majority of the world's population will be faced with more frequent and more intense heat strain in spite of an assumed level of acclimatisation. Further adaptation measures are crucial in order to reduce the vulnerability of the populations. This bioclimatology analysis provides a tool for various questions in climate and climate change impact research. Considerations of regional or local scale require climate simulations with higher resolution. As adaptation is the key term in understanding the role of climate/climate change for human health, performance and well-being, further research in this field is crucial.

An atmospheric vulnerability assessment framework for environment management and protection based on CAMx.

PubMed

Zhang, Yang; Shen, Jing; Li, Yu

2018-02-01

This paper presents an atmospheric vulnerability assessment framework based on CAMx that should be helpful to assess potential impacts of changes in human, atmospheric environment, and social economic elements of atmospheric vulnerability. It is also a useful and effective tool that can provide policy-guidance for environmental protection and management to reduce the atmospheric vulnerability. The developed framework was applied to evaluate the atmospheric environment vulnerability of 13 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region for verification. The results indicated that regional disparity of the atmospheric vulnerability existed in the study site. More specifically, the central and southern regions show more atmospheric environment vulnerability than the northern regions. The impact factors of atmospheric environment vulnerability in the BTH region mainly derived from increasing population press, frequently unfavorable meteorological conditions, extensive economic growth of secondary industry, increased environmental pollution, and accelerating population aging. The framework shown in this paper is an interpretative and heuristic tool for a better understanding of atmospheric vulnerability. This framework can also be replicated at different spatial and temporal scales using context-specific datasets to straightly support environmental managers with decision-making. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Revisiting the Vulnerability Ethos in Cross-Sectoral Transition Policies and Practices for Young People in the Era of Marketisation of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brunila, Kristiina; Ikävalko, Elina; Kurki, Tuuli; Mertanen, Katariina; Mikkola, Anna

2016-01-01

The ethos of vulnerability has come to play an increasingly central role in shaping cross-sectoral transition policies and practices related to young people outside of education and working life. Yet the wider effects of this ethos in policies and practices are still rarely analysed. In this article, we draw our data from five separate studies.…

Human Hippocampal Structure: A Novel Biomarker Predicting Mnemonic Vulnerability to, and Recovery from, Sleep Deprivation

PubMed Central

Goldstein-Piekarski, Andrea N.; Greer, Stephanie M.; Stark, Shauna; Stark, Craig E.

2016-01-01

Sleep deprivation impairs the formation of new memories. However, marked interindividual variability exists in the degree to which sleep loss compromises learning, the mechanistic reasons for which are unclear. Furthermore, which physiological sleep processes restore learning ability following sleep deprivation are similarly unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the structural morphology of human hippocampal subfields represents one factor determining vulnerability (and conversely, resilience) to the impact of sleep deprivation on memory formation. Moreover, this same measure of brain morphology was further associated with the quality of nonrapid eye movement slow wave oscillations during recovery sleep, and by way of such activity, determined the success of memory restoration. Such findings provide a novel human biomarker of cognitive susceptibility to, and recovery from, sleep deprivation. Moreover, this metric may be of special predictive utility for professions in which memory function is paramount yet insufficient sleep is pervasive (e.g., aviation, military, and medicine). SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Sleep deprivation does not impact all people equally. Some individuals show cognitive resilience to the effects of sleep loss, whereas others express striking vulnerability, the reasons for which remain largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that structural features of the human brain, specifically those within the hippocampus, accurately predict which individuals are susceptible (or conversely, resilient) to memory impairments caused by sleep deprivation. Moreover, this same structural feature determines the success of memory restoration following subsequent recovery sleep. Therefore, structural properties of the human brain represent a novel biomarker predicting individual vulnerability to (and recovery from) the effects of sleep loss, one with occupational relevance in professions where insufficient sleep is pervasive yet memory function is paramount. PMID:26911684

Decreasing Human Trafficking through Sex Work Decriminalization.

PubMed

Albright, Erin; D'Adamo, Kate

2017-01-01

In order to decrease human trafficking, health care workers should support the full decriminalization of prostitution. Similar to trafficking in other forms of labor, preventing trafficking in the sex trade requires addressing the different forms of marginalization that create vulnerable communities. By removing punitive laws that prevent reporting of exploitation and abuse, decriminalization allows sex workers to work more safely, thereby reducing marginalization and vulnerability. Decriminalization can also help destigmatize sex work and help resist political, social, and cultural marginalization of sex workers. © 2017 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

A Soil Service Index: Potential Soil Services to Society under Scenarios of Human Land Use and Population Growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hugelius, G.; Ahlström, A.; Loisel, J.; Harden, J. W.

2017-12-01

Soils provide numerous and indispensable services to ecological systems and human societies. As human populations and human land use changes, the capacity of soils to maintain these services may also change. To investigate this we provide the first global scale study based on the soil service index (SSI; see presentations by Harden et al. and Loisel et al. in this session for more details). In this index multiple soil services are numerically or quantitatively assessed, normalized to a unit-less scale for purposes of intercomparability. Soil services assessed under the SSI include organic matter and/or organic carbon storage; plant productivity; CO2 or GHG exchange with the atmosphere; water storage capacity; and nutrient storage and/or availability. The SSI may be applied at any scale. Here we present a first global application of the SSI and provide broad-scale analyses of soil service spatial distributions. We assess how the SSI will change under projected changes in human societies populations and human land use (following representative concentration pathway scenarios). Present and future potential utilization and vulnerability of soil resources are analyzed in the context of human population distributions and its projected changes. The SSI is designed to be broadly useful across scientific, governance and resource management organizations. To exemplify this, the parameterization of this is global soil service estimate is based on only open source input data.

"They want to come to school": Work-based education programs to prevent the social exclusion of vulnerable youth.

PubMed

Hutchinson, Nancy L; Versnel, Joan; Poth, Cheryl; Berg, Derek; deLugt, Jenn; Dalton, C J; Chin, Peter; Munby, Hugh

2011-01-01

This paper describes and compares exemplary work-based education (WBE) programs in Ontario Canada designed to meet the needs of two groups of vulnerable youth - at-risk youth and youth with severe disabilities. Two focus group interviews were held, one with professionals from exemplary programs designed to meet the needs of at-risk youth and one with professionals from exemplary programs for youth with severe disabilities. Standard qualitative analyses were conducted on each focus group transcript to generate themes which were subsequently grouped into larger patterns. Then cross-case analyses identified consistencies and unique features within the two types of WBE programs. Two major patterns that characterize the WBE programs emerged from the analyses: the first pattern described the programmatic approaches to WBE appropriate for each type of type of student (which included themes such as the need for an alternative learning environment for at-risk youth), and the second pattern highlighted the rationale for each kind of program (which included themes like ensuring equity for youth with severe disabilities). The findings suggest that schools should continue to provide distinct WBE programs for each of these groups of vulnerable youth - at-risk youth and youth with severe disabilities.

Addressing Issues for Land Change Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braimoh, Ademola; Huang, He Qing

2009-09-01

Workshop on Vulnerability and Resilience of Land Systems in Asia; Beijing, China, 15-17 June 2009; There is a growing international community of scholars who work within the interdisciplinary field of land change science, a scientific domain that seeks to understand the dynamics of the land system as a coupled human-environment system. A coupled human-environment system is one in which the social and biophysical subsystems are intertwined so that the system's condition and responses to external forcing are based on the synergy of the two subsystems. Research on land system vulnerability, defined as a function of exposure and sensitivity to natural and anthropogenic perturbations, such as climate variability and sudden changes in macroeconomic conditions and the ability to cope with the impacts of those perturbations, is a fundamental component of land change science. To address issues related to land system vulnerability, the Global Land Project (GLP; http://www.glp-beijing.org.cn/index.php and http://www.glp.hokudai.ac.jp) brought together an interdisciplinary group of researchers with backgrounds ranging from environmental to social sciences. Participants came from both developed and developing countries. The workshop sought to (1) improve knowledge of the causal processes that affect a system's vulnerability and capacity to cope with different perturbations and (2) identify factors that hinder the integration of vulnerability assessment into policies and decision making.

Understanding and Addressing Vulnerability Following the 2010 Haiti Earthquake: Applying a Feminist Lens to Examine Perspectives of Haitian and Expatriate Health Care Providers and Decision-Makers.

PubMed

Durocher, Evelyne; Chung, Ryoa; Rochon, Christiane; Hunt, Matthew

2016-07-01

Vulnerability is a central concept in humanitarian aid. Discussions of vulnerability in disaster response literature and guidelines for humanitarian aid range from considerations of a universal human vulnerability, to more nuanced examinations of how particular characteristics render individuals more or less at risk. Despite its frequent use, there is a lack of clarity about how vulnerability is conceptualized and how it informs operational priorities in humanitarian assistance. Guided by interpretive description methodology, we draw on the feminist taxonomy of vulnerability presented by Mackenzie, Rogers and Dodds (2014) to examine perspectives of 24 expatriate and Haitian decision-makers and health professionals interviewed between May 2012 and March 2013. The analysis explores concepts of vulnerability and equity in relation to the humanitarian response following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Participants' conceptualizations of vulnerability included consideration for inherent vulnerabilities related to individual characteristics (e.g. being a woman or disabled) and situational vulnerabilities related to particular circumstances such as having less access to health care resources or basic necessities. Participants recognized that vulnerabilities could be exacerbated by socio-political structures but felt ill-equipped to address these. The use of the taxonomy and a set of questions inspired by Hurst's (2008) approach to identifying and reducing vulnerability can guide the analysis of varied sources of vulnerability and open discussions about how and by whom vulnerabilities should be addressed in humanitarian responses. More research is required to inform how humanitarian responders could balance addressing acute vulnerability with consideration of systemic and pre-existing circumstances that underlie much of the vulnerability experienced following an acute disaster.

Understanding and Addressing Vulnerability Following the 2010 Haiti Earthquake: Applying a Feminist Lens to Examine Perspectives of Haitian and Expatriate Health Care Providers and Decision-Makers

PubMed Central

Chung, Ryoa; Rochon, Christiane; Hunt, Matthew

2016-01-01

Vulnerability is a central concept in humanitarian aid. Discussions of vulnerability in disaster response literature and guidelines for humanitarian aid range from considerations of a universal human vulnerability, to more nuanced examinations of how particular characteristics render individuals more or less at risk. Despite its frequent use, there is a lack of clarity about how vulnerability is conceptualized and how it informs operational priorities in humanitarian assistance. Guided by interpretive description methodology, we draw on the feminist taxonomy of vulnerability presented by Mackenzie, Rogers and Dodds (2014) to examine perspectives of 24 expatriate and Haitian decision-makers and health professionals interviewed between May 2012 and March 2013. The analysis explores concepts of vulnerability and equity in relation to the humanitarian response following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Participants’ conceptualizations of vulnerability included consideration for inherent vulnerabilities related to individual characteristics (e.g. being a woman or disabled) and situational vulnerabilities related to particular circumstances such as having less access to health care resources or basic necessities. Participants recognized that vulnerabilities could be exacerbated by socio-political structures but felt ill-equipped to address these. The use of the taxonomy and a set of questions inspired by Hurst’s (2008) approach to identifying and reducing vulnerability can guide the analysis of varied sources of vulnerability and open discussions about how and by whom vulnerabilities should be addressed in humanitarian responses. More research is required to inform how humanitarian responders could balance addressing acute vulnerability with consideration of systemic and pre-existing circumstances that underlie much of the vulnerability experienced following an acute disaster. PMID:27617037

Social vulnerability and climate change: synthesis of literature

Treesearch

Kathy Lynn; Katharine MacKendrick; Ellen M. Donoghue

2011-01-01

The effects of climate change are expected to be more severe for some segments of society than others because of geographic location, the degree of association with climate-sensitive environments, and unique cultural, economic, or political characteristics of particular landscapes and human populations. Social vulnerability and equity in the context of climate change...

Evaluating the Characteristics of Social Vulnerability to Wildfire: Demographics, Perceptions, and Parcel Characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paveglio, Travis B.; Prato, Tony; Edgeley, Catrin; Nalle, Darek

2016-09-01

A large body of research focuses on identifying patterns of human populations most at risk from hazards and the factors that help explain performance of mitigations that can help reduce that risk. One common concept in such studies is social vulnerability—human populations' potential exposure to, sensitivity from and ability to reduce negative impacts from a hazard. While there is growing interest in social vulnerability for wildfire, few studies have critically evaluated the characteristics that scholars often indicate influence social vulnerability to that hazard. This research utilizes surveys, wildfire simulations, and GIS data to test the relationships between select demographic, perceptual and parcel characteristics of property owners against empirically simulated metrics for wildfire exposure or wildfire-related damages and their performance of mitigation actions. Our results from Flathead County, MT, USA, suggest that parcel characteristics such as property value, building value, and the year structures were built explaining a significant amount of the variance in elements of social vulnerability. Demographic characteristics commonly used in social vulnerability analysis did not have significant relationships with measures of wildfire exposure or vulnerability. Part-time or full-time residency, age, perceived property risk, and year of development were among the few significant determinants of residents' performance of fuel reduction mitigations, although the significance of these factors varied across the levels of fuel reduction performed by homeowners. We use these and other results to argue for a renewed focus on the finer-scale characteristics that expose some populations to wildfire risk more than others.

Social vulnerability and climate variability in southern Brazil: a TerraPop case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adamo, S. B.; Fitch, C. A.; Kugler, T.; Doxsey-Whitfield, E.

2014-12-01

Climate variability is an inherent characteristic of the Earth's climate, including but not limited to climate change. It affects and impacts human society in different ways, depending on the underlying socioeconomic vulnerability of specific places, social groups, households and individuals. This differential vulnerability presents spatial and temporal variations, and is rooted in historical patterns of development and relations between human and ecological systems. This study aims to assess the impact of climate variability on livelihoods and well-being, as well as their changes over time and across space, and for rural and urban populations. The geographic focus is Southern Brazil-the states of Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul-- and the objectives include (a) to identify and map critical areas or hotspots of exposure to climate variability (temperature and precipitation), and (b) to identify internal variation or differential vulnerability within these areas and its evolution over time (1980-2010), using newly available integrated data from the Terra Populus project. These data include geo-referenced climate and agricultural data, and data describing demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of individuals, households and places.

Spatial econometric model of natural disaster impacts on human migration in vulnerable regions of Mexico.

PubMed

Saldaña-Zorrilla, Sergio O; Sandberg, Krister

2009-10-01

Mexico's vast human and environmental diversity offers an initial framework for comprehending some of the prevailing great disparities between rich and poor. Its socio-economic constructed vulnerability to climatic events serves to expand this understanding. Based on a spatial econometric model, this paper tests the contribution of natural disasters to stimulating the emigration process in vulnerable regions of Mexico. Besides coping and adaptive capacity, it assesses the effects of economic losses due to disasters as well as the adverse production and trade conditions of the 1990s on emigration rates in 2000 at the municipality level. Weather-related disasters were responsible for approximately 80 per cent of economic losses in Mexico between 1980 and 2005, mostly in the agricultural sector, which continues to dominate many parts of the country. It is dramatic that this sector generates around only four per cent of gross domestic product but provides a livelihood to about one-quarter of the national population. It is no wonder, therefore, that most emigration from this country arises in vulnerable rural areas.

Mental health screening in immigration detention: A fresh look at Australian government data.

PubMed

Young, Peter; Gordon, Michael S

2016-02-01

The poor mental health of asylum seekers and refugees in immigration detention has consistently been reported in peer-reviewed literature internationally; however, data on the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees detained in Australian immigration has been very limited. We re-analysed mental health screening data obtained by the Human Rights Commission. Longer time in detention was associated with higher self-reported depression scores, with female individuals being more vulnerable to time in detention than those of male gender. Approximately one-half of the refugee group who agreed to complete the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire had post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. On clinician-rated measures, one-third of the children, adolescents and adults suffered with clinical symptoms requiring tertiary outpatient assessment. This paper consolidates the findings of the 2014 Australian Human Rights Commission report and it provides an argument for public reporting of refugee data. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2016.

Mapping human vulnerability to climate change in the Brazilian Amazon: The construction of a municipal vulnerability index

PubMed Central

Confalonieri, Ulisses; Madureira, Ana Paula; Duval, Isabela de Brito; dos Santos, Rhavena Barbosa; Margonari, Carina

2018-01-01

Vulnerability, understood as the propensity to be adversely affected, has attained importance in the context of climate change by helping to understand what makes populations and territories predisposed to its impacts. Conditions of vulnerability may vary depending on the characteristics of each territory studied—social, environmental, infrastructural, public policies, among others. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate what makes the municipalities of the state of Amazonas, Brazil, vulnerable to climate change in the context of the largest tropical forest in the world, and which regions of the State are the most susceptible. A Municipal Vulnerability Index was developed, which was used to associate current socio-environmental characteristics of municipalities with climate change scenarios in order to identify those that may be most affected by climate change. The results showed that poor adaptive capacity and poverty had the most influence on current vulnerability of the municipalities of Amazonas with the most vulnerable areas being the southern, northern, and eastern regions of the state. When current vulnerability was related to future climate change projections, the most vulnerable areas were the northern, northeastern, extreme southern, and southwestern regions. From a socio-environmental and climatic point of view, these regions should be a priority for public policy efforts to reduce their vulnerability and prepare them to cope with the adverse aspects of climate change. PMID:29444086

Mapping human vulnerability to climate change in the Brazilian Amazon: The construction of a municipal vulnerability index.

PubMed

Menezes, Júlia Alves; Confalonieri, Ulisses; Madureira, Ana Paula; Duval, Isabela de Brito; Santos, Rhavena Barbosa Dos; Margonari, Carina

2018-01-01

Vulnerability, understood as the propensity to be adversely affected, has attained importance in the context of climate change by helping to understand what makes populations and territories predisposed to its impacts. Conditions of vulnerability may vary depending on the characteristics of each territory studied-social, environmental, infrastructural, public policies, among others. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate what makes the municipalities of the state of Amazonas, Brazil, vulnerable to climate change in the context of the largest tropical forest in the world, and which regions of the State are the most susceptible. A Municipal Vulnerability Index was developed, which was used to associate current socio-environmental characteristics of municipalities with climate change scenarios in order to identify those that may be most affected by climate change. The results showed that poor adaptive capacity and poverty had the most influence on current vulnerability of the municipalities of Amazonas with the most vulnerable areas being the southern, northern, and eastern regions of the state. When current vulnerability was related to future climate change projections, the most vulnerable areas were the northern, northeastern, extreme southern, and southwestern regions. From a socio-environmental and climatic point of view, these regions should be a priority for public policy efforts to reduce their vulnerability and prepare them to cope with the adverse aspects of climate change.

Emerging Technology Update Intravascular Photoacoustic Imaging of Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaque.

PubMed

Wu, Min; Fw van der Steen, Antonius; Regar, Evelyn; van Soest, Gijs

2016-10-01

The identification of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques in the coronary arteries is emerging as an important tool for guiding atherosclerosis diagnosis and interventions. Assessment of plaque vulnerability requires knowledge of both the structure and composition of the plaque. Intravascular photoacoustic (IVPA) imaging is able to show the morphology and composition of atherosclerotic plaque. With imminent improvements in IVPA imaging, it is becoming possible to assess human coronary artery disease in vivo . Although some challenges remain, IVPA imaging is on its way to being a powerful tool for visualising coronary atherosclerotic features that have been specifically associated with plaque vulnerability and clinical syndromes, and thus such imaging might become valuable for clinical risk assessment in the catheterisation laboratory.

Intrinsic vulnerability assessment of Sette Comuni Plateau aquifer (Veneto Region, Italy).

PubMed

Cucchi, Franco; Franceschini, Giuliana; Zini, Luca; Aurighi, Marina

2008-09-01

Maps illustrating the different degrees of vulnerability within a given area are integral to environmental protection and management policies. The assessment of the intrinsic vulnerability of karst areas is difficult since the type and stage of karst development and the related underground discharge behavior are difficult to determine and quantify. Geographic Information Systems techniques are applied to the evaluation of the vulnerability of an aquifer in the alpine karst area of the Sette Comuni Plateau, in the Veneto Region of northern Italy. The water resources of the studied aquifer are of particular importance to the local communities. This aquifer must therefore be protected from both inappropriate use as well as possible pollution. The SINTACS and SINTACS P(RO) K(ARST) vulnerability assessment methods have been utilized here to create the vulnerability map. SINTACS P(RO) K(ARST) is an adaptation of the parametric managerial model (SINTACS) to karst hydrostructures. The vulnerability map reveals vast zones (81% of the analyzed areas) with a high degree of vulnerability. The presence of well-developed karst structures in these highly vulnerable areas facilitate water percolation, thereby enhancing the groundwater vulnerability risk. Only 1.5 of the studied aquifer have extremely high-vulnerability levels, however these areas include all of the major springs utilized for human consumption. This vulnerability map of the Sette Comuni Plateau aquifer is an indispensable tool for both the effective management of water resources and as support to environmental planning in the Sette Comuni Plateau area.

GIS model for identifying urban areas vulnerable to noise pollution: case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bilaşco, Ştefan; Govor, Corina; Roşca, Sanda; Vescan, Iuliu; Filip, Sorin; Fodorean, Ioan

2017-04-01

The unprecedented expansion of the national car ownership over the last few years has been determined by economic growth and the need for the population and economic agents to reduce travel time in progressively expanding large urban centres. This has led to an increase in the level of road noise and a stronger impact on the quality of the environment. Noise pollution generated by means of transport represents one of the most important types of pollution with negative effects on a population's health in large urban areas. As a consequence, tolerable limits of sound intensity for the comfort of inhabitants have been determined worldwide and the generation of sound maps has been made compulsory in order to identify the vulnerable zones and to make recommendations how to decrease the negative impact on humans. In this context, the present study aims at presenting a GIS spatial analysis model-based methodology for identifying and mapping zones vulnerable to noise pollution. The developed GIS model is based on the analysis of all the components influencing sound propagation, represented as vector databases (points of sound intensity measurements, buildings, lands use, transport infrastructure), raster databases (DEM), and numerical databases (wind direction and speed, sound intensity). Secondly, the hourly changes (for representative hours) were analysed to identify the hotspots characterised by major traffic flows specific to rush hours. The validated results of the model are represented by GIS databases and useful maps for the local public administration to use as a source of information and in the process of making decisions.

Human vulnerability in volcanic environments: the case of Furnas, São Miguel, Azores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dibben, Christopher; Chester, David K.

1999-09-01

The need to examine the vulnerability of people to natural hazards, in addition to the long-established requirement to study extreme events of nature, is being increasingly recognised within disaster research. Following a discussion of the nature of human vulnerability, we propose a framework for its analysis within the context of volcanic activity and we exemplify our approach by a detailed study of Furnas, a village located at the centre of a volcano with the same name on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. The methods used included in-depth interviews with permanent residents ( n=50), analysis of census records and an examination of the socio-economic history of the town. The vulnerability of an individual to volcanic hazards involves a complex interaction of elements which, in addition to the usual factors taken into account in programmes of hazard reduction (e.g., the nature of the physical threat, location and economic situation), also comprises his or her social context and a number of physiological and psychological considerations. It is argued, further, that both generally and in the case of Furnas, the root causes of vulnerability lie in the history and development of society. Individual decision making is fundamental but takes place within and cannot be separated from this social context. Vulnerability analysis allows the identification of points where intervention may be successful in reducing the likelihood of suffering in a society. It avoids the problem of people's unexpected reactions to invention leading to a changing or even increasing level of vulnerability, by studying society rather than just one aspect of volcanic hazard in isolation.

The trafficking of women and girls in Taiwan: characteristics of victims, perpetrators, and forms of exploitation.

PubMed

Huang, Lanying

2017-11-09

Prior to the passing of 2009 Human Trafficking Prevention Act (HTPA), human trafficking was underestimated in Taiwan. In the past, domestic trafficking in women and girls often targeted vulnerable groups such as young girls from poor families or minority groups. Since the 1990s, an increasing flow of immigrant women, mainly from Vietnam and Indonesia and some from China, into Taiwan has created a new group of Human Trafficking victims. The current study intends to identify, describe, and categorize reported and prosecuted human trafficking cases involving women and girls according to the HTPA in Taiwan. Using the court proceedings of prosecuted trafficking in women and girls cases under Taiwan's HTPA from all 21 districts in Taiwan from 2009 to 2012 under the title keyword of 'Human Trafficking', this current study aims to categorize different patterns of existing trafficking in women and girls in Taiwan. The analysis is based on 37 court cases, involving 195 victimized women and girls and 118 perpetrators. This study identifies six forms of Human Trafficking victims according to their country of origin, vulnerability status, and means of transport. This study found that women and girls suffer from both labor and sexual exploitation, from mainly domestic male perpetrators. While sexual exploitation is more evenly distributed among citizens and immigrants and affects both adults and minors, labor exploitation seems to be an exclusive phenomenon among women immigrant workers in the data. Human Trafficking cases in Taiwan share many of the similarities of Human Trafficking in other regions, which are highly associated with gender inequality and gender-based vulnerability.

Workplace support after breast cancer treatment: recognition of vulnerability.

PubMed

Tiedtke, Corine; Dierckx de Casterlé, Bernadette; Donceel, Peter; de Rijk, Angelique

2015-01-01

Support from the workplace seems to be a key element in addressing the poor return-to-work (RTW) rate of employees with breast cancer. We aim to acquire an in-depth understanding of how Flemish employees experience their RTW after breast cancer and the support from the workplace. Fourteen in-depth interviews of women who experienced breast cancer and returned to work (high school graduates, age range 42-55 years, mean age 48 at time of surgery) were analysed using the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven (QUAGOL), based on a Grounded Theory approach. The key experiences were feeling vulnerable, feeling able to work and need for support. Although little diversity in RTW experiences was found, the background of the vulnerability varied. Women experienced support (which could be emotional or practical) only as adequate if it addressed their specific vulnerability. Employees felt particularly vulnerable. Vulnerability is not the same as low-work ability and as such it should be added as theoretical concept in RTW research. Adequate workplace support addresses the specific vulnerability of an individual woman. Our study offers a nuanced insight into the RTW process of breast cancer survivors. Upon actual return-to-work (RTW) after breast cancer treatment, women feel vulnerable but able to work and, hence, have a high need for workplace support. Support from the workplace during RTW after breast cancer treatment is experienced as adequate when it expresses genuine recognition of the individual woman's vulnerability.

Climate change vulnerability to agrarian ecosystem of small Island: evidence from Sagar Island, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, S.; Satpati, L. N.; Choudhury, B. U.; Sadhu, S.

2018-04-01

The present study assessed climate change vulnerability in agricultural sector of low-lying Sagar Island of Bay of Bengal. Vulnerability indices were estimated using spatially aggregated biophysical and socio-economic parameters by applying principal component analysis and equal weight method. The similarities and differences of outputs of these two methods were analysed across the island. From the integration of outputs and based on the severity of vulnerability, explicit vulnerable zones were demarcated spatially. Results revealed that life subsistence agriculture in 11.8% geographical area (2829 ha) of the island along the western coast falls under very high vulnerable zone (VHVZ VI of 84-99%) to climate change. Comparatively higher values of exposure (0.53 ± 0.26) and sensitivity (0.78 ± 0.14) subindices affirmed that the VHV zone is highly exposed to climate stressor with very low adaptive capacity (ADI= 0.24 ± 0.16) to combat vulnerability to climate change. Hence, food security for a population of >22 thousands comprising >3.7 thousand agrarian households are highly exposed to climate change. Another 17% area comprising 17.5% population covering 20% villages in north-western and eastern parts of the island also falls under high vulnerable (VI= 61%-77%) zone. Findings revealed large spatial heterogeneity in the degree of vulnerability across the island and thus, demands devising area specific planning (adaptation and mitigation strategies) to address the climate change impact implications both at macro and micro levels.

Vulnerability related to oral health in early childhood: a concept analysis.

PubMed

Mattheus, Deborah J

2010-09-01

This article is a report of the analysis of the concept of vulnerability and its relationship to oral health in early childhood. Poor oral health is a continued problem for children worldwide. Vulnerability increases the probability of poor oral health outcomes. The lack of clarity of the concept of vulnerability creates difficulty in understanding this multi-factoral condition. Data source included 34 articles covering the period 2000-2009 from a variety of disciplines, including nursing, dentistry, medicine and public health. The concept analysis was conducted using Rodgers' evolutionary method. The literature was analysed and a social ecology model was used to frame the discussion, recognizing family and community influences on children's oral health. The context of oral health in early childhood contributes to the changes in the concept vulnerability. The attributes are closely related to family and community factors and identified as limited parental income, parental education, community-based services and fluoride; and exposure to poor parental habits, parental neglect and harmful toxins. The primary antecedent is identified as a form of limited protection from exposure to various circumstances. Children with limited protection have increased vulnerability and greater probability of poor health outcomes. Nurses who understand the concept of vulnerability related to oral health and can identify factors that create protection and are capable of decreasing vulnerability through parent education, community awareness and policy changes that support children and families.

Factor weighting in DRASTIC modelling for assessing the groundwater vulnerability in Salatiga groundwater basin, Central Java Province, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kesuma, D. A.; Purwanto, P.; Putranto, T. T.; Rahmani, T. P. D.

2017-06-01

The increase in human population as well as area development in Salatiga Groundwater Basin, Central Java Province, will increase the potency of groundwater contamination in that area. Groundwater quality, especially the shallow groundwater, is very vulnerable to the contamination from industrial waste, fertilizer/agricultural waste, and domestic waste. The first step in the conservation of groundwater quality is by conducting the mapping of the groundwater vulnerability zonation against the contamination. The result of this research was groundwater vulnerability map which showed the areas vulnerable to the groundwater contamination. In this study, groundwater vulnerability map was assessed based on the DRASTIC Method and was processed spatially using Geographic Information System. The DRASTIC method is used to assess the level of groundwater vulnerability based on weighting on seven parameters, which are: depth to the water table (D), recharge (R), aquifer material (A), soil media (S), topography (T), impact of vadose zone (I), and hydraulic conductivity (C). The higher the DRASTIC Index will result in the higher vulnerability level of groundwater contamination in that area. The DRASTIC Indexes in the researched area were 85 - 100 (low vulnerability level), 101 -120 (low to moderate vulnerability level), 121 - 140 (moderate vulnerability level), 141 - 150, (moderate to high vulnerability level), and 151 - 159 (high vulnerability level). The output of this study can be used by local authority as a tool for consideration to arrange the policy for sustainable area development, especially the development in an area affecting the quality of Salatiga Groundwater Basin.

Autonomy and its vulnerability: Ricoeur's view on justice as a contribution to care ethics.

PubMed

Hettema, Theo L

2014-11-01

We examine an article of Paul Ricoeur on autonomy and vulnerability. Ricoeur presents the two notions in the field of justice as intricately woven into each other. He analyzes their interdependence on three levels of human agency. Ricoeur's exposition has a focus on judicial judgment. After presenting Ricoeur's argument and an analysis of his main points, the author argues that Ricoeur's reflection lines up with some essential intentions of care ethics. Ricoeur's contribution to care ethics is given in a delicate balance of autonomy and its vulnerability.

Inclusion and Human Rights in Health Policies: Comparative and Benchmarking Analysis of 51 Policies from Malawi, Sudan, South Africa and Namibia

PubMed Central

MacLachlan, Malcolm; Amin, Mutamad; Mannan, Hasheem; El Tayeb, Shahla; Bedri, Nafisa; Swartz, Leslie; Munthali, Alister; Van Rooy, Gert; McVeigh, Joanne

2012-01-01

While many health services strive to be equitable, accessible and inclusive, peoples’ right to health often goes unrealized, particularly among vulnerable groups. The extent to which health policies explicitly seek to achieve such goals sets the policy context in which services are delivered and evaluated. An analytical framework was developed – EquiFrame – to evaluate 1) the extent to which 21 Core Concepts of human rights were addressed in policy documents, and 2) coverage of 12 Vulnerable Groups who might benefit from such policies. Using this framework, analysis of 51 policies across Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Sudan, confirmed the relevance of all Core Concepts and Vulnerable Groups. Further, our analysis highlighted some very strong policies, serious shortcomings in others as well as country-specific patterns. If social inclusion and human rights do not underpin policy formation, it is unlikely they will be inculcated in service delivery. EquiFrame facilitates policy analysis and benchmarking, and provides a means for evaluating policy revision and development. PMID:22649488

Network theory may explain the vulnerability of medieval human settlements to the Black Death pandemic.

PubMed

Gómez, José M; Verdú, Miguel

2017-03-06

Epidemics can spread across large regions becoming pandemics by flowing along transportation and social networks. Two network attributes, transitivity (when a node is connected to two other nodes that are also directly connected between them) and centrality (the number and intensity of connections with the other nodes in the network), are widely associated with the dynamics of transmission of pathogens. Here we investigate how network centrality and transitivity influence vulnerability to diseases of human populations by examining one of the most devastating pandemic in human history, the fourteenth century plague pandemic called Black Death. We found that, after controlling for the city spatial location and the disease arrival time, cities with higher values of both centrality and transitivity were more severely affected by the plague. A simulation study indicates that this association was due to central cities with high transitivity undergo more exogenous re-infections. Our study provides an easy method to identify hotspots in epidemic networks. Focusing our effort in those vulnerable nodes may save time and resources by improving our ability of controlling deadly epidemics.

Is a clean river fun for all? Recognizing social vulnerability in watershed planning.

PubMed

Cutts, Bethany B; Greenlee, Andrew J; Prochaska, Natalie K; Chantrill, Carolina V; Contractor, Annie B; Wilhoit, Juliana M; Abts, Nancy; Hornik, Kaitlyn

2018-01-01

Watershed planning can lead to policy innovation and action toward environmental protection. However, groups often suffer from low engagement with communities that experience disparate impacts from flooding and water pollution. This can limit the capacity of watershed efforts to dismantle pernicious forms of social inequality. As a result, the benefits of environmental changes often flow to more empowered residents, short-changing the power of watershed-based planning as a tool to transform ecological, economic, and social relationships. The objectives of this paper are to assess whether the worldview of watershed planning actors are sufficiently attuned to local patterns of social vulnerability and whether locally significant patterns of social vulnerability can be adequately differentiated using conventional data sources. Drawing from 35 in-depth interviews with watershed planners and community stakeholders in the Milwaukee River Basin (WI, USA), we identify five unique definitions of social vulnerability. Watershed planners in our sample articulate a narrower range of social vulnerability definitions than other participants. All five definitions emphasize spatial and demographic characteristics consistent with existing ways of measuring social vulnerability. However, existing measures do not adequately differentiate among the spatio-temporal dynamics used to distinguish definitions. In response, we develop two new social vulnerability measures. The combination of interviews and demographic analyses in this study provides an assessment technique that can help watershed planners (a) understand the limits of their own conceptualization of social vulnerability and (b) acknowledge the importance of place-based vulnerabilities that may otherwise be obscured. We conclude by discussing how our methods can be a useful tool for identifying opportunities to disrupt social vulnerability in a watershed by evaluating how issue frames, outreach messages, and engagement tactics. The approach allows watershed planners to shift their own culture in order to consider socially vulnerable populations comprehensively.

Is a clean river fun for all? Recognizing social vulnerability in watershed planning

PubMed Central

Greenlee, Andrew J.; Prochaska, Natalie K.; Chantrill, Carolina V.; Contractor, Annie B.; Wilhoit, Juliana M.; Abts, Nancy; Hornik, Kaitlyn

2018-01-01

Watershed planning can lead to policy innovation and action toward environmental protection. However, groups often suffer from low engagement with communities that experience disparate impacts from flooding and water pollution. This can limit the capacity of watershed efforts to dismantle pernicious forms of social inequality. As a result, the benefits of environmental changes often flow to more empowered residents, short-changing the power of watershed-based planning as a tool to transform ecological, economic, and social relationships. The objectives of this paper are to assess whether the worldview of watershed planning actors are sufficiently attuned to local patterns of social vulnerability and whether locally significant patterns of social vulnerability can be adequately differentiated using conventional data sources. Drawing from 35 in-depth interviews with watershed planners and community stakeholders in the Milwaukee River Basin (WI, USA), we identify five unique definitions of social vulnerability. Watershed planners in our sample articulate a narrower range of social vulnerability definitions than other participants. All five definitions emphasize spatial and demographic characteristics consistent with existing ways of measuring social vulnerability. However, existing measures do not adequately differentiate among the spatio-temporal dynamics used to distinguish definitions. In response, we develop two new social vulnerability measures. The combination of interviews and demographic analyses in this study provides an assessment technique that can help watershed planners (a) understand the limits of their own conceptualization of social vulnerability and (b) acknowledge the importance of place-based vulnerabilities that may otherwise be obscured. We conclude by discussing how our methods can be a useful tool for identifying opportunities to disrupt social vulnerability in a watershed by evaluating how issue frames, outreach messages, and engagement tactics. The approach allows watershed planners to shift their own culture in order to consider socially vulnerable populations comprehensively. PMID:29715285

Useful and Usable Climate Science: Frameworks for Bridging the Social and Physical domains.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buja, L.

2016-12-01

Society is transforming the Earth's system in unprecedented ways, often with significant variations across space and time. In turn, the impacts of climate change on the human system vary dramatically due to differences in cultural, socioeconomic, institutional, and physical processes at the local level. The Climate Science and Applications Program (CSAP) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder Colorado addresses societal vulnerability, impacts and adaptation to climate change through the development of frameworks and methods for analyzing current and future vulnerability, and integrated analyses of climate impacts and adaptation at local, regional and global scales. CSAP relies heavily on GIS-based scientific data and knowledge systems to bridge social and physical science approaches in its five focus areas: Governance of inter-linked natural and managed resource systems. The role of urban areas in driving emissions of climate change Weather, climate and global human health, GIS-based science data & knowledge systems. Regional Climate Science and Services for Adaptation Advanced methodologies and frameworks for assessing current and future risks to environmental hazards through the integration of physical and social science models, research results, and remote sensing data are presented in the context of recent national and international projects on climate change and food/water security, urban carbon emissions, metropolitan extreme heat and global health. In addition, innovative CSAP international capacity building programs teaching interdisciplinary approaches for using geospatial technologies to integrate multi-scale spatial information of weather, climate change into important sectors such as disaster reduction, agriculture, tourism and society for decision-making are discussed.

Understanding relationships between morphology and ecosystem structure in a shallow tidal basins of Venice lagoon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giuseppina Persichillo, Maria; Taramelli, Andrea; Valentini, Emiliana; Filipponi, Federico; Meisina, Claudia; Zucca, Francesco

2014-05-01

Coastal wetlands represent complex ecosystems prone to continue fluctuation of their internal equilibrium. They are valuable natural resources characterized by the continue interactions between geomorphological and biological components. Their adaptation to changing conditions is highly dependent on the rate and extent of spatial and temporal processes and their responses are still poorly understood. According to this, the vulnerability assessment to natural and human made hazard have became fundamental to analyse the resilience of these areas, their ability to cope with the impacts from externally driven forces or the efforts needed to minimize the impacts (Gitay et al., 2011). The objective of this research is to develop a comprehensive and replicable method through the application of Multi-Source data analysis, based on the integration of Earth Observation data and field survey, to analyse a shallow tidal basin of salt marshes, located in the northern part of the Venice lagoon. The study site is characterised by relatively elevated areas colonized by halophytic vegetation, and tidal flats, with not vegetated areas, characterized by lower elevations. Sub-pixel processing techniques (Spectral Mixing Analysis - SMA) were used to analyse the spatial distribution of both vegetation and sediments typology. Furthermore the classifications were assayed in terms of spatial (Power law) and temporal (Empirical Orthogonal Functions) patterns, in order to find the main characteristics of the aforementioned spatial trends and their variation over time. The principal aim is to study the spatio-temporal evolution of this coastal wetland area, in order to indentify tipping points, namely thresholds, beyond which the system reaches critical state and the main climatic, hydrodynamic and morphological variables that may influence and increase this behaviour. This research represents a new approach to study the geomorphological processes and to improve the management and conservation planning for coastal areas. Reference: Gitay H., Finlayson C.M. and Davidson N.(2011) - A Framework for assessing the vulnerability of wetlands to climate change, Ramsar Technical Report No. 5, 1-18.

Uncertainties in hydrological extremes projections and its effects on decision-making processes in an Amazonian sub-basin.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andres Rodriguez, Daniel; Garofolo, Lucas; Lazaro Siqueira Junior, Jose

2013-04-01

Uncertainties in Climate Change projections are affected by irreducible uncertainties due to knowledge's limitations, chaotic nature of climate system and human decision-making process. Such uncertainties affect the impact studies, complicating the decision-making process aimed at mitigation and adaptation. However, these uncertainties allow the possibility to develop exploratory analyses on system's vulnerability to different sceneries. Through these kinds of analyses it is possible to identify critical issues, which must be deeper studied. For this study we used several future's projections from General Circulation Models to feed a Hydrological Model, applied to the Amazonian sub-basin of Ji-Paraná. Hydrological Model integrations are performed for present historical time (1970-1990) and for future period (2010-2100). Extreme values analyses are performed to each simulated time series and results are compared with extremes events in present time. A simple approach to identify potential vulnerabilities consists of evaluating the hydrologic system response to climate variability and extreme events observed in the past, comparing them with the conditions projected for the future. Thus it is possible to identify critical issues that need attention and more detailed studies. For the goal of this work, we used socio-economic data from Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, the Operator of the National Electric System, the Brazilian National Water Agency and scientific and press published information. This information is used to characterize impacts associated to extremes hydrological events in the basin during the present historical time and to evaluate potential impacts in the future face to the different hydrological projections. Results show inter-model variability results in a broad dispersion on projected extreme's values. The impact of such dispersion is differentiated for different aspects of socio-economic and natural systems and must be carefully addressed in order to help in decision-making processes.

The essence of care in health vulnerability: a Heideggerian construction.

PubMed

Cestari, Virna Ribeiro Feitosa; Moreira, Thereza Maria Magalhães; Pessoa, Vera Lúcia Mendes de Paula; Florêncio, Raquel Sampaio; Silva, Maria Rocineide Ferreira da; Torres, Raimundo Augusto Martins

2017-01-01

Reflect on the essence of care in health vulnerability from the phenomenological perspective of Martin Heidegger. Theoretical-reflexive study, anchored in three essential parts: 1) Care in Heidegger; 2) The essence of care in health vulnerability; And 3) Nursing care actions on health vulnerability. Vulnerability must be recognized as an indelible trait of the human condition and has its constituents in the human being, co-presence and care. Caring is an interactive process that reveals itself in the relationship with the other. Respecting the integrity of the Being in vulnerability must be a priority in nursing care, through behaviors that privilege the Being. Understanding ontological care and its relation to vulnerability under Heidegger's phenomenological view allowed us to uncover the facets of care in health vulnerability by adding to the nursing knowledge body a comprehensive and reflective perspective. Refletir sobre a essência do cuidado na vulnerabilidade em saúde sob a perspectiva fenomenológica de Martin Heidegger. Estudo teórico-reflexivo, ancorado em três partes essenciais: 1) O cuidado em Heidegger; 2) A essência do cuidado na vulnerabilidade em saúde; e 3) As ações do cuidar em enfermagem na vulnerabilidade em saúde. A vulnerabilidade deve ser reconhecida como traço indelével da condição humana e tem seus constituintes na pessoa humana, co-presenças e cuidado. O cuidar é um processo interativo que se desvela na relação com o outro. Respeitar a integridade do Ser em vulnerabilidade deve ser prioridade no cuidar em enfermagem, por meio de comportamentos que privilegiem o Ser. Compreender ontologicamente o cuidado e a sua relação com a vulnerabilidade sob o olhar fenomenológico de Heidegger permitiu desvelar as facetas do cuidado na vulnerabilidade em saúde, agregando ao corpo de conhecimento da Enfermagem uma perspectiva compreensiva e reflexiva.

Economic vulnerability to sea-level rise along the northern U.S. Gulf Coast

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thatcher, Cindy A.; Brock, John C.; Pendleton, Elizabeth A.

2013-01-01

The northern Gulf of Mexico coast of the United States has been identified as highly vulnerable to sea-level rise, based on a combination of physical and societal factors. Vulnerability of human populations and infrastructure to projected increases in sea level is a critical area of uncertainty for communities in the extremely low-lying and flat northern gulf coastal zone. A rapidly growing population along some parts of the northern Gulf of Mexico coastline is further increasing the potential societal and economic impacts of projected sea-level rise in the region, where observed relative rise rates range from 0.75 to 9.95 mm per year on the Gulf coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. A 1-m elevation threshold was chosen as an inclusive designation of the coastal zone vulnerable to relative sea-level rise, because of uncertainty associated with sea-level rise projections. This study applies a Coastal Economic Vulnerability Index (CEVI) to the northern Gulf of Mexico region, which includes both physical and economic factors that contribute to societal risk of impacts from rising sea level. The economic variables incorporated in the CEVI include human population, urban land cover, economic value of key types of infrastructure, and residential and commercial building values. The variables are standardized and combined to produce a quantitative index value for each 1-km coastal segment, highlighting areas where human populations and the built environment are most at risk. This information can be used by coastal managers as they allocate limited resources for ecosystem restoration, beach nourishment, and coastal-protection infrastructure. The study indicates a large amount of variability in index values along the northern Gulf of Mexico coastline, and highlights areas where long-term planning to enhance resiliency is particularly needed.

Wildfire Mitigation and Private Lands: Managing Long-Term Vulnerabilities

Treesearch

Brian Muller; Stacey Schulte

2006-01-01

Long-term management of wildfire vulnerability requires strategies that address complex interactions between fire ecology and human settlement. In this paper, we examine the integration of wildfire mitigation and land use planning in county governments in the western U.S. This research relies on data from two sources. First, we conducted a survey of land use...

Meta-Synthesis of Literacy for the Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Camilli-Trujillo, Celia; Römer-Pieretti, Max

2017-01-01

The vulnerability translates in concrete human groups that, although they know what occurs around them in a digital matter, by his own social and cultural condition they are alienated and, in this sense, away of the exercise of the information right. The aim has been to analyze the critical, media and digital literacy for the empowerment of…

Global patterns in the vulnerability of ecosystems to vegetation shifts due to climate change

Treesearch

Patrick Gonzalez; Ronald P. Neilson; James M. Lenihan; Raymond J. Drapek

2010-01-01

Climate change threatens to shift vegetation, disrupting ecosystems and damaging human well-being. Field observations in boreal, temperate and tropical ecosystems have detected biome changes in the 20th century, yet a lack of spatial data on vulnerability hinders organizations that manage natural resources from identifying priority areas for adaptation measures. We...

Key concepts and methods in social vulnerability and adaptive capacity

Treesearch

Daniel J. Murphy; Carina Wyborn; Laurie Yung; Daniel R. Williams

2015-01-01

National forests have been asked to assess how climate change will impact nearby human communities. To assist their thinking on this topic, we examine the concepts of social vulnerability and adaptive capacity with an emphasis on a range of theoretical and methodological approaches. This analysis is designed to help researchers and decision-makers select appropriate...

Brain development in rodents and humans: Identifying benchmarks of maturation and vulnerability to injury across species

PubMed Central

Semple, Bridgette D.; Blomgren, Klas; Gimlin, Kayleen; Ferriero, Donna M.; Noble-Haeusslein, Linda J.

2013-01-01

Hypoxic-ischemic and traumatic brain injuries are leading causes of long-term mortality and disability in infants and children. Although several preclinical models using rodents of different ages have been developed, species differences in the timing of key brain maturation events can render comparisons of vulnerability and regenerative capacities difficult to interpret. Traditional models of developmental brain injury have utilized rodents at postnatal day 7–10 as being roughly equivalent to a term human infant, based historically on the measurement of post-mortem brain weights during the 1970s. Here we will examine fundamental brain development processes that occur in both rodents and humans, to delineate a comparable time course of postnatal brain development across species. We consider the timing of neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, gliogenesis, oligodendrocyte maturation and age-dependent behaviors that coincide with developmentally regulated molecular and biochemical changes. In general, while the time scale is considerably different, the sequence of key events in brain maturation is largely consistent between humans and rodents. Further, there are distinct parallels in regional vulnerability as well as functional consequences in response to brain injuries. With a focus on developmental hypoxicischemic encephalopathy and traumatic brain injury, this review offers guidelines for researchers when considering the most appropriate rodent age for the developmental stage or process of interest to approximate human brain development. PMID:23583307

State of the science: use of human milk and breast-feeding for vulnerable infants.

PubMed

Spatz, Diane L

2006-01-01

Human milk is the preferred form of nutrition for all infants including those born preterm or otherwise ill. However, without the commitment of knowledgeable healthcare providers to ensure success during mother-infant separation, many infants fail to receive their mother's own milk. Care of the mother-infant dyad during infant illness requires vigilant monitoring of the lactation experience and the commitment of healthcare providers to take a family through the step-by-step process needed to ensure positive outcomes related to the use of human milk and breast-feeding for vulnerable infants. The science tells us that human milk is the best form of nutrition for all infants. As practitioners we must be doing everything in our power to make sure the infants we care for are able to receive their mother's own milk.

Unified communication to reach vulnerable mothers.

PubMed

Tezcan, B; Von Rege, I; Henkson, H; Oteng-Ntim, E

2011-01-01

The feasibility of using a mobile text to reach vulnerable patient groups was assessed in this study. A total of 121 pregnant or postnatal women were randomly asked to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire was given to them in the antenatal clinic, postnatal ward, antenatal ward or in the day assessment unit at St Thomas' Hospital, London. The forms were collected and analysed using an Excel database. The results of this survey show that mobile technology is readily available for 97% of the obstetric population. In mothers from vulnerable groups and in mothers from deprived areas, 61% possessed 3rd generation mobile technology. The majority of mothers surveyed wanted their care supplemented by the use of their mobile phones.

Pathological narcissism and somatic symptoms among men and women attending an outpatient mental health clinic.

PubMed

Kealy, David; Tsai, Michelle; Ogrodniczuk, John S

2016-09-01

To explore the relationship between types of pathological narcissism and somatic symptoms among psychiatric outpatients. Patients (N = 95) completed measures of somatic symptoms, narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability, and psychiatric symptoms. Relationships among variables were analysed using t-tests and correlations, controlling for psychiatric distress. Somatic symptoms were positively associated with two types of narcissistic dysfunction. Among women there was a positive association between somatic symptoms and narcissistic vulnerability, but not grandiosity. Among men, somatic symptoms were positively associated with narcissistic grandiosity, but not vulnerability. The connection between narcissistic pathology and somatic symptom severity appears to differ based on gender. Further research is needed to confirm and extend this preliminary finding.

An asset-based approach to vulnerability: the case of small-scale fishing areas in Cameroon and Nigeria.

PubMed

Chiwaula, Levison S; Witt, Rudolf; Waibel, Hermann

2011-01-01

This paper analyses vulnerability to poverty of rural small-scale fishing communities using cross-section data from 295 households in Cameroon and 267 in Nigeria. We propose a vulnerability measure that incorporates the idea of asset poverty into the concept of expected poverty, which allows decomposing expected poverty into expected structural-chronic, structural-transient, and stochastic-transient poverty. The findings show that most households in our study areas are expected to be structurally-chronic and structurally-transient poor. This underlines the importance of asset formation for long-term poverty reduction strategies. Further refinements are possible with longitudinal data and information about future states of nature.

Restoration of the Mississippi Delta: Lessons from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Day, John W.; Boesch, Donald F.; Clairain, Ellis J.; Kemp, G. Paul; Laska, Shirley B.; Mitsch, William J.; Orth, Kenneth; Mashriqui, Hassan; Reed, Denise J.; Shabman, Leonard; Simenstad, Charles A.; Streever, Bill J.; Twilley, Robert R.; Watson, Chester C.; Wells, John T.; Whigham, Dennis F.

2007-03-01

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita showed the vulnerability of coastal communities and how human activities that caused deterioration of the Mississippi Deltaic Plain (MDP) exacerbated this vulnerability. The MDP formed by dynamic interactions between river and coast at various temporal and spatial scales, and human activity has reduced these interactions at all scales. Restoration efforts aim to re-establish this dynamic interaction, with emphasis on reconnecting the river to the deltaic plain. Science must guide MDP restoration, which will provide insights into delta restoration elsewhere and generally into coasts facing climate change in times of resource scarcity.

The perils of protection: vulnerability and women in clinical research.

PubMed

Schonfeld, Toby

2013-06-01

Subpart B of 45 Code of Federal Regulations Part 46 (CFR) identifies the criteria according to which research involving pregnant women, human fetuses, and neonates can be conducted ethically in the United States. As such, pregnant women and fetuses fall into a category requiring "additional protections," often referred to as "vulnerable populations." The CFR does not define vulnerability, but merely gives examples of vulnerable groups by pointing to different categories of potential research subjects needing additional protections. In this paper, I assess critically the role of this categorization of pregnant women involved in research as "vulnerable," both as separate entities and in combination with the fetuses they carry. In particular, I do three things: (1) demonstrate that pregnant women qua pregnancy are either not "vulnerable" according to any meaningful definition of that term or that such vulnerability is irrelevant to her status as a research participant; (2) argue that while a fetus may be vulnerable in terms of dependency, this categorization does not equate to the vulnerability of the pregnant woman; and (3) suggest that any vulnerability that appends to women is precisely the result of federal regulations and dubious public perceptions about pregnant women. I conclude by demonstrating how this erroneous characterization of pregnant women as "vulnerable" and its associated protections have not only impeded vital research for pregnant women and their fetuses, but have also negatively affected the inclusion of all women in clinical research.

Relations between species rarity, vulnerability, and range contraction for a beetle group in a densely populated region in the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot.

PubMed

Fattorini, Simone

2014-02-01

Rarity is often considered an indication of species extinction risk, and it is frequently used to obtain measures of species vulnerability. However, there is no strong evidence of a correlation between species vulnerability and threat. Moreover, there is no consensus about how rarity should be measured. I used a multidimensional characterization of species rarity to calculate a vulnerability index for tenebrionid beetles inhabiting an Italian region in the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot. I used different metrics to examine 3 dimensions of rarity: species range, ecology, and population. Species with rarity values below the median were scored as rare for each dimension. I combined rarity scores into a vulnerability index. I then correlated species vulnerability with range trends (expanded vs. contracted). Different measures of the same rarity dimension were strongly correlated and produced similar vulnerability scores. This result indicates rarity-based vulnerability estimates are slightly affected by the way a certain rarity dimension is measured. Vulnerability was correlated with range trends; species with the highest vulnerability had the strongest range contraction. However, a large number of common species also underwent range contraction in the last 50 years, and there was no clear relation between range contraction and their ecology. This indicates that in general human-induced environmental changes affected species irrespective of their assumed vulnerability and that focusing only on rare species may severely bias perceptions of the extent of species decline. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Sam68 Allows Selective Targeting of Human Cancer Stem Cells.

PubMed

Benoit, Yannick D; Mitchell, Ryan R; Risueño, Ruth M; Orlando, Luca; Tanasijevic, Borko; Boyd, Allison L; Aslostovar, Lili; Salci, Kyle R; Shapovalova, Zoya; Russell, Jennifer; Eguchi, Masakatsu; Golubeva, Diana; Graham, Monica; Xenocostas, Anargyros; Trus, Michael R; Foley, Ronan; Leber, Brian; Collins, Tony J; Bhatia, Mickie

2017-07-20

Targeting of human cancer stem cells (CSCs) requires the identification of vulnerabilities unique to CSCs versus healthy resident stem cells (SCs). Unfortunately, dysregulated pathways that support transformed CSCs, such as Wnt/β-catenin signaling, are also critical regulators of healthy SCs. Using the ICG-001 and CWP family of small molecules, we reveal Sam68 as a previously unappreciated modulator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling within CSCs. Disruption of CBP-β-catenin interaction via ICG-001/CWP induces the formation of a Sam68-CBP complex in CSCs that alters Wnt signaling toward apoptosis and differentiation induction. Our study identifies Sam68 as a regulator of human CSC vulnerability. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Decade of Dedication: Giving, Giving, Giving...And Giving up Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulholland, Judith; Wallace, John

2012-01-01

In this paper, we explore the circumstances leading to an elementary teacher's decision to leave the profession. We analyse her accounts of eleven years of teaching using a storyline technique and a framework provided by the five aspects of teacher self-understandings (Kelchtermans, 2009). We also analyse the interplay between vulnerability,…

A Heat Vulnerability Index and Adaptation Solutions for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

PubMed

Bradford, Kathryn; Abrahams, Leslie; Hegglin, Miriam; Klima, Kelly

2015-10-06

With increasing evidence of global warming, many cities have focused attention on response plans to address their populations' vulnerabilities. Despite expected increased frequency and intensity of heat waves, the health impacts of such events in urban areas can be minimized with careful policy and economic investments. We focus on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and ask two questions. First, what are the top factors contributing to heat vulnerability and how do these characteristics manifest geospatially throughout Pittsburgh? Second, assuming the City wishes to deploy additional cooling centers, what placement will optimally address the vulnerability of the at risk populations? We use national census data, ArcGIS geospatial modeling, and statistical analysis to determine a range of heat vulnerability indices and optimal cooling center placement. We find that while different studies use different data and statistical calculations, all methods tested locate additional cooling centers at the confluence of the three rivers (Downtown), the northeast side of Pittsburgh (Shadyside/Highland Park), and the southeast side of Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill). This suggests that for Pittsburgh, a researcher could apply the same factor analysis procedure to compare data sets for different locations and times; factor analyses for heat vulnerability are more robust than previously thought.

A Heat Vulnerability Index and Adaptation Solutions for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klima, K.; Abrahams, L.; Bradford, K.; Hegglin, M.

2015-12-01

With increasing evidence of global warming, many cities have focused attention on response plans to address their populations' vulnerabilities. Despite expected increased frequency and intensity of heat waves, the health impacts of such events in urban areas can be minimized with careful policy and economic investments. We focus on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and ask two questions. First, what are the top factors contributing to heat vulnerability and how do these characteristics manifest geospatially throughout Pittsburgh? Second, assuming the City wishes to deploy additional cooling centers, what placement will optimally address the vulnerability of the at risk populations? We use national census data, ArcGIS geospatial modeling, and statistical analysis to determine a range of heat vulnerability indices and optimal cooling center placement. We find that while different studies use different data and statistical calculations, all methods tested locate additional cooling centers at the confluence of the three rivers (Downtown), the northeast side of Pittsburgh (Shadyside/ Highland Park), and the southeast side of Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill). This suggests that for Pittsburgh, a researcher could apply the same factor analysis procedure to compare datasets for different locations and times; factor analyses for heat vulnerability are more robust than previously thought.

A spatial analysis of population dynamics and climate change in Africa: potential vulnerability hot spots emerge where precipitation declines and demographic pressures coincide

USGS Publications Warehouse

López-Carr, David; Pricope, Narcisa G.; Aukema, Juliann E.; Jankowska, Marta M.; Funk, Christopher C.; Husak, Gregory J.; Michaelsen, Joel C.

2014-01-01

We present an integrative measure of exposure and sensitivity components of vulnerability to climatic and demographic change for the African continent in order to identify “hot spots” of high potential population vulnerability. Getis-Ord Gi* spatial clustering analyses reveal statistically significant locations of spatio-temporal precipitation decline coinciding with high population density and increase. Statistically significant areas are evident, particularly across central, southern, and eastern Africa. The highly populated Lake Victoria basin emerges as a particularly salient hot spot. People located in the regions highlighted in this analysis suffer exceptionally high exposure to negative climate change impacts (as populations increase on lands with decreasing rainfall). Results may help inform further hot spot mapping and related research on demographic vulnerabilities to climate change. Results may also inform more suitable geographical targeting of policy interventions across the continent.

Optimization of DRASTIC method by artificial neural network, nitrate vulnerability index, and composite DRASTIC models to assess groundwater vulnerability for unconfined aquifer of Shiraz Plain, Iran.

PubMed

Baghapour, Mohammad Ali; Fadaei Nobandegani, Amir; Talebbeydokhti, Nasser; Bagherzadeh, Somayeh; Nadiri, Ata Allah; Gharekhani, Maryam; Chitsazan, Nima

2016-01-01

Extensive human activities and unplanned land uses have put groundwater resources of Shiraz plain at a high risk of nitrate pollution, causing several environmental and human health issues. To address these issues, water resources managers utilize groundwater vulnerability assessment and determination of protection. This study aimed to prepare the vulnerability maps of Shiraz aquifer by using Composite DRASTIC index, Nitrate Vulnerability index, and artificial neural network and also to compare their efficiency. The parameters of the indexes that were employed in this study are: depth to water table, net recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, impact of the vadose zone, hydraulic conductivity, and land use. These parameters were rated, weighted, and integrated using GIS, and then, used to develop the risk maps of Shiraz aquifer. The results indicated that the southeastern part of the aquifer was at the highest potential risk. Given the distribution of groundwater nitrate concentrations from the wells in the underlying aquifer, the artificial neural network model offered greater accuracy compared to the other two indexes. The study concluded that the artificial neural network model is an effective model to improve the DRASTIC index and provides a confident estimate of the pollution risk. As intensive agricultural activities are the dominant land use and water table is shallow in the vulnerable zones, optimized irrigation techniques and a lower rate of fertilizers are suggested. The findings of our study could be used as a scientific basis in future for sustainable groundwater management in Shiraz plain.

Coastal vulnerability: climate change and natural hazards perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romieu, E.; Vinchon, C.

2009-04-01

Introduction Studying coastal zones as a territorial concept (Integrated coastal zone management) is an essential issue for managers, as they have to consider many different topics (natural hazards, resources management, tourism, climate change…). The recent approach in terms of "coastal vulnerability" studies (since the 90's) is the main tool used nowadays to help them in evaluating impacts of natural hazards on coastal zones, specially considering climate change. This present communication aims to highlight the difficulties in integrating this concept in risk analysis as it is usually practiced in natural hazards sciences. 1) Coastal vulnerability as a recent issue The concept of coastal vulnerability mainly appears in the International panel on climate change works of 1992 (IPCC. 2001), where it is presented as essential for climate change adaptation. The concept has been defined by a common methodology which proposes the assessment of seven indicators, in regards to a sea level rise of 1m in 2100: people affected, people at risk, capital value at loss, land at loss, wetland at loss, potential adaptation costs, people at risk assuming this adaptation. Many national assessments have been implemented (Nicholls, et al. 1995) and a global assessment was proposed for three indicators (Nicholls, et al. 1999). The DINAS-Coast project reuses this methodology to produce the DIVA-tool for coastal managers (Vafeidis, et al. 2004). Besides, many other methodologies for national or regional coastal vulnerability assessments have been developed (review by (UNFCCC. 2008). The use of aggregated vulnerability indicators (including geomorphology, hydrodynamics, climate change…) is widespread: the USGS coastal vulnerability index is used worldwide and was completed by a social vulnerability index (Boruff, et al. 2005). Those index-based methods propose a vulnerability mapping which visualise indicators of erosion, submersion and/or socio economic sensibility in coastal zones. This concept is a great tool for policy makers to help managing their action and taking into account climate change (McFadden, et al. 2006). However, in those approaches, vulnerability is the output itself (cost of effective impacts, geomorphologic impacts…), but is not integrated it in a risk analysis. Furthermore, those studies emerged from a climatic perspective, which leads to consider climate change as a hazard or pressure whereas risk studies commonly consider hazards such as erosion and flooding, where climate change modifies the drivers of the hazard. 2) The natural hazards and socio economic perspectives In order to reduce impacts of natural hazards, decision makers need a complete risk assessment (probability of losses). Past studies on natural risks (landslide, earthquake...) highlighted the pertinence of defining risk as a combination of : (1)hazard occurrence and intensity, (2) exposition and (3)vulnerability of assets and population to this hazard (e.g. Douglas. 2007, Sarewitz, et al. 2003). Following the Renn and Klinke risk assessment frame, high uncertainties associated with coastal risks considering climatic and anthropic change highlights the importance of working on that concept of "vulnerability" (Klinke and Renn. 2002). Past studies on vulnerability assessment showed a frequently mentioned gap between "impact based" and "human based" points of view. It is nowadays a great issue for natural risk sciences. Many research efforts in FP7 projects such as MOVE and ENSURE focus on integrating the different dimensions of vulnerability (Turner, et al. 2003, Birkmann. 2006). Coastal risk studies highlight another issue of concern. We previously detailed the different use of the term "vulnerability" in the coastal context, quite different of the "natural risk's" use. Interaction of social, economic and physical sciences is considered within two french research projects (Vulsaco, Miseeva), in order to identify the vulnerability of a system to flooding or erosion (i.e. its characteristics that create potential harm), and integrate them in a risk assessment. Global change is considered by modifications of hazard, anthropogenic pressure and exposition, in order to point out possible modification of vulnerabilities. 3) Learning from both perspectives Coastal vulnerability in its "end in itself" and climate change dimension is a widespread tool for decision makers but it can be inadequate when vulnerability is a component of risk. This is mainly due to the consideration of climate change as a "hazard", so that coastal vulnerability is seen as the possible adverse impacts of climate change. As a matter of fact, this concept is clearly well considered by managers, who feel deeply concerned by climate change. However, coastal risk managers would gain in considering climate change more like a driver able to modify existing hazards than like the pressure in itself. Using this concept could lead to new perspectives of coastal risk mitigation for decision makers (social vulnerability, risk perception…), learning from other disciplines and sciences thanks to research projects such as MOVE (FP7). Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the BRGM coastal team for rich discussions and fruitful collaborations in coastal vulnerability studies, more specially Déborah Idier for animating the Vulsaco project and Manuel Garcin for his work on tsunamis in Sri Lanka. They are also grateful to the MISEEVA and MOVE teams, which are doing some great trans-disciplinary work. References Birkmann, J., 2006. Measuring vulnerability to Natural Hazards : towards disaster resilient societies. United Nations University Press. Boruff, B. J., Emrich, C., Cutter, S. L., 2005. Erosion hazard vulnerability of US coastal counties. Journal of Coastal Research. 21, 932-942. Douglas, J., 2007. Physical vulnerability modelling in natural hazard risk assessment. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 7, 283-288. IPCC, 2001. Climate change 2001 : synthesis report. A contribution of working groups I, II and III to the Third Assesment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Klinke, A. and Renn, O., 2002. A new approach to risk evaluation and management : risk based, precaution based and discourse based strategies. Risk Analysis. 22, 1071-1094. McFadden, L., Nicholls, R.J., Penning-Rowsell, E. (Eds.), 2006. Managing coastal vulnerability. Elsevier Science. Nicholls, R. J., Hoozemans, F. M. J., Marchand, M., 1999. Increasing flood risk and wetland losses due to global sea-level rise: regional and global analyses. Global Environmental Change, Part A: Human and Policy Dimensions. 9, S69-S87. Nicholls, R. J., Leatherman, S. P., Volonte, C. R., 1995. Impacts and responses to sea-level rise; qualitative and quantitative assessments; Potential impacts of accelerated sea-level rise on developing countries. Journal of Coastal Research. Special issue 14, 26-43. Sarewitz, D., Pielke, R., Keykhah, M., 2003. Vulnerability and Risk: Some Thoughts from a Political and Policy Perspective. Risk Analysis. 23, 805-810. Turner, B. L.,II, Kasperson, R. E., Matson, P. A., McCarthy, J. J., Corell, R. W., Christensen, L., Eckley, N., Kasperson, J. X., Luers, A., Martello, M. L., Polsky, C., Pulsipher, A., Schiller, A., 2003. A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 100, 8074-8079. UNFCCC, 2008. Compendium on methods and tools to evaluate impacts of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. Vafeidis, A., Nicholls, R., McFadden, L., 2004. Developing a database for global vulnerability analysis of coastal zones: The DINAS-COAST project and the DIVA tool.

Responses to Novelty and Vulnerability to Cocaine Addiction: Contribution of a Multi-Symptomatic Animal Model

PubMed Central

Belin, David; Deroche-Gamonet, Véronique

2012-01-01

Epidemiological studies have revealed striking associations between several distinct behavioral/personality traits and drug addiction, with a large emphasis on the sensation-seeking trait and the associated impulsive dimension of personality. However, in human studies, it is difficult to identify whether personality/behavioral traits actually contribute to increased vulnerability to drug addiction or reflect psychobiological adaptations to chronic drug exposure. Here we show how animal models, including the first multi-symptomatic model of addiction in the rat, have contributed to a better understanding of the relationships between different subdimensions of the sensation-seeking trait and different stages of the development of cocaine addiction, from vulnerability to initiation of cocaine self-administration to the transition to compulsive drug intake. We argue that sensation seeking predicts vulnerability to use cocaine, whereas novelty seeking, akin to high impulsivity, predicts instead vulnerability to shift from controlled to compulsive cocaine use, that is, addiction. PMID:23125204

Resilience, rapid transitions and regime shifts: fingerprinting the responses of Lake Żabińskie (NE Poland) to climate variability and human disturbance since 1000 AD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tylmann, Wojciech; Hernández-Almeida, Iván; Grosjean, Martin; José Gómez Navarro, Juan; Larocque-Tobler, Isabelle; Bonk, Alicja; Enters, Dirk; Ustrzycka, Alicja; Piotrowska, Natalia; Przybylak, Rajmund; Wacnik, Agnieszka; Witak, Małgorzata

2016-04-01

Rapid ecosystem transitions and adverse effects on ecosystem services as responses to combined climate and human impacts are of major concern. Yet few quantitative observational data exist, particularly for ecosystems that have a long history of human intervention. Here, we combine quantitative summer and winter climate reconstructions, climate model simulations and proxies for three major environmental pressures (land use, nutrients and erosion) to explore the system dynamics, resilience, and the role of disturbance regimes in varved eutrophic Lake Żabińskie since AD 1000. Comparison between regional and global climate simulations and quantitative climate reconstructions indicate that proxy data capture noticeably natural forced climate variability, while internal variability appears as the dominant source of climate variability in the climate model simulations during most parts of the last millennium. Using different multivariate analyses and change point detection techniques, we identify ecosystem changes through time and shifts between rather stable states and highly variable ones, as expressed by the proxies for land-use, erosion and productivity in the lake. Prior to AD 1600, the lake ecosystem was characterized by a high stability and resilience against considerable observed natural climate variability. In contrast, lake-ecosystem conditions started to fluctuate at high frequency across a broad range of states after AD 1600. The period AD 1748-1868 represents the phase with the strongest human disturbance of the ecosystem. Analyses of the frequency of change points in the multi-proxy dataset suggests that the last 400 years were highly variable and flickering with increasing vulnerability of the ecosystem to the combined effects of climate variability and anthropogenic disturbances. This led to significant rapid ecosystem transformations.

Assessing the risk posed by natural hazards to infrastructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eidsvig, Unni; Kristensen, Krister; Vidar Vangelsten, Bjørn

2015-04-01

The modern society is increasingly dependent on infrastructures to maintain its function, and disruption in one of the infrastructure systems may have severe consequences. The Norwegian municipalities have, according to legislation, a duty to carry out a risk and vulnerability analysis and plan and prepare for emergencies in a short- and long term perspective. Vulnerability analysis of the infrastructures and their interdependencies is an important part of this analysis. This paper proposes a model for assessing the risk posed by natural hazards to infrastructures. The model prescribes a three level analysis with increasing level of detail, moving from qualitative to quantitative analysis. This paper focuses on the second level, which consists of a semi-quantitative analysis. The purpose of this analysis is to perform a screening of the scenarios of natural hazards threatening the infrastructures identified in the level 1 analysis and investigate the need for further analyses, i.e. level 3 quantitative analyses. The proposed level 2 analysis considers the frequency of the natural hazard, different aspects of vulnerability including the physical vulnerability of the infrastructure itself and the societal dependency on the infrastructure. An indicator-based approach is applied, ranking the indicators on a relative scale. The proposed indicators characterize the robustness of the infrastructure, the importance of the infrastructure as well as interdependencies between society and infrastructure affecting the potential for cascading effects. Each indicator is ranked on a 1-5 scale based on pre-defined ranking criteria. The aggregated risk estimate is a combination of the semi-quantitative vulnerability indicators, as well as quantitative estimates of the frequency of the natural hazard and the number of users of the infrastructure. Case studies for two Norwegian municipalities are presented, where risk to primary road, water supply and power network threatened by storm and landslide is assessed. The application examples show that the proposed model provides a useful tool for screening of undesirable events, with the ultimate goal to reduce the societal vulnerability.

Vulnerability of water supply from the Oregon Cascades to changing climate: linking science to users and policy

Treesearch

Kathleen A. Farley; Christina Tague; Gordon E. Grant

2011-01-01

Despite improvements in understanding biophysical response to climate change, a better understanding of how such changes will affect societies is still needed. We evaluated effects of climate change on the coupled human-environmental system of the McKenzie River watershed in the Oregon Cascades in order to assess its vulnerability. Published empirical and modeling...

Temporal shifts in clinical presentation and underlying mechanisms of atherosclerotic disease.

PubMed

Pasterkamp, Gerard; den Ruijter, Hester M; Libby, Peter

2017-01-01

The concept of the 'vulnerable plaque' originated from pathological observations in patients who died from acute coronary syndrome. This recognition spawned a generation of research that led to greater understanding of how complicated atherosclerotic plaques form and precipitate thrombotic events. In current practice, an increasing number of patients who survive their first event present with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) rather than myocardial infarction (MI) with ST-segment elevation (STEMI). The culprit lesions that provide the pathological substrate for NSTEMI can vary considerably from the so-called 'vulnerable plaque'. The shift in clinical presentation of MI and stroke corresponds temporally to a progressive change in the characteristics of human plaques away from the supposed characteristics of vulnerability. These alterations in the structure and function of human atherosclerotic lesions might mirror the modifications that are produced in experimental plaques by lipid lowering, inspired by the vulnerable plaque construct. The shift in the clinical presentations of the acute coronary syndromes mandates a critical reassessment of the underlying mechanisms, proposed risk scores, the results and interpretation of preclinical experiments, as well as recognition of the limitations of the use of population data and samples collected before the application of current preventive interventions.

[International regulation of ethics committees on biomedical research as protection mechanisms for people: analysis of the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, concerning Biomedical Research of the Council of Europe].

PubMed

de Lecuona, Itziar

2013-01-01

The article explores and analyses the content of the Council of Europe's Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine concerning Biomedical Research regarding the standard legal instrument in biomedical research, issued by an international organization with leadership in bioethics. This implies ethics committees are mechanisms of protection of humans in biomedical research and not mere bureaucratic agencies and that a sound inescapable international regulatory framework exists for States to regulate biomedical research. The methodology used focuses on the analysis of the background, the context in which it is made and the nature and scope of the Protocol. It also identifies and analyses the characteristics and functions of ethics committees in biomedical research and, in particular, the information that should be provided to this bodies to develop their functions previously, during and at the end of research projects. This analysis will provide guidelines, suggestions and conclusions for the awareness and training of members of these committees in order to influence the daily practice. This paper may also be of interest to legal practitioners who work in different areas of biomedical research. From this practical perspective, the article examines the legal treatment of the Protocol to meet new challenges and classic issues in research: the treatment of human biological samples, the use of placebos, avoiding double standards, human vulnerability, undue influence and conflicts of interest, among others. Also, from a critical view, this work links the legal responses to develop work procedures that are required for an effective performance of the functions assigned of ethics committees in biomedical research. An existing international legal response that lacks doctrinal standards and provides little support should, however, serve as a guide and standard to develop actions that allow ethics committees -as key bodies for States- to advance in the protection of humans in biomedical research.

Brains in the City: Neurobiological effects of urbanization

PubMed Central

Lambert, Kelly G.; Nelson, Randy J.; Jovanovic, Tanja; Cerdá, Magdalena

2016-01-01

With a majority of humans now living in cities, strategic research is necessary to elucidate the impact of this evolutionarily unfamiliar habitat on neural functions and well-being. In this review, both rodent and human models are considered in the evaluation of the changing physical and social landscapes associated with urban dwellings. Animal models assessing increased exposure to artificial physical elements characteristic of urban settings, as well as exposure to unnatural sources of light for extended durations, are reviewed. In both cases, increased biomarkers of mental illnesses such as major depression have been observed. Additionally, applied human research emphasizing the emotional impact of environmental threats associated with urban habitats is considered. Subjects evaluated in an inner-city hospital reveal the impact of combined specific genetic vulnerabilities and heightened stress responses in the expression of posttraumatic stress disorder. Finally, algorithm-based models of cities have been developed utilizing population-level analyses to identify risk factors for psychiatric illness. Although complex, the use of multiple research approaches, as described herein, results in an enhanced understanding of urbanization and its far-reaching effects--confirming the importance of continued research directed toward the identification of putative risk factors associated with psychiatric illness in urban settings. PMID:25936504

Bisphenol A Effects on Mammalian Oogenesis and Epigenetic Integrity of Oocytes: A Case Study Exploring Risks of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

PubMed Central

Eichenlaub-Ritter, Ursula; Pacchierotti, Francesca

2015-01-01

Bisphenol A (BPA), originally developed as a synthetic oestrogen, is nowadays extensively used in the production of polymeric plastics. Under harsh conditions, these plastics may release BPA, which then can leach into the environment. Detectable concentrations of BPA have been measured in most analysed samples of human serum, plasma, or urine, as well as in follicular fluid, foetal serum, and amniotic fluid. Here we summarize the evidence about adverse BPA effects on the genetic and epigenetic integrity of mammalian oocytes. We conclude that increasing evidence supports the notion that low BPA concentrations adversely affect the epigenome of mammalian female germ cells, with functional consequences on gene expression, chromosome dynamics in meiosis, and oocyte development. Specific time windows, during which profound chromatin remodelling occurs and maternal imprints are established or protected, appear particularly vulnerable to epigenetic deregulation by BPA. Transgenerational effects have been also observed in the offspring of BPA-treated rodents, although the epigenetic mechanisms of inheritance still need to be clarified. The relevance of these findings for human health protection still needs to be fully assessed, but they warrant further investigation in both experimental models and humans. PMID:26339634

A study on agricultural drought vulnerability at disaggregated level in a highly irrigated and intensely cropped state of India.

PubMed

Murthy, C S; Yadav, Manoj; Mohammed Ahamed, J; Laxman, B; Prawasi, R; Sesha Sai, M V R; Hooda, R S

2015-03-01

Drought is an important global hazard, challenging the sustainable agriculture and food security of nations. Measuring agricultural drought vulnerability is a prerequisite for targeting interventions to improve and sustain the agricultural performance of both irrigated and rain-fed agriculture. In this study, crop-generic agricultural drought vulnerability status is empirically measured through a composite index approach. The study area is Haryana state, India, a prime agriculture state of the country, characterised with low rainfall, high irrigation support and stable cropping pattern. By analysing the multiyear rainfall and crop condition data of kharif crop season (June-October) derived from satellite data and soil water holding capacity and groundwater quality, nine contributing indicators were generated for 120 blocks (sub-district administrative units). Composite indices for exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity components were generated after assigning variance-based weightages to the respective input indicators. Agricultural Drought Vulnerability Index (ADVI) was developed through a linear combination of the three component indices. ADVI-based vulnerability categorisation revealed that 51 blocks are with vulnerable to very highly vulnerable status. These blocks are located in the southern and western parts of the state, where groundwater quality is saline and water holding capacity of soils is less. The ADVI map has effectively captured the spatial pattern of agricultural drought vulnerability in the state. Districts with large number of vulnerable blocks showed considerably larger variability of de-trended crop yields. Correlation analysis reveals that crop condition variability, groundwater quality and soil factors are closely associated with ADVI. The vulnerability index is useful to prioritise the blocks for implementation of long-term drought management plans. There is scope for improving the methodology by adding/fine-tuning the indicators and by optimising the weights.

A Preliminary Tsunami Vulnerability Analysis for Yenikapi Region in Istanbul

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceren Cankaya, Zeynep; Suzen, Lutfi; Cevdet Yalciner, Ahmet; Kolat, Cagil; Aytore, Betul; Zaytsev, Andrey

2015-04-01

One of the main requirements during post disaster recovery operations is to maintain proper transportation and fluent communication at the disaster areas. Ports and harbors are the main transportation hubs which must work with proper performance at all times especially after the disasters. Resilience of coastal utilities after earthquakes and tsunamis have major importance for efficient and proper rescue and recovery operations soon after the disasters. Istanbul is a mega city with its various coastal utilities located at the north coast of the Sea of Marmara. At Yenikapi region of Istanbul, there are critical coastal utilities and vulnerable coastal structures and critical activities occur daily. Fishery ports, commercial ports, small craft harbors, passenger terminals of intercity maritime transportation, water front commercial and/or recreational structures are some of the examples of coastal utilization which are vulnerable against marine disasters. Therefore their vulnerability under tsunami or any other marine hazard to Yenikapi region of Istanbul is an important issue. In this study, a methodology of vulnerability analysis under tsunami attack is proposed with the applications to Yenikapi region. In the study, high resolution (1m) GIS database of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) is used and analyzed by using GIS implementation. The bathymetry and topography database and the vector dataset containing all buildings/structures/infrastructures in the study area are obtained for tsunami numerical modeling for the study area. GIS based tsunami vulnerability assessment is conducted by applying the Multi-criteria Decision Making Analysis (MCDA). The tsunami parameters from deterministically defined worst case scenarios are computed from the simulations using tsunami numerical model NAMI DANCE. The vulnerability parameters in the region due to two different classifications i) vulnerability of buildings/structures and ii) vulnerability of (human) evacuation are defined and scored. The risk level is computed using tsunami intensity (level of flow depth from simulations) and vulnerability (structural and human-based) at each node in Yenikapi. The results are presented at high resolution (1m) and discussed. Acknowledgements: Partial support by EU 603839 ASTARTE Project, UDAP-C-12-14 of AFAD of Turkey, 108Y227 and 113M556 of TUBITAK Turkey, RAPSODI (CONCERT_Dis-021) of CONCERT-Japan Joint Call, 2011K140210 of DPT, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Japan-Turkey Joint Research Project by JICA on earthquakes and tsunamis in Marmara Region by SATREPS are acknowledged.

Rural Nevada and climate change: vulnerability, beliefs, and risk perception.

PubMed

Safi, Ahmad Saleh; Smith, William James; Liu, Zhnongwei

2012-06-01

In this article, we present the results of a study investigating the influence of vulnerability to climate change as a function of physical vulnerability, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity on climate change risk perception. In 2008/2009, we surveyed Nevada ranchers and farmers to assess their climate change-related beliefs, and risk perceptions, political orientations, and socioeconomic characteristics. Ranchers' and farmers' sensitivity to climate change was measured through estimating the proportion of their household income originating from highly scarce water-dependent agriculture to the total income. Adaptive capacity was measured as a combination of the Social Status Index and the Poverty Index. Utilizing water availability and use, and population distribution GIS databases; we assessed water resource vulnerability in Nevada by zip code as an indicator of physical vulnerability to climate change. We performed correlation tests and multiple regression analyses to examine the impact of vulnerability and its three distinct components on risk perception. We find that vulnerability is not a significant determinant of risk perception. Physical vulnerability alone also does not impact risk perception. Both sensitivity and adaptive capacity increase risk perception. While age is not a significant determinant of it, gender plays an important role in shaping risk perception. Yet, general beliefs such as political orientations and climate change-specific beliefs such as believing in the anthropogenic causes of climate change and connecting the locally observed impacts (in this case drought) to climate change are the most prominent determinants of risk perception. © 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.

Cognitive coping skills and depression vulnerability among cigarette smokers.

PubMed

Haaga, David A F; Thorndike, Frances P; Friedman-Wheeler, Dara G; Pearlman, Michelle Y; Wernicke, Rachel A

2004-08-01

Cigarette smokers vulnerable to depression experience considerable difficulty in quitting smoking, possibly because they use smoking to manage negative affect and possess underdeveloped alternative coping skills for doing so. Efforts to adapt cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) of depression to the treatment of depression-vulnerable smokers have achieved inconsistent results. This research tested one possible explanation for these mixed results, the possibility that depression-vulnerable smokers are not actually deficient in the skills taught in CBT. Regular smokers with a history of major depression, but not currently in a depressive episode (n = 66), scored worse than did the never-depressed smokers (n = 68) on the Ways of Responding [WOR; Behav. Assess. 14 (1992) 93] test of skills for coping with negative moods and automatic thoughts. Results were similar in analyses using self-rated depression proneness, rather than interview-based diagnosis of past major depression, as the marker of depression vulnerability. Results were (nonsignificantly) stronger for Caucasian (n = 54) than for African-American (n = 73) smokers. Implications for future research on cognitive coping, CBT, and smoking are discussed.

Health adaptation policy for climate vulnerable groups: a 'critical computational linguistics' analysis.

PubMed

Seidel, Bastian M; Bell, Erica

2014-11-28

Many countries are developing or reviewing national adaptation policy for climate change but the extent to which these meet the health needs of vulnerable groups has not been assessed. This study examines the adequacy of such policies for nine known climate-vulnerable groups: people with mental health conditions, Aboriginal people, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, aged people, people with disabilities, rural communities, children, women, and socioeconomically disadvantaged people. The study analyses an exhaustive sample of national adaptation policy documents from Annex 1 ('developed') countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: 20 documents from 12 countries. A 'critical computational linguistics' method was used involving novel software-driven quantitative mapping and traditional critical discourse analysis. The study finds that references to vulnerable groups are relatively little present or non-existent, as well as poorly connected to language about practical strategies and socio-economic contexts, both also little present. The conclusions offer strategies for developing policy that is better informed by a 'social determinants of health' definition of climate vulnerability, consistent with best practice in the literature and global policy prescriptions.

Longitudinal assessment of maternal parenting capacity variables and child adjustment outcomes in pediatric cancer.

PubMed

Fedele, David A; Mullins, Larry L; Wolfe-Christensen, Cortney; Carpentier, Melissa Y

2011-04-01

This preliminary investigation aimed to longitudinally examine parenting capacity variables, namely parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, and parenting stress and their relation to child adjustment in mothers of children on treatment for cancer. As part of a larger study, biological mothers (N=22) completed measures of parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, parenting stress, and child adjustment at Time 1 and a follow-up time point. Analyses were conducted to determine whether (1) levels of parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, and parenting stress declined from Time 1 to follow-up and (2) if Time 1 parenting capacity variables were associated with child adjustment at follow-up. Results revealed that parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, and parenting stress declined from Time 1 to follow-up, and levels of parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, and parenting stress at Time 1 were significantly related to child adjustment at follow-up. Collectively, the preliminary findings of this study indicate that mothers of children with cancer evidence improved parenting capacity over time. Furthermore, it seems that Time 1 parenting capacity variables are significantly related to later child adjustment.

Role of Livelihood Capital in Reducing Climatic Vulnerability: Insights of Australian Wheat from 1990-2010.

PubMed

Huai, Jianjun

2016-01-01

In many agricultural countries, development of rural livelihood through increasing capital is a major regional policy to adapt to climate change. However, the role of livelihood capital in reducing climatic vulnerability is uncertain. This study assesses vulnerability and identifies the effects of common capital indicators on it, using Australian wheat as an example. We calculate exposure (a climate index) and sensitivity (a wheat failure index) to measure vulnerability and classify the resilient and sensitive cases, and express adaptive capacity through financial, human, natural, physical, and social capital indicators for 12 regions in the Australian wheat-sheep production zone from 1991-2010. We identify relationships between 12 indicators of five types of capital and vulnerability with t-tests and six logistic models considering the capital indicator itself, its first-order lag and its square as dependent variables to test the hypothesis that a high level of each capital metric results in low vulnerability. Through differing adaptive capacities between resilient and sensitive groups, we found that only four of the 12 (e.g., the access to finance, cash income level, total crop gross revenues, and family share of farm income) relate to vulnerability, which challenges the hypothesis that increasing capital reduces vulnerability. We conclude that further empirical reexaminations are required to test the relationships between capital measures and vulnerability under the sustainable livelihood framework (SLF).

Role of Livelihood Capital in Reducing Climatic Vulnerability: Insights of Australian Wheat from 1990–2010

PubMed Central

Huai, Jianjun

2016-01-01

In many agricultural countries, development of rural livelihood through increasing capital is a major regional policy to adapt to climate change. However, the role of livelihood capital in reducing climatic vulnerability is uncertain. This study assesses vulnerability and identifies the effects of common capital indicators on it, using Australian wheat as an example. We calculate exposure (a climate index) and sensitivity (a wheat failure index) to measure vulnerability and classify the resilient and sensitive cases, and express adaptive capacity through financial, human, natural, physical, and social capital indicators for 12 regions in the Australian wheat–sheep production zone from 1991–2010. We identify relationships between 12 indicators of five types of capital and vulnerability with t-tests and six logistic models considering the capital indicator itself, its first-order lag and its square as dependent variables to test the hypothesis that a high level of each capital metric results in low vulnerability. Through differing adaptive capacities between resilient and sensitive groups, we found that only four of the 12 (e.g., the access to finance, cash income level, total crop gross revenues, and family share of farm income) relate to vulnerability, which challenges the hypothesis that increasing capital reduces vulnerability. We conclude that further empirical reexaminations are required to test the relationships between capital measures and vulnerability under the sustainable livelihood framework (SLF). PMID:27022910

Population vulnerability to storm surge flooding in coastal Virginia, USA.

PubMed

Liu, Hua; Behr, Joshua G; Diaz, Rafael

2016-07-01

This study aims to assess the vulnerability of populations to storm surge flooding in 12 coastal localities of Virginia, USA. Population vulnerability is assessed by way of 3 physical factors (elevation, slope, and storm surge category), 3 built-up components (road availability, access to hospitals, and access to shelters), and 3 household conditions (storm preparedness, financial constraints to recovering from severe weather events, and health fragility). Fuzzy analysis is used to generate maps illustrating variation in several types of population vulnerability across the region. When considering physical factors and household conditions, the most vulnerable neighborhoods to sea level rise and storm surge flooding are largely found in urban areas. However, when considering access to critical infrastructure, we find rural residents to be more vulnerable than nonrural residents. These detailed assessments can inform both local and state governments in catastrophic planning. In addition, the methodology may be generalized to assess vulnerability in other coastal corridors and communities. The originality is highlighted by evaluating socioeconomic conditions at refined scale, incorporating a broader range of human perceptions and predispositions, and employing a geoinformatics approach combining physical, built-up, and socioeconomic conditions for population vulnerability assessment. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:500-509. © 2015 SETAC. © 2015 SETAC.

Who is more vulnerable to death from extremely cold temperatures? A case-only approach in Hong Kong with a temperate climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Hong; Tian, Linwei; Ho, Kin-fai; Yu, Ignatius T. S.; Thach, Thuan-Quoc; Wong, Chit-Ming

2016-05-01

The short-term effects of ambient cold temperature on mortality have been well documented in the literature worldwide. However, less is known about which subpopulations are more vulnerable to death related to extreme cold. We aimed to examine the personal characteristics and underlying causes of death that modified the association between extreme cold and mortality in a case-only approach. Individual information of 197,680 deaths of natural causes, daily temperature, and air pollution concentrations in cool season (November-April) during 2002-2011 in Hong Kong were collected. Extreme cold was defined as those days with preceding week with a daily maximum temperature at or less than the 1st percentile of its distribution. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the effects of modification, further controlling for age, seasonal pattern, and air pollution. Sensitivity analyses were conducted by using the 5th percentile as cutoff point to define the extreme cold. Subjects with age of 85 and older were more vulnerable to extreme cold, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.33 (95 % confidence interval (CI), 1.22-1.45). The greater risk of extreme cold-related mortality was observed for total cardiorespiratory diseases and several specific causes including hypertensive diseases, stroke, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pneumonia. Hypertensive diseases exhibited the greatest vulnerability to extreme cold exposure, with an OR of 1.37 (95 % CI, 1.13-1.65). Sensitivity analyses showed the robustness of these effect modifications. This evidence on which subpopulations are vulnerable to the adverse effects of extreme cold is important to inform public health measures to minimize those effects.

The Role of Demand Response in Reducing Water-Related Power Plant Vulnerabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macknick, J.; Brinkman, G.; Zhou, E.; O'Connell, M.; Newmark, R. L.; Miara, A.; Cohen, S. M.

2015-12-01

The electric sector depends on readily available water supplies for reliable and efficient operation. Elevated water temperatures or low water levels can trigger regulatory or plant-level decisions to curtail power generation, which can affect system cost and reliability. In the past decade, dozens of power plants in the U.S. have curtailed generation due to water temperatures and water shortages. Curtailments occur during the summer, when temperatures are highest and there is greatest demand for electricity. Climate change could alter the availability and temperature of water resources, exacerbating these issues. Constructing alternative cooling systems to address vulnerabilities can be capital intensive and can also affect power plant efficiencies. Demand response programs are being implemented by electric system planners and operators to reduce and shift electricity demands from peak usage periods to other times of the day. Demand response programs can also play a role in reducing water-related power sector vulnerabilities during summer months. Traditionally, production cost modeling and demand response analyses do not include water resources. In this effort, we integrate an electricity production cost modeling framework with water-related impacts on power plants in a test system to evaluate the impacts of demand response measures on power system costs and reliability. Specifically, we i) quantify the cost and reliability implications of incorporating water resources into production cost modeling, ii) evaluate the impacts of demand response measures on reducing system costs and vulnerabilities, and iii) consider sensitivity analyses with cooling systems to highlight a range of potential benefits of demand response measures. Impacts from climate change on power plant performance and water resources are discussed. Results provide key insights to policymakers and practitioners for reducing water-related power plant vulnerabilities via lower cost methods.

Prevalence of risk and protective factors associated with heat-related outcomes in Southern Quebec: A secondary analysis of the NuAge study.

PubMed

Laverdière, Émélie; Généreux, Mélissa; Gaudreau, Pierrette; Morais, José A; Shatenstein, Bryna; Payette, Hélène

2015-06-18

Heat vulnerability is increasing owing to climate change, aging and urbanization. This vulnerability may vary geographically. Our study examined the prevalence and distribution of risk and protective factors of heat-related outcomes among older adults across three health regions of Southern Quebec (Canada). This secondary cross-sectional study used data from the 1st follow-up of the NuAge longitudinal study, a cohort of community-dwelling older adults, aged 68-82 years at baseline, of three health regions: Eastern Townships, Montreal and Laval. Prevalence of factors, identified in Health Canada guidelines, was measured. An Older Adult Heat Vulnerability Index (OAHVI) simultaneously considering medical, social and environmental factors was constructed. The distribution of each factor and OAHVI was examined across the three regions. Results were weighted for age, sex (overall and region-specific analyses) and region (overall analyses). Ninety percent of participants had ≥1 risk factor, the most prevalent being: cardiovascular medication (50.8%), hypertension (46.7%), living alone (39.2%), cardiovascular disease (36.9%), living in an urban heat island (34.7%) and needing help in activities of daily living (26.5%). Two thirds of participants had ≥1 protective factor, the most prevalent being talking on the phone daily (70.9%). Heat vulnerability varied greatly by region and this variation was mainly attributable to social and environmental rather than medical factors. According to the OAHVI, 87.2% of participants cumulated ≥2 factors (median = 3.0 factors/participant). Our results support the need for small-scale assessment of heat vulnerability. This study could help stakeholders tackle heat-related illness and develop regionally tailored prevention programs.

Protecting human subjects in research.

PubMed

Orticio, Lily P

2009-01-01

The quest for advancing scientific knowledge through human experimentations using vulnerable groups is traced back to ancient history, when Herophilus performed vivisections on prisoners. The violation of the rights of human subjects through the 20th century led to the formulation of the Nuremberg Code in 1947 and the Declaration of Helsinki in 1964. In the United States, the most infamous was the Tuskegee public health study that resulted in the enactment of the National Research Act that authorized the creation of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects in Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1974. In spite of existing federal regulations, the system of protecting human subjects is still flawed. Transparency of conflict ofinterest, clarity, and strict adherence to institutional guidelines are critical in safeguarding the rights and safety of human subjects and the integrity of research. Education on ethics and emerging complex ethical issues, global awareness, and governmental cooperation and sanctions are important steps in addressing the inadequacies in protecting the most vulnerable populations in experimentations worldwide. Investigators must always remember that the primary safeguards of protecting human life rest in their hands.

Doctrinal Guidelines for Quantitative Vulnerability Assessments of Infrastructure-Related Risks. Volume I

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

Services; Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste; Information Technology; Communications ; Postal and Shipping; Transportation Systems; and Government...Materials, and Waste; Information Technology; Communications ; Postal and Shipping; Transportation Systems; and Government Facilities). 4 National...recommendations for best practices, including outreach and communications ; and e) Recommend how DHS can improve its risk analyses and how those analyses can

Negative emotionality: monoamine oxidase B gene variants modulate personality traits in healthy humans.

PubMed

Dlugos, Andrea M; Palmer, Abraham A; de Wit, Harriet

2009-10-01

Monoamine oxidase A and B (MAOA and MAOB) appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of Major Depression, and vulnerability of Major Depression is associated with personality traits relating to positive and negative affect. This study aimed to investigate associations between MAOA and MAOB polymorphisms and personality traits of positive and negative emotionality in healthy volunteers, to elucidate mechanisms underlying personality and the risk for depression. Healthy Caucasian volunteers (N = 150) completed the Multiphasic Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), which includes independent superfactors of Positive Emotionality and Negative Emotionality. Participants were genotyped for 8 MAOA and 12 MAOB single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Association analyses for both SNPs and haplotypes were performed using the permutation approach implemented in PLINK. Negative Emotionality was significantly associated with the two highly linked MAOB polymorphisms rs10521432 and rs6651806 (p < 0.002). Findings were extended in haplotype analyses. For MAOB the 4-SNP haplotype GACG formed from rs1799836, rs10521432, rs6651806 and rs590551 was significantly related to lower Negative Emotionality scores (p < 0.002). MAOA was not related to personality in this study. Our finding provides the first evidence that MAOB polymorphisms influence levels of negative emotionality in healthy human volunteers. If confirmed, these results could lead to a better understanding of personality traits and inter-individual susceptibility developing psychiatric disorders such as major depression.

Spatially explicit assessment of heat health risk by using multi-sensor remote sensing images and socioeconomic data in Yangtze River Delta, China.

PubMed

Chen, Qian; Ding, Mingjun; Yang, Xuchao; Hu, Kejia; Qi, Jiaguo

2018-05-25

The increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events, which are potentially associated with climate change in the near future, highlights the importance of heat health risk assessment, a significant reference for heat-related death reduction and intervention. However, a spatiotemporal mismatch exists between gridded heat hazard and human exposure in risk assessment, which hinders the identification of high-risk areas at finer scales. A human settlement index integrated by nighttime light images, enhanced vegetation index, and digital elevation model data was utilized to assess the human exposure at high spatial resolution. Heat hazard and vulnerability index were generated by land surface temperature and demographic and socioeconomic census data, respectively. Spatially explicit assessment of heat health risk and its driving factors was conducted in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), east China at 250 m pixel level. High-risk areas were mainly distributed in the urbanized areas of YRD, which were mostly driven by high human exposure and heat hazard index. In some less-urbanized cities and suburban and rural areas of mega-cities, the heat health risks are in second priority. The risks in some less-developed areas were high despite the low human exposure index because of high heat hazard and vulnerability index. This study illustrated a methodology for identifying high-risk areas by combining freely available multi-source data. Highly urbanized areas were considered hotspots of high heat health risks, which were largely driven by the increasing urban heat island effects and population density in urban areas. Repercussions of overheating were weakened due to the low social vulnerability in some central areas benefitting from the low proportion of sensitive population or the high level of socioeconomic development. By contrast, high social vulnerability intensifies heat health risks in some less-urbanized cities and suburban areas of mega-cities.

Mapping the Drivers of Climate Change Vulnerability for Australia’s Threatened Species

PubMed Central

Lee, Jasmine R.; Maggini, Ramona; Taylor, Martin F. J.; Fuller, Richard A.

2015-01-01

Effective conservation management for climate adaptation rests on understanding the factors driving species’ vulnerability in a spatially explicit manner so as to direct on-ground action. However, there have been only few attempts to map the spatial distribution of the factors driving vulnerability to climate change. Here we conduct a species-level assessment of climate change vulnerability for a sample of Australia’s threatened species and map the distribution of species affected by each factor driving climate change vulnerability across the continent. Almost half of the threatened species assessed were considered vulnerable to the impacts of climate change: amphibians being the most vulnerable group, followed by plants, reptiles, mammals and birds. Species with more restricted distributions were more likely to show high climate change vulnerability than widespread species. The main factors driving climate change vulnerability were low genetic variation, dependence on a particular disturbance regime and reliance on a particular moisture regime or habitat. The geographic distribution of the species impacted by each driver varies markedly across the continent, for example species impacted by low genetic variation are prevalent across the human-dominated south-east of the country, while reliance on particular moisture regimes is prevalent across northern Australia. Our results show that actions to address climate adaptation will need to be spatially appropriate, and that in some regions a complex suite of factors driving climate change vulnerability will need to be addressed. Taxonomic and geographic variation in the factors driving climate change vulnerability highlights an urgent need for a spatial prioritisation of climate adaptation actions for threatened species. PMID:26017785

Frailty and life satisfaction in Shanghai older adults: The roles of age and social vulnerability.

PubMed

Yang, Fang; Gu, Danan; Mitnitski, Arnold

2016-01-01

This study aims to examine the relationship between frailty and life satisfaction and the roles of age and social vulnerability underlying the links in Chinese older adults. Using a cross-sectional sample of 1970 adults aged 65 and older in 2013 in Shanghai, we employed regression analyses to investigate the interaction between frailty and age on life satisfaction in the whole sample and in different social vulnerability groups. Life satisfaction was measured using a sum score of satisfaction with thirteen domains. Using a cumulative deficit approach, frailty was constructed from fifty-two variables and social vulnerability was derived from thirty-five variables. Frailty was negatively associated with life satisfaction. The interaction between frailty and age was significant for life satisfaction, such that the negative association between frailty and life satisfaction was stronger among the young-old aged 65-79 than among the old-old aged 80+. Moreover, frailty's stronger association with life satisfaction in the young-old than in the old-old was only found among those in the 2nd and 3rd tertiles of social vulnerability, but not for those in the 1st tertile of social vulnerability. Relation between frailty and life satisfaction likely weakens with age. A higher level of social vulnerability enlarges the negative impact of frailty on life satisfaction with a greater extent in the young-old. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sexual exploitation and trafficking of the young and vulnerable: reflections on a legal, ethical, and human rights disgrace.

PubMed

English, Abigail

2011-08-01

Sexual exploitation and trafficking of the young and vulnerable has devastating consequences for their physical and emotional development, health, and well-being. The horrific treatment they suffer bears the hallmarks of evil made manifest. Governments have enacted laws pursuant to international treaties, conventions, and protocols. Nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are working to prevent young people from being exploited and trafficked, to identify victims, and to provide services to survivors. Progress in addressing the problem is haltingly slow in relation to its magnitude. The prevalence and persistence of this phenomenon is an ethical, legal, and human rights disgrace.

[Youths in the shantytowns (favelas) of Rio de Janeiro/Brazil: from social vulnerability to opportunities for human development].

PubMed

Figueiredo, Gustavo de Oliveira

2016-08-01

Based on a review of living conditions in the complex and dynamic reality of the shantytowns ("favelas") of Rio de Janeiro and the main difficulties facing the human development of youths in this context, we analyze the social protection function involved in educational projects that offer new opportunities for life. In this article we analyze the relationship between the variables of social exclusion, poverty and violence, jointly grouped in the social vulnerability category, and the variables related to opportunities for human development grouped in the resilience category. The socio-educational projects constitute an important factor of resilience, able to influence the subjective development of young people and impact the improvement in the quality of life in the favelas. The social recognition and the relationship of trust established with educators and other youths in similar situations foster efforts to develop changes in attitude and to build new possibilities of life in spite of social vulnerability. The opportunity to experience interpersonal relationships, emotional bonds and positive social interaction can promote changes in the world view of youths and elicit a desire to change their living conditions and enhance their projects for the future.

A Review of Frameworks for Developing Environmental Health Indicators for Climate Change and Health

PubMed Central

Hambling, Tammy; Weinstein, Philip; Slaney, David

2011-01-01

The role climate change may play in altering human health, particularly in the emergence and spread of diseases, is an evolving area of research. It is important to understand this relationship because it will compound the already significant burden of diseases on national economies and public health. Authorities need to be able to assess, anticipate, and monitor human health vulnerability to climate change, in order to plan for, or implement action to avoid these eventualities. Environmental health indicators (EHIs) provide a tool to assess, monitor, and quantify human health vulnerability, to aid in the design and targeting of interventions, and measure the effectiveness of climate change adaptation and mitigation activities. Our aim was to identify the most suitable framework for developing EHIs to measure and monitor the impacts of climate change on human health and inform the development of interventions. Using published literature we reviewed the attributes of 11 frameworks. We identified the Driving force-Pressure-State-Exposure-Effect-Action (DPSEEA) framework as the most suitable one for developing EHIs for climate change and health. We propose the use of EHIs as a valuable tool to assess, quantify, and monitor human health vulnerability, design and target interventions, and measure the effectiveness of climate change adaptation and mitigation activities. In this paper, we lay the groundwork for the future development of EHIs as a multidisciplinary approach to link existing environmental and epidemiological data and networks. Analysis of such data will contribute to an enhanced understanding of the relationship between climate change and human health. PMID:21845162

Impact of climate change on human health and health systems in Tanzania: a review.

PubMed

Mboera, Leonard E G; Mayala, Benjamin K; Kweka, Eliningaya J; Mazigo, Humphrey D

2011-12-01

Climate change (CC) has a number of immediate and long-term impacts on the fundamental determinants of human health. A number of potential human health effects have been associated either directly or indirectly with global climate change. Vulnerability to the risks associated with CC may exacerbate ongoing socio-economic challenges. The objective of this review was to analyse the potential risk and vulnerability in the context of climate-sensitive human diseases and health system in Tanzania. Climate sensitive vector- and waterborne diseases and other health related problems and the policies on climate adaptation in Tanzania during the past 50 years are reviewed. The review has shown that a number of climate-associated infectious disease epidemics have been reported in various areas of the country; mostly being associated with increase in precipitation and temperature. Although, there is no single policy document that specifically addresses issues of CC in the country, the National Environmental Management Act of 1997 recognizes the importance of CC and calls for the government to put up measures to address the phenomenon. A number of strategies and action plans related to CC are also in place. These include the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, the National Action Programme, and the National Bio-safety Framework. The government has put in place a National Climate Change Steering Committee and the National Climate Change Technical Committee to oversee and guide the implementation of CC activities in the country. Recognizing the adverse impacts of natural disasters and calamities, the government established a Disaster Management Division under the Prime Minister's Office. Epidemic Preparedness and Response Unit of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is responsible for emergency preparedness, mostly disease outbreaks. However, specific climate changes associated with human health issues are poorly addressed in the MoHSW strategies and the national health research priorities. In conclusion, CC threatens to slow, halt or reverses the progress the country has made or is making to achieve its national and millennium development goals. It is therefore important that Tanzania prepares itself to appropriately address CC impact on human health. It is equally important that policy makers and other stakeholders are engaged in a process to update and adapt priorities, mobilize resources and build interdisciplinary research and implementation capacity on climate change and its mitigation.

Delta Opioid Receptor Signaling Promotes Resilience to Stress Under the Repeated Social Defeat Paradigm in Mice

PubMed Central

Henry, Mathilde S.; Bisht, Kanchan; Vernoux, Nathalie; Gendron, Louis; Torres-Berrio, Angélica; Drolet, Guy; Tremblay, Marie-Ève

2018-01-01

The adaptation to chronic stress is highly variable across individuals. Resilience to stress is a complex process recruiting various brain regions and neurotransmitter systems. The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of endogenous opioid enkephalin (ENK) signaling in the development of stress resilience in mice. The translational model of repeated social defeat (RSD) stress was selected to mimic the unpredictable disruptions of daily life and induce resilience or vulnerability to stress. As in humans, adult C57BL/6J mice demonstrated a great variability in their response to stress under this paradigm. A social interaction (SI) test was used to discriminate between the phenotypes of resilience or vulnerability to stress. After social defeat, the expression levels of ENK mRNA and their delta opioid receptors (DOPr) were quantified in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and BLA-target areas by in situ hybridization. In this manner, ENK mRNA levels were found to decrease in the BLA and those of DOPr in the ventral hippocampus (HPC) CA1 of vulnerable mice only. Stimulating the DOPr pathway during social defeat by pharmacological treatment with the nonpeptide, selective DOPr agonist SNC80 further induced a resilient phenotype in a majority of stressed animals, with the proportion of resilient ones increasing from 33% to 58% of the total population. Ultrastructural analyses additionally revealed a reduction of oxidative stress markers in the pyramidal cells and interneurons of the ventral HPC CA1 upon SNC80 treatment, thus proposing a mechanism by which ENK-DOPr signaling may prevent the deleterious effects of chronic social stress. PMID:29681795

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Enhances Intravascular Ultrasound Assessment of Vulnerable Coronary Plaque: A Combined Pathological and In Vivo Study.

PubMed

Puri, Rishi; Madder, Ryan D; Madden, Sean P; Sum, Stephen T; Wolski, Kathy; Muller, James E; Andrews, Jordan; King, Karilane L; Kataoka, Yu; Uno, Kiyoko; Kapadia, Samir R; Tuzcu, E Murat; Nissen, Steven E; Virmani, Renu; Maehara, Akiko; Mintz, Gary S; Nicholls, Stephen J

2015-11-01

Pathological studies demonstrate the dual significance of plaque burden (PB) and lipid composition for mediating coronary plaque vulnerability. We evaluated relationships between intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-derived PB and arterial remodeling with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-derived lipid content in ex vivo and in vivo human coronary arteries. Ex vivo coronary NIRS and IVUS imaging was performed through blood in 116 coronary arteries of 51 autopsied hearts, followed by 2-mm block sectioning (n=2070) and histological grading according to modified American Heart Association criteria. Lesions were defined as the most heavily diseased 2-mm block per imaged artery on IVUS. IVUS-derived PB and NIRS-derived lipid core burden index (LCBI) of each block and lesion were analyzed. Block-level analysis demonstrated significant trends of increasing PB and LCBI across more complex atheroma (Ptrend <0.001 for both LCBI and PB). Lesion-based analyses demonstrated the highest LCBI and remodeling index within coronary fibroatheroma (Ptrend <0.001 and 0.02 versus all plaque groups, respectively). Prediction models demonstrated similar abilities of PB, LCBI, and remodeling index for discriminating fibroatheroma (c indices: 0.675, 0.712, and 0.672, respectively). A combined PB+LCBI analysis significantly improved fibroatheroma detection accuracy (c index 0.77, P=0.028 versus PB; net-reclassification index 43%, P=0.003), whereas further adding remodeling index did not (c index 0.80, P=0.27 versus PB+LCBI). In vivo comparisons of 43 age- and sex-matched patients (to the autopsy cohort) undergoing combined NIRS-IVUS coronary imaging yielded similar associations to those demonstrated ex vivo. Adding NIRS to conventional IVUS-derived PB imaging significantly improves the ability to detect more active, potentially vulnerable coronary atheroma. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Assessing societal vulnerability of U.S. Pacific Northwest communities to storm-induced coastal change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baron, Heather M.; Wood, Nathan J.; Ruggerio, Peter; Allan, Jonathan; Corcoran, Patrick

2010-01-01

Progressive increases in storm intensities and extreme wave heights have been documented along the U.S. West Coast. Paired with global sea level rise and the potential for an increase in El Niño occurrences, these trends have substantial implications for the vulnerability of coastal communities to natural coastal hazards. Community vulnerability to hazards is characterized by the exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of human-environmental systems that influence potential impacts. To demonstrate how societal vulnerability to coastal hazards varies with both physical and social factors, we compared community exposure and sensitivity to storm-induced coastal change scenarios in Tillamook (Oregon) and Pacific (Washington) Counties. While both are backed by low-lying coastal dunes, communities in these two counties have experienced different shoreline change histories and have chosen to use the adjacent land in different ways. Therefore, community vulnerability varies significantly between the two counties. Identifying the reasons for this variability can help land-use managers make decisions to increase community resilience and reduce vulnerability in spite of a changing climate.

Evaluating social and ecological vulnerability of coral reef fisheries to climate change.

PubMed

Cinner, Joshua E; Huchery, Cindy; Darling, Emily S; Humphries, Austin T; Graham, Nicholas A J; Hicks, Christina C; Marshall, Nadine; McClanahan, Tim R

2013-01-01

There is an increasing need to evaluate the links between the social and ecological dimensions of human vulnerability to climate change. We use an empirical case study of 12 coastal communities and associated coral reefs in Kenya to assess and compare five key ecological and social components of the vulnerability of coastal social-ecological systems to temperature induced coral mortality [specifically: 1) environmental exposure; 2) ecological sensitivity; 3) ecological recovery potential; 4) social sensitivity; and 5) social adaptive capacity]. We examined whether ecological components of vulnerability varied between government operated no-take marine reserves, community-based reserves, and openly fished areas. Overall, fished sites were marginally more vulnerable than community-based and government marine reserves. Social sensitivity was indicated by the occupational composition of each community, including the importance of fishing relative to other occupations, as well as the susceptibility of different fishing gears to the effects of coral bleaching on target fish species. Key components of social adaptive capacity varied considerably between the communities. Together, these results show that different communities have relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of social-ecological vulnerability to climate change.

Identification and ranking of environmental threats with ecosystem vulnerability distributions.

PubMed

Zijp, Michiel C; Huijbregts, Mark A J; Schipper, Aafke M; Mulder, Christian; Posthuma, Leo

2017-08-24

Responses of ecosystems to human-induced stress vary in space and time, because both stressors and ecosystem vulnerabilities vary in space and time. Presently, ecosystem impact assessments mainly take into account variation in stressors, without considering variation in ecosystem vulnerability. We developed a method to address ecosystem vulnerability variation by quantifying ecosystem vulnerability distributions (EVDs) based on monitoring data of local species compositions and environmental conditions. The method incorporates spatial variation of both abiotic and biotic variables to quantify variation in responses among species and ecosystems. We show that EVDs can be derived based on a selection of locations, existing monitoring data and a selected impact boundary, and can be used in stressor identification and ranking for a region. A case study on Ohio's freshwater ecosystems, with freshwater fish as target species group, showed that physical habitat impairment and nutrient loads ranked highest as current stressors, with species losses higher than 5% for at least 6% of the locations. EVDs complement existing approaches of stressor assessment and management, which typically account only for variability in stressors, by accounting for variation in the vulnerability of the responding ecosystems.

Neuropathological Consequences of Gestational Exposure to Concentrated Ambient Fine and Ultrafine Particles in the Mouse.

PubMed

Klocke, Carolyn; Allen, Joshua L; Sobolewski, Marissa; Mayer-Pröschel, Margot; Blum, Jason L; Lauterstein, Dana; Zelikoff, Judith T; Cory-Slechta, Deborah A

2017-04-01

Increasing evidence indicates that the central nervous system (CNS) is a target of air pollution. We previously reported that postnatal exposure of mice to concentrated ambient ultrafine particles (UFP; ≤100 nm) via the University of Rochester HUCAPS system during a critical developmental window of CNS development, equivalent to human 3rd trimester, produced male-predominant neuropathological and behavioral characteristics common to multiple neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in humans. The current study sought to determine whether vulnerability to fine (≤2.5 μm) and UFP air pollution exposure extends to embryonic periods of brain development in mice, equivalent to human 1st and 2nd trimesters. Pregnant mice were exposed 6 h/day from gestational days (GDs) 0.5-16.5 using the New York University VACES system to concentrated ambient fine/ultrafine particles at an average concentration of 92.69 μg/m3 over the course of the exposure period. At postnatal days (PNDs) 11-15, neuropathological consequences were characterized. Gestational air pollution exposures produced ventriculomegaly, increased corpus callosum (CC) area and reduced hippocampal area in both sexes. Both sexes demonstrated CC hypermyelination and increased microglial activation and reduced total CC microglia number. Analyses of iron deposition as a critical component of myelination revealed increased iron deposition in the CC of exposed female offspring, but not in males. These findings demonstrate that vulnerability of the brain to air pollution extends to gestation and produces features of several neurodevelopmental disorders in both sexes. Further, they highlight the importance of the commonalities of components of particulate matter exposures as a source of neurotoxicity and common CNS alterations. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Biodiversity Areas under Threat: Overlap of Climate Change and Population Pressures on the World's Biodiversity Priorities.

PubMed

Aukema, Juliann E; Pricope, Narcisa G; Husak, Gregory J; Lopez-Carr, David

2017-01-01

Humans and the ecosystem services they depend on are threatened by climate change. Places with high or growing human population as well as increasing climate variability, have a reduced ability to provide ecosystem services just as the need for these services is most critical. A spiral of vulnerability and ecosystem degradation often ensues in such places. We apply different global conservation schemes as proxies to examine the spatial relation between wet season precipitation, population change over three decades, and natural resource conservation. We pose two research questions: 1) Where are biodiversity and ecosystem services vulnerable to the combined effects of climate change and population growth? 2) Where are human populations vulnerable to degraded ecosystem services? Results suggest that globally only about 20% of the area between 50 degrees latitude North and South has experienced significant change-largely wetting-in wet season precipitation. Approximately 40% of rangelands and 30% of rainfed agriculture lands have experienced significant precipitation changes, with important implications for food security. Over recent decades a number of critical conservation areas experienced high population growth concurrent with significant wetting or drying (e.g. the Horn of Africa, Himalaya, Western Ghats, and Sri Lanka), posing challenges not only for human adaptation but also to the protection and sustenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Identifying areas of climate and population risk and their overlap with conservation priorities can help to target activities and resources that promote biodiversity and ecosystem services while improving human well-being.

Biodiversity Areas under Threat: Overlap of Climate Change and Population Pressures on the World’s Biodiversity Priorities

PubMed Central

Pricope, Narcisa G.; Husak, Gregory J.; Lopez-Carr, David

2017-01-01

Humans and the ecosystem services they depend on are threatened by climate change. Places with high or growing human population as well as increasing climate variability, have a reduced ability to provide ecosystem services just as the need for these services is most critical. A spiral of vulnerability and ecosystem degradation often ensues in such places. We apply different global conservation schemes as proxies to examine the spatial relation between wet season precipitation, population change over three decades, and natural resource conservation. We pose two research questions: 1) Where are biodiversity and ecosystem services vulnerable to the combined effects of climate change and population growth? 2) Where are human populations vulnerable to degraded ecosystem services? Results suggest that globally only about 20% of the area between 50 degrees latitude North and South has experienced significant change–largely wetting–in wet season precipitation. Approximately 40% of rangelands and 30% of rainfed agriculture lands have experienced significant precipitation changes, with important implications for food security. Over recent decades a number of critical conservation areas experienced high population growth concurrent with significant wetting or drying (e.g. the Horn of Africa, Himalaya, Western Ghats, and Sri Lanka), posing challenges not only for human adaptation but also to the protection and sustenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Identifying areas of climate and population risk and their overlap with conservation priorities can help to target activities and resources that promote biodiversity and ecosystem services while improving human well-being. PMID:28125659

Collapse Mechanisms Of Masonry Structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuccaro, G.; Rauci, M.

2008-07-01

The paper outlines a possible approach to typology recognition, safety check analyses and/or damage measuring taking advantage by a multimedia tool (MEDEA), tracing a guided procedure useful for seismic safety check evaluation and post event macroseismic assessment. A list of the possible collapse mechanisms observed in the post event surveys on masonry structures and a complete abacus of the damages are provided in MEDEA. In this tool a possible combination between a set of damage typologies and each collapse mechanism is supplied in order to improve the homogeneity of the damages interpretation. On the other hand recent researches of one of the author have selected a number of possible typological vulnerability factors of masonry buildings, these are listed in the paper and combined with potential collapse mechanisms to be activated under seismic excitation. The procedure takes place from simple structural behavior models, derived from the Umbria-Marche earthquake observations, and tested after the San Giuliano di Puglia event; it provides the basis either for safety check analyses of the existing buildings or for post-event structural safety assessment and economic damage evaluation. In the paper taking advantage of MEDEA mechanisms analysis, mainly developed for the post event safety check surveyors training, a simple logic path is traced in order to approach the evaluation of the masonry building safety check. The procedure starts from the identification of the typological vulnerability factors to derive the potential collapse mechanisms and their collapse multipliers and finally addresses the simplest and cheapest strengthening techniques to reduce the original vulnerability. The procedure has been introduced in the Guide Lines of the Regione Campania for the professionals in charge of the safety check analyses and the buildings strengthening in application of the national mitigation campaign introduced by the Ordinance of the Central Government n. 3362/03. The main cases of out of plane mechanisms are analyzed and a possible innovative theory for masonry building vulnerability assessment, based on limit state analyses, is outlined. The paper report the first step of a research granted by the Department of the Civil Protection to Reluis within the research program of Line 10.

Collapse Mechanisms Of Masonry Structures

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

Zuccaro, G.; Rauci, M.

2008-07-08

The paper outlines a possible approach to typology recognition, safety check analyses and/or damage measuring taking advantage by a multimedia tool (MEDEA), tracing a guided procedure useful for seismic safety check evaluation and post event macroseismic assessment. A list of the possible collapse mechanisms observed in the post event surveys on masonry structures and a complete abacus of the damages are provided in MEDEA. In this tool a possible combination between a set of damage typologies and each collapse mechanism is supplied in order to improve the homogeneity of the damages interpretation. On the other hand recent researches of onemore » of the author have selected a number of possible typological vulnerability factors of masonry buildings, these are listed in the paper and combined with potential collapse mechanisms to be activated under seismic excitation. The procedure takes place from simple structural behavior models, derived from the Umbria-Marche earthquake observations, and tested after the San Giuliano di Puglia event; it provides the basis either for safety check analyses of the existing buildings or for post-event structural safety assessment and economic damage evaluation. In the paper taking advantage of MEDEA mechanisms analysis, mainly developed for the post event safety check surveyors training, a simple logic path is traced in order to approach the evaluation of the masonry building safety check. The procedure starts from the identification of the typological vulnerability factors to derive the potential collapse mechanisms and their collapse multipliers and finally addresses the simplest and cheapest strengthening techniques to reduce the original vulnerability. The procedure has been introduced in the Guide Lines of the Regione Campania for the professionals in charge of the safety check analyses and the buildings strengthening in application of the national mitigation campaign introduced by the Ordinance of the Central Government n. 3362/03. The main cases of out of plane mechanisms are analyzed and a possible innovative theory for masonry building vulnerability assessment, based on limit state analyses, is outlined. The paper report the first step of a research granted by the Department of the Civil Protection to Reluis within the research program of Line 10.« less

Witnessing Change: Understanding Change in Participatory Theatre Practice with Vulnerable Youth in a Kids Company-Supported Primary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abraham, Nicola

2017-01-01

This article details key findings from a longitudinal study conducted in collaboration with Kids Company, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The focus of this article is the role of the "teacher as witness" to the impact of a participatory theatre project with vulnerable young people. This research argues that the…

Natural disaster vulnerability and human-induced pressure assessment in small islands developing states: A case study in the Union of the Comoros

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burak, S.; Meddeb, R.

2012-04-01

The Comoros Islands are part of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) located in the Indian Ocean. SIDS are islands and low-lying coastal nations that face common barriers to sustainable development, including limited resources, poor economic resilience, and vulnerability to sea level rise and natural disasters. The Comoros Archipelago is made up of four islands but the present study was conducted on three islands, namely Mwali (Mohéli), Ngazidja (Grande Comore) and Dzwani (Anjouan) that are aligned in the Mozambique Channel and spread over a surface area of 1862 km2. These islands are exposed to natural disaster coupled with human-induced pressure on natural resources. The major natural disaster vulnerability has been identified by the National AdaptationProgramme of Action (NAPA, 2006) as climate change, whose likely adverse impacts on the Comoros Islands are: i) changes in rainfall patterns; ii) increases in temperature; iii) salinization of coastal aquifers as a result of salt water intrusion due to sea level rise; and iv) increased frequency of severe weather conditions (such as tropical cyclones, droughts, heavy rainfall and flooding). In addition, existing practices related to natural resources management (primarily land, forest and water management) are very poor and this failure is increasingly threatening water and food security, resulting in a decline of economic growth and standards of living within the Comoros. Human-induced pressure combined with climate change impact is the inherent vulnerabilities of these islands. The government of the Union of the Comoros is aware of the alarming nature of climate change impact and has put in place several projects aiming at implementing adaptation measures in order to help increase the resilience of the vulnerable population in the face of this threat. These projects involve strengthening institutions, policy and regulations so as to improve the management of natural resources, among other measures. The objective of this paper is to present the existing situation in these islands based on field surveys and comprehensive discussions with all the stakeholders and local population to implement adaptation measures in order to counter the effects of climate change. Keywords: Comoros Islands, water resources, adaptation, vulnerability, resilience

Disaster planning for vulnerable populations: leveraging Community Human Service Organizations direct service delivery personnel.

PubMed

Levin, Karen L; Berliner, Maegan; Merdjanoff, Alexis

2014-01-01

Given the variability, complexities, and available resources for local vulnerable populations, it is clear that preparing effectively for catastrophic events cannot be accomplished with a single, simple template. Inclusion of Community Human Service Organizations' (CHSO's) direct service delivery personnel ensures that emergency disaster planning efforts for vulnerable populations are effective and responsive to unique needs and constraints. By leveraging existing local resources, it extends the preparedness system's reach to the whole community. CHSO personnel already perform community-based services and directly engage with vulnerable and special needs populations; typically they are on the front lines during an emergency event. Generally, however, the CHSOs, staff, and clients are neither adequately prepared for disasters nor well integrated into emergency systems. To address preparedness gaps identified during Hurricane Sandy, regional CHSO and local health department partners requested that the Columbia Regional Learning Center provide preparedness trainings for their agencies and staff responsible for vulnerable clients. Evaluation of this initiative was begun with a mixed-methods approach consisting of collaborative learning activities, a function-based assessment tool, and a 5 Steps to Preparedness module. Results from a survey were inclusive because of a low response rate but suggested satisfaction with the training format and content; increases in awareness of a client preparedness role; and steps toward improved personal, agency, and client preparedness. Direct service delivery personnel can leverage routine client interactions for preparedness planning and thus can contribute significantly to vulnerable population and community disaster readiness. Trainings that provide preparedness tools can help support this role. CHSO personnel are knowledgeable and have the expertise to assist clients in personal preparedness planning; yet, there are challenges around their ability and willingness to take on additional responsibilities.

Considering Time-Dependency of Social Vulnerability in Crisis Modeling and Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aubrecht, C.; Steinnocher, K.; Freire, S.; Loibl, W.; Peters-Anders, J.; Ungar, J.

2012-04-01

Crisis and disaster management is much more than the immediate first-response actions following an incident. In many projects the main focus has been on the phase starting at the point when an unwanted event happens and lasting until the activities return to normal routines (i.e., ad hoc reaction rather than proactive mitigation). There has been less emphasis on the other phases of the disaster management cycle such as prevention, preparedness, recovery and reconstruction, even though those phases have a strong influence on the general status of a society and its citizens. Especially the potential of a crisis to escalate into a large-scale disaster is heavily dependent on the overall level of preparedness as well as on the planning of mitigation and response actions and their timely execution. There is a need for improved decision-making support that enables modeling of different crisis scenarios and their impacts according to chosen prevention and response actions. Vulnerability describing the status of a society with respect to an imposed hazard or potential impact is considered a strongly multidisciplinary concept. A central objective of vulnerability assessment is to provide indications where and how people - and more specifically, what kind of people - might be affected by a certain impact. Results should provide decision- and policy-makers with supporting information to target response and mitigation actions adequately. For assessment of the social dimension of vulnerability, population exposure mapping is usually considered the starting point. Integration of social structure and varying aspects of resilience further differentiate situation-specific vulnerability patterns on a local scale. In a disaster risk management context, assessment of human vulnerability has generally been lagging behind hazard analysis efforts. Accurately estimating population exposure is a key component of catastrophe loss modeling, one element of effective integrated risk analysis and emergency management. The vulnerability of each relevant element at risk, including human beings and society in general and its time-dependent variation is characterized both by its pre-event status and by its possible evolution during a crisis. Particularly in metropolitan areas, the spatial distribution of population is highly time-dependent due to human activities and mobility. Identifying distinct day-/nighttime population distribution characteristics is a major improvement compared to standard residence-based models, but does however only display part of reality. New technologies and data processing capabilities allow moving into the field of real-time representation of human movement. The focus of this contribution will be on illustrating, through project examples and by putting it in an emergency and crisis management context, two main categories, (1) the mapping of cell phone user activity, and (2) the use of volunteered geographic information (VGI).

Social dimensions of vulnerability to glacier-hydrology hazards in Peru and Nepal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDowell, Graham; Carey, Mark; Huggel, Christian; Kargel, Jeffrey S.

2014-05-01

Snow and ice hazards affect populations worldwide, and prevention and adaptation plans must devote more attention to the human dimensions of these hazards. Historically, most research on glacier hazards has emphasized glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and rock-ice landslides. This work often focuses on technical approaches or scientific knowledge about these high-magnitude and low-frequency hazards. This study examines a different type of cryospheric hazard, one that is low-magnitude and high-frequency, especially under future climate change projections: the increasingly recognized hydrologic hazards related to runoff variability in downstream communities below shrinking glaciers. By focusing on actual water users in glacier-fed watersheds, the research helps illuminate key vulnerabilities to hydrological change. It demonstrates that people are indeed vulnerable to decreased runoff, but that these vulnerabilities must be analyzed in the context of global change, including socio-economic and political variables, and not just through technical or scientific approaches. The study examines water use for export-oriented agriculture in Peru's billion-dollar Chavimochic Project, which depends on a single canal from the Santa River that could be damaged by a GLOF or avalanche. Or the canal could experience declining water supplies in the future if water use increases, particularly due to international agricultural demands, while water supplies from glacial ice decreases. The study also provides insights from Khumbu, Nepal, where changing hydrological conditions are leading to reduced water access for household uses, declining crop yields, reduced water access for meeting the high water demands of tourists, and reduced hydro-electricity generation capabilities. Although these effects are widespread, there are clear patterns of socially determined vulnerability among the population, with low livelihood diversity an important indicator of increased susceptibility to harm. While focusing on hydrologic variability and vulnerability, this poster's societal orientation has far-reaching implications for the analysis of all cryospheric hazards where vulnerability and resilience are affected by a range of human and environmental forces.

Spatiotemporal trends in human vulnerability to the heat across the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheridan, S. C.; Dixon, P. G.

2016-12-01

While human vulnerability to excessive heat has been well documented, relatively few studies have examined long-term trends in vulnerability to heat events. In this research, we examine temporal trends in mortality associated with heat waves, defined using three different definitions of heat wave, for the largest 51 metropolitan areas of the US, over a 36-year period (1975-2010). Regardless of the definition of heat wave, an overall decline in heat vulnerability is seen over the period. While in the first years of the study, 18 to 26 metropolitan areas showed statistically significant increases in mortality on heat wave days, by the final decade of the study period, this had decreased to 6 to 7. Within this narrative, however, examining individual metropolitan areas shows greater variability within the downward trend. Several contributing factors to the variability were observed, including the occurrence of an extreme heat wave affecting the overall heat wave-mortality relationship, and the frequency of heat events over a given period. These broad decreases in heat vulnerability, while encouraging, should be viewed in a cautionary sense. With society aging, there will be a greater number of highly susceptible individuals in the future; further adaptation gains are difficult in many places as air conditioning is now available in most homes in the US. Further, increased use of air conditioning has been associated with a stronger heat island; which, moving forward, is likely to occur alongside a greater number of heat events.

Combining analytical frameworks to assess livelihood vulnerability to climate change and analyse adaptation options.

PubMed

Reed, M S; Podesta, G; Fazey, I; Geeson, N; Hessel, R; Hubacek, K; Letson, D; Nainggolan, D; Prell, C; Rickenbach, M G; Ritsema, C; Schwilch, G; Stringer, L C; Thomas, A D

2013-10-01

Experts working on behalf of international development organisations need better tools to assist land managers in developing countries maintain their livelihoods, as climate change puts pressure on the ecosystem services that they depend upon. However, current understanding of livelihood vulnerability to climate change is based on a fractured and disparate set of theories and methods. This review therefore combines theoretical insights from sustainable livelihoods analysis with other analytical frameworks (including the ecosystem services framework, diffusion theory, social learning, adaptive management and transitions management) to assess the vulnerability of rural livelihoods to climate change. This integrated analytical framework helps diagnose vulnerability to climate change, whilst identifying and comparing adaptation options that could reduce vulnerability, following four broad steps: i) determine likely level of exposure to climate change, and how climate change might interact with existing stresses and other future drivers of change; ii) determine the sensitivity of stocks of capital assets and flows of ecosystem services to climate change; iii) identify factors influencing decisions to develop and/or adopt different adaptation strategies, based on innovation or the use/substitution of existing assets; and iv) identify and evaluate potential trade-offs between adaptation options. The paper concludes by identifying interdisciplinary research needs for assessing the vulnerability of livelihoods to climate change.

Combining analytical frameworks to assess livelihood vulnerability to climate change and analyse adaptation options☆

PubMed Central

Reed, M.S.; Podesta, G.; Fazey, I.; Geeson, N.; Hessel, R.; Hubacek, K.; Letson, D.; Nainggolan, D.; Prell, C.; Rickenbach, M.G.; Ritsema, C.; Schwilch, G.; Stringer, L.C.; Thomas, A.D.

2013-01-01

Experts working on behalf of international development organisations need better tools to assist land managers in developing countries maintain their livelihoods, as climate change puts pressure on the ecosystem services that they depend upon. However, current understanding of livelihood vulnerability to climate change is based on a fractured and disparate set of theories and methods. This review therefore combines theoretical insights from sustainable livelihoods analysis with other analytical frameworks (including the ecosystem services framework, diffusion theory, social learning, adaptive management and transitions management) to assess the vulnerability of rural livelihoods to climate change. This integrated analytical framework helps diagnose vulnerability to climate change, whilst identifying and comparing adaptation options that could reduce vulnerability, following four broad steps: i) determine likely level of exposure to climate change, and how climate change might interact with existing stresses and other future drivers of change; ii) determine the sensitivity of stocks of capital assets and flows of ecosystem services to climate change; iii) identify factors influencing decisions to develop and/or adopt different adaptation strategies, based on innovation or the use/substitution of existing assets; and iv) identify and evaluate potential trade-offs between adaptation options. The paper concludes by identifying interdisciplinary research needs for assessing the vulnerability of livelihoods to climate change. PMID:25844020

Social risk, stigma and space: key concepts for understanding HIV vulnerability among black men who have sex with men in New York City.

PubMed

Parker, Caroline M; Garcia, Jonathan; Philbin, Morgan M; Wilson, Patrick A; Parker, Richard G; Hirsch, Jennifer S

2017-03-01

Black men who have sex with men in the USA face disproportionate incidence rates of HIV. This paper presents findings from an ethnographic study conducted in New York City that explored the structural and socio-cultural factors shaping men's sexual relationships with the goal of furthering understandings of their HIV-related vulnerability. Methods included participant observation and in-depth interviews with 31 Black men who have sex with men (three times each) and 17 key informants. We found that HIV vulnerability is perceived as produced through structural inequalities including economic insecurity, housing instability, and stigma and discrimination. The theoretical concepts of social risk, intersectional stigma, and the social production of space are offered as lenses through which to analyse how structural inequalities shape HIV vulnerability. We found that social risk shaped HIV vulnerability by influencing men's decisions in four domains: 1) where to find sexual partners, 2) where to engage in sexual relationships, 3) what kinds of relationships to seek, and 4) whether to carry and to use condoms. Advancing conceptualisations of social risk, we show that intersectional stigma and the social production of space are key processes through which social risk generates HIV vulnerability among Black men who have sex with men.

Social risk, stigma and space: key concepts for understanding HIV vulnerability among black men who have sex with men in New York City

PubMed Central

Parker, Caroline M.; Garcia, Jonathan; Philbin, Morgan M.; Wilson, Patrick A.; Parker, Richard G.; Hirsch, Jennifer S.

2017-01-01

Black men who have sex with men in the USA face disproportionate incidence rates of HIV. This paper presents findings from an ethnographic study conducted in New York City that explored the structural and socio-cultural factors shaping men’s sexual relationships with the goal of furthering understandings of their HIV-related vulnerability. Methods included participant observation and in-depth interviews with 31 Black men who have sex with men (three times each) and 17 key informants. We found that HIV vulnerability is perceived as produced through structural inequalities including economic insecurity, housing instability, and stigma and discrimination. The theoretical concepts of social risk, intersectional stigma, and the social production of space are offered as lenses through which to analyse how structural inequalities shape HIV vulnerability. We found that social risk shaped HIV vulnerability by influencing men’s decisions in four domains: 1) where to find sexual partners, 2) where to engage in sexual relationships, 3) what kinds of relationships to seek, and 4) whether to carry and to use condoms. Advancing conceptualisations of social risk, we show that intersectional stigma and the social production of space are key processes through which social risk generates HIV vulnerability among Black men who have sex with men. PMID:27550415

Mobile Phones and Psychosocial Therapies with Vulnerable People: a First State of the Art.

PubMed

Vázquez, Maria Yolanda García; Sexto, Carlos Ferrás; Rocha, Álvaro; Aguilera, Adrián

2016-06-01

Mobile phones are becoming a communication tool commonly used by people all over the world; and they are started to be adopted in psychosocial therapies involving vulnerable people. We are herein presenting the results of an academic literature review. We identified scientific papers published between 2006 and 2015 resorting to academic databases available on the Internet, applying a systematic selection method based on quality criteria. Secondly, we analysed contents, highlighting the scarcity of research involving vulnerable people. The available literature specialized in psychosocial therapies offers investigation results which involve mobile phones and patients in general, focusing particularly on the clinical psychology field and, to a lesser extent, on the social work field. Particularly significant are the investigation works developed in the United States. In the present paper we introduce a first "state of the art", identifying opportunities and also the limitations surrounding the use of mobile phones in psychosocial therapies targeting the vulnerable. Issues concerning privacy and data confidentiality, and the access of vulnerable people to mobile phones and how they use them, pose significant challenges; but they offer the opportunity to reach isolated or impoverished populations, or even to facilitate access to social and healthcare services. We close this paper formulating possible orientations, hypotheses and goals to design new investigation works involving vulnerable populations.

Possible determinants and spatial patterns of anaemia among young children in Nigeria: a Bayesian semi-parametric modelling.

PubMed

Gayawan, Ezra; Arogundade, Ekundayo D; Adebayo, Samson B

2014-03-01

Anaemia is a global public health problem affecting both developing and developed countries with major consequences for human health and socioeconomic development. This paper examines the possible relationship between Hb concentration and severity of anaemia with individual and household characteristics of children aged 6-59 months in Nigeria; and explores possible geographical variations of these outcome variables. Data on Hb concentration and severity of anaemia in children aged 6-59 months that participated in the 2010 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey were analysed. A semi-parametric model using a hierarchical Bayesian approach was adopted to examine the putative relationship of covariates of different types and possible spatial variation. Gaussian, binary and ordinal outcome variables were considered in modelling. Spatial analyses reveal a distinct North-South divide in Hb concentration of the children analysed and that states in Northern Nigeria possess a higher risk of anaemia. Other important risk factors include the household wealth index, sex of the child, whether or not the child had fever or malaria in the 2 weeks preceding the survey, and children under 24 months of age. There is a need for state level implementation of specific programmes that target vulnerable children as this can help in reversing the existing patterns.

Mobilising "vulnerability" in the public health response to pandemic influenza.

PubMed

Stephenson, Niamh; Davis, Mark; Flowers, Paul; MacGregor, Casimir; Waller, Emily

2014-02-01

Analysis of public health's growing interest in "vulnerability" has largely focused on health policy, with little interrogation of how vulnerability is being actively appropriated, countered, ignored or reworked by the publics whose health such policy is designed to protect. Once the assemblage of public health is understood as comprised of different forms of expertise and actors, including publics, addressing this gap matters. We examine the use of vulnerability in the specific context of pandemic influenza preparedness. Pandemic preparedness raises some familiar dilemmas for public health governance: how to engage with publics without fuelling social divisions and disruption; and whether to invoke publics as passive recipients of public health advice or to recognise publics as collective agents responding to the threat of pandemic influenza. Thus, we ask how the mobilisation of vulnerability connects with these dilemmas. To examine vulnerability in pandemic preparedness, two forms of qualitative data are analysed: 1) interviews and focus groups with "vulnerable" and "healthy" people (conducted 2011-12) discussing seasonal and pandemic influenza and; 2) international, Australian national and state level pandemic plans (1999-2013). Vulnerability is variously used in plans as a way to identify groups at particular risk of infection because of pre-existing clinical conditions, and as a free-floating social category that could apply to a broad range of people potentially involved in the social disruption a pandemic might entail. Our interview and focus group data indicate that healthy people rework the free-floating extension of vulnerability, and that people designated vulnerable encounter an absence of any collective responsibility for the threat of pandemic influenza. Our analysis suggests that vulnerability's mobilisation in pandemic preparedness limits the connection between public health governance and its publics: here, the openness and unpredictability of people's collective agency is something to be tightly controlled by a government concerned with protecting people from themselves. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nonstandard maternal work schedules during infancy: Implications for children's early behavior problems

PubMed Central

Daniel, Stephanie S.; Grzywacz, Joseph G.; Leerkes, Esther; Tucker, Jenna; Han, Wen-Jui

2009-01-01

This paper examines the associations between maternal nonstandard work schedules during infancy and children's early behavior problems, and the extent to which infant temperament may moderate these associations. Hypothesized associations were tested using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care (Phase I). Analyses focused on mothers who returned to work by the time the child was 6 months of age, and who worked an average of at least 35 h per week from 6 through 36 months. At 24 and 36 months, children whose mothers worked a nonstandard schedule had higher internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Modest, albeit inconsistent, evidence suggests that temperamentally reactive children may be more vulnerable to maternal work schedules. Maternal depressive symptoms partially mediated associations between nonstandard maternal work schedules and child behavior outcomes. PMID:19233479

Are there high-risk groups among physicians that are more vulnerable to on-call work?

PubMed

Heponiemi, Tarja; Aalto, Anna-Mari; Pekkarinen, Laura; Siuvatti, Eeva; Elovainio, Marko

2015-05-01

Work done in the emergency departments is one stressful aspect of physicians' work. Numerous previous studies have highlighted the stressfulness of on-call work and especially of night on call. In addition, previous studies suggest that there may be individual differences in adjusting to changes in circadian rhythms and on-call work. The objective of this study was to examine whether physicians' on-call work is associated with perceived work-related stress factors and job resources and whether there are groups that are more vulnerable to on-call work according to sex, age, and specialization status. This was a cross-sectional questionnaire study among 3230 Finnish physicians (61.5% women). The analyses were conducted using analyses of covariance adjusted for sex, age, specialization status, and employment sector. Physicians with on-call duties had more time pressure and stress related to team work and patient information systems compared with those who did not have on-call duties. In addition, they had less job control opportunities and experienced organization as less fair and team climate as worse. Older physicians and specialists seemed to be especially vulnerable to on-call work regarding stress factors, whereas younger and specialist trainees seemed vulnerable to on-call work regarding job resources. Focusing on team issues and resources is important for younger physicians and trainees having on-call duties, whereas for older and specialists, attention should be focused on actual work load and time pressure. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Observed changes and future trends in vulnerability to natural hazards for mountain communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puissant, A.; Gazo, A.; Débonnaire, N.; Moravek, A.; Aguejdad, R.; -P., Malet J.; B., Martin

2015-04-01

Since 50 years, mountain areas are affected by important landcover and landuse changes characterized by the decrease of pastoral activities, reforestation or urbanization with the development of tourism activities and infrastructures. These natural and anthropogenic transformations have an impact on the socio-economic activities but also on the exposure of the communities to natural hazards. In the context of the ANR Project SAMCO which aims at enhancing the overall resilience of societies on the impacts of mountain risks, the objective of this research was to analyse landcover/use changes and to model future changes to assess the impacts of such change and to analyse trajectory of the vulnerability of mountain communities. For this research, an experiment is performed for two mountain areas of the French Alps (Barcelonnette Basin, Vars Basin). Changes in landcover and landuse are characterized over the period 1956-2010 for the two communities at two spatial scales (catchment, municipality). Four scenarios of landcover and landuse development (based on the Prelude European Project) are proposed for the period 2050 and 2100. Based on these scenarios, the evolution of vulnerability is estimated by using the Potential Damage Index method proposed by Puissant et al. (2013).

Systematic review of the economic evidence on home visitation programmes for vulnerable pregnant women.

PubMed

Stamuli, Eugena; Richardson, Gerry; Duffy, Steven; Robling, Michael; Hood, Kerry

2015-09-01

A systematic review of the economic evidence on home visitation programmes for young or vulnerable pregnant women was undertaken to provide a summary of the existing literature of these interventions. Relevant studies were identified from a number of sources including large databases, free text search on Google Scholar as well as hand-searching of the obtained references. The search yielded a large number of papers, of which 12 were considered appropriate to be included in the review. These were either full or partial economic evaluations: four studies were cost-benefit analyses, three were cost-effectiveness analyses and the remaining were costing studies. The review highlighted the paucity of good quality economic evaluations in the area of home visiting programmes for young or vulnerable pregnant women. Methods varied substantially between the studies spanning from differing data sources (e.g. single randomized trials or meta-analyses) to different perspectives taken, cost items and outcomes included in the analysis. It is difficult to establish a coherent body of economic evidence for these interventions and draw a firm conclusion on their value for money. Home visiting programmes are complex interventions, with impact on the lives of mothers and their children. The funding of such interventions should be based on rigorous effectiveness and economic evidence. There is a need for well-designed economic evaluations which will follow the appropriate methodological guidelines and also take into account the complexity of such interventions. These analyses should preferably consider multiple perspectives and allow for the fact that the majority of the benefits accrue in the long-term future. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Transcriptomic analyses and leukocyte telomere length measurement in subjects exposed to severe recent stressful life events.

PubMed

Lopizzo, N; Tosato, S; Begni, V; Tomassi, S; Cattane, N; Barcella, M; Turco, G; Ruggeri, M; Riva, M A; Pariante, C M; Cattaneo, A

2017-02-21

Stressful life events occurring in adulthood have been found able to affect mood and behavior, thus increasing the vulnerability for several stress-related psychiatric disorders. However, although there is plenty of clinical data supporting an association between stressful life events in adulthood and an enhanced vulnerability for psychopathology, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still poorly investigated. Thus, in this study we performed peripheral/whole-genome transcriptomic analyses in blood samples obtained from 53 adult subjects characterized for recent stressful life events occurred within the previous 6 months. Transcriptomic data were analyzed using Partek Genomics Suite; pathway and network analyses were performed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis and GeneMANIA Software. We found 207 genes significantly differentially expressed in adult subjects who reported recent stressful life experiences (n=21) compared with those without such experiences (n=32). Moreover, the same subjects exposed to such stressful experiences showed a reduction in leukocyte telomere length. A correlation analyses between telomere length and transcriptomic data indicated an association between the exposures to recent stressful life events and the modulation of several pathways, mainly involved in immune-inflammatory-related processes and oxidative stress, such as natural killer cell signaling, interleukin-1 (IL-1) signaling, MIF regulation of innate immunity and IL-6 signaling. Our data suggest an association between exposures to recent stressful life events in adulthood and alterations in the immune, inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways, which could be also involved in the negative effect of stressful life events on leukocyte telomere length. The modulation of these mechanisms may underlie the clinical association between the exposure to recent Stressful life events in adulthood and an enhanced vulnerability to develop psychiatric diseases in adulthood.

Alaska’s changing fire regime - Implications for the vulnerability of its boreal forests

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kasischke, Eric S.; Verbyla, David L.; Rupp, T. Scott; McGuire, A. David; Murphy, Karen A.; Jandt, R.; Barnes, Jennifer L.; Hoy, E.; Duffy, Paul A.; Calef, Monika; Turetsky, Merritt R.

2010-01-01

A synthesis was carried out to examine Alaska’s boreal forest fire regime. During the 2000s, an average of 767 000 ha·year–1 burned, 50% higher than in any previous decade since the 1940s. Over the past 60 years, there was a decrease in the number of lightning-ignited fires, an increase in extreme lightning-ignited fire events, an increase in human-ignited fires, and a decrease in the number of extreme human-ignited fire events. The fraction of area burned from human-ignited fires fell from 26% for the 1950s and 1960s to 5% for the 1990s and 2000s, a result from the change in fire policy that gave the highest suppression priorities to fire events that occurred near human settlements. The amount of area burned during late-season fires increased over the past two decades. Deeper burning of surface organic layers in black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) forests occurred during late-growing-season fires and on more well-drained sites. These trends all point to black spruce forests becoming increasingly vulnerable to the combined changes of key characteristics of Alaska’s fire regime, except on poorly drained sites, which are resistant to deep burning. The implications of these fire regime changes to the vulnerability and resilience of Alaska’s boreal forests and land and fire management are discussed.

Focusing Conservation Efforts on Ecosystem Service Supply May Increase Vulnerability of Socio-Ecological Systems

PubMed Central

Barral, Paula; Carmona, Alejandra; Nahuelhual, Laura

2016-01-01

Growing concern about the loss of ecosystem services (ES) promotes their spatial representation as a key tool for the internalization of the ES framework into land use policies. Paradoxically, mapping approaches meant to inform policy decisions focus on the magnitude and spatial distribution of the biophysical supply of ES, largely ignoring the social mechanisms by which these services influence human wellbeing. If social mechanisms affecting ES demand, enhancing it or reducing it, are taken more into account, then policies are more effective. By developing and applying a new mapping routine to two distinct socio-ecological systems, we show a strong spatial uncoupling between ES supply and socio-ecological vulnerability to the loss of ES, under scenarios of land use and cover change. Public policies based on ES supply might not only fail at detecting priority conservation areas for the wellbeing of human societies, but may also increase their vulnerability by neglecting areas of currently low, but highly valued ES supply. PMID:27167737

Focusing Conservation Efforts on Ecosystem Service Supply May Increase Vulnerability of Socio-Ecological Systems.

PubMed

Laterra, Pedro; Barral, Paula; Carmona, Alejandra; Nahuelhual, Laura

2016-01-01

Growing concern about the loss of ecosystem services (ES) promotes their spatial representation as a key tool for the internalization of the ES framework into land use policies. Paradoxically, mapping approaches meant to inform policy decisions focus on the magnitude and spatial distribution of the biophysical supply of ES, largely ignoring the social mechanisms by which these services influence human wellbeing. If social mechanisms affecting ES demand, enhancing it or reducing it, are taken more into account, then policies are more effective. By developing and applying a new mapping routine to two distinct socio-ecological systems, we show a strong spatial uncoupling between ES supply and socio-ecological vulnerability to the loss of ES, under scenarios of land use and cover change. Public policies based on ES supply might not only fail at detecting priority conservation areas for the wellbeing of human societies, but may also increase their vulnerability by neglecting areas of currently low, but highly valued ES supply.

In vivo Raman spectral pathology of human atherosclerosis and vulnerable plaque

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motz, Jason T.; Fitzmaurice, Maryann; Miller, Arnold; Gandhi, Saumil J.; Haka, Abigail S.; Galindo, Luis; Dasari, Ramachandra R.; Kramer, John R., Jr.; Feld, Michael S.

2006-03-01

The rupture of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque accounts for the majority of clinically significant acute cardiovascular events. Because stability of these culprit lesions is directly related to chemical and morphological composition, Raman spectroscopy may be a useful technique for their study. Recent developments in optical fiber probe technology have allowed for the real-time in vivo Raman spectroscopic characterization of human atherosclerotic plaque demonstrated in this work. We spectroscopically examine 74 sites during carotid endarterectomy and femoral artery bypass surgeries. Of these, 34 are surgically biopsied and examined histologically. Excellent signal-to-noise ratio spectra are obtained in only 1 s and fit with an established model, demonstrating accurate tissue characterization. We also report the first evidence that Raman spectroscopy has the potential to identify vulnerable plaque, achieving a sensitivity and specificity of 79 and 85%, respectively. These initial findings indicate that Raman spectroscopy has the potential to be a clinically relevant diagnostic tool for studying cardiovascular disease.

The effects of chronic stress on the human brain: From neurotoxicity, to vulnerability, to opportunity.

PubMed

Lupien, Sonia J; Juster, Robert-Paul; Raymond, Catherine; Marin, Marie-France

2018-04-01

For the last five decades, science has managed to delineate the mechanisms by which stress hormones can impact on the human brain. Receptors for glucocorticoids are found in the hippocampus, amygdala and frontal cortex, three brain regions involved in memory processing and emotional regulation. Studies have shown that chronic exposure to stress is associated with reduced volume of the hippocampus and that chronic stress can modulate volumes of both the amygdala and frontal cortex, suggesting neurotoxic effects of stress hormones on the brain. Yet, other studies report that exposure to early adversity and/or familial/social stressors can increase vulnerability to stress in adulthood. Models have been recently developed to describe the roles that neurotoxic and vulnerability effects can have on the developing brain. These models suggest that developing early stress interventions could potentially counteract the effects of chronic stress on the brain and results going along with this hypothesis are summarized. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microbial source tracking in highly vulnerable karst drinking water resources.

PubMed

Diston, D; Robbi, R; Baumgartner, A; Felleisen, R

2018-02-01

Water resources situated in areas with underlying karst geology are particularly vulnerable to fecal pollution. In such vulnerable systems, microbial source tracking (MST) methods are useful tools to elucidate the pathways of both animal and human fecal pollution, leading to more accurate water use risk assessments. Here, we describe the application of a MST toolbox using both culture-dependent bacteriophage and molecular-dependent 16S rRNA assays at spring and well sites in the karstic St Imier Valley, Switzerland. Culture-dependent and molecular-dependent marker performance varied significantly, with the 16S rRNA assays displaying greater sensitivity than their phage counterpart; HF183 was the best performing human wastewater-associated marker while Rum2Bac was the best performing ruminant marker. Differences were observed in pollution regimes between the well and spring sampling sites, with the spring water being more degraded than the well site. Our results inform the choice of marker selection for MST studies and highlight differences in microbial water quality between well and spring karst sites.

Antiretroviral drug diversion links social vulnerability to poor medication adherence in substance abusing populations.

PubMed

Tsuyuki, Kiyomi; Surratt, Hilary L

2015-05-01

Antiretroviral (ARV) medication diversion to the illicit market has been documented in South Florida, and linked to sub-optimal adherence in people living with HIV. ARV diversion reflects an unmet need for care in vulnerable populations that have difficulty engaging in consistent HIV care due to competing needs and co-morbidities. This study applies the Gelberg-Andersen behavioral model of health care utilization for vulnerable populations to understand how social vulnerability is linked to ARV diversion and adherence. Cross-sectional data were collected from a targeted sample of vulnerable people living with HIV in South Florida between 2010 and 2012 (n = 503). Structured interviews collected quantitative data on ARV diversion, access and utilization of care, and ARV adherence. Logistic regression was used to estimate the goodness-of-fit of additive models that test domain fit. Linear regression was used to estimate the effects of social vulnerability and ARV diversion on ARV adherence. The best fitting model to predict ARV diversion identifies having a low monthly income and unstable HIV care as salient enabling factors that promote ARV diversion. Importantly, health care need factors did not protect against ARV diversion, evidence that immediate competing needs are prioritized even in the face of poor health for this sample. We also find that ARV diversion provides a link between social vulnerability and sub-optimal ARV adherence, with ARV diversion and domains from the Behavioral Model explaining 25 % of the variation in ARV adherence. Our analyses reveal great need to improve engagement in HIV care for vulnerable populations by strengthening enabling factors (e.g. patient-provider relationship) to improve retention in HIV care and ARV adherence for vulnerable populations.

Abused women's vulnerability in daily life and in contact with psychiatric care: In the light of a caring science perspective.

PubMed

Örmon, Karin; Hörberg, Ulrica

2017-08-01

The aim of the study is to deepen the understanding of abused women's vulnerability in relation to how the abuse and encounters with health care professionals affect life. A further aim is to highlight abused women's vulnerability with a caring science perspective. Experience of abuse has consequences for the mental health of women and girls. Abused women may experience health care as unsupportive, and as a result, often chose not to disclose their experiences of abuse. The results of two qualitative empirical studies were analysed along with a phenomenological meaning analysis in accordance with the methodological principles of Reflective Lifeworld Research. Living one's life with experiences of abuse implies vulnerability, which can prevent abused women from achieving good health. This vulnerability results from insecurity regarding identity, along with the sense that one could have been a different individual if it were not for the abuse and thereby have a more fair chance in life. Being cared for within general psychiatric care could further increase this vulnerability. The healthcare professional's ability to care for the women who have experienced abuse leads to either an encounter of trust or else further suffering for the women. A lifeworld-oriented caring science perspective as a foundation for care can contribute to care for abused women which reaches the existential dimensions of their vulnerability and vulnerable life situation. It is evident that healthcare professionals should deepen their understanding of how abused women live, within a general psychiatric context. This study enables a deeper understanding of abused women's vulnerability in relation to how the abuse and encounters with healthcare professionals affect life. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Suitable Days for Plant Growth Disappear under Projected Climate Change: Potential Human and Biotic Vulnerability

PubMed Central

Mora, Camilo; Caldwell, Iain R.; Caldwell, Jamie M.; Fisher, Micah R.; Genco, Brandon M.; Running, Steven W.

2015-01-01

Ongoing climate change can alter conditions for plant growth, in turn affecting ecological and social systems. While there have been considerable advances in understanding the physical aspects of climate change, comprehensive analyses integrating climate, biological, and social sciences are less common. Here we use climate projections under alternative mitigation scenarios to show how changes in environmental variables that limit plant growth could impact ecosystems and people. We show that although the global mean number of days above freezing will increase by up to 7% by 2100 under “business as usual” (representative concentration pathway [RCP] 8.5), suitable growing days will actually decrease globally by up to 11% when other climatic variables that limit plant growth are considered (i.e., temperature, water availability, and solar radiation). Areas in Russia, China, and Canada are projected to gain suitable plant growing days, but the rest of the world will experience losses. Notably, tropical areas could lose up to 200 suitable plant growing days per year. These changes will impact most of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems, potentially triggering climate feedbacks. Human populations will also be affected, with up to ~2,100 million of the poorest people in the world (~30% of the world’s population) highly vulnerable to changes in the supply of plant-related goods and services. These impacts will be spatially variable, indicating regions where adaptations will be necessary. Changes in suitable plant growing days are projected to be less severe under strong and moderate mitigation scenarios (i.e., RCP 2.6 and RCP 4.5), underscoring the importance of reducing emissions to avoid such disproportionate impacts on ecosystems and people. PMID:26061091

Short Sleep Makes Declarative Memories Vulnerable to Stress in Humans

PubMed Central

Cedernaes, Jonathan; Rångtell, Frida H.; Axelsson, Emil K.; Yeganeh, Adine; Vogel, Heike; Broman, Jan-Erik; Dickson, Suzanne L.; Schiöth, Helgi B.; Benedict, Christian

2015-01-01

Study Objective: This study sought to investigate the role of nocturnal sleep duration for the retrieval of oversleep consolidated memories, both prior to and after being cognitively stressed for ∼30 minutes the next morning. Design: Participants learned object locations (declarative memory task comprising 15 card pairs) and a finger tapping sequence (procedural memory task comprising 5 digits) in the evening. After learning, participants either had a sleep opportunity of 8 hours (between ∼23:00 and ∼07:00, full sleep condition) or they could sleep between ∼03:00 and ∼07:00 (short sleep condition). Retrieval of both memory tasks was tested in the morning after each sleep condition, both before (∼08:30) and after being stressed (∼09:50). Setting: Sleep laboratory. Participants: 15 healthy young men. Results: The analyses demonstrated that oversleep memory changes did not differ between sleep conditions. However, in their short sleep condition, following stress hallmarked by increased subjective stress feelings, the men were unable to maintain their pre-stress performance on the declarative memory task, whereas their performance on the procedural memory task remained unchanged. While men felt comparably subjectively stressed by the stress intervention, overall no differences between pre- and post-stress recalls were observed following a full night of sleep. Conclusions: The findings suggest that 8-h sleep duration, within the range recommended by the US National Sleep Foundation, may not only help consolidate newly learned procedural and declarative memories, but also ensure full access to both during periods of subjective stress. Citation: Cedernaes J, Rångtell FH, Axelsson EK, Yeganeh A, Vogel H, Broman JE, Dickson SL, Schiöth HB, Benedict C. Short sleep makes declarative memories vulnerable to stress in humans. SLEEP 2015;38(12):1861–1868. PMID:26158890

Methionine Deprivation Induces a Targetable Vulnerability in Triple-negative Breast Cancer Cells by Enhancing TRAIL Receptor-2 Expression

PubMed Central

Strekalova, Elena; Malin, Dmitry; Good, David M.; Cryns, Vincent L.

2015-01-01

Purpose Many neoplasms are vulnerable to methionine deficiency by mechanisms that are poorly understood. Because gene profiling studies have revealed that methionine depletion increases TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor-2 (TRAIL-R2) mRNA, we postulated that methionine stress sensitizes breast cancer cells to proapoptotic TRAIL-R2 agonists. Experimental Design Human triple (ER/PR/HER2)-negative breast carcinoma cell lines were cultured in control or methionine-free media. The effects of methionine depletion on TRAIL receptor expression and sensitivity to chemotherapy or a humanized agonistic TRAIL-R2 monoclonal antibody (lexatumumab) were determined. The melanoma-associated antigen MAGED2 was silenced to delineate its functional role in sensitizing TNBC cells to methionine stress. An orthotopic TNBC model was utilized to evaluate the effects of dietary methionine deficiency, lexatumumab or the combination. Results Methionine depletion sensitized TNBC cells to lexatumumab-induced caspase activation and apoptosis by increasing TRAIL-R2 mRNA and cell surface expression. MCF-10A cells transformed by oncogenic H-Ras, but not untransformed cells, and matrix-detached TNBC cells were highly sensitive to the combination of lexatumumab and methionine depletion. Proteomics analyses revealed that MAGED2, which has been reported to reduce TRAIL-R2 expression, was suppressed by methionine stress. Silencing MAGED2 recapitulated features of methionine deprivation, including enhanced mRNA and cell surface expression of TRAIL receptors and increased sensitivity to TRAIL receptor agonists. Dietary methionine deprivation enhanced the antitumor effects of lexatumumab in an orthotopic metastatic TNBC model. Conclusion Methionine depletion exposes a targetable defect in TNBC cells by increasing TRAIL-R2 expression. Our findings provide the foundation for a clinical trial combining dietary methionine restriction and TRAIL-R2 agonists. PMID:25724522

Suitable Days for Plant Growth Disappear under Projected Climate Change: Potential Human and Biotic Vulnerability.

PubMed

Mora, Camilo; Caldwell, Iain R; Caldwell, Jamie M; Fisher, Micah R; Genco, Brandon M; Running, Steven W

2015-06-01

Ongoing climate change can alter conditions for plant growth, in turn affecting ecological and social systems. While there have been considerable advances in understanding the physical aspects of climate change, comprehensive analyses integrating climate, biological, and social sciences are less common. Here we use climate projections under alternative mitigation scenarios to show how changes in environmental variables that limit plant growth could impact ecosystems and people. We show that although the global mean number of days above freezing will increase by up to 7% by 2100 under "business as usual" (representative concentration pathway [RCP] 8.5), suitable growing days will actually decrease globally by up to 11% when other climatic variables that limit plant growth are considered (i.e., temperature, water availability, and solar radiation). Areas in Russia, China, and Canada are projected to gain suitable plant growing days, but the rest of the world will experience losses. Notably, tropical areas could lose up to 200 suitable plant growing days per year. These changes will impact most of the world's terrestrial ecosystems, potentially triggering climate feedbacks. Human populations will also be affected, with up to ~2,100 million of the poorest people in the world (~30% of the world's population) highly vulnerable to changes in the supply of plant-related goods and services. These impacts will be spatially variable, indicating regions where adaptations will be necessary. Changes in suitable plant growing days are projected to be less severe under strong and moderate mitigation scenarios (i.e., RCP 2.6 and RCP 4.5), underscoring the importance of reducing emissions to avoid such disproportionate impacts on ecosystems and people.

An automated method to morph finite element whole-body human models with a wide range of stature and body shape for both men and women.

PubMed

Zhang, Kai; Cao, Libo; Fanta, Abeselom; Reed, Matthew P; Neal, Mark; Wang, Jenne-Tai; Lin, Chin-Hsu; Hu, Jingwen

2017-07-26

Field data analyses have shown that small female, obese, and/or older occupants are at increased risks of death and serious injury in motor-vehicle crashes compared with mid-size young men. The current adult finite element (FE) human models represent occupants in the same three body sizes (large male, mid-size male, and small female) as those for the contemporary adult crash dummies. Further, the time needed to develop an FE human model using the traditional method is measured in months or even years. In the current study, an improved regional mesh morphing method based on landmark-based radial basis function (RBF) interpolation was developed to rapidly morph a mid-size male FE human model into different geometry targets. A total of 100 human models with a wide range of human attributes were generated. A pendulum chest impact condition was applied to each model as an initial assessment of the resulting variability in response. The morphed models demonstrated mesh quality similar to the baseline model. The peak impact forces and chest deflections in the chest pendulum impacts varied substantially with different models, supportive of consideration of population variation in evaluating the occupant injury risks. The method developed in this study will enable future safety design optimizations targeting at various vulnerable populations that cannot be considered with the current models. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Man-Machine Integration Design and Analysis System (MIDAS) v5: Augmentations, Motivations, and Directions for Aeronautics Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gore, Brian F.

2011-01-01

As automation and advanced technologies are introduced into transport systems ranging from the Next Generation Air Transportation System termed NextGen, to the advanced surface transportation systems as exemplified by the Intelligent Transportations Systems, to future systems designed for space exploration, there is an increased need to validly predict how the future systems will be vulnerable to error given the demands imposed by the assistive technologies. One formalized approach to study the impact of assistive technologies on the human operator in a safe and non-obtrusive manner is through the use of human performance models (HPMs). HPMs play an integral role when complex human-system designs are proposed, developed, and tested. One HPM tool termed the Man-machine Integration Design and Analysis System (MIDAS) is a NASA Ames Research Center HPM software tool that has been applied to predict human-system performance in various domains since 1986. MIDAS is a dynamic, integrated HPM and simulation environment that facilitates the design, visualization, and computational evaluation of complex man-machine system concepts in simulated operational environments. The paper will discuss a range of aviation specific applications including an approach used to model human error for NASA s Aviation Safety Program, and what-if analyses to evaluate flight deck technologies for NextGen operations. This chapter will culminate by raising two challenges for the field of predictive HPMs for complex human-system designs that evaluate assistive technologies: that of (1) model transparency and (2) model validation.

HUMAN-ECOSYSTEM INTERACTIONS: THE CASE OF MERCURY

EPA Science Inventory

Human and ecosystem exposure studies evaluate exposure of sensitive and vulnerable populations. We will discuss how ecosystem exposure modeling studies completed for input into the US Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) to evaluate the response of aquatic ecosystems to changes in mercu...

Human - Ecosystem Interactions: The Case of Mercury

EPA Science Inventory

Human and ecosystem exposure studies evaluate exposure of sensitive and vulnerable populations. We will discuss how ecosystem exposure modeling studies completed for input into the US Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) to evaluate the response of aquatic ecosystems to changes in mercu...

Why tropical forest lizards are vulnerable to climate warming

PubMed Central

Huey, Raymond B.; Deutsch, Curtis A.; Tewksbury, Joshua J.; Vitt, Laurie J.; Hertz, Paul E.; Álvarez Pérez, Héctor J.; Garland, Theodore

2009-01-01

Biological impacts of climate warming are predicted to increase with latitude, paralleling increases in warming. However, the magnitude of impacts depends not only on the degree of warming but also on the number of species at risk, their physiological sensitivity to warming and their options for behavioural and physiological compensation. Lizards are useful for evaluating risks of warming because their thermal biology is well studied. We conducted macrophysiological analyses of diurnal lizards from diverse latitudes plus focal species analyses of Puerto Rican Anolis and Sphaerodactyus. Although tropical lowland lizards live in environments that are warm all year, macrophysiological analyses indicate that some tropical lineages (thermoconformers that live in forests) are active at low body temperature and are intolerant of warm temperatures. Focal species analyses show that some tropical forest lizards were already experiencing stressful body temperatures in summer when studied several decades ago. Simulations suggest that warming will not only further depress their physiological performance in summer, but will also enable warm-adapted, open-habitat competitors and predators to invade forests. Forest lizards are key components of tropical ecosystems, but appear vulnerable to the cascading physiological and ecological effects of climate warming, even though rates of tropical warming may be relatively low. PMID:19324762

Why tropical forest lizards are vulnerable to climate warming.

PubMed

Huey, Raymond B; Deutsch, Curtis A; Tewksbury, Joshua J; Vitt, Laurie J; Hertz, Paul E; Alvarez Pérez, Héctor J; Garland, Theodore

2009-06-07

Biological impacts of climate warming are predicted to increase with latitude, paralleling increases in warming. However, the magnitude of impacts depends not only on the degree of warming but also on the number of species at risk, their physiological sensitivity to warming and their options for behavioural and physiological compensation. Lizards are useful for evaluating risks of warming because their thermal biology is well studied. We conducted macrophysiological analyses of diurnal lizards from diverse latitudes plus focal species analyses of Puerto Rican Anolis and Sphaerodactyus. Although tropical lowland lizards live in environments that are warm all year, macrophysiological analyses indicate that some tropical lineages (thermoconformers that live in forests) are active at low body temperature and are intolerant of warm temperatures. Focal species analyses show that some tropical forest lizards were already experiencing stressful body temperatures in summer when studied several decades ago. Simulations suggest that warming will not only further depress their physiological performance in summer, but will also enable warm-adapted, open-habitat competitors and predators to invade forests. Forest lizards are key components of tropical ecosystems, but appear vulnerable to the cascading physiological and ecological effects of climate warming, even though rates of tropical warming may be relatively low.

The thermal environment of the human being on the global scale

PubMed Central

Jendritzky, Gerd; Tinz, Birger

2009-01-01

Background The close relationship between human health, performance, well-being and the thermal environment is obvious. Nevertheless, most studies of climate and climate change impacts show amazing shortcomings in the assessment of the environment. Populations living in different climates have different susceptibilities, due to socio-economic reasons, and different customary behavioural adaptations. The global distribution of risks of hazardous thermal exposure has not been analysed before. Objective To produce maps of the baseline and future bioclimate that allows a direct comparison of the differences in the vulnerability of populations to thermal stress across the world. Design The required climatological data fields are obtained from climate simulations with the global General Circulation Model ECHAM4 in T106-resolution. For the thermo-physiologically relevant assessment of these climate data a complete heat budget model of the human being, the ‘Perceived Temperature’ procedure has been applied which already comprises adaptation by clothing to a certain degree. Short-term physiological acclimatisation is considered via Health Related Assessment of the Thermal Environment. Results The global maps 1971–1980 (control run, assumed as baseline climate) show a pattern of thermal stress intensities as frequencies of heat. The heat load for people living in warm–humid climates is the highest. Climate change will lead to clear differences in health-related thermal stress between baseline climate and the future bioclimate 2041–2050 based on the ‘business-as-usual’ greenhouse gas scenario IS92a. The majority of the world's population will be faced with more frequent and more intense heat strain in spite of an assumed level of acclimatisation. Further adaptation measures are crucial in order to reduce the vulnerability of the populations. Conclusions This bioclimatology analysis provides a tool for various questions in climate and climate change impact research. Considerations of regional or local scale require climate simulations with higher resolution. As adaptation is the key term in understanding the role of climate/climate change for human health, performance and well-being, further research in this field is crucial. PMID:20052427

[Integrated assessment of eco-environmental vulnerability in Pearl River Delta based on RS and GIS].

PubMed

Xu, Qing-Yong; Huang, Mei; Liu, Hong-Sheng; Yan, Hui-Min

2011-11-01

Based on the remote sensing data and with the help of geographic information system, an integrated assessment was conducted on the eco-environmental vulnerability of Pearl River Delta in 2004-2008. Spatial principal component analysis was used to generate the evaluation indicators, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to determine the weights of the evaluation factors. The reasons causing the vulnerability of the eco- environment in Pearl River Delta were discussed. In the study area, its middle part was the most vulnerable region, occupying 34.0% of the total, eastern part was the moderately vulnerable region, accounting for 25.5%, and western part was the lightly and slightly vulnerable areas, accounting for 28.7 and 11.8%, respectively. Totally, the moderately and lightly vulnerable areas occupied 54.2%, indicating that a majority of the Delta was under moderate and light vulnerability. The natural factors affecting the eco-environmental vulnerability of the Delta were altitude, heavy rain days, water and soil erosion rate, flooded infield rate, normalized difference vegetation index (ND VI) and landscape diversity index, whereas the human factors were population density, waste discharge per unit area, exhaust emission per unit area, land use change, chemical fertilization intensity, pesticide application intensity, amount of motor vehicles possessed by ten thousands people, and index of environmental protection investment. The main characteristics of the extremely and heavily vulnerable regions were low altitude, high frequency of flood disaster, large flooded infield, serious vegetation degradation, high pollution level and low environment protection investment index.

[Ecological vulnerability of coal mining area: a case study of Shengli Coalfield in Xilinguole of Inner Mongolia, China].

PubMed

Quan, Zhan-Jun; Li, Yuan; Li, Jun-Sheng; Han, Yu; Xiao, Neng-Wen; Fu, Meng-Di

2013-06-01

In this paper, an ecological vulnerability evaluation index system for the Shengli Coalfield in Xilinguole of Inner Mongolia was established, which included 16 factors in ecological sensitivity, natural and social pressure, and ecological recovery capacity, respectively. Based on the expert scoring method and analytic hierarchy process (AHP), an ecological vulnerability model was built for the calculation of the regional ecological vulnerability by means of RS and GIS spatial analysis. An analysis of the relationships between land use and ecological vulnerability was also made, and the results were tested by spatial auto-correlation analysis. Overall, the ecological vulnerability of the study area was at medium-high level. The exploitation of four opencast areas in the Coalfield caused a significant increase of ecological vulnerability. Moreover, due to the effects of mine drained water and human activities, the 300 -2000 m around the opencast areas was turning into higher ecologically fragile area. With further exploitation, the whole Coalfield was evolved into moderate and heavy ecological vulnerability area, and the coal resources mining was a key factor in this process. The cluster analysis showed that the spatial distribution of the ecological vulnerability in the study area had reasonable clustering characteristics. To decrease the population density, control the grazing capacity of grassland, and regulate the ratios of construction land and cultivated land could be the optimal ways for resolving the natural and social pressure, and to increase the investment and improve the vegetation recovery coefficient could be the fundamental measures for decreasing the ecological vulnerability of the study area.

Declining vulnerability to river floods and the global benefits of adaptation

PubMed Central

Jongman, Brenden; Winsemius, Hessel C.; Aerts, Jeroen C. J. H.; Coughlan de Perez, Erin; van Aalst, Maarten K.; Kron, Wolfgang; Ward, Philip J.

2015-01-01

The global impacts of river floods are substantial and rising. Effective adaptation to the increasing risks requires an in-depth understanding of the physical and socioeconomic drivers of risk. Whereas the modeling of flood hazard and exposure has improved greatly, compelling evidence on spatiotemporal patterns in vulnerability of societies around the world is still lacking. Due to this knowledge gap, the effects of vulnerability on global flood risk are not fully understood, and future projections of fatalities and losses available today are based on simplistic assumptions or do not include vulnerability. We show for the first time (to our knowledge) that trends and fluctuations in vulnerability to river floods around the world can be estimated by dynamic high-resolution modeling of flood hazard and exposure. We find that rising per-capita income coincided with a global decline in vulnerability between 1980 and 2010, which is reflected in decreasing mortality and losses as a share of the people and gross domestic product exposed to inundation. The results also demonstrate that vulnerability levels in low- and high-income countries have been converging, due to a relatively strong trend of vulnerability reduction in developing countries. Finally, we present projections of flood losses and fatalities under 100 individual scenario and model combinations, and three possible global vulnerability scenarios. The projections emphasize that materialized flood risk largely results from human behavior and that future risk increases can be largely contained using effective disaster risk reduction strategies. PMID:25902499

Declining vulnerability to river floods and the global benefits of adaptation.

PubMed

Jongman, Brenden; Winsemius, Hessel C; Aerts, Jeroen C J H; Coughlan de Perez, Erin; van Aalst, Maarten K; Kron, Wolfgang; Ward, Philip J

2015-05-05

The global impacts of river floods are substantial and rising. Effective adaptation to the increasing risks requires an in-depth understanding of the physical and socioeconomic drivers of risk. Whereas the modeling of flood hazard and exposure has improved greatly, compelling evidence on spatiotemporal patterns in vulnerability of societies around the world is still lacking. Due to this knowledge gap, the effects of vulnerability on global flood risk are not fully understood, and future projections of fatalities and losses available today are based on simplistic assumptions or do not include vulnerability. We show for the first time (to our knowledge) that trends and fluctuations in vulnerability to river floods around the world can be estimated by dynamic high-resolution modeling of flood hazard and exposure. We find that rising per-capita income coincided with a global decline in vulnerability between 1980 and 2010, which is reflected in decreasing mortality and losses as a share of the people and gross domestic product exposed to inundation. The results also demonstrate that vulnerability levels in low- and high-income countries have been converging, due to a relatively strong trend of vulnerability reduction in developing countries. Finally, we present projections of flood losses and fatalities under 100 individual scenario and model combinations, and three possible global vulnerability scenarios. The projections emphasize that materialized flood risk largely results from human behavior and that future risk increases can be largely contained using effective disaster risk reduction strategies.

The drought risk of maize in the farming-pastoral ecotone in Northern China based on physical vulnerability assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhiqiang; Jiang, Jingyi; Ma, Qing

2016-12-01

Climate change is affecting every aspect of human activities, especially the agriculture. In China, extreme drought events caused by climate change have posed a great threat to food safety. In this work we aimed to study the drought risk of maize in the farming-pastoral ecotone in Northern China based on physical vulnerability assessment. The physical vulnerability curve was constructed from the relationship between drought hazard intensity index and yield loss rate. The risk assessment of agricultural drought was conducted from the drought hazard intensity index and physical vulnerability curve. The probability distribution of drought hazard intensity index decreased from south-west to north-east and increased from south-east to north-west along the rainfall isoline. The physical vulnerability curve had a reduction effect in three parts of the farming-pastoral ecotone in Northern China, which helped to reduce drought hazard vulnerability on spring maize. The risk of yield loss ratio calculated based on physical vulnerability curve was lower compared with the drought hazard intensity index, which suggested that the capacity of spring maize to resist and adapt to drought is increasing. In conclusion, the farming-pastoral ecotone in Northern China is greatly sensitive to climate change and has a high probability of severe drought hazard. Risk assessment of physical vulnerability can help better understand the physical vulnerability to agricultural drought and can also promote measurements to adapt to climate change.

Heavy Metal Distribution in Street Dust from Traditional Markets and the Human Health Implications.

PubMed

Kim, Jin Ah; Park, Jin Hee; Hwang, Won Ju

2016-08-13

Street dust is a hazard for workers in traditional markets. Exposure time is longer than for other people, making them vulnerable to heavy metals in street dust. This study investigated heavy metal concentrations in street dust samples collected from different types of markets. It compared the results with heavy metal concentrations in heavy traffic and rural areas. Street dust was significantly enriched with most heavy metals in a heavy traffic area while street dust from a fish market was contaminated with cupper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn). Street dust from medicinal herb and fruit markets, and rural areas were not contaminated. Principal component and cluster analyses indicated heavy metals in heavy traffic road and fish market dust had different sources. Relatively high heavy metal concentration in street dust from the fish market may negatively affect worker's mental health, as depression levels were higher compared with workers in other markets. Therefore, intensive investigation of the relationship between heavy metal concentrations in street dust and worker's health in traditional marketplaces should be conducted to elucidate the effect of heavy metals on psychological health in humans.

Global CLEWs model - A novel application of OSeMOSYS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avgerinopoulos, Georgios; Pereira Ramos, Eunice; Howells, Mark

2017-04-01

Over the past years, studies that analyse Nexus issues from a holistic point of view and not energy, land or water separately have been gaining momentum. This project aims at giving insights into global issues through the application and the analysis of a global scale OSeMOSYS model. The latter -which is based on a fully open and amendable code- has been used successfully in the latest years as it has been the producing fully accessible energy models suitable for capacity building and policy making suggestions. This study develops a CLEWs (climate, land, energy and water) model with the objective of interrogating global challenges (e.g. increasing food demand) and international trade features, with policy priorities on food security, resource efficiency, low-carbon energy and climate change mitigation, water availability and vulnerability to water stress and floods, water quality, biodiversity and ecosystem services. It will for instance assess (i) the impact of water constraints on food security and human development (clean water for human use; industrial and energy water demands), as well as (ii) the impact of climate change on aggravating or relieving water problems.

Natural and Human-Induced Variability in Barrier-Island Response to Sea Level Rise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miselis, Jennifer L.; Lorenzo-Trueba, Jorge

2017-12-01

Storm-driven sediment fluxes onto and behind barrier islands help coastal barrier systems keep pace with sea level rise (SLR). Understanding what controls cross-shore sediment flux magnitudes is critical for making accurate forecasts of barrier response to increased SLR rates. Here, using an existing morphodynamic model for barrier island evolution, observations are used to constrain model parameters and explore potential variability in future barrier behavior. Using modeled drowning outcomes as a proxy for vulnerability to SLR, 0%, 28%, and 100% of the barrier is vulnerable to SLR rates of 4, 7, and 10 mm/yr, respectively. When only overwash fluxes are increased in the model, drowning vulnerability increases for the same rates of SLR, suggesting that future increases in storminess may increase island vulnerability particularly where sediment resources are limited. Developed sites are more vulnerable to SLR, indicating that anthropogenic changes to overwash fluxes and estuary depths could profoundly affect future barrier response to SLR.

Natural and human-induced variability in barrier-island response to sea level rise

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miselis, Jennifer L.; Lorenzo-Trueba, Jorge

2017-01-01

Storm-driven sediment fluxes onto and behind barrier islands help coastal barrier systems keep pace with sea level rise (SLR). Understanding what controls cross-shore sediment flux magnitudes is critical for making accurate forecasts of barrier response to increased SLR rates. Here, using an existing morphodynamic model for barrier island evolution, observations are used to constrain model parameters and explore potential variability in future barrier behavior. Using modeled drowning outcomes as a proxy for vulnerability to SLR, 0%, 28%, and 100% of the barrier is vulnerable to SLR rates of 4, 7, and 10 mm/yr, respectively. When only overwash fluxes are increased in the model, drowning vulnerability increases for the same rates of SLR, suggesting that future increases in storminess may increase island vulnerability particularly where sediment resources are limited. Developed sites are more vulnerable to SLR, indicating that anthropogenic changes to overwash fluxes and estuary depths could profoundly affect future barrier response to SLR.

Coastal vulnerability assessment of Puducherry coast, India using analytical hierarchical process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mani Murali, R.; Ankita, M.; Amrita, S.; Vethamony, P.

2013-03-01

Increased frequency of natural hazards such as storm surge, tsunami and cyclone, as a consequence of change in global climate, is predicted to have dramatic effects on the coastal communities and ecosystems by virtue of the devastation they cause during and after their occurrence. The tsunami of December 2004 and the Thane cyclone of 2011 caused extensive human and economic losses along the coastline of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. The devastation caused by these events highlighted the need for vulnerability assessment to ensure better understanding of the elements causing different hazards and to consequently minimize the after-effects of the future events. This paper advocates an Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) based approach to coastal vulnerability studies as an improvement to the existing methodologies for vulnerability assessment. The paper also encourages the inclusion of socio-economic parameters along with the physical parameters to calculate the coastal vulnerability index using AHP derived weights. Seven physical-geological parameters (slope, geomorphology, elevation, shoreline change, sea level rise, significant wave height and tidal range) and four socio-economic factors (population, Land-use/Land-cover (LU/LC), roads and location of tourist places) are considered to measure the Physical Vulnerability Index (PVI) as well as the Socio-economic Vulnerability Index (SVI) of the Puducherry coast. Based on the weights and scores derived using AHP, vulnerability maps are prepared to demarcate areas with very low, medium and high vulnerability. A combination of PVI and SVI values are further utilized to compute the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI). Finally, the various coastal segments are grouped into the 3 vulnerability classes to obtain the final coastal vulnerability map. The entire coastal extent between Muthiapet and Kirumampakkam as well as the northern part of Kalapet is designated as the high vulnerability zone which constitutes 50% of the coastline. The region between the southern coastal extent of Kalapet and Lawspet is the medium vulnerability zone and the rest 25% is the low vulnerability zone. The results obtained, enable to identify and prioritize the more vulnerable areas of the region to further assist the government and the residing coastal communities in better coastal management and conservation.

Coastal vulnerability assessment of Puducherry coast, India, using the analytical hierarchical process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mani Murali, R.; Ankita, M.; Amrita, S.; Vethamony, P.

2013-12-01

As a consequence of change in global climate, an increased frequency of natural hazards such as storm surges, tsunamis and cyclones, is predicted to have dramatic affects on the coastal communities and ecosystems by virtue of the devastation they cause during and after their occurrence. The tsunami of December 2004 and the Thane cyclone of 2011 caused extensive human and economic losses along the coastline of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. The devastation caused by these events highlighted the need for vulnerability assessment to ensure better understanding of the elements causing different hazards and to consequently minimize the after- effects of the future events. This paper demonstrates an analytical hierarchical process (AHP)-based approach to coastal vulnerability studies as an improvement to the existing methodologies for vulnerability assessment. The paper also encourages the inclusion of socio-economic parameters along with the physical parameters to calculate the coastal vulnerability index using AHP-derived weights. Seven physical-geological parameters (slope, geomorphology, elevation, shoreline change, sea level rise, significant wave height and tidal range) and four socio-economic factors (population, land use/land cover (LU/LC), roads and location of tourist areas) are considered to measure the physical vulnerability index (PVI) as well as the socio-economic vulnerability index (SVI) of the Puducherry coast. Based on the weights and scores derived using AHP, vulnerability maps are prepared to demarcate areas with very low, medium and high vulnerability. A combination of PVI and SVI values are further utilized to compute the coastal vulnerability index (CVI). Finally, the various coastal segments are grouped into the 3 vulnerability classes to obtain the coastal vulnerability map. The entire coastal extent between Muthiapet and Kirumampakkam as well as the northern part of Kalapet is designated as the high vulnerability zone, which constitutes 50% of the coastline. The region between the southern coastal extent of Kalapet and Lawspet is the medium vulnerability zone and the remaining 25% is the low vulnerability zone. The results obtained enable the identification and prioritization of the more vulnerable areas of the region in order to further assist the government and the residing coastal communities in better coastal management and conservation.

A knowledge integration approach to flood vulnerability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazzorana, Bruno; Fuchs, Sven

2014-05-01

Understanding, qualifying and quantifying vulnerability is an essential need for implementing effective and efficient flood risk mitigation strategies; in particular if possible synergies between different mitigation alternatives, such as active and passive measures, should be achieved. In order to combine different risk management options it is necessary to take an interdisciplinary approach to vulnerability reduction, and as a result the affected society may be willing to accept a certain degree of self-responsibility. However, due to differing mono-disciplinary approaches and regional foci undertaken until now, different aspects of vulnerability to natural hazards in general and to floods in particular remain uncovered and as a result the developed management options remain sub-optimal. Taking an even more fundamental viewpoint, the empirical vulnerability functions used in risk assessment specifically fail to capture physical principles of the damage-generating mechanisms to the build environment. The aim of this paper is to partially close this gap by discussing a balanced knowledge integration approach which can be used to resolve the multidisciplinary disorder in flood vulnerability research. Modelling techniques such as mathematical-physical modelling of the flood hazard impact to and response from the building envelope affected, and formative scenario analyses of possible consequences in terms of damage and loss are used in synergy to provide an enhanced understanding of vulnerability and to render the derived knowledge into interdisciplinary mitigation strategies. The outlined formal procedure allows for a convincing knowledge alignment of quantified, but partial, information about vulnerability as a result of the application of physical and engineering notions and valuable, but often underspecified, qualitative argumentation strings emerging from the adopted socio-economic viewpoint.

Spatially Representing Vulnerability to Extreme Rain Events Using Midwestern Farmers' Objective and Perceived Attributes of Adaptive Capacity.

PubMed

Gardezi, Maaz; Arbuckle, J Gordon

2017-11-29

Potential climate-change-related impacts to agriculture in the upper Midwest pose serious economic and ecological risks to the U.S. and the global economy. On a local level, farmers are at the forefront of responding to the impacts of climate change. Hence, it is important to understand how farmers and their farm operations may be more or less vulnerable to changes in the climate. A vulnerability index is a tool commonly used by researchers and practitioners to represent the geographical distribution of vulnerability in response to global change. Most vulnerability assessments measure objective adaptive capacity using secondary data collected by governmental agencies. However, other scholarship on human behavior has noted that sociocultural and cognitive factors, such as risk perceptions and perceived capacity, are consequential for modulating people's actual vulnerability. Thus, traditional assessments can potentially overlook people's subjective perceptions of changes in climate and extreme weather events and the extent to which people feel prepared to take necessary steps to cope with and respond to the negative effects of climate change. This article addresses this knowledge gap by: (1) incorporating perceived adaptive capacity into a vulnerability assessment; (2) using spatial smoothing to aggregate individual-level vulnerabilities to the county level; and (3) evaluating the relationships among different dimensions of adaptive capacity to examine whether perceived capacity should be integrated into vulnerability assessments. The result suggests that vulnerability assessments that rely only on objective measures might miss important sociocognitive dimensions of capacity. Vulnerability indices and maps presented in this article can inform engagement strategies for improving environmental sustainability in the region. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

The adaptation challenge in the Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ford, James D.; McDowell, Graham; Pearce, Tristan

2015-12-01

It is commonly asserted that human communities in the Arctic are highly vulnerable to climate change, with the magnitude of projected impacts limiting their ability to adapt. At the same time, an increasing number of field studies demonstrate significant adaptive capacity. Given this paradox, we review climate change adaptation, resilience and vulnerability research to identify and characterize the nature and magnitude of the adaptation challenge facing the Arctic. We find that the challenge of adaptation in the Arctic is formidable, but suggest that drivers of vulnerability and barriers to adaptation can be overcome, avoided or reduced by individual and collective efforts across scales for many, if not all, climate change risks.

Stress and the Development of Cognitive Vulnerabilities to Depression Explain Sex Differences in Depressive Symptoms during Adolescence

PubMed Central

Hamilton, Jessica L.; Stange, Jonathan P.; Abramson, Lyn Y.; Alloy, Lauren B.

2014-01-01

Although cognitive vulnerabilities to depression have received considerable empirical support, little research has evaluated the differential development of cognitive vulnerabilities in adolescent girls and boys. The current study examined the role of stressful life events, as well as sex differences in reactivity and exposure to stress, in the development of negative cognitive style and rumination in a multi-wave study of 382 adolescents. Path analyses indicated that interpersonal dependent stress predicted higher prospective levels of negative cognitive styles and rumination. Additionally, girls’ greater exposure to interpersonal dependent stress explained their higher levels of rumination, which accounted for girls’ higher levels of depressive symptoms than boys. These findings suggest that interpersonal dependent stress is a significant risk factor for the formation of cognitive vulnerabilities to depression during adolescence, and that the sex difference in depressive symptoms may result from girls’ greater exposure to interpersonal dependent stress and ruminative response style than boys. PMID:26509106

Comparison among different retrofitting strategies for the vulnerability reduction of masonry bell towers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milani, Gabriele; Shehu, Rafael; Valente, Marco

2017-11-01

This paper investigates the effectiveness of reducing the seismic vulnerability of masonry towers by means of innovative and traditional strengthening techniques. The followed strategy for providing the optimal retrofitting for masonry towers subjected to seismic risk relies on preventing active failure mechanisms. These vulnerable mechanisms are pre-assigned failure patterns based on the crack patterns experienced during the past seismic events. An upper bound limit analysis strategy is found suitable to be applied for simplified tower models in their present state and the proposed retrofitted ones. Taking into consideration the variability of geometrical features and the uncertainty of the strengthening techniques, Monte Carlo simulations are implemented into the limit analysis. In this framework a wide range of idealized cases are covered by the conducted analyses. The retrofitting strategies aim to increase the shear strength and the overturning load carrying capacity in order to reduce vulnerability. This methodology gives the possibility to use different materials which can fulfill the structural implementability requirements.

Multi-criteria decision analysis and spatial statistic: an approach to determining human vulnerability to vector transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi.

PubMed

Montenegro, Diego; Cunha, Ana Paula da; Ladeia-Andrade, Simone; Vera, Mauricio; Pedroso, Marcel; Junqueira, Angela

2017-10-01

Chagas disease (CD), caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is a neglected human disease. It is endemic to the Americas and is estimated to have an economic impact, including lost productivity and disability, of 7 billion dollars per year on average. To assess vulnerability to vector-borne transmission of T. cruzi in domiciliary environments within an area undergoing domiciliary vector interruption of T. cruzi in Colombia. Multi-criteria decision analysis [preference ranking method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE) and geometrical analysis for interactive assistance (GAIA) methods] and spatial statistics were performed on data from a socio-environmental questionnaire and an entomological survey. In the construction of multi-criteria descriptors, decision-making processes and indicators of five determinants of the CD vector pathway were summarily defined, including: (1) house indicator (HI); (2) triatominae indicator (TI); (3) host/reservoir indicator (Ho/RoI); (4) ecotope indicator (EI); and (5) socio-cultural indicator (S-CI). Determination of vulnerability to CD is mostly influenced by TI, with 44.96% of the total weight in the model, while the lowest contribution was from S-CI, with 7.15%. The five indicators comprise 17 indices, and include 78 of the original 104 priority criteria and variables. The PROMETHEE and GAIA methods proved very efficient for prioritisation and quantitative categorisation of socio-environmental determinants and for better determining which criteria should be considered for interrupting the man-T. cruzi-vector relationship in endemic areas of the Americas. Through the analysis of spatial autocorrelation it is clear that there is a spatial dependence in establishing categories of vulnerability, therefore, the effect of neighbors' setting (border areas) on local values should be incorporated into disease management for establishing programs of surveillance and control of CD via vector. The study model proposed here is flexible and can be adapted to various eco-epidemiological profiles and is suitable for focusing anti-T. cruzi serological surveillance programs in vulnerable human populations.

Injury protection and accident causation parameters for vulnerable road users based on German In-Depth Accident Study GIDAS.

PubMed

Otte, Dietmar; Jänsch, Michael; Haasper, Carl

2012-01-01

Within a study of accident data from GIDAS (German In-Depth Accident Study), vulnerable road users are investigated regarding injury risk in traffic accidents. GIDAS is the largest in-depth accident study in Germany. Due to a well-defined sampling plan, representativeness with respect to the federal statistics is also guaranteed. A hierarchical system ACASS (Accident Causation Analysis with Seven Steps) was developed in GIDAS, describing the human causation factors in a chronological sequence. The accordingly classified causation factors - derived from the systematic of the analysis of human accident causes ("7 steps") - can be used to describe the influence of accident causes on the injury outcome. The bases of the study are accident documentations over ten years from 1999 to 2008 with 8204 vulnerable road users (VRU), of which 3 different groups were selected as pedestrians n=2041, motorcyclists n=2199 and bicyclists n=3964, and analyzed on collisions with cars and trucks as well as vulnerable road users alone. The paper will give a description of the injury pattern and injury mechanisms of accidents. The injury frequencies and severities are pointed out considering different types of VRU and protective measures of helmet and clothes of the human body. The impact points are demonstrated on the car, following to conclusion of protective measures on the vehicle. Existing standards of protection devices as well as interdisciplinary research, including accident and injury statistics, are described. With this paper, a summarization of the existing possibilities on protective measures for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists is given and discussed by comparison of all three groups of vulnerable road users. Also the relevance of special impact situations and accident causes mainly responsible for severe injuries are pointed out, given the new orientation of research for the avoidance and reduction of accident patterns. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Extreme Heat Vulnerability Across the United States using Geospatial Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schoessow, F. S.; Li, Y.; Howe, P. D.

2016-12-01

Extreme heat events are the deadliest natural hazard in the United States and are expected to increase in both severity and frequency in the coming years due to the effects of climate change. The risks of climate change and weather-related events such as heat waves to a population can be more comprehensively assessed by coupling the traditional examination of natural hazards using remote sensing and geospatial analysis techniques with human vulnerability factors and individual perceptions of hazards. By analyzing remote-sensed and empirical survey data alongside national hazards advisories, this study endeavors to establish a nationally-representative baseline quantifying the spatiotemporal variation of individual heat vulnerabilities at multiple scales and between disparate population groups affected by their unique socioenvironmental factors. This is of immediate academic interest because the study of heat waves risk perceptions remains relatively unexplored - despite the intensification of extreme heat events. The use of "human sensors", georeferenced & timestamped individual response data, provides invaluable contextualized data at a high spatial resolution, which will enable policy-makers to more effectively implement targeted strategies for risk prevention, mitigation, and communication. As climate change risks are further defined, this cognizance will help identify vulnerable populations and enhance national hazard preparedness and recovery frameworks.

Variable- and Person-Centered Approaches to Examining Temperament Vulnerability and Resilience to the Effects of Contextual Risk

PubMed Central

Moran, Lyndsey; Lengua, Liliana J.; Zalewski, Maureen; Ruberry, Erika; Klien, Melanie; Thompson, Stephanie; Kiff, Cara

2016-01-01

Using both variable- and person-centered approaches, this study examined the role of temperament in relation to children's vulnerable or resilient responses to cumulative risk. Observed reactivity and regulation dimensions of temperament were tested as mediating and moderating the relation between family cumulative risk and teacher-reported adjustment problems in a sample of 259 preschool-age children. Further, latent profile analyses were used to examine whether profiles of temperament, accounting for multiple characteristics simultaneously, provided additional information about the role of temperament in children's responses to risk. Results support a diathesis-stress model in which high frustration, low fear, and low delay ability confer particular vulnerability for children in high-risk contexts. Benefits of multiple approaches are highlighted. PMID:28408769

Petroleum and Health Care: Evaluating and Managing Health Care's Vulnerability to Petroleum Supply Shifts

PubMed Central

Bednarz, Daniel; Bae, Jaeyong; Pierce, Jessica

2011-01-01

Petroleum is used widely in health care—primarily as a transport fuel and feedstock for pharmaceuticals, plastics, and medical supplies—and few substitutes for it are available. This dependence theoretically makes health care vulnerable to petroleum supply shifts, but this vulnerability has not been empirically assessed. We quantify key aspects of petroleum use in health care and explore historical associations between petroleum supply shocks and health care prices. These analyses confirm that petroleum products are intrinsic to modern health care and that petroleum supply shifts can affect health care prices. In anticipation of future supply contractions lasting longer than previous shifts and potentially disrupting health care delivery, we propose an adaptive management approach and outline its application to the example of emergency medical services. PMID:21778473

[The social vulnerability index regarding Medellín's disabled population].

PubMed

Cardona-Arango, Doris; Agudelo-Martínez, Alejandra; Restrepo-Molina, Lucas; Segura-Cardona, Angela M

2014-01-01

Constructing a social vulnerability index (SVI) for Medellín's disabled population during 2008 aimed at determining areas which were reducing opportunities for this population to use their tangible and intangible assets, thus impairing their quality of life. This descriptive cross-sectional study drew on a source of secondary information regarding people having some kind of limitation recorded in the Quality of Life Survey, 2008. Physical, human and social variables were grouped when constructing the SVI; the models were run in principal component analysis to determine their degree of vulnerability, defined by the number of negative factors identified (high category=4 or 5, medium=2 or 3 and low=1 or none). Such classification led to identifying non-causal relationships with demographic variables through Mann-Whitney, Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests (5.0 % statistical significance level); multinomial logistic regression was used for calculating adjusted measures for epidemiological measurement, such as opportunity ratios and confidence intervals. A degree of medium vulnerability predominated in disabled people living in Medellín (60.3 %) followed by low vulnerability (28.7 %) and high vulnerability populations (11.0 %). The proposed ISV classified the city's communes according to high, medium or low vulnerability, supported by the use of statistical and spatial location techniques.

What the eye does not see: a critical interpretive synthesis of European Union policies addressing sexual violence in vulnerable migrants.

PubMed

Keygnaert, Ines; Guieu, Aurore

2015-11-01

In Europe, refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants are more vulnerable to sexual victimisation than European citizens. They face more challenges when seeking care. This literature review examines how legal and policy frameworks at national, European and international levels condition the prevention of and response to sexual violence affecting these vulnerable migrant communities living in the European Union (EU). Applying the Critical Interpretive Synthesis method, we reviewed 187 legal and policy documents and 80 peer-reviewed articles on migrant sexual health for elements on sexual violence and further analysed the 37 legal and 12 peer-reviewed articles among them that specifically focused on sexual violence in vulnerable migrants in the EU-27 States. Legal and policy documents dealing with sexual violence, particularly but not exclusively in vulnerable migrants, apply 'tunnel vision'. They ignore: a) frequently occurring types of sexual violence, b) victimisation rates across genders and c) specific risk factors within the EU such as migrants' legal status, gender orientation and living conditions. The current EU policy-making paradigm relegates sexual violence in vulnerable migrants as an 'outsider' and 'female only' issue while EU migration and asylum policies reinforce its invisibility. Effective response must be guided by participatory rights- and evidence-based policies and a public health approach, acknowledging the occurrence and multiplicity of sexual victimisation of vulnerable migrants of all genders within EU borders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

GIS modelling of seismic vulnerability of residential fabrics considering geotechnical, structural, social and physical distance indicators in Tehran city using multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rezaie, F.; Panahi, M.

2014-09-01

The main issue in determining the seismic vulnerability is having a comprehensive view to all probable damages related to earthquake occurrence. Therefore, taking factors such as peak ground acceleration (PGA) in the time of earthquake occurrence, the type of structures, population distribution among different age groups, level of education, the physical distance to a hospitals (or medical care centers), etc. into account and categorized under four indicators of geotechnical, structural, social and physical distance to needed facilities and distance from dangerous ones will provide us with a better and more exact outcome. To this end in this paper using analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the amount of importance of criteria or alternatives are determined and using geographical information system (GIS), the vulnerability of Tehran metropolitan as a result of an earthquake, is studied. This study focuses on the fact that Tehran is surrounded by three active and major faults of the Mosha, North Tehran and Rey. In order to comprehensively determine the vulnerability, three scenarios are developed. In each scenario, seismic vulnerability of different areas in Tehran city is analysed and classified into four levels including high, medium, low and safe. The results show that regarding seismic vulnerability, the faults of Mosha, North Tehran and Rey respectively make 6, 16 and 10% of Tehran area highly vulnerable and also 34, 14 and 27% are safe.

Testing the vulnerability and scar models of self-esteem and depressive symptoms from adolescence to middle adulthood and across generations.

PubMed

Steiger, Andrea E; Fend, Helmut A; Allemand, Mathias

2015-02-01

The vulnerability model states that low self-esteem functions as a predictor for the development of depressive symptoms whereas the scar model assumes that these symptoms leave scars in individuals resulting in lower self-esteem. Both models have received empirical support, however, they have only been tested within individuals and not across generations (i.e., between family members). Thus, we tested the scope of these competing models by (a) investigating whether the effects hold from adolescence to middle adulthood (long-term vulnerability and scar effects), (b) whether the effects hold across generations (intergenerational vulnerability and scar effects), and (c) whether intergenerational effects are mediated by parental self-esteem and depressive symptoms and parent-child discord. We used longitudinal data from adolescence to middle adulthood (N = 1,359) and from Generation 1 adolescents (G1) to Generation 2 adolescents (G2) (N = 572 parent-child pairs). Results from latent cross-lagged regression analyses demonstrated that both adolescent self-esteem and depressive symptoms were prospectively related to adult self-esteem and depressive symptoms 3 decades later. That is, both the vulnerability and scar models are valid over decades with stronger effects for the vulnerability model. Across generations, we found a substantial direct transmission effect from G1 to G2 adolescent depressive symptoms but no evidence for the proposed intergenerational vulnerability and scar effect or for any of the proposed mediating mechanisms. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

A situational analysis of priority disaster hazards in Uganda: findings from a hazard and vulnerability analysis.

PubMed

Mayega, R W; Wafula, M R; Musenero, M; Omale, A; Kiguli, J; Orach, G C; Kabagambe, G; Bazeyo, W

2013-06-01

Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have not conducted a disaster risk analysis. Hazards and vulnerability analyses provide vital information that can be used for development of risk reduction and disaster response plans. The purpose of this study was to rank disaster hazards for Uganda, as a basis for identifying the priority hazards to guide disaster management planning. The study as conducted in Uganda, as part of a multi-country assessment. A hazard, vulnerability and capacity analysis was conducted in a focus group discussion of 7 experts representing key stakeholder agencies in disaster management in Uganda. A simple ranking method was used to rank the probability of occurance of 11 top hazards, their potential impact and the level vulnerability of people and infrastructure. In-terms of likelihood of occurance and potential impact, the top ranked disaster hazards in Uganda are: 1) Epidemics of infectious diseases, 2) Drought/famine, 3) Conflict and environmental degradation in that order. In terms of vulnerability, the top priority hazards to which people and infrastructure were vulnerable were: 1) Conflicts, 2) Epidemics, 3) Drought/famine and, 4) Environmental degradation in that order. Poverty, gender, lack of information, and lack of resilience measures were some of the factors promoting vulnerability to disasters. As Uganda develops a disaster risk reduction and response plan, it ought to prioritize epidemics of infectious diseases, drought/famine, conflics and environmental degradation as the priority disaster hazards.

The conservation status of the herpetofauna of Honduras

PubMed Central

2003-01-01

The conservation status of the members of the Honduran herpetofauna is discussed. Based on current and projected future human population growth, it is posited that the entire herpetofauna is endangered. The known herpetofauna of Honduras currently consists of 334 species, including 117 amphibians and 217 reptiles (including six marine reptiles, which are not discussed in this paper). The greatest number of species occur at low and moderate elevations in lowland and/or mesic forest formations, in the Northern and Southern Cordilleras of the Serranía, and the ecophysiographic areas of the Caribbean coastal plain and foothills. Slightly more than one-third of the herpetofauna consists of endemic species or those otherwise restricted to Nuclear Middle America. Honduras is an area severely affected by amphibian population decline, with close to one-half of the amphibian fauna threatened, endangered, or extinct. The principal threats to the survival of members of the herpetofauna are uncontrolled human population growth and its corollaries, habitat alteration and destruction, pollution, pest and predator control, overhunting, and overexploitation. No Honduran amphibians or reptiles are entirely free of human impact. A gauge is used to estimate environmental vulnerability of amphibian species, using measures of extent of geographic range, extent of ecological distribution, and degree of specialization of reproductive mode. A similar gauge is developed for reptiles, using the first two measures for amphibian vulnerability, and a third scale for the degree of human persecution. Based on these gauges, amphibians and reptiles show an actual range of Environmental Vulnerability Scores (EVS) almost as broad as the theoretical range. Based on the actual EVS, both amphibian and reptilian species are divided into three categories of low, medium, and high vulnerability. There are 24 low vulnerability amphibians and 47 reptiles, 43 medium vulnerability amphibians and 111 reptiles, and 50 high vulnerability amphibians and 53 reptiles. Theoretical EVS values are assessed against available information on current population status of endemic and Nuclear Middle American taxa. Almost half (48.8%) of the endemic species of Honduran amphibians are already extinct or have populations that are in decline. Populations of 40.0% of the Nuclear Middle American amphibian species are extirpated or in decline. A little less than a third (27.0%) of the endemic reptiles are thought to have declining populations. Almost six of every ten (54.5%) of the Nuclear Middle American reptilian species are thought to have declining populations. EVS values provide a useful indicator of potential for endangerment, illustrating that the species whose populations are currently in decline or are extinct or extirpated have relatively high EVS. All high EVS species need to be monitored closely for changes in population status. A set of recommendations are offered, assuming that biotic reserves in Honduras can be safeguarded, that it is hoped will lead to a system of robust, healthy, and economically self-sustaining protected areas for the country's herpetofauna. These recommendations will have to be enacted swiftly, however, due to unremitting pressure from human population growth and the resulting deforestation. PMID:15029252

Applicability of existing C3 (command, control and communications) vulnerability and hardness analyses to sentry system issues. Technical report

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

Lee, R.C.

1983-01-13

This report is a compilation of abstracts resulting from a literature search of reports relevant to Sentry Ballistic missile system C3 vulnerability and hardness. Primary sources consulted were the DOD Nuclear Information Analysis Center (DASIAC) and the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). Approximately 175 reports were reviewed and abstracted, including several related to computer programs for estimating nuclear effects on electromagnetic propagation. The reports surveyed were ranked in terms of their importance for Sentry C3 VandH issues.

Proceedings of the Nuclear Criticality Technology Safety Workshop

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

Rene G. Sanchez

1998-04-01

This document contains summaries of most of the papers presented at the 1995 Nuclear Criticality Technology Safety Project (NCTSP) meeting, which was held May 16 and 17 at San Diego, Ca. The meeting was broken up into seven sessions, which covered the following topics: (1) Criticality Safety of Project Sapphire; (2) Relevant Experiments For Criticality Safety; (3) Interactions with the Former Soviet Union; (4) Misapplications and Limitations of Monte Carlo Methods Directed Toward Criticality Safety Analyses; (5) Monte Carlo Vulnerabilities of Execution and Interpretation; (6) Monte Carlo Vulnerabilities of Representation; and (7) Benchmark Comparisons.

Variation of the anthropic vulnerability in Ribeirão das Pedras watershed in Campinas/SP - Brazil.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Damame, Desirée; Longo, Regina; Ribeiro, Admilson; Fengler, Felipe

2015-04-01

The human actions has caused over the years profound changes in environmental quality in urban ecosystems suffering losses in the quality of air, soil , water and vegetation also the quality of life of the population that inhabit these areas . The study area is characterized by being a highly urbanized watershed, with about 43 % of its area covered by buildings, houses , and commercial and industrial establishments . Called the Ribeirão das Pedras Basin, located in Campinas / SP - Brazil and is bounded by coordinates 22˚47'10 '' and 22˚52'20 '' S , and 47˚ 07'15 '' and 46˚ 02 ' 15' ' . Has an average temperature of 22.4 ° C and average annual rainfall of 1424.5 mm . It has an area of about 42 km² . This is located two universities and a large mall. It also demands a strong agriculture , which occupies about 30 % of the area . It has also been part of two major forest reserves of the municipality, the Forest Santa Geneva and the Forest of Quilombo , both added to other small fragments overlying only about 6% of the total basin area . Avalição to environmental quality , the analysis of the vulnerability of urban watershed becomes an important environmental management tool. The vulnerability can be defined by susceptibility to changes of environment in its initial state , a current tax status by human intervention , and is almost always associated with risk , and the intensity at which such projects in one place, person or structure. In this context , this study aimed to assess environmental vulnerability in an urban watershed coming under increasing human pressures , especially in recent years . For this analysis were prepared soil graphics, slope , elevation and land use and land cover for the years 2009 and 2014 , generating with these , comparative anthropic vulnerability maps of the past five years. Crafting vulnerability maps is a sensitivity in order to enable appropriate management of biotic systems. With the results can be seen that the variation of anthropogenic vulnerability in the study area took place mainly by the real estate growth that the area has suffered in recent years, due to the large enhancement of the region , both for businesses and homes , as for industrial area. It was found that the distribution of anthropogenic vulnerability for 2009 was 19% too low, 33% low, 40 % moderate , high 8% and 0% too high. 2014 was obtained by dividing the current scenario is as follows: 10% very low , low 31% , moderate 50% , 9% and 0% high too high, meaning that there was an increase in high vulnerability points and moderate and still , a very significant decrease for low and very low vulnerability , revealing the strong environmental impact that the area has been suffering . Thus, we can conclude that the housing boom in large areas impacts the vulnerability of a watershed , which will certainly affect both the areas of forest / native fragments , and subsequently the quality of life of the surrounding population. In the specific case of Ribeirão das Pedras watershed , knowing the strong agricultural occupation of the area , it is known that the increased fragility still imply large losses for food production in the region.

Psychological Vulnerability and Problem Gambling: The Mediational Role of Cognitive Distortions.

PubMed

Lévesque, David; Sévigny, Serge; Giroux, Isabelle; Jacques, Christian

2018-01-03

Despite numerous studies demonstrating the influence of cognitive distortions on gambling problem severity, empirical data regarding the role of psychological vulnerability on the latter is limited. Hence, this study assesses the mediating effect of cognitive distortions between psychological vulnerability (personality and mood), and gambling problem severity. It also verifies whether the relationships between these variables differs according to the preferred gambling activity. The sample is composed of 272 male gamblers [191 poker players; 81 video lottery terminal (VLT) players] aged between 18 and 82 years (M = 35.2). Bootstrap analysis results revealed that cognitive distortions mediate the effect of narcissism on gambling problem severity for both groups. The level of depression for VLT players significantly predicted gambling problem severity, both directly and indirectly via the mediating effect of cognitive distortions. Mediation analyses also indicated that narcissism had an indirect impact on problem gambling through cognitive distortions for both groups. These findings suggest that certain vulnerabilities related to personality and mood may influence cognitive distortion intensity and gambling problem severity. In addition, psychological vulnerabilities could differ based on preferred gambling activity. These results may be useful for prevention policies, identifying high risk gamblers and planning psychological interventions.

Strategies for reducing police arrest in the context of an HIV prevention programme for female sex workers: evidence from structural interventions in Karnataka, South India.

PubMed

Bhattacharjee, Parinita; Isac, Shajy; McClarty, Leigh M; Mohan, Haranahalli L; Maddur, Srinath; Jagannath, Sunitha B; Venkataramaiah, Balasubramanya K; Moses, Stephen; Blanchard, James F; Gurnani, Vandana

2016-01-01

Female sex workers (FSWs) frequently experience violence in their work environments, violating their basic rights and increasing their vulnerability to HIV infection. Structural interventions addressing such violence are critical components of comprehensive HIV prevention programmes. We describe structural interventions developed to address violence against FSWs in the form of police arrest, in the context of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS Initiative (Avahan) in Karnataka, South India. We examine changes in FSW arrest between two consecutive time points during the intervention and identify characteristics that may increase FSW vulnerability to arrest in Karnataka. Structural interventions with police involved advocacy work with senior police officials, sensitization workshops, and integration of HIV and human rights topics in pre-service curricula. Programmes for FSWs aimed to enhance collectivization, empowerment and awareness about human rights and to introduce crisis response mechanisms. Three rounds of integrated behavioural and biological assessment surveys were conducted among FSWs from 2004 to 2011. We conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses using data from the second (R2) and third (R3) survey rounds to examine changes in arrests among FSWs over time and to assess associations between police arrest, and the sociodemographic and sex work-related characteristics of FSWs. Among 4110 FSWs surveyed, rates of ever being arrested by the police significantly decreased over time, from 9.9% in R2 to 6.1% in R3 (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) [95% CI]=0.63 [0.48 to 0.83]). Arrests in the preceding year significantly decreased, from 5.5% in R2 to 2.8% in R3 (AOR [95% CI]=0.59 [0.41 to 0.86]). FSWs arrested as part of arbitrary police raids also decreased from 49.6 to 19.5% (AOR [95% CI]=0.21 [0.11 to 0.42]). Certain characteristics, including financial dependency on sex work, street- or brothel-based solicitation and high client volumes, were found to significantly increase the odds of arrest for participants. Structural interventions addressing police arrest of FSWs are feasible to implement. Based on our findings, the design of violence prevention and response interventions in Karnataka can be tailored to focus on FSWs, who are disproportionately vulnerable to arrest by police. Context-specific structural interventions can reduce police arrests, create a safer work environment for FSWs and protect fundamental human rights.

Strategies for reducing police arrest in the context of an HIV prevention programme for female sex workers: evidence from structural interventions in Karnataka, South India

PubMed Central

Bhattacharjee, Parinita; Isac, Shajy; McClarty, Leigh M; Mohan, Haranahalli L; Maddur, Srinath; Jagannath, Sunitha B; Venkataramaiah, Balasubramanya K; Moses, Stephen; Blanchard, James F; Gurnani, Vandana

2016-01-01

Introduction Female sex workers (FSWs) frequently experience violence in their work environments, violating their basic rights and increasing their vulnerability to HIV infection. Structural interventions addressing such violence are critical components of comprehensive HIV prevention programmes. We describe structural interventions developed to address violence against FSWs in the form of police arrest, in the context of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS Initiative (Avahan) in Karnataka, South India. We examine changes in FSW arrest between two consecutive time points during the intervention and identify characteristics that may increase FSW vulnerability to arrest in Karnataka. Methods Structural interventions with police involved advocacy work with senior police officials, sensitization workshops, and integration of HIV and human rights topics in pre-service curricula. Programmes for FSWs aimed to enhance collectivization, empowerment and awareness about human rights and to introduce crisis response mechanisms. Three rounds of integrated behavioural and biological assessment surveys were conducted among FSWs from 2004 to 2011. We conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses using data from the second (R2) and third (R3) survey rounds to examine changes in arrests among FSWs over time and to assess associations between police arrest, and the sociodemographic and sex work-related characteristics of FSWs. Results Among 4110 FSWs surveyed, rates of ever being arrested by the police significantly decreased over time, from 9.9% in R2 to 6.1% in R3 (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) [95% CI]=0.63 [0.48 to 0.83]). Arrests in the preceding year significantly decreased, from 5.5% in R2 to 2.8% in R3 (AOR [95% CI]=0.59 [0.41 to 0.86]). FSWs arrested as part of arbitrary police raids also decreased from 49.6 to 19.5% (AOR [95% CI]=0.21 [0.11 to 0.42]). Certain characteristics, including financial dependency on sex work, street- or brothel-based solicitation and high client volumes, were found to significantly increase the odds of arrest for participants. Conclusion Structural interventions addressing police arrest of FSWs are feasible to implement. Based on our findings, the design of violence prevention and response interventions in Karnataka can be tailored to focus on FSWs, who are disproportionately vulnerable to arrest by police. Context-specific structural interventions can reduce police arrests, create a safer work environment for FSWs and protect fundamental human rights. PMID:27435708

Developing a model for effects of climate change on human health and health-environment interactions: Heat stress in Austin, Texas - Urban Climate

EPA Science Inventory

Human health and well-being are and will be affected by climate change, both directly through changes in extreme weather events and indirectly through weather-induced changes in human and natural systems. Populations are vulnerable to these changes in varying degrees, depending ...

Identifying typical patterns of vulnerability: A 5-step approach based on cluster analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sietz, Diana; Lüdeke, Matthias; Kok, Marcel; Lucas, Paul; Carsten, Walther; Janssen, Peter

2013-04-01

Specific processes that shape the vulnerability of socio-ecological systems to climate, market and other stresses derive from diverse background conditions. Within the multitude of vulnerability-creating mechanisms, distinct processes recur in various regions inspiring research on typical patterns of vulnerability. The vulnerability patterns display typical combinations of the natural and socio-economic properties that shape a systems' vulnerability to particular stresses. Based on the identification of a limited number of vulnerability patterns, pattern analysis provides an efficient approach to improving our understanding of vulnerability and decision-making for vulnerability reduction. However, current pattern analyses often miss explicit descriptions of their methods and pay insufficient attention to the validity of their groupings. Therefore, the question arises as to how do we identify typical vulnerability patterns in order to enhance our understanding of a systems' vulnerability to stresses? A cluster-based pattern recognition applied at global and local levels is scrutinised with a focus on an applicable methodology and practicable insights. Taking the example of drylands, this presentation demonstrates the conditions necessary to identify typical vulnerability patterns. They are summarised in five methodological steps comprising the elicitation of relevant cause-effect hypotheses and the quantitative indication of mechanisms as well as an evaluation of robustness, a validation and a ranking of the identified patterns. Reflecting scale-dependent opportunities, a global study is able to support decision-making with insights into the up-scaling of interventions when available funds are limited. In contrast, local investigations encourage an outcome-based validation. This constitutes a crucial step in establishing the credibility of the patterns and hence their suitability for informing extension services and individual decisions. In this respect, working at the local level provides a clear advantage since, to a large extent, limitations in globally available observational data constrain such a validation on the global scale. Overall, the five steps are outlined in detail in order to facilitate and motivate the application of pattern recognition in other research studies concerned with vulnerability analysis, including future applications to different vulnerability frameworks. Such applications could promote the refinement of mechanisms in specific contexts and advance methodological adjustments. This would further increase the value of identifying typical patterns in the properties of socio-ecological systems for an improved understanding and management of the relation between these systems and particular stresses.

Economic impact of using fesoterodine for the treatment of overactive bladder with urge urinary incontinence in a vulnerable elderly population in the United States.

PubMed

Qin, Lei; Luo, Xuemei; Zou, Kelly H; Snedecor, Sonya J

2016-01-01

To assess the costs of treating overactive bladder (OAB) with fesoterodine compared to no OAB pharmacotherapy among vulnerable elderly from the US payer perspective. A decision analytic cost model was developed to estimate the 52-week costs of a cohort of vulnerable elderly with OAB initiating treatment with fesoterodine or no OAB pharmacotherapy. Vulnerable elderly OAB patients were defined as those aged ≥65 years with self-reported urge urinary incontinence (UUI) symptoms for ≥3 months, 2-15 UUI episodes/day, and at risk of deteriorating health by a score of ≥3 on the Vulnerable Elders Survey (VES)-13. Patients were evaluated for fesoterodine treatment response (defined as no UUI episodes) and persistence at weeks 12, 26, and 52. The model included a hypothetical health plan with 100,000 elderly members. A total of 7096 vulnerable elderly subjects were identified as the model target population based on the percentage of vulnerable elderly and annual prevalence of OAB among vulnerable elderly. OAB-related costs included fesoterodine drug acquisition costs, healthcare resource use (inpatient hospitalization, outpatient visits, and physician office visits), and OAB-related co-morbidities (falls/fractures, urinary tract infections, depression, and nursing home admissions). All costs were inflated to 2013 US$ using the medical care component of the consumer price index (CPI). When 7096 vulnerable elderly OAB patients were treated with fesoterodine, US healthcare payers could save $11,463,981 per year, or $1616 per patient vs no OAB pharmacotherapy. Univariate one-way sensitivity analyses supported the robustness of the findings and showed results were most sensitive to changes in fesoterodine efficacy followed by annual costs of inpatient hospitalization. From a US payer perspective, treating vulnerable elderly OAB patients with fesoterodine was cost-saving compared to no OAB pharmacotherapy.

Beyond exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity: A response based ecological framework to assess species climate change vulnerability

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fortini, Lucas B.; Schubert, Olivia

2017-01-01

As the impacts of global climate change on species are increasingly evident, there is a clear need to adapt conservation efforts worldwide. Species vulnerability assessments (VAs) are increasingly used to summarize all relevant information to determine a species’ potential vulnerability to climate change and are frequently the first step in informing climate adaptation efforts. VAs commonly integrate multiple sources of information by utilizing a framework that distinguishes factors relevant to species exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. However, this framework was originally developed for human systems, and its use to evaluate species vulnerability has serious practical and theoretical limitations. By instead defining vulnerability as the degree to which a species is unable to exhibit any of the responses necessary for persistence under climate change (i.e., toleration of projected changes, migration to new climate-compatible areas, enduring in microrefugia, and evolutionary adaptation), we can bring VAs into the realm of ecological science without applying borrowed abstract concepts that have consistently challenged species-centric research and management. This response-based framework to assess species vulnerability to climate change allows better integration of relevant ecological data and past research, yielding results with much clearer implications for conservation and research prioritization.

Asset ownership among households caring for orphans and vulnerable children in rural Zimbabwe: The influence of ownership on children's health and social vulnerabilities

PubMed Central

Crea, Thomas M.; Lombe, Margaret; Robertson, Laura A.; Dumba, Lovemore; Mushati, Phyllis; Makoni, J.C.; Mavise, Gideon; Eaton, Jeffrey W.; Munatsi, Brighton; Nyamukapa, Constance A.; Gregson, Simon

2012-01-01

The high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome in sub-Saharan Africa has resulted in a dramatic increase in orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) over the past decade. These children typically rely on extended family networks for support, but the magnitude of the crisis has resulted in traditional familial networks becoming overwhelmed and more economically and socially vulnerable. Previous research consistently demonstrates the positive influence of household asset ownership on children's well-being. Using data from impoverished households caring for OVC in rural Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe, this study explores the influence of household asset ownership on OVC health vulnerability (HV) and social vulnerability (SV). Findings indicate that asset ownership is associated with significantly lower SV, in terms of school attendance and birth registration. Yet, assets do not emerge as a direct influence of OVC HV as measured by disease and chronic illness, although having a chronically ill adult in the household increases HV. These findings suggest that asset ownership, specifically a combination of fixed and movable assets, may offset the influence of other risk factors for children's SV. PMID:22624868

Evaluating Social and Ecological Vulnerability of Coral Reef Fisheries to Climate Change

PubMed Central

Cinner, Joshua E.; Huchery, Cindy; Darling, Emily S.; Humphries, Austin T.; Graham, Nicholas A. J.; Hicks, Christina C.; Marshall, Nadine; McClanahan, Tim R.

2013-01-01

There is an increasing need to evaluate the links between the social and ecological dimensions of human vulnerability to climate change. We use an empirical case study of 12 coastal communities and associated coral reefs in Kenya to assess and compare five key ecological and social components of the vulnerability of coastal social-ecological systems to temperature induced coral mortality [specifically: 1) environmental exposure; 2) ecological sensitivity; 3) ecological recovery potential; 4) social sensitivity; and 5) social adaptive capacity]. We examined whether ecological components of vulnerability varied between government operated no-take marine reserves, community-based reserves, and openly fished areas. Overall, fished sites were marginally more vulnerable than community-based and government marine reserves. Social sensitivity was indicated by the occupational composition of each community, including the importance of fishing relative to other occupations, as well as the susceptibility of different fishing gears to the effects of coral bleaching on target fish species. Key components of social adaptive capacity varied considerably between the communities. Together, these results show that different communities have relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of social-ecological vulnerability to climate change. PMID:24040228

Asset ownership among households caring for orphans and vulnerable children in rural Zimbabwe: the influence of ownership on children's health and social vulnerabilities.

PubMed

Crea, Thomas M; Lombe, Margaret; Robertson, Laura A; Dumba, Lovemore; Mushati, Phyllis; Makoni, J C; Mavise, Gideon; Eaton, Jeffrey W; Munatsi, Brighton; Nyamukapa, Constance A; Gregson, Simon

2013-01-01

The high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome in sub-Saharan Africa has resulted in a dramatic increase in orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) over the past decade. These children typically rely on extended family networks for support, but the magnitude of the crisis has resulted in traditional familial networks becoming overwhelmed and more economically and socially vulnerable. Previous research consistently demonstrates the positive influence of household asset ownership on children's well-being. Using data from impoverished households caring for OVC in rural Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe, this study explores the influence of household asset ownership on OVC health vulnerability (HV) and social vulnerability (SV). Findings indicate that asset ownership is associated with significantly lower SV, in terms of school attendance and birth registration. Yet, assets do not emerge as a direct influence of OVC HV as measured by disease and chronic illness, although having a chronically ill adult in the household increases HV. These findings suggest that asset ownership, specifically a combination of fixed and movable assets, may offset the influence of other risk factors for children's SV.

APPROACHES TO ECOSYSTEM AND HUMAN EXPOSURE TO MERCURY FOR SENSITIVE POPULATIONS

EPA Science Inventory

Both human and ecosystem exposure studies evaluate exposure of sensitive and vulnerable populations. We will discuss how ecosystem exposure modeling studies completed for input into the US Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) to evaluate the response of aquatic ecosystems to changes in ...

Health risk in the context of climate change and adaptation - Concept and mapping as an integrated approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kienberger, S.; Notenbaert, A.; Zeil, P.; Bett, B.; Hagenlocher, M.; Omolo, A.

2012-04-01

Climate change has been stated as being one of the greatest challenges to global health in the current century. Climate change impacts on human health and the socio-economic and related poverty consequences are however still poorly understood. While epidemiological issues are strongly coupled with environmental and climatic parameters, the social and economic circumstances of populations might be of equal or even greater importance when trying to identify vulnerable populations and design appropriate and well-targeted adaptation measures. The inter-linkage between climate change, human health risk and socio-economic impacts remains an important - but largely outstanding - research field. We present an overview on how risk is traditionally being conceptualised in the human health domain and reflect critically on integrated approaches as being currently used in the climate change context. The presentation will also review existing approaches, and how they can be integrated towards adaptation tools. Following this review, an integrated risk concept is being presented, which has been currently adapted under the EC FP7 research project (HEALTHY FUTURES; http://www.healthyfutures.eu/). In this approach, health risk is not only defined through the disease itself (as hazard) but also by the inherent vulnerability of the system, population or region under study. It is in fact the interaction of environment and society that leads to the development of diseases and the subsequent risk of being negatively affected by it. In this conceptual framework vulnerability is being attributed to domains of lack of resilience as well as underlying preconditions determining susceptibilities. To fulfil a holistic picture vulnerability can be associated to social, economic, environmental, institutional, cultural and physical dimensions. The proposed framework also establishes the important nexus to adaptation and how different measures can be related to avoid disease outbreaks, reduce vulnerability in order to lower health risks and disease impacts. The proposed framework explains the generic concepts of disease hazard, vulnerability, risk and its connections. It can be applied to many different diseases and implemented in different ways. Statistical or dynamic disease models integrating future climate projections can - for example - be combined with forecast models. These can be evaluated against different socio-economic development pathways and feed into decisions support systems with an ultimate aim of designing the most appropriate risk reduction strategies. The paper will present first preliminary results on the mapping of vulnerability for the Eastern African region, including diseases such as Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Rift Valley Fever and conclude with current research challenges and how they will be addressed within the HEALTHY FUTURES project.

Dignity as honour-wound: an experiential and relational view

PubMed Central

Galvin, Kathleen; Todres, Les

2015-01-01

In this paper, we draw on a phenomenological–philosophical foundation to clarify the meaning of dignity as a coherent phenomenon. Consistent with an evocation of its central meanings, we then introduce and delineate seven kinds of dignity that are intertwined and interrelated. We illustrate how these kinds of dignity can provide a useful template to think about its qualities, its ‘rupture’ and its ‘restoration’ in human life, particularly in relation to health and social care contexts. We then consider the implications of these relational and experiential views for current debates about the notion of dignity: Is dignity a useless concept? Is dignity objective or subjective? What are the useful ways of characterizing different varieties of dignity? We conclude by pointing to a metaphor that may hold the sense and meaning of our deepest human dignity: The gathering of both value and vulnerability, in which human value does not depend on the eradication of human vulnerability, but occurs within its very context. PMID:25345355

Impulsivity makes more susceptible to overeating after contextual appetitive conditioning.

PubMed

van den Akker, Karolien; Jansen, Anita; Frentz, Florentine; Havermans, Remco C

2013-11-01

Animals can learn that specific contexts are associated with important biological events such as food intake through classical conditioning. Very few studies suggest this is also possible in humans and contextual appetitive conditioning might even be a main determinant of habitual overeating in vulnerable humans. A Virtual Reality laboratory was used to test whether humans show conditioned responding (increased food desires and expectations, increased salivation and increased food intake) to a specific context after repeated pairings of this context with intake. It was also examined whether the personality trait impulsivity strengthens this contextual appetitive conditioning. Conditioned context-induced reactivity was indeed demonstrated and impulsivity predicted increased intake in only the intake-associated context. It is concluded that humans easily learn desires to eat in intake-related environments. The data also suggest that in particular more impulsive people are vulnerable for conditioned context-induced overeating. This relatively easy learning of associations between specific contexts and intake might stimulate habitual overeating and contribute to increased obesity prevalence. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[The global and national context regarding the challenges involved in ensuring adequate access to water for human consumption].

PubMed

Augusto, Lia Giraldo da Silva; Gurgel, Idê Gomes Dantas; Câmara Neto, Henrique Fernandes; de Melo, Carlos Henrique; Costa, André Monteiro

2012-06-01

The scope of this article is to analyze the challenges involved in ensuring access to water for human consumption taking the international and national context into consideration. Based on the UN declaration that access to safe and clean drinking water is a fundamental human right, vulnerabilities are identified that can consist in restrictions to access to adequate supplies. The distribution of water and the population across the planet, pollution, inadequate policies and management lead to environmental injustice. The iniquity of access to water constitutes the contemporary water crisis. From the 1980s onwards, the transnational water market emerged for private control that occurs at three main levels: surface and underground water sources; bottled water; and public water supply services. The conflicts of the multiple uses of water resources, the market and environmental problems have contributed to rendering the health of the population and ecosystems vulnerable. Adequate public policies are essential to ensure the basic human right to access to safe and clean drinking water.

Application and Validation of a GIS Model for Local Tsunami Vulnerability and Mortality Risk Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harbitz, C. B.; Frauenfelder, R.; Kaiser, G.; Glimsdal, S.; Sverdrup-thygeson, K.; Løvholt, F.; Gruenburg, L.; Mc Adoo, B. G.

2015-12-01

The 2011 Tōhoku tsunami caused a high number of fatalities and massive destruction. Data collected after the event allow for retrospective analyses. Since 2009, NGI has developed a generic GIS model for local analyses of tsunami vulnerability and mortality risk. The mortality risk convolves the hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. The hazard is represented by the maximum tsunami flow depth (with a corresponding likelihood), the exposure is described by the population density in time and space, while the vulnerability is expressed by the probability of being killed as a function of flow depth and building class. The analysis is further based on high-resolution DEMs. Normally a certain tsunami scenario with a corresponding return period is applied for vulnerability and mortality risk analysis. Hence, the model was first employed for a tsunami forecast scenario affecting Bridgetown, Barbados, and further developed in a forecast study for the city of Batangas in the Philippines. Subsequently, the model was tested by hindcasting the 2009 South Pacific tsunami in American Samoa. This hindcast was based on post-tsunami information. The GIS model was adapted for optimal use of the available data and successfully estimated the degree of mortality.For further validation and development, the model was recently applied in the RAPSODI project for hindcasting the 2011 Tōhoku tsunami in Sendai and Ishinomaki. With reasonable choices of building vulnerability, the estimated expected number of fatalities agree well with the reported death toll. The results of the mortality hindcast for the 2011 Tōhoku tsunami substantiate that the GIS model can help to identify high tsunami mortality risk areas, as well as identify the main risk drivers.The research leading to these results has received funding from CONCERT-Japan Joint Call on Efficient Energy Storage and Distribution/Resilience against Disasters (http://www.concertjapan.eu; project RAPSODI - Risk Assessment and design of Prevention Structures fOr enhanced tsunami DIsaster resilience http://www.ngi.no/en/Project-pages/RAPSODI/), and from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 603839 (Project ASTARTE - Assessment, STrategy And Risk reduction for Tsunamis in Europe http://www.astarte-project.eu/).

Using landscape typologies to model socioecological systems: Application to agriculture of the United States Gulf Coast

DOE PAGES

Preston, Benjamin L.; King, Anthony Wayne; Mei, Rui; ...

2016-02-11

Agricultural enterprises are vulnerable to the effects of climate variability and change. Improved understanding of the determinants of vulnerability and adaptive capacity in agricultural systems is important for projecting and managing future climate risk. At present, three analytical tools dominate methodological approaches to understanding agroecological vulnerability to climate: process-based crop models, empirical crop models, and integrated assessment models. A common weakness of these approaches is their limited treatment of socio-economic conditions and human agency in modeling agroecological processes and outcomes. This study proposes a framework that uses spatial cluster analysis to generate regional socioecological typologies that capture geographic variance inmore » regional agricultural production and enable attribution of that variance to climatic, topographic, edaphic, and socioeconomic components. This framework was applied to historical corn production (1986-2010) in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico region as a testbed. The results demonstrate that regional socioeconomic heterogeneity is an important driving force in human dominated ecosystems, which we hypothesize, is a function of the link between socioeconomic conditions and the adaptive capacity of agricultural systems. Meaningful representation of future agricultural responses to climate variability and change is contingent upon understanding interactions among biophysical conditions, socioeconomic conditions, and human agency their incorporation in predictive models.« less

Using landscape typologies to model socioecological systems: Application to agriculture of the United States Gulf Coast

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

Preston, Benjamin L.; King, Anthony Wayne; Mei, Rui

Agricultural enterprises are vulnerable to the effects of climate variability and change. Improved understanding of the determinants of vulnerability and adaptive capacity in agricultural systems is important for projecting and managing future climate risk. At present, three analytical tools dominate methodological approaches to understanding agroecological vulnerability to climate: process-based crop models, empirical crop models, and integrated assessment models. A common weakness of these approaches is their limited treatment of socio-economic conditions and human agency in modeling agroecological processes and outcomes. This study proposes a framework that uses spatial cluster analysis to generate regional socioecological typologies that capture geographic variance inmore » regional agricultural production and enable attribution of that variance to climatic, topographic, edaphic, and socioeconomic components. This framework was applied to historical corn production (1986-2010) in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico region as a testbed. The results demonstrate that regional socioeconomic heterogeneity is an important driving force in human dominated ecosystems, which we hypothesize, is a function of the link between socioeconomic conditions and the adaptive capacity of agricultural systems. Meaningful representation of future agricultural responses to climate variability and change is contingent upon understanding interactions among biophysical conditions, socioeconomic conditions, and human agency their incorporation in predictive models.« less

A human economy: A ``third way'' for the future of young people in the Middle East and North Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaalouk, Malak

2014-06-01

This paper looks at the vulnerability of today's youth worldwide, with a particular focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where the proportion of citizens aged 12-24 is particularly high at one-third of the total population. Cursed with poor education and few work opportunities, the youth unemployment rate has risen to 50 per cent in this region. There is a consequent lack of participation at all levels, and a large number of youth are showing symptoms of low self-esteem, frustration, anger and unrest. After discussing the outcomes of years of an inhuman economic system on a global level, this article points to a more humane and empowering path. The author argues that, instead of continuing with profit-oriented capitalism or relying on the informal sector, the co-operative way represents a third alternative to existing economic sectors within the dominant contemporary economic system. The article analyses the many benefits of this path for the realisation of a humane economy. In so doing, it touches on issues of equity and social protection. Finally, the article outlines what needs to be done if this is to be a viable solution for a human economy. While giving many examples of successful co-operative enterprises worldwide, the author singles out the MENA region as one which could also benefit from the new trends outlined.

Climate change vulnerability of native and alien freshwater fishes of California: a systematic assessment approach.

PubMed

Moyle, Peter B; Kiernan, Joseph D; Crain, Patrick K; Quiñones, Rebecca M

2013-01-01

Freshwater fishes are highly vulnerable to human-caused climate change. Because quantitative data on status and trends are unavailable for most fish species, a systematic assessment approach that incorporates expert knowledge was developed to determine status and future vulnerability to climate change of freshwater fishes in California, USA. The method uses expert knowledge, supported by literature reviews of status and biology of the fishes, to score ten metrics for both (1) current status of each species (baseline vulnerability to extinction) and (2) likely future impacts of climate change (vulnerability to extinction). Baseline and climate change vulnerability scores were derived for 121 native and 43 alien fish species. The two scores were highly correlated and were concordant among different scorers. Native species had both greater baseline and greater climate change vulnerability than did alien species. Fifty percent of California's native fish fauna was assessed as having critical or high baseline vulnerability to extinction whereas all alien species were classified as being less or least vulnerable. For vulnerability to climate change, 82% of native species were classified as highly vulnerable, compared with only 19% for aliens. Predicted climate change effects on freshwater environments will dramatically change the fish fauna of California. Most native fishes will suffer population declines and become more restricted in their distributions; some will likely be driven to extinction. Fishes requiring cold water (<22°C) are particularly likely to go extinct. In contrast, most alien fishes will thrive, with some species increasing in abundance and range. However, a few alien species will likewise be negatively affected through loss of aquatic habitats during severe droughts and physiologically stressful conditions present in most waterways during summer. Our method has high utility for predicting vulnerability to climate change of diverse fish species. It should be useful for setting conservation priorities in many different regions.

Climate Change Vulnerability of Native and Alien Freshwater Fishes of California: A Systematic Assessment Approach

PubMed Central

Moyle, Peter B.; Kiernan, Joseph D.; Crain, Patrick K.; Quiñones, Rebecca M.

2013-01-01

Freshwater fishes are highly vulnerable to human-caused climate change. Because quantitative data on status and trends are unavailable for most fish species, a systematic assessment approach that incorporates expert knowledge was developed to determine status and future vulnerability to climate change of freshwater fishes in California, USA. The method uses expert knowledge, supported by literature reviews of status and biology of the fishes, to score ten metrics for both (1) current status of each species (baseline vulnerability to extinction) and (2) likely future impacts of climate change (vulnerability to extinction). Baseline and climate change vulnerability scores were derived for 121 native and 43 alien fish species. The two scores were highly correlated and were concordant among different scorers. Native species had both greater baseline and greater climate change vulnerability than did alien species. Fifty percent of California’s native fish fauna was assessed as having critical or high baseline vulnerability to extinction whereas all alien species were classified as being less or least vulnerable. For vulnerability to climate change, 82% of native species were classified as highly vulnerable, compared with only 19% for aliens. Predicted climate change effects on freshwater environments will dramatically change the fish fauna of California. Most native fishes will suffer population declines and become more restricted in their distributions; some will likely be driven to extinction. Fishes requiring cold water (<22°C) are particularly likely to go extinct. In contrast, most alien fishes will thrive, with some species increasing in abundance and range. However, a few alien species will likewise be negatively affected through loss of aquatic habitats during severe droughts and physiologically stressful conditions present in most waterways during summer. Our method has high utility for predicting vulnerability to climate change of diverse fish species. It should be useful for setting conservation priorities in many different regions. PMID:23717503

Association of Lipidome Remodeling in the Adipocyte Membrane with Acquired Obesity in Humans

PubMed Central

Gopalacharyulu, Peddinti; Tang, Jing; Rodriguez-Cuenca, Sergio; Maciejewski, Arkadiusz; Naukkarinen, Jussi; Ruskeepää, Anna-Liisa; Niemelä, Perttu S.; Yetukuri, Laxman; Tan, Chong Yew; Velagapudi, Vidya; Castillo, Sandra; Nygren, Heli; Hyötyläinen, Tuulia; Rissanen, Aila; Kaprio, Jaakko; Yki-Järvinen, Hannele; Vattulainen, Ilpo; Vidal-Puig, Antonio; Orešič, Matej

2011-01-01

Identification of early mechanisms that may lead from obesity towards complications such as metabolic syndrome is of great interest. Here we performed lipidomic analyses of adipose tissue in twin pairs discordant for obesity but still metabolically compensated. In parallel we studied more evolved states of obesity by investigating a separated set of individuals considered to be morbidly obese. Despite lower dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid intake, the obese twin individuals had increased proportions of palmitoleic and arachidonic acids in their adipose tissue, including increased levels of ethanolamine plasmalogens containing arachidonic acid. Information gathered from these experimental groups was used for molecular dynamics simulations of lipid bilayers combined with dependency network analysis of combined clinical, lipidomics, and gene expression data. The simulations suggested that the observed lipid remodeling maintains the biophysical properties of lipid membranes, at the price, however, of increasing their vulnerability to inflammation. Conversely, in morbidly obese subjects, the proportion of plasmalogens containing arachidonic acid in the adipose tissue was markedly decreased. We also show by in vitro Elovl6 knockdown that the lipid network regulating the observed remodeling may be amenable to genetic modulation. Together, our novel approach suggests a physiological mechanism by which adaptation of adipocyte membranes to adipose tissue expansion associates with positive energy balance, potentially leading to higher vulnerability to inflammation in acquired obesity. Further studies will be needed to determine the cause of this effect. PMID:21666801

Race, ageism and the slide from privileged occupations.

PubMed

Wilson, George; Roscigno, Vincent J

2018-01-01

The sociological literature on workplace inequality has been relatively clear regarding racial disparities and ongoing vulnerabilities to contemporary structural and employer biases. We still know little, however, about the consequences of age and ageism for minority workers and susceptibilities to downward mobility. Coupling insights regarding race with recent work on employment-based age discrimination, we interrogate in this article African Americans and Whites, aged 55 and older, and the extent to which they experience job loss across time. Our analyses, beyond controlling for key background attributes, distinguish and disaggregate patterns for higher and lower level status managers and professionals and for men and women. Results, derived from data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, reveal unique and significant inequalities. Relative to their White and gender specific counterparts, older African American men and women experience notably higher rates of downward mobility-downward mobility that is not explained by conventional explanations (i.e., human capital credentials, job/labor market characteristics, etc.). Such inequalities are especially pronounced among men and for those initially occupying higher status white-collar managerial and professional jobs compared to technical/skilled professional and blue-collar "first line" supervisors. We tie our results to contemporary concerns regarding ageism in the workplace as well as minority vulnerability. We also suggest an ageism-centered corrective to existing race and labor market scholarship. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing groundwater vulnerability to agrichemical contamination in the Midwest US

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burkart, M.R.; Kolpin, D.W.; James, D.E.

1999-01-01

Agrichemicals (herbicides and nitrate) are significant sources of diffuse pollution to groundwater. Indirect methods are needed to assess the potential for groundwater contamination by diffuse sources because groundwater monitoring is too costly to adequately define the geographic extent of contamination at a regional or national scale. This paper presents examples of the application of statistical, overlay and index, and process-based modeling methods for groundwater vulnerability assessments to a variety of data from the Midwest U.S. The principles for vulnerability assessment include both intrinsic (pedologic, climatologic, and hydrogeologic factors) and specific (contaminant and other anthropogenic factors) vulnerability of a location. Statistical methods use the frequency of contaminant occurrence, contaminant concentration, or contamination probability as a response variable. Statistical assessments are useful for defining the relations among explanatory and response variables whether they define intrinsic or specific vulnerability. Multivariate statistical analyses are useful for ranking variables critical to estimating water quality responses of interest. Overlay and index methods involve intersecting maps of intrinsic and specific vulnerability properties and indexing the variables by applying appropriate weights. Deterministic models use process-based equations to simulate contaminant transport and are distinguished from the other methods in their potential to predict contaminant transport in both space and time. An example of a one-dimensional leaching model linked to a geographic information system (GIS) to define a regional metamodel for contamination in the Midwest is included.

Vulnerability- and Diversity-Aware Anonymization of Personally Identifiable Information for Improving User Privacy and Utility of Publishing Data.

PubMed

Majeed, Abdul; Ullah, Farman; Lee, Sungchang

2017-05-08

Personally identifiable information (PII) affects individual privacy because PII combinations may yield unique identifications in published data. User PII such as age, race, gender, and zip code contain private information that may assist an adversary in determining the user to whom such information relates. Each item of user PII reveals identity differently, and some types of PII are highly identity vulnerable. More vulnerable types of PII enable unique identification more easily, and their presence in published data increases privacy risks. Existing privacy models treat all types of PII equally from an identity revelation point of view, and they mainly focus on hiding user PII in a crowd of other users. Ignoring the identity vulnerability of each type of PII during anonymization is not an effective method of protecting user privacy in a fine-grained manner. This paper proposes a new anonymization scheme that considers the identity vulnerability of PII to effectively protect user privacy. Data generalization is performed adaptively based on the identity vulnerability of PII as well as diversity to anonymize data. This adaptive generalization effectively enables anonymous data, which protects user identity and private information disclosures while maximizing the utility of data for performing analyses and building classification models. Additionally, the proposed scheme has low computational overheads. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the scheme and verify the aforementioned claims.

Vulnerability- and Diversity-Aware Anonymization of Personally Identifiable Information for Improving User Privacy and Utility of Publishing Data

PubMed Central

Majeed, Abdul; Ullah, Farman; Lee, Sungchang

2017-01-01

Personally identifiable information (PII) affects individual privacy because PII combinations may yield unique identifications in published data. User PII such as age, race, gender, and zip code contain private information that may assist an adversary in determining the user to whom such information relates. Each item of user PII reveals identity differently, and some types of PII are highly identity vulnerable. More vulnerable types of PII enable unique identification more easily, and their presence in published data increases privacy risks. Existing privacy models treat all types of PII equally from an identity revelation point of view, and they mainly focus on hiding user PII in a crowd of other users. Ignoring the identity vulnerability of each type of PII during anonymization is not an effective method of protecting user privacy in a fine-grained manner. This paper proposes a new anonymization scheme that considers the identity vulnerability of PII to effectively protect user privacy. Data generalization is performed adaptively based on the identity vulnerability of PII as well as diversity to anonymize data. This adaptive generalization effectively enables anonymous data, which protects user identity and private information disclosures while maximizing the utility of data for performing analyses and building classification models. Additionally, the proposed scheme has low computational overheads. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the scheme and verify the aforementioned claims. PMID:28481298

Mobile Phones and Psychosocial Therapies with Vulnerable People: a First State of the Art

PubMed Central

Sexto, Carlos Ferrás; Rocha, Álvaro; Aguilera, Adrián

2017-01-01

Mobile phones are becoming a communication tool commonly used by people all over the world; and they are started to be adopted in psychosocial therapies involving vulnerable people. We are herein presenting the results of an academic literature review. We identified scientific papers published between 2006 and 2015 resorting to academic databases available on the Internet, applying a systematic selection method based on quality criteria. Secondly, we analysed contents, highlighting the scarcity of research involving vulnerable people. The available literature specialized in psychosocial therapies offers investigation results which involve mobile phones and patients in general, focusing particularly on the clinical psychology field and, to a lesser extent, on the social work field. Particularly significant are the investigation works developed in the United States. In the present paper we introduce a first “state of the art”, identifying opportunities and also the limitations surrounding the use of mobile phones in psychosocial therapies targeting the vulnerable. Issues concerning privacy and data confidentiality, and the access of vulnerable people to mobile phones and how they use them, pose significant challenges; but they offer the opportunity to reach isolated or impoverished populations, or even to facilitate access to social and healthcare services. We close this paper formulating possible orientations, hypotheses and goals to design new investigation works involving vulnerable populations. PMID:27194134

Mapping eco-environmental vulnerability patterns: An assessment framework based on remote sensing, GIS, and AHP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anh, N. K.; Liou, Y. A.; Li, M. H.

2016-12-01

The motivation for this study is assessment of the eco-environment vulnerability based on four independent determinants: hydro-meteorology, topography, land resources, and human activities. An assessment framework is proposed to assess the vulnerable eco-environment by using 16 variables with 6 of them constructed from Landsat 8 satellite images. The remaining variables were extracted from digital maps. Each variable was evaluated and spatially mapped with the aid of an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and geographical information system (GIS). The Thua Thien - Hue Province that has been experiencing natural disasters and urbanization in the recent decades is selected as our study area. An eco-environmental vulnerability map is assorted into six vulnerable levels consisting of potential, slight, light, medium, heavy, and very heavy vulnerabilities, representing 14%, 27%, 17%, 26%, 13%, 3% of the study area, respectively. It is found that heavy and very heavy vulnerable areas appear mainly in the low and medium lands with high intensification of social-economic activities and often suffer from flooding. Tiny percentages of medium and heavy vulnerable levels occur in high land areas probably caused by agricultural practices in highlands, slash and burn cultivation and removal of natural forests with new plantation forests and these regions are usually influenced by landslides, flash flooding. Based on our results, three ecological zones requiring different development and protection solutions are proposed to restore local eco-environment toward sustainable development. Our findings support the idea that eco-environmental vulnerability is driven by anthropogenic processes and enhanced by natural disaster in the Thua Thien-Hue Province.

Future climate change driven sea-level rise: secondary consequences from human displacement for island biodiversity.

PubMed

Wetzel, Florian T; Kissling, W Daniel; Beissmann, Helmut; Penn, Dustin J

2012-09-01

Sea-level rise (SLR) due to global warming will result in the loss of many coastal areas. The direct or primary effects due to inundation and erosion from SLR are currently being assessed; however, the indirect or secondary ecological effects, such as changes caused by the displacement of human populations, have not been previously evaluated. We examined the potential ecological consequences of future SLR on >1,200 islands in the Southeast Asian and the Pacific region. Using three SLR scenarios (1, 3, and 6 m elevation, where 1 m approximates most predictions by the end of this century), we assessed the consequences of primary and secondary SLR effects from human displacement on habitat availability and distributions of selected mammal species. We estimate that between 3-32% of the coastal zone of these islands could be lost from primary effects, and consequently 8-52 million people would become SLR refugees. Assuming that inundated urban and intensive agricultural areas will be relocated with an equal area of habitat loss in the hinterland, we project that secondary SLR effects can lead to an equal or even higher percent range loss than primary effects for at least 10-18% of the sample mammals in a moderate range loss scenario and for 22-46% in a maximum range loss scenario. In addition, we found some species to be more vulnerable to secondary than primary effects. Finally, we found high spatial variation in vulnerability: species on islands in Oceania are more vulnerable to primary SLR effects, whereas species on islands in Indo-Malaysia, with potentially 7-48 million SLR refugees, are more vulnerable to secondary effects. Our findings show that primary and secondary SLR effects can have enormous consequences for human inhabitants and island biodiversity, and that both need to be incorporated into ecological risk assessment, conservation, and regional planning. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Ranking of sabotage/tampering avoidance technology alternatives

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

Andrews, W.B.; Tabatabai, A.S.; Powers, T.B.

1986-01-01

Pacific Northwest Laboratory conducted a study to evaluate alternatives to the design and operation of nuclear power plants, emphasizing a reduction of their vulnerability to sabotage. Estimates of core melt accident frequency during normal operations and from sabotage/tampering events were used to rank the alternatives. Core melt frequency for normal operations was estimated using sensitivity analysis of results of probabilistic risk assessments. Core melt frequency for sabotage/tampering was estimated by developing a model based on probabilistic risk analyses, historic data, engineering judgment, and safeguards analyses of plant locations where core melt events could be initiated. Results indicate the most effectivemore » alternatives focus on large areas of the plant, increase safety system redundancy, and reduce reliance on single locations for mitigation of transients. Less effective options focus on specific areas of the plant, reduce reliance on some plant areas for safe shutdown, and focus on less vulnerable targets.« less

Measuring subjective resilience despite adversity due to family, peers and teachers.

PubMed

Alonso-Tapia, Jesús; Nieto, Carmen; Ruíz, Miguel A

2013-01-01

The objective of this study is to develop and validate a scale of subjective resilience for students 12-17 years old. Items covered adverse situations due to parents', peers' and teachers' actions. The validation process included the analysis on the generalizability of the factor structure and of relationships of resilience scores with different kinds of protective and vulnerability factors -goal orientations and learning-oriented classroom motivational climate (CMC)-. A total of 471 students answered four questionnaires. Confirmatory factor analyses, reliability analysis and correlation and regression analyses were carried out. Results showed: (a) that factor structure was well defined; (b) that resilience scale had good reliability; (c) that scores correlated as expected with protective-vulnerability factors such as goal orientations and CMC defined by teachers' teaching-patterns, and (d) that students' attribution of perceived change in resilience to teachers' work depended on the degree in which CMC was learning oriented. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Disturbed Placental Imprinting in Preeclampsia Leads to Altered Expression of DLX5, a Human-Specific Early Trophoblast Marker

PubMed Central

Zadora, Julianna; Singh, Manvendra; Herse, Florian; Przybyl, Lukasz; Haase, Nadine; Golic, Michaela; Yung, Hong Wa; Huppertz, Berthold; Cartwright, Judith E.; Whitley, Guy; Johnsen, Guro M.; Levi, Giovanni; Isbruch, Annette; Schulz, Herbert; Luft, Friedrich C.; Müller, Dominik N.; Staff, Anne Cathrine

2017-01-01

Background: Preeclampsia is a complex and common human-specific pregnancy syndrome associated with placental pathology. The human specificity provides both intellectual and methodological challenges, lacking a robust model system. Given the role of imprinted genes in human placentation and the vulnerability of imprinted genes to loss of imprinting changes, there has been extensive speculation, but no robust evidence, that imprinted genes are involved in preeclampsia. Our study aims to investigate whether disturbed imprinting contributes to preeclampsia. Methods: We first aimed to confirm that preeclampsia is a disease of the placenta by generating and analyzing genome-wide molecular data on well-characterized patient material. We performed high-throughput transcriptome analyses of multiple placenta samples from healthy controls and patients with preeclampsia. Next, we identified differentially expressed genes in preeclamptic placentas and intersected them with the list of human imprinted genes. We used bioinformatics/statistical analyses to confirm association between imprinting and preeclampsia and to predict biological processes affected in preeclampsia. Validation included epigenetic and cellular assays. In terms of human specificity, we established an in vitro invasion-differentiation trophoblast model. Our comparative phylogenetic analysis involved single-cell transcriptome data of human, macaque, and mouse preimplantation embryogenesis. Results: We found disturbed placental imprinting in preeclampsia and revealed potential candidates, including GATA3 and DLX5, with poorly explored imprinted status and no prior association with preeclampsia. As a result of loss of imprinting, DLX5 was upregulated in 69% of preeclamptic placentas. Levels of DLX5 correlated with classic preeclampsia markers. DLX5 is expressed in human but not in murine trophoblast. The DLX5high phenotype resulted in reduced proliferation, increased metabolism, and endoplasmic reticulum stress-response activation in trophoblasts in vitro. The transcriptional profile of such cells mimics the transcriptome of preeclamptic placentas. Pan-mammalian comparative analysis identified DLX5 as part of the human-specific regulatory network of trophoblast differentiation. Conclusions: Our analysis provides evidence of a true association among disturbed imprinting, gene expression, and preeclampsia. As a result of disturbed imprinting, the upregulated DLX5 affects trophoblast proliferation. Our in vitro model might fill a vital niche in preeclampsia research. Human-specific regulatory circuitry of DLX5 might help explain certain aspects of preeclampsia. PMID:28904069

Disturbed Placental Imprinting in Preeclampsia Leads to Altered Expression of DLX5, a Human-Specific Early Trophoblast Marker.

PubMed

Zadora, Julianna; Singh, Manvendra; Herse, Florian; Przybyl, Lukasz; Haase, Nadine; Golic, Michaela; Yung, Hong Wa; Huppertz, Berthold; Cartwright, Judith E; Whitley, Guy; Johnsen, Guro M; Levi, Giovanni; Isbruch, Annette; Schulz, Herbert; Luft, Friedrich C; Müller, Dominik N; Staff, Anne Cathrine; Hurst, Laurence D; Dechend, Ralf; Izsvák, Zsuzsanna

2017-11-07

Preeclampsia is a complex and common human-specific pregnancy syndrome associated with placental pathology. The human specificity provides both intellectual and methodological challenges, lacking a robust model system. Given the role of imprinted genes in human placentation and the vulnerability of imprinted genes to loss of imprinting changes, there has been extensive speculation, but no robust evidence, that imprinted genes are involved in preeclampsia. Our study aims to investigate whether disturbed imprinting contributes to preeclampsia. We first aimed to confirm that preeclampsia is a disease of the placenta by generating and analyzing genome-wide molecular data on well-characterized patient material. We performed high-throughput transcriptome analyses of multiple placenta samples from healthy controls and patients with preeclampsia. Next, we identified differentially expressed genes in preeclamptic placentas and intersected them with the list of human imprinted genes. We used bioinformatics/statistical analyses to confirm association between imprinting and preeclampsia and to predict biological processes affected in preeclampsia. Validation included epigenetic and cellular assays. In terms of human specificity, we established an in vitro invasion-differentiation trophoblast model. Our comparative phylogenetic analysis involved single-cell transcriptome data of human, macaque, and mouse preimplantation embryogenesis. We found disturbed placental imprinting in preeclampsia and revealed potential candidates, including GATA3 and DLX5 , with poorly explored imprinted status and no prior association with preeclampsia. As a result of loss of imprinting, DLX5 was upregulated in 69% of preeclamptic placentas. Levels of DLX5 correlated with classic preeclampsia markers. DLX5 is expressed in human but not in murine trophoblast. The DLX5 high phenotype resulted in reduced proliferation, increased metabolism, and endoplasmic reticulum stress-response activation in trophoblasts in vitro. The transcriptional profile of such cells mimics the transcriptome of preeclamptic placentas. Pan-mammalian comparative analysis identified DLX5 as part of the human-specific regulatory network of trophoblast differentiation. Our analysis provides evidence of a true association among disturbed imprinting, gene expression, and preeclampsia. As a result of disturbed imprinting, the upregulated DLX5 affects trophoblast proliferation. Our in vitro model might fill a vital niche in preeclampsia research. Human-specific regulatory circuitry of DLX5 might help explain certain aspects of preeclampsia. © 2017 The Authors.

Assessing the Vulnerability of Eco-Environmental Health to Climate Change

PubMed Central

Tong, Shilu; Mather, Peter; Fitzgerald, Gerry; McRae, David; Verrall, Ken; Walker, Dylan

2010-01-01

There is an urgent need to assess the vulnerability of eco-environmental health to climate change. This paper aims to provide an overview of current research, to identify knowledge gaps, and to propose future research needs in this challenging area. Evidence shows that climate change is affecting and will, in the future, have more (mostly adverse) impacts on ecosystems. Ecosystem degradation, particularly the decline of the life support systems, will undoubtedly affect human health and wellbeing. Therefore, it is important to develop a framework to assess the vulnerability of eco-environmental health to climate change, and to identify appropriate adaptation strategies to minimize the impact of climate change. PMID:20616990

Does low self-esteem predict depression and anxiety? A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.

PubMed

Sowislo, Julia Friederike; Orth, Ulrich

2013-01-01

Low self-esteem and depression are strongly related, but there is not yet consistent evidence on the nature of the relation. Whereas the vulnerability model states that low self-esteem contributes to depression, the scar model states that depression erodes self-esteem. Furthermore, it is unknown whether the models are specific for depression or whether they are also valid for anxiety. We evaluated the vulnerability and scar models of low self-esteem and depression, and low self-esteem and anxiety, by meta-analyzing the available longitudinal data (covering 77 studies on depression and 18 studies on anxiety). The mean age of the samples ranged from childhood to old age. In the analyses, we used a random-effects model and examined prospective effects between the variables, controlling for prior levels of the predicted variables. For depression, the findings supported the vulnerability model: The effect of self-esteem on depression (β = -.16) was significantly stronger than the effect of depression on self-esteem (β = -.08). In contrast, the effects between low self-esteem and anxiety were relatively balanced: Self-esteem predicted anxiety with β = -.10, and anxiety predicted self-esteem with β = -.08. Moderator analyses were conducted for the effect of low self-esteem on depression; these suggested that the effect is not significantly influenced by gender, age, measures of self-esteem and depression, or time lag between assessments. If future research supports the hypothesized causality of the vulnerability effect of low self-esteem on depression, interventions aimed at increasing self-esteem might be useful in reducing the risk of depression.

Mediating Factors Explaining the Association Between Sexual Minority Status and Dating Violence.

PubMed

Martin-Storey, Alexa; Fromme, Kim

2017-08-01

Dating violence presents a serious threat for individual health and well-being. A growing body of literature suggests that starting in adolescence, individuals with sexual minority identities (e.g., individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual) may be at an increased risk for dating violence compared with heterosexuals. Research has not, however, identified the mechanisms that explain this vulnerability. Using a diverse sample of young adults ( n = 2,474), the current study explored how minority stress theory, revictimization theory, sex of sexual partners, and risky sexual behavior explained differences in dating violence between sexual minority and heterosexual young adults. Initial analyses suggested higher rates of dating violence among individuals who identified as bisexual, and individuals who identified as gay or lesbian when compared with heterosexuals, and further found that these associations failed to differ across gender. When mediating and control variables were included in the analyses, however, the association between both sexual minority identities and higher levels of dating violence became nonsignificant. Of particular interest was the role of discrimination, which mediated the association between bisexual identity and dating violence. Other factors, including sex and number of sexual partners, alcohol use, and childhood maltreatment, were associated with higher rates of dating violence but did not significantly explain vulnerability among sexual minority individuals compared with their heterosexual peers. These findings suggest the importance of minority stress theory in explaining vulnerability to dating violence victimization among bisexuals in particular, and generally support the importance of sexual-minority specific variables in understanding risk for dating violence within this vulnerable population.

Integrating population dynamics into mapping human exposure to seismic hazard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freire, S.; Aubrecht, C.

2012-11-01

Disaster risk is not fully characterized without taking into account vulnerability and population exposure. Assessment of earthquake risk in urban areas would benefit from considering the variation of population distribution at more detailed spatial and temporal scales, and from a more explicit integration of this improved demographic data with existing seismic hazard maps. In the present work, "intelligent" dasymetric mapping is used to model population dynamics at high spatial resolution in order to benefit the analysis of spatio-temporal exposure to earthquake hazard in a metropolitan area. These night- and daytime-specific population densities are then classified and combined with seismic intensity levels to derive new spatially-explicit four-class-composite maps of human exposure. The presented approach enables a more thorough assessment of population exposure to earthquake hazard. Results show that there are significantly more people potentially at risk in the daytime period, demonstrating the shifting nature of population exposure in the daily cycle and the need to move beyond conventional residence-based demographic data sources to improve risk analyses. The proposed fine-scale maps of human exposure to seismic intensity are mainly aimed at benefiting visualization and communication of earthquake risk, but can be valuable in all phases of the disaster management process where knowledge of population densities is relevant for decision-making.

World-wide satellite night-light data as a proxy of society-hydrology interaction and vulnerability to flood risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceola, S.; Laio, F.; Montanari, A.

2013-12-01

The study and the analysis of the interactions and feedbacks between hydrology and society constitute the main issue of socio-hydrology. Recent flood events, which occurred across the globe, highlighted once again that mitigation strategies are needed to reduce flood risk. In particular, quick procedures for the identification of vulnerable human settlements and flood prone areas are a necessary tool to identify priorities for flood risk management. To this aim, a 19-year long period of world-wide night light data, as a proxy of human population, and the global river network have been examined. The spatio-temporal evolution of artificial luminosity depending on the distance from the river network has been assessed in order to quantitatively identify the likelihood for a populated pixel to be reached by water. The analysis focuses both on a global and on a local scale. Hotspots, such as highly illuminated areas and developing regions, have been also examined. The analysis shows an increment of yearly-averaged artificial luminosity from 1992 to 2010 (i.e. the time period of satellite data availability), whereas light intensity tends to decrease with increasing distance from the river network. The results thus reveal an increased vulnerability of human settlements to flooding events. A nearly 70-year long period of peace and the economic development after the Second World War could reasonably explain the observed enhancement of human population proximity to water bodies.

Science for Humanity: Giving Generously to Our World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sparks, R. Stephen J.

2010-09-01

Hardly a week goes by without some reminder that we live in an age of anxiety and a world in environmental crisis. As I write this message, unusual stratospheric wind patterns in the Northern Hemisphere seem to be implicated in tragic floods in Pakistan, landslides in China, and wildfires near Moscow. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico reminds us of our dependence on oil, the increasing scarcity of natural resources, and the adverse environmental impact of our appetite for these resources. The Haiti earthquake earlier this year demonstrates the vulnerability of human society to the natural world. So does the small volcanic eruption in Iceland that disrupted the travel plans of millions of people and cost the aviation industry billions of dollars. Our vulnerability seems to be increasing as the world's population continues to grow, as globalization and interdependencies advance at a giddy pace, and as human societies strive for economic growth.

A review of the consequences of global climate change on human health.

PubMed

Kim, Ki-Hyun; Kabir, Ehsanul; Ara Jahan, Shamin

2014-01-01

The impact of climate change has been significant enough to endanger human health both directly and indirectly via heat stress, degraded air quality, rising sea levels, food and water security, extreme weather events (e.g., floods, droughts, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc.), vulnerable shelter, and population migration. The deterioration of environmental conditions may facilitate the transmission of diarrhea, vector-borne and infectious diseases, cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, malnutrition, etc. Indirect effects of climate change such as mental health problems due to stress, loss of homes, economic instability, and forced migration are also unignorably important. Children, the elderly, and communities living in poverty are among the most vulnerable of the harmful effects due to climate change. In this article, we have reviewed the scientific evidence for the human health impact of climate change and analyzed the various diseases in association with changes in the atmospheric environment and climate conditions.

Deadly heat waves projected in the densely populated agricultural regions of South Asia.

PubMed

Im, Eun-Soon; Pal, Jeremy S; Eltahir, Elfatih A B

2017-08-01

The risk associated with any climate change impact reflects intensity of natural hazard and level of human vulnerability. Previous work has shown that a wet-bulb temperature of 35°C can be considered an upper limit on human survivability. On the basis of an ensemble of high-resolution climate change simulations, we project that extremes of wet-bulb temperature in South Asia are likely to approach and, in a few locations, exceed this critical threshold by the late 21st century under the business-as-usual scenario of future greenhouse gas emissions. The most intense hazard from extreme future heat waves is concentrated around densely populated agricultural regions of the Ganges and Indus river basins. Climate change, without mitigation, presents a serious and unique risk in South Asia, a region inhabited by about one-fifth of the global human population, due to an unprecedented combination of severe natural hazard and acute vulnerability.

Evidence for Alzheimer's disease-linked synapse loss and compensation in mouse and human hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons.

PubMed

Neuman, Krystina M; Molina-Campos, Elizabeth; Musial, Timothy F; Price, Andrea L; Oh, Kwang-Jin; Wolke, Malerie L; Buss, Eric W; Scheff, Stephen W; Mufson, Elliott J; Nicholson, Daniel A

2015-11-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with alterations in the distribution, number, and size of inputs to hippocampal neurons. Some of these changes are thought to be neurodegenerative, whereas others are conceptualized as compensatory, plasticity-like responses, wherein the remaining inputs reactively innervate vulnerable dendritic regions. Here, we provide evidence that the axospinous synapses of human AD cases and mice harboring AD-linked genetic mutations (the 5XFAD line) exhibit both, in the form of synapse loss and compensatory changes in the synapses that remain. Using array tomography, quantitative conventional electron microscopy, immunogold electron microscopy for AMPARs, and whole-cell patch-clamp physiology, we find that hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons in transgenic mice are host to an age-related synapse loss in their distal dendrites, and that the remaining synapses express more AMPA-type glutamate receptors. Moreover, the number of axonal boutons that synapse with multiple spines is significantly reduced in the transgenic mice. Through serial section electron microscopic analyses of human hippocampal tissue, we further show that putative compensatory changes in synapse strength are also detectable in axospinous synapses of proximal and distal dendrites in human AD cases, and that their multiple synapse boutons may be more powerful than those in non-cognitively impaired human cases. Such findings are consistent with the notion that the pathophysiology of AD is a multivariate product of both neurodegenerative and neuroplastic processes, which may produce adaptive and/or maladaptive responses in hippocampal synaptic strength and plasticity.

Quantifying Inorganic Arsenic and Other Water-Soluble Arsenic Species in Human Milk by HPLC/ICPMS.

PubMed

Stiboller, Michael; Raber, Georg; Gjengedal, Elin Lovise Folven; Eggesbø, Merete; Francesconi, Kevin A

2017-06-06

Because the toxicity of arsenic depends on its chemical form, risk assessments of arsenic exposure must consider the type of arsenic compound, and hence they require sensitive and robust methods for their determination. Furthermore, the assessment should include studies on the most vulnerable people within a population, such as newborns and infants, and thus there is a need to quantify arsenic species in human milk. Herein we report a method for the determination of arsenic species at low concentrations in human milk by HPLC/ICPMS. Comparison of single and triple quadrupole mass analysers showed comparable performance, although the triple quadrupole instrument more efficiently overcame the problem of ArCl + interference, from the natural chloride present in milk, without the need for gradient elution HPLC conditions. The method incorporates a protein precipitation step with trifluoroacetic acid followed by addition of dichloromethane or dibromomethane to remove the lipids. The aqueous phase was subjected to anion-exchange and cation-exchange/mixed mode chromatography with aqueous ammonium bicarbonate and pyridine buffer solutions as mobile phases, respectively. For method validation, a human milk sample was spiked with defined amounts of dimethylarsinate, arsenobetaine, and arsenate. The method showed good recoveries (99-103%) with detection limits (in milk) in the range of 10 ng As kg -1 . The method was further tested by analyzing two Norwegian human milk samples where arsenobetaine, dimethylarsinate, and a currently unknown As species were found, but iAs was not detected.

Contamination of produce with human pathogens: sources and solutions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Outbreaks of foodborne illnesses associated with the presence of human pathogens have led to increased concern about the prevalence of pathogens in the environment and the vulnerability of fresh produce to contamination by these pathogens. As the FDA strives to mandate treatments to reduce pathogen...

On-site Rapid Diagnosis of Intracranial Hematoma using Portable Multi-slice Microwave Imaging System.

PubMed

Mobashsher, Ahmed Toaha; Abbosh, A M

2016-11-29

Rapid, on-the-spot diagnostic and monitoring systems are vital for the survival of patients with intracranial hematoma, as their conditions drastically deteriorate with time. To address the limited accessibility, high costs and static structure of currently used MRI and CT scanners, a portable non-invasive multi-slice microwave imaging system is presented for accurate 3D localization of hematoma inside human head. This diagnostic system provides fast data acquisition and imaging compared to the existing systems by means of a compact array of low-profile, unidirectional antennas with wideband operation. The 3D printed low-cost and portable system can be installed in an ambulance for rapid on-site diagnosis by paramedics. In this paper, the multi-slice head imaging system's operating principle is numerically analysed and experimentally validated on realistic head phantoms. Quantitative analyses demonstrate that the multi-slice head imaging system is able to generate better quality reconstructed images providing 70% higher average signal to clutter ratio, 25% enhanced maximum signal to clutter ratio and with around 60% hematoma target localization compared to the previous head imaging systems. Nevertheless, numerical and experimental results demonstrate that previous reported 2D imaging systems are vulnerable to localization error, which is overcome in the presented multi-slice 3D imaging system. The non-ionizing system, which uses safe levels of very low microwave power, is also tested on human subjects. Results of realistic phantom and subjects demonstrate the feasibility of the system in future preclinical trials.

Psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia.

PubMed

Mueser, Kim T; Deavers, Frances; Penn, David L; Cassisi, Jeffrey E

2013-01-01

The current state of the literature regarding psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia is reviewed within the frameworks of the recovery model of mental health and the expanded stress-vulnerability model. Interventions targeting specific domains of functioning, age groups, stages of illness, and human service system gaps are classified as evidence-based practices or promising practices according to the extent to which their efficacy is currently supported by meta-analyses and individual randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Evidence-based practices include assertive community treatment (ACT), cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for psychosis, cognitive remediation, family psychoeducation, illness self-management training, social skills training, and supported employment. Promising practices include cognitive adaptive therapy, CBT for posttraumatic stress disorder, first-episode psychosis intervention, healthy lifestyle interventions, integrated treatment for co-occurring disorders, interventions targeting older individuals, peer support services, physical disease management, prodromal stage intervention, social cognition training, supported education, and supported housing. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Geographical Imbalance of Anesthesia Providers and its Impact On the Uninsured and Vulnerable Populations.

PubMed

Liao, C Jason; Quraishi, Jihan A; Jordan, Lorraine M

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between socioeconomic factors related to geography and insurance type and the distribution of anesthesia provider type. Using the 2012 Area Resource File, the correlation analyses illustrates county median income is a key factor in distinguishing anesthesia provider distribution. Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) correlated with lower-income populations where anesthesiologists correlated with higher-income populations. Furthermore, CRNAs correlated more with vulnerable populations such as the Medicaid-eligible population, uninsured population, and the unemployed. Access to health care is multifactorial; however, assuring the population has adequate insurance is one of the hallmark achievements of the Affordable Care Act. Removing barriers to CRNA scope of practice to maximize CRNA services will facilitate meeting the demand by vulnerable populations after full implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Policy reform to shift the health and human rights environment for vulnerable groups: the case of Kyrgyzstan's Instruction 417.

PubMed

Beletsky, Leo; Thomas, Rachel; Smelyanskaya, Marina; Artamonova, Irina; Shumskaya, Natalya; Dooronbekova, Aijan; Mukambetov, Aibek; Doyle, Heather; Tolson, Rebecca

2012-12-15

Police activities shape behavior and health outcomes among drug users, sex workers, and other vulnerable groups. Interventions to change the policing of drug consumption and sex work in ways that facilitate public health programming and respect for human rights have included policy reforms, education, and litigation. In 2009, the Kyrgyz government promulgated "Instruction 417," prohibiting police interference with "harm reduction" programs, re-enforcing citizen rights, addressing police occupational safety concerns, and institutionalizing police-public health collaboration. Although ample evidence points to gaps between intended and actual impact of policy and other structural interventions, there is little research on the impact of initiatives designed to align policing, health, and human rights. We conducted a police officer survey to assess links between Instruction 417 knowledge and legal and public health knowledge, attitudes towards harm reduction programs, and intended practices targeting vulnerable groups. In a 319-officer sample, 79% understood key due process regulations, 71.1% correctly characterized law on sex work, 54.3% understood syringe possession law, while only 44.4% reported familiarity with Instruction 417. Most (72.9%) expressed positive attitudes toward condom distribution, while only 56% viewed syringe access favorably. Almost half (44%) agreed that police should refer vulnerable groups to disease prevention programs, but only 20% reported doing so. In multivariate analysis, knowledge of Instruction 417 was associated with significantly better knowledge about (aOR=1.84, 95%CI: 1.12-3.00) and attitudes towards harm reduction programs (aOR=3.81, 95%CI:1.35-10.75), and knowledge of due process for the detention of sex workers (aOR=2.53, 95%CI:1.33-4.80). Younger, junior officers and those in rural areas may not be well-informed about the policy. While reflecting positively on Instruction 417 as a structural approach to aligning policing and public health, this analysis highlights gaps in policy dissemination and calls for further research to assess street-level impact of interventions on the health and human rights environment for vulnerable groups. Copyright © 2012 Beletsky et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Vulnerability to Climate Change in Rural Nicaragua

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byrne, T. R.; Townshend, I.; Byrne, J. M.; McDaniel, S. A.

2013-12-01

While there is a growing recognition of the impact that climate change may have on human development, there has been a shift in focus from an impacts-led assessment approach towards a vulnerability-led assessment approach. This research operationalizes the IPCC's definition of vulnerability in a sub-national assessment to understand how different factors that shape vulnerability to climate change vary spatially across rural Nicaragua. The research utilizes the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' (FAO UN) CropWat model to evaluate how the annual yield of two of Nicaragua's staple crops may change under projected changes in temperature and precipitation. This analysis of agricultural sensitivity under exposure to climate change is then overlain with an indicator-based assessment of adaptive capacity in rural Nicaraguan farming households. Adaptive capacity was evaluated using household survey data from the 2001 National Household Survey on Living Standards Measurement, which was provided to us by the FAO UN. The result is a map representing current vulnerability to future climate change, and can serve as a basis for targeting policy interventions in rural Nicaragua.

Sex-driven vulnerability in stress and drug abuse.

PubMed

Berry, Alessandra; Raggi, Carla; Borgi, Marta; Cirulli, Francesca

2016-01-01

A growing body of literature shows that a link exists between substance abuse and stress and that the crosstalk of sex hormones with the neuroendocrine system might differently prime vulnerability to drug addiction in male and female subjects. Thus, understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of addiction and the identification of sex-driven determinants in vulnerability to drug abuse may help to better devise and/or implement strategic (pharmacological, behavioural, social) interventions to prevent or face the issue of addiction. Differences between sexes can be found at all stages of life (in both the animal model and human studies) and may account for genetic, epigenetic and environmental/hormonal factors that in turn affect the functionality of the whole organism leading also to a sex-driven differential vulnerability or resilience to non-communicable pathologies. These include the onset and precipitation of stress-related psychiatric disorders as well as "substance-related and addictive disorders" (as defined in the DSM-V). This paper reviews the scientific literature highlighting significant differences in male and female subjects in stress and neuroendocrine function and the implications for sex-dependent differential vulnerability to drug addiction.

Assessing social vulnerability in African urban context. The challenge to cope with climate change induced hazards by communities and households

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kabisch, Sigrun; Jean-Baptiste, Nathalie

2013-04-01

Social vulnerability assessment remains central in discourses on global climatic change and takes a more pertinent meaning considering that natural disasters in African countries continue to deeply affect human settlements and destroys human livelihoods. In recent years, in particular large territories and growing cities have experienced severe weather events. Among them are river and flash floods, affecting the social and economic assets of local populations. The impact of the damage related to floods is not only perceptible during seasonal events but also during unexpected larger disasters which place a particular burden on local population and institutions to adapt effectively to increasing climatic pressures. Important features for social vulnerability assessment are the increasing severity of the physical damages, the shortcoming of social and technical infrastructure, the complexity of land management/market, the limited capacity of local institutions and last but not least the restricted capacities of local population to resist these events. Understanding vulnerability implies highlighting and interlinking relevant indicators and/or perceptions encompassed in four main dimensions: social, institutional, physical and attitudinal vulnerability. Case studies in Dar es Salaam, Ouagadougou and Addis Ababa were carried out to obtain insights into the context-related conditions, behavior routines and survival networks in urban areas in west and east Africa. Using a combination of tools (e.g. focus group discussions, transect walks, interviews) we investigated in close cooperation with African partners how households and communities are being prepared to cope with, as well as to recover from floods. A comprehensive process of dealing with floods can be described based on sequential attributes concerning i) Anticipation before a flood occurs, ii) Resistance and coping activities during a flood event and, iii) Recovery and reconstruction afterwards. A participatory approach at household level provides detailed knowledge about the preparedness, the susceptibility and the coping capacities of identified community including its leaders and members. Assessing and ranking the weaknesses and limitations help strengthen awareness and initiate measures for improving coping capacities to social vulnerability in case of flooding. Examples of social vulnerability and the spectrum of coping activities are demonstrated through to use of empirical research results.

Gemitis : an integrated and participative risk reduction strategy for the sustainable development of cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masure, P.

2003-04-01

The GEMITIS method has been implemented since 1995 into a global and integrated Risk Reduction Strategy for improving the seismic risk-assessment effectiveness in urban areas, including the generation of crisis scenarios and mid- to long term- seismic impact assessment. GEMITIS required us to provide more precise definitions of notions in common use by natural-hazard specialists, such as elements at risk and vulnerability. Until then, only the physical and human elements had been considered, and analysis of their vulnerability referred to their fragility in the face of aggression by nature. We have completed this approach by also characterizing the social and cultural vulnerability of a city and its inhabitants, and, with a wider scope, the functional vulnerability of the "urban system". This functional vulnerability depends upon the relations between the system elements (weak links in chains, functional relays, and defense systems) and upon the city's relations with the outside world (interdependence). Though well developed in methods for evaluating industrial risk (fault-tree analysis, event-tree analysis, multiple defense barriers, etc.), this aspect had until now been ignored by the "hard-science" specialists working on natural hazards. Based on the implementation of an Urban System Exposure methodology, we were able to identify specific human, institutional, or functional vulnerability factors for each urban system, which until had been very little discussed by risk-analysis and civil-protection specialists. In addition, we have defined the new concept of "main stakes" of the urban system, ranked by order of social value (or collective utility). Obviously, vital or strategic issues must be better resistant or protected against natural hazards than issues of secondary importance. The ranking of exposed elements of a city in terms of "main stakes" provides a very useful guide for adapting vulnerability studies and for orienting preventive actions. For this, GEMITIS is based on a systemic approach of the city and on value analysis of exposed elements. It facilitates a collective expertise for the definition of a preventive action plan based on the participation of the main urban actors (crisis preparedness, construction, land-use, etc.).

A model for the development of mothers' perceived vulnerability of preterm infants.

PubMed

Horwitz, Sarah McCue; Storfer-Isser, Amy; Kerker, Bonnie D; Lilo, Emily; Leibovitz, Ann; St John, Nick; Shaw, Richard J

2015-06-01

Some mothers of preterm infants continue to view them as vulnerable after their health has improved. These exaggerated perceptions of vulnerability lead to poor parent-child interactions and, subsequently, to adverse child outcomes. However, there is no theoretical model to explain why these exaggerated perceptions develop in only some mother-child dyads. Data for this study come from a randomized trial of an intervention to reduce distress in mothers of preterm infants. A total of 105 mothers older than 18 years of infants aged 25-34 weeks, weighing >600 g and with clinically significant anxiety, depression, or trauma symptoms, were recruited and randomized. Women were assessed at baseline, after intervention, and at 6 months after birth. The outcome for these analyses was perceptions of infant vulnerability as measured by the Vulnerable Baby Scale (VBS) at 6 months after birth. A theoretical model developed from the extant literature was tested using the MacArthur Mediator-Moderator Approach. A dysfunctional coping style, high depression, anxiety, or trauma symptoms in response to the preterm birth, and low social support were related to 6-month VBS scores. Maternal response to trauma was directly related to VBS, and an important precursor of maternal response to trauma was a dysfunctional coping style. This model suggests that maternal responses to trauma are critical in the formation of exaggerated perceptions of vulnerability as are dysfunctional coping styles and low social support. Women with these characteristics should be targeted for intervention to prevent poor parenting practices that result from exaggerated perceptions of vulnerability.

Shared Decision Making With Vulnerable Populations in the Emergency Department.

PubMed

Castaneda-Guarderas, Ana; Glassberg, Jeffrey; Grudzen, Corita R; Ngai, Ka Ming; Samuels-Kalow, Margaret E; Shelton, Erica; Wall, Stephen P; Richardson, Lynne D

2016-12-01

The emergency department (ED) occupies a unique position within the healthcare system, serving as a safety net for vulnerable patients, regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, country of origin, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or medical diagnosis. Shared decision making (SDM) presents special challenges when used with vulnerable population groups. The differing circumstances, needs, and perspectives of vulnerable groups invoke issues of provider bias, disrespect, judgmental attitudes, and lack of cultural competence, as well as patient mistrust and the consequences of their social and economic disenfranchisement. A research agenda that includes community-engaged approaches, mixed-methods studies, and cost-effectiveness analyses is proposed to address the following questions: 1) What are the best processes/formats for SDM among racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, linguistic, social, or otherwise vulnerable groups who experience disadvantage in the healthcare system? 2) What organizational or systemic changes are needed to support SDM in the ED whenever appropriate? 3) What competencies are needed to enable emergency providers to consider patients' situation/context in an unbiased way? 4) How do we teach these competencies to students and residents? 5) How do we cultivate these competencies in practicing emergency physicians, nurses, and other clinical providers who lack them? The authors also identify the importance of using accurate, group-specific data to inform risk estimates for SDM decision aids for vulnerable populations and the need for increased ED-based care coordination and transitional care management capabilities to create additional care options that align with the needs and preferences of vulnerable populations. © 2016 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Use of the NatureServe Climate Change Vulnerability Index as an Assessment Tool for Reptiles and Amphibians: Lessons Learned.

PubMed

Tuberville, Tracey D; Andrews, Kimberly M; Sperry, Jinelle H; Grosse, Andrew M

2015-10-01

Climate change threatens biodiversity globally, yet it can be challenging to predict which species may be most vulnerable. Given the scope of the problem, it is imperative to rapidly assess vulnerability and identify actions to decrease risk. Although a variety of tools have been developed to assess climate change vulnerability, few have been evaluated with regard to their suitability for certain taxonomic groups. Due to their ectothermic physiology, low vagility, and strong association with temporary wetlands, reptiles and amphibians may be particularly vulnerable relative to other groups. Here, we evaluate use of the NatureServe Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) to assess a large suite of herpetofauna from the Sand Hills Ecoregion of the southeastern United States. Although data were frequently lacking for certain variables (e.g., phenological response to climate change, genetic variation), sufficient data were available to evaluate all 117 species. Sensitivity analyses indicated that results were highly dependent on size of assessment area and climate scenario selection. In addition, several ecological traits common in, but relatively unique to, herpetofauna are likely to contribute to their vulnerability and need special consideration during the scoring process. Despite some limitations, the NatureServe CCVI was a useful tool for screening large numbers of reptile and amphibian species. We provide general recommendations as to how the CCVI tool's application to herpetofauna can be improved through more specific guidance to the user regarding how to incorporate unique physiological and behavioral traits into scoring existing sensitivity factors and through modification to the assessment tool itself.

Use of the NatureServe Climate Change Vulnerability Index as an Assessment Tool for Reptiles and Amphibians: Lessons Learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuberville, Tracey D.; Andrews, Kimberly M.; Sperry, Jinelle H.; Grosse, Andrew M.

2015-10-01

Climate change threatens biodiversity globally, yet it can be challenging to predict which species may be most vulnerable. Given the scope of the problem, it is imperative to rapidly assess vulnerability and identify actions to decrease risk. Although a variety of tools have been developed to assess climate change vulnerability, few have been evaluated with regard to their suitability for certain taxonomic groups. Due to their ectothermic physiology, low vagility, and strong association with temporary wetlands, reptiles and amphibians may be particularly vulnerable relative to other groups. Here, we evaluate use of the NatureServe Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) to assess a large suite of herpetofauna from the Sand Hills Ecoregion of the southeastern United States. Although data were frequently lacking for certain variables (e.g., phenological response to climate change, genetic variation), sufficient data were available to evaluate all 117 species. Sensitivity analyses indicated that results were highly dependent on size of assessment area and climate scenario selection. In addition, several ecological traits common in, but relatively unique to, herpetofauna are likely to contribute to their vulnerability and need special consideration during the scoring process. Despite some limitations, the NatureServe CCVI was a useful tool for screening large numbers of reptile and amphibian species. We provide general recommendations as to how the CCVI tool's application to herpetofauna can be improved through more specific guidance to the user regarding how to incorporate unique physiological and behavioral traits into scoring existing sensitivity factors and through modification to the assessment tool itself.

Phenotypic plasticity in anti-intraguild predator strategies: mite larvae adjust their behaviours according to vulnerability and predation risk.

PubMed

Walzer, Andreas; Schausberger, Peter

2013-05-01

Interspecific threat-sensitivity allows prey to maximize the net benefit of antipredator strategies by adjusting the type and intensity of their response to the level of predation risk. This is well documented for classical prey-predator interactions but less so for intraguild predation (IGP). We examined threat-sensitivity in antipredator behaviour of larvae in a predatory mite guild sharing spider mites as prey. The guild consisted of the highly vulnerable intraguild (IG) prey and weak IG predator Phytoseiulus persimilis, the moderately vulnerable IG prey and moderate IG predator Neoseiulus californicus and the little vulnerable IG prey and strong IG predator Amblyseius andersoni. We videotaped the behaviour of the IG prey larvae of the three species in presence of either a low- or a high-risk IG predator female or predator absence and analysed time, distance, path shape and interaction parameters of predators and prey. The least vulnerable IG prey A. andersoni was insensitive to differing IGP risks but the moderately vulnerable IG prey N. californicus and the highly vulnerable IG prey P. persimilis responded in a threat-sensitive manner. Predator presence triggered threat-sensitive behavioural changes in one out of ten measured traits in N. californicus larvae but in four traits in P. persimilis larvae. Low-risk IG predator presence induced a typical escape response in P. persimilis larvae, whereas they reduced their activity in the high-risk IG predator presence. We argue that interspecific threat-sensitivity may promote co-existence of IG predators and IG prey and should be common in predator guilds with long co-evolutionary history.

Identifying key features of early stressful experiences that produce stress vulnerability and resilience in primates

PubMed Central

Parker, Karen J.; Maestripieri, Dario

2010-01-01

This article examines the complex role of early stressful experiences in producing both vulnerability and resilience to later stress-related psychopathology in a variety of primate models of human development. Two types of models are reviewed: Parental Separation Models (e.g., isolate-rearing, peer-rearing, parental separations, and stress inoculation) and Maternal Behavior Models (e.g., foraging demands, variation in maternal style, and maternal abuse). Based on empirical evidence, it is argued that early life stress exposure does not increase adult vulnerability to stress-related psychopathology as a linear function, as is generally believed, but instead reflects a quadratic function. Features of early stress exposure including the type, duration, frequency, ecological validity, sensory modality, and developmental timing, within and between species, are identified to better understand how early stressful experiences alter neurobiological systems to produce such diverse developmental outcomes. This article concludes by identifying gaps in our current knowledge, providing directions for future research, and discussing the translational implications of these primate models for human development and psychopathology. PMID:20851145

Dynamic Changes of Landscape Pattern and Vulnerability Analysis in Qingyi River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ziwei; Xie, Chaoying; He, Xiaohui; Guo, Hengliang; Wang, Li

2017-11-01

Environmental vulnerability research is one of the core areas of global environmental change research. Over the past 10 years, ecologically fragile zones or transition zones had been significantly affected by environmental degradation and climate change and human activities. In this paper, we analyzed the spatial and temporal changes of landscape pattern and landscape vulnerability degree in Qingyi River Basin by calculating the landscape sensitivity index and landscape restoration degree index based on Landsat images of 2005, 2010 and 2015. The results showed that: (1) The top conversion area was farmland, woodland and grassland area decreased, city land and rural residential land increased fastest. (2) The fragility of the landscape pattern along the Qingyi River gradually increased between 2005 and 2015, the downstream area was influenced by the influence of human activities. (3) Landscape pattern changes and fragility are mainly affected by urbanization. These findings are helpful for understanding the evolution of landscape pattern as well as urban ecology, which both have significant implications for urban planning and minimize the potential environmental impacts of urbanization in Qingyi River Basin.

Strengthening protections for human subjects: proposed restrictions on the publication of transplant research involving prisoners.

PubMed

Valapour, Maryam; Paulson, Kristin M; Hilde, Alisha

2013-04-01

Publication is one of the primary rewards in the academic research community and is the first step in the dissemination of a new discovery that could lead to recognition and opportunity. Because of this, the publication of research can serve as a tacit endorsement of the methodology behind the science. This becomes a problem when vulnerable populations that are incapable of giving legitimate informed consent, such as prisoners, are used in research. The problem is especially critical in the field of transplant research, in which unverified consent can enable research that exploits the vulnerabilities of prisoners, especially those awaiting execution. Because the doctrine of informed consent is central to the protection of vulnerable populations, we have performed a historical analysis of the standards of informed consent in codes of international human subject protections to form the foundation for our limit and ban recommendations: (1) limit the publication of transplant research involving prisoners in general and (2) ban the publication of transplant research involving executed prisoners in particular. Copyright © 2013 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Self-injurious behaviour in autistic children: a neuro-developmental theory of social and environmental isolation.

PubMed

Devine, Darragh P

2014-03-01

Self-injurious behaviour is not one of the three core symptoms that define autism. However, children on the autism spectrum appear to be particularly vulnerable. Afflicted children typically slap their faces, punch or bang their heads, and bite or pinch themselves. These behaviours can be extremely destructive, and they interfere with normal social and educational activities. However, the neurobiological mechanisms that confer vulnerability in children with autism have not been adequately described. This review explores behavioural and neurobiological characteristics of children with autism that may be relevant for an increased understanding of their vulnerability for self-injurious behaviour. Behavioural characteristics that are co-morbid for self-injurious behaviour in children with autism are examined. In addition, the contributions of social and environmental deprivation in self-injurious institutionalized orphans, isolated rhesus macaques, and additional animal models are reviewed. There is extensive evidence that social and environmental deprivation promotes self-injurious behaviour in both humans (including children with autism) and animal models. Moreover, there are multiple lines of convergent neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and neurochemical data that draw parallels between self-injurious children with autism and environmentally deprived humans and animals. A hypothesis is presented that describes how the core symptoms of autism make these children particularly vulnerable for self-injurious behaviour. Relevant neurodevelopmental pathology is described in cortical, limbic, and basal ganglia brain regions, and additional research is suggested.

Remote Sensing-based Models of Soil Vulnerability to Compaction and Erosion from Off-highway Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villarreal, M. L.; Webb, R. H.; Norman, L.; Psillas, J.; Rosenberg, A.; Carmichael, S.; Petrakis, R.; Sparks, P.

2014-12-01

Intensive off-road vehicle use for immigration, smuggling, and security of the United States-Mexico border has prompted concerns about long-term human impacts on sensitive desert ecosystems. To help managers identify areas susceptible to soil erosion from vehicle disturbances, we developed a series of erosion potential models based on factors from the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), with particular focus on the management factor (P-factor) and vegetation cover (C-factor). To better express the vulnerability of soils to human disturbances, a soil compaction index (applied as the P-factor) was calculated as the difference in saturated hydrologic conductivity (Ks) between disturbed and undisturbed soils, which was then scaled up to remote sensing-based maps of vehicle tracks and digital soils maps. The C-factor was improved using a satellite-based vegetation index, which was better correlated with estimated ground cover (r2 = 0.77) than data derived from regional land cover maps (r2 = 0.06). RUSLE factors were normalized to give equal weight to all contributing factors, which provided more management-specific information on vulnerable areas where vehicle compaction of sensitive soils intersects with steep slopes and low vegetation cover. Resulting spatial data on vulnerability and erosion potential provide land managers with information to identify critically disturbed areas and potential restoration sites where off-road driving should be restricted to reduce further degradation.

Mortality, integrity, and psychoanalysis (who are you to me? Who am I to you?).

PubMed

Pinsky, Ellen

2014-01-01

The author narrates her experience of mourning her therapist's sudden death. The profession has neglected implications of the analyst's mortality: what is lost or vulnerable to loss? What is that vulnerability's function? The author's process of mourning included her writing and her becoming an analyst. Both pursuits inspired reflections on mortality in two overlapping senses: bodily (the analyst is mortal and can die) and character (the analyst is mortal and can err). The subject thus expands to include impaired character and ethical violations. Paradoxically, the analyst's human limitations threaten each psychoanalytic situation, but also enable it: human imperfection animates the work. The essay ends with a specific example of integrity. © 2014 The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Inc.

Using Remotely Sensed Data to Map Urban Vulnerability to Heat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stefanov, William L.

2010-01-01

This slide presentation defines remote sensing, and presents examples of remote sensing and astronaut photography, which has been a part of many space missions. The presentation then reviews the project aimed at analyzing urban vulnerability to climate change, which is to test the hypotheses that Exposure to excessively warm weather threatens human health in all types of climate regimes; Heat kills and sickens multitudes of people around the globe every year -- directly and indirectly, and Climate change, coupled with urban development, will impact human health. Using Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixing Analysis (MESMA), and the Phoenix urban area as the example, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is calculated, a change detection analysis is shown, and surface temperature is shown.

Assessing influences on social vulnerability to wildfire using surveys, spatial data and wildfire simulations.

PubMed

Paveglio, Travis B; Edgeley, Catrin M; Stasiewicz, Amanda M

2018-05-01

A growing body of research focuses on identifying patterns among human populations most at risk from hazards such as wildfire and the factors that help explain performance of mitigations that can help reduce that risk. Emerging policy surrounding wildfire management emphasizes the need to better understand such social vulnerability-or human populations' potential exposure to and sensitivity from wildfire-related impacts, including their ability to reduce negative impacts from the hazard. Studies of social vulnerability to wildfire often pair secondary demographic data with a variety of vegetation and wildfire simulation models to map potential risk. However, many of the assumptions made by those researchers about the demographic, spatial or perceptual factors that influence social vulnerability to wildfire have not been fully evaluated or tested against objective measures of potential wildfire risk. The research presented here utilizes self-reported surveys, GIS data, and wildfire simulations to test the relationships between select perceptual, demographic, and property characteristics of property owners against empirically simulated metrics for potential wildfire related damages or exposure. We also evaluate how those characteristics relate to property owners' performance of mitigations or support for fire management. Our results suggest that parcel characteristics provide the most significant explanation of variability in wildfire exposure, sensitivity and overall wildfire risk, while the positive relationship between income or property values and components of social vulnerability stands in contrast to typical assumptions from existing literature. Respondents' views about agency or government management helped explain a significant amount of variance in wildfire sensitivity, while the importance of wildfire risk in selecting a residence was an important influence on mitigation action. We use these and other results from our effort to discuss updated considerations for determining social vulnerability to wildfire and articulate alternative means to collect such information. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Risk and Threat via Online Social Network among Academia at Higher Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaker Hussain, Hanizan; Din, Roshidi; Zulkarnaen Khidzir, Nik; Azhar Mat Daud, Khairul; Ahmad, Suzastri

2018-05-01

The evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) nowadays has changed the life style of human living. The current modern societies have adopted ICT as an important thing that they are really needed in their life, especially as a tool to be used for communications activity. However, unfortunately ICT also exposed its user in circumstances of risk, threats and vulnerability. This paper will discuss the risk and threats to the users who are using social media as a medium to communicate. In this paper, the fraction of user will be divided by two types which are gender and working experience. The data that obtained from the distributed of questionnaires among respondent will be analysed by using SPSS. Data will be analysed by using two-way ANOVA statistic in order to examine the significant level in between gender and working experience as an independent variable in this study with the level of threats in cybersecurity risk towards lecturers who are working in higher education institutions in Malaysia. This article also will provide an empirical data and will be referred to another researcher in the future for their further research perhaps.

Evaluating an icon of population persistence: the Devil's Hole pupfish

PubMed Central

Reed, J. Michael; Stockwell, Craig A.

2014-01-01

The Devil's Hole pupfish Cyprinodon diabolis has iconic status among conservation biologists because it is one of the World's most vulnerable species. Furthermore, C. diabolis is the most widely cited example of a persistent, small, isolated vertebrate population; a chronic exception to the rule that small populations do not persist long in isolation. It is widely asserted that this species has persisted in small numbers (less than 400 adults) for 10 000–20 000 years, but this assertion has never been evaluated. Here, we analyse the time series of count data for this species, and we estimate time to coalescence from microsatellite data to evaluate this hypothesis. We conclude that mean time to extinction is approximately 360–2900 years (median 410–1800), with less than a 2.1% probability of persisting 10 000 years. Median times to coalescence varied from 217 to 2530 years, but all five approximations had wide credible intervals. Our analyses suggest that Devil's Hole pupfish colonized this pool well after the Pleistocene Lakes receded, probably within the last few hundred to few thousand years; this could have occurred through human intervention. PMID:25232135

Co-Creating theories and research design for an interdisciplinary project dealing with capacity building for people with migration background in Austria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weber, Karin; Tscharner, Susanna; Stickler, Therese; Fuchs, Britta; Damyanovic, Doris; Hübl, Johannes

2017-04-01

Understanding spatial and social aspects of vulnerability is of growing importance in the context of climate change and natural hazards. The interplay of structural factors, socio-demographic aspects, current risk communication strategies, spatial planning instruments and related processes and the current spatial and environmental situation, including hazards and hazard zones, geographical locations, building and settlement types, contributing to people`s vulnerabilities needs to be analysed and understood to reduce vulnerability and to foster resilience. The project "CCCapMig" (Climate change and capacity building for people with migration background in Austria) aims at linking spatial and technical, as well as organisational and social aspects of climate change and natural hazards. This paper focuses on the co-creation of the theoretical framework and concepts and outlines the research design for this interdisciplinary cross-analysis of several case studies in rural Austria. The project is designed as an inter- and transdisciplinary survey and brings together engineering sciences, spatial sciences and social sciences. Reflecting the interdisciplinary approach, a theoretical framework was developed that refers to a combination of both theories and frameworks from vulnerability research, theories of risk perception and spatial theories and methods like the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, the Protection-Motivation Theory and Landscape-Planning Theories: The "Sustainable Livelihoods Framework" adapted (by FA0) for disaster risk management offers an analytical framework to understand the emergence of vulnerabilities from the perspective of people`s livelihoods on individual and community level. It includes human, social, natural, physical and financial aspects and the role of institutions, policies and legal rights in reducing or increasing exposure to disaster risk and coping capacities. Additionally, theories on risk perception, especially Protection-Motivation Theory, developed by social sciences, will be used as assessment frame to understand people`s flood damage mitigation behaviour. Furthermore, spatial theories and landscape planning approaches (like an everyday, evidence-based approach) are combined with theories from social sciences reflecting the interdisciplinary approach of this project that has become standard in studies on disaster and climate change. This theoretical approach was developed through a collaborative research at the beginning of the research design in order to a) develop further and test existing concepts, b) to fine-tune the proposed method setting, c) to foster common understanding of theories and methods within the interdisciplinary research team. In general, the research process is characterised by critical theory and brings in reflective elements, allowing feedback circles between methods and theories. End-users and decision-makers will be integral partners, ensuring that feasibility of the recommendations and guidelines will be guaranteed. Consequently, the methods of data collection in this project reflect the results of the critical discussion of the theoretical frameworks and combine methods of social sciences: interviews with inhabitants living in hazard zones, detailed surveys of families, focus group discussions, and expert interviews with local and regional stakeholders involved in disaster risk management. In addition to that, structural factors, demographic data, current risk communication strategies, legal instruments and related processes and the current spatial and environmental situation (including hazards and hazard zones, geographical locations, building and settlement types) are analysed.

Hydrogeologic framework and sampling design for an assessment of agricultural pesticides in ground water in Pennsylvania

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindsey, Bruce D.; Bickford, Tammy M.

1999-01-01

State agencies responsible for regulating pesticides are required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop state management plans for specific pesticides. A key part of these management plans includes assessing the potential for contamination of ground water by pesticides throughout the state. As an example of how a statewide assessment could be implemented, a plan is presented for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to illustrate how a hydrogeologic framework can be used as a basis for sampling areas within a state with the highest likelihood of having elevated pesticide concentrations in ground water. The framework was created by subdividing the state into 20 areas on the basis of physiography and aquifer type. Each of these 20 hydrogeologic settings is relatively homogeneous with respect to aquifer susceptibility and pesticide use—factors that would be likely to affect pesticide concentrations in ground water. Existing data on atrazine occurrence in ground water was analyzed to determine (1) which areas of the state already have sufficient samples collected to make statistical comparisons among hydrogeologic settings, and (2) the effect of factors such as land use and aquifer characteristics on pesticide occurrence. The theoretical vulnerability and the results of the data analysis were used to rank each of the 20 hydrogeologic settings on the basis of vulnerability of ground water to contamination by pesticides. Example sampling plans are presented for nine of the hydrogeologic settings that lack sufficient data to assess vulnerability to contamination. Of the highest priority areas of the state, two out of four have been adequately sampled, one of the three areas of moderate to high priority has been adequately sampled, four of the nine areas of moderate to low priority have been adequately sampled, and none of the three low priority areas have been sampled.Sampling to date has shown that, even in the most vulnerable hydrogeologic settings, pesticide concentrations in ground water rarely exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Drinking Water Standards or Health Advisory Levels. Analyses of samples from 1,159 private water supplies reveal only 3 sites for which samples with concentrations of pesticides exceeded drinking-water standards. In most cases, samples with elevated concentrations could be traced to point sources at pesticide loading or mixing areas. These analyses included data from some of the most vulnerable areas of the state, indicating that it is highly unlikely that pesticide concentrations in water from wells in other areas of the state would exceed the drinking-water standards unless a point source of contamination were present. Analysis of existing data showed that water from wells in areas of the state underlain by carbonate (limestone and dolomite) bedrock, which commonly have a high percentage of corn production, was much more likely to have pesticides detected. Application of pesticides to the land surface generally has not caused concentrations of the five state priority pesticides in ground water to exceed health standards; however, this study has not evaluated the potential human health effects of mixtures of pesticides or pesticide degradation products in drinking water. This study also has not determined whether concentrations in ground water are stable, increasing, or decreasing.

On the Nature of Emotion.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kagan, Jerome

1994-01-01

This essay argues that humans are capable of a large number of affect states; a distinction should be made among acute emotions, chronic moods, and temperamental vulnerabilities to a particular emotion state; and research on human effects will profit from a return to, and reinterpretation of, Sigmund Freud's suggestion of unconscious affect…

Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MDRC, 2017

2017-01-01

As the first major effort to use a behavioral economics lens to examine human services programs that serve poor and vulnerable families in the United States, the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project demonstrated the value of applying behavioral insights to improve the efficacy of human services programs. The BIAS…

Drought vulnerability assessment for prioritising drought warning implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naumann, Gustavo; Faneca Sànchez, Marta; Mwangi, Emmah; Barbosa, Paulo; Iglesias, Ana; Garrote, Luis; Werner, Micha

2014-05-01

Drought warning provides a potentially efficient approach to mitigation of drought impacts, and should be targeted at areas most vulnerable to being adversely impacted. Assessing drought vulnerability is, however, complex and needs to consider susceptibility to drought impact as well as the capacity to cope with drought. In this paper a Drought Vulnerability Index (DVI) is proposed that considers four primary components that reflect the capacity of society to adapt to drought; the renewable natural capital, the economic capacity, the human and civic resources, and the available infrastructure and technology. The DVI is established as a weighted combination of these four components, each a composite of selected indicators. Constituent indicators are calculated based on national and/or regional census data and statistics, and while the resulting DVI should not be considered an absolute measure of drought vulnerability it does provide for a prioritisation of areas that can be used to target drought warning efforts. Sensitivity analysis of weights applied show the established DVI to be robust. Through the DVI the development of drought forecasting and warning can be targeted at the most vulnerable areas. The proposed DVI is applied at both the continental scale in Africa to assess drought vulnerability of the different nations across Africa, and at the national level in Kenya, allowing for prioritisation of the counties within Kenya to drought vulnerability. Results show the relative vulnerability of countries and counties vulnerable to drought. At the continental scale, Somalia, Burundi, Niger, Ethiopia, Mali and Chad are found to be the countries most vulnerable to drought. At the national level, the relative vulnerability of the counties across Kenya is found, with counties in the North-East of Kenya having the highest values of DVI. At the country level results were compared with drought disaster information from the EM-DAT disaster database, showing a good agreement between recorded drought impact and the established DVI classes. Kenya counties most vulnerable to drought are primarily located in the North-East of the country, showing a reasonable agreement with the spatial distribution of impacts of the 2010/2011 drought, despite the drought itself being more widespread.

The representation of vulnerable populations in quality improvement studies.

PubMed

Rolnitsky, Asaph; Kirtsman, Maksim; Goldberg, Hanna R; Dunn, Michael; Bell, Chaim M

2018-05-01

A mapping review to quantify representation of vulnerable populations, who suffer from disparity and often inequitable healthcare, in quality improvement (QI) research. Studies published in 2004-2014 inclusive from Medline, Embase and Cochrane databases for English language research with the terms 'quality improvement' or 'quality control' or 'QI' and 'plan-do-study-act' or 'PDSA' in the years 2004-2014 inclusively. Published clinical research that was a QI-themed, as identified by its declared search terms, MESH terms, abstract or title. Three reviewers identified the eligible studies independently. Excluded were publications that were not trials, evaluations or analyses. Of 2039 results, 1660 were eligible for inclusion. There were 586 (33.5%) publications that targeted a specific vulnerable population: children (184, 10.54%), mental health patients (125, 7.16%), the elderly (100, 5.73%), women (57, 3.27%), the poor (30, 1.72%), rural residents (29, 1.66%), visible minorities (27, 1.55%), the terminally ill (17, 0.97%), adolescents (16, 0.92%) and prisoners (1 study). Seventy-four articles targeted two or more vulnerable populations, and 11 targeted three population categories. On average, there were 158 QI research studies published per year, increasing from 69 in 2004 to 396 in 2014 (R2 = 0.7, P < 0.001). The relative representation of vulnerable populations had a mean of 33.58% and was stable over the time period (standard deviation (SD) = 5.9%, R2 = 0.001). Seven countries contributed to over 85% of the publications targeting vulnerable populations, with the USA contributing 62% of the studies. Over 11 years, there has been a marked increase in QI publications. Roughly one-third of all published QI research is on vulnerable populations, a stable proportion over time. Nevertheless, some vulnerable populations are under-represented. Increased education, resources and attention are encouraged to improve the health of vulnerable populations through focused QI initiatives.

Livelihood Vulnerability Assessment Of Farmers and Nomads in Eastern Ecotone of Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, J.; Zhang, Y.

2011-12-01

Livelihood vulnerability assessment provides a scientific basis for anti-poverty of people and regional sustainable development in vulnerable area. Although there are massive discussions on concept of vulnerability, it is still difficult to make it quantitative and to carry out comprehensive appraise. Vulnerability assessments based on sustainable livelihood frame are widely accepted in case studies for attentions to vulnerable groups. However, these case studies are always on regional scale and never reflect how climate change affects people's livelihood and adaptive capability of people. It is necessary to seek vulnerable assessment index system and means based on livelihood process of local people. This paper develops a livelihood vulnerability assessment index system on the basis of sustainable livelihood framework and appraises livelihood vulnerability values of 11 townships, using data of 879 sample households. Livelihood vulnerability assessment index system reflects main risks, livelihood assets and adaptation strategies of local people and government. The results show that livelihood vulnerability level of plateau region is higher than that of mountain to plateau region and mountain gorge region. Manzhang Township in plateau region is the most vulnerable township and nomads there cannot cope with risks of climate change, meadow degeneration and herbs degradation. Upper part of mountain to plateau region and the whole plateau region have high livelihood vulnerability values and local nomads would not cope with risks if no measures are taken by government. The driving forces of livelihood vulnerability include strikes of risks and deficiency of livelihood assets and adaptive capability. Farmers and nomads in high mountain gorge region and lower part of mountain to plateau region can cope with these risks, meanwhile, there are more employment opportunities in second and tertiary industries are needed to help them realize livelihood diversification. Therefore, plateau region and upper part of mountain to plateau region is vulnerable region and active steps should be taken by government to strengthen adaptive capabilities of farmers and nomads. Government relief should shift from improvement of natural assets to improvement of human assets and financial assets, such as technique training, hospitalization insurance, animal disease prevention and treatment, low interest or interest-free loan, restoring gazing areas to grassland in black beach, restoring other degraded pastures.

Culture, social networks and HIV vulnerability among men who have sex with men in Indonesia.

PubMed

Fauk, Nelsensius Klau; Merry, Maria Silvia; Sigilipoe, Mitra Andhini; Putra, Sukma; Mwanri, Lillian

2017-01-01

The current study aimed to explore cultural and social network influence on HIV vulnerability among Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) population in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A qualitative inquiry employing in-depth one-on-one interviews was carried out with 24 MSM participants in July 2015. Data were analysed using a framework analysis and guided by the Social Networks Theory (SNT) as a conceptual framework. Findings indicated that prohibitive cultural perspectives and norms against same-sex marriage made them to conceal their sexual orientation and thus secretively engaging in unprotected sex that increased their predisposition to HIV transmission. The prohibitive cultures were also instrumental in the formation of MSM sexual networks that provided supportive environment for HIV-risky sexual practices among network partners. These findings provide information that can be used to improve HIV/AIDS service practices and policies. However, further studies with large numbers of MSM would be needed to improve the understanding of other HIV vulnerability determinants, the unique needs of MSM, and what and how programs could be conducted to reduce HIV vulnerability among MSM population.

Correlates of HIV/STD testing and willingness to test among rural-to-urban migrants in China.

PubMed

Wang, Bo; Li, Xiaoming; Stanton, Bonita; McGuire, James

2010-08-01

This study investigates socio-demographic, behavioral, psychological, and structural factors associated with self-reported HIV/STD testing and willingness to test among 1,938 Chinese migrants. Overall, 6% and 14% of participants had ever been tested for HIV and STD, respectively. The results of multivariate analyses indicate that working at entertainment sectors, engaging in commercial sex, and utilization of health care were positively associated with both HIV and STD testing. Younger age, selling blood, perceived peer sexual risk involvement, and satisfaction with life were associated with HIV testing only. Female gender, early sexual debut, multiple sexual partners, and perceived vulnerability to HIV/STD were associated with STD testing only. Male gender, having premarital sex, perceived higher severity of and vulnerability to HIV/STD, and utilization of health care were associated with willingness to be tested for both HIV and STD. Interventions designed to raise the perception of vulnerability to HIV/STD and to improve access to and utilization of health care may be effective in encouraging more HIV testing in this vulnerable population.

Past landscape dynamics in mountain territories: historical trajectory of vulnerability in the Vars catchment (French Alps)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puissant, Anne; Cioloboc, Florin; Schlosser, Arnaud; Gazo, Aurelien; Martin, Brice; Malet, Jean-Philippe

2016-04-01

Over the last decades and centuries, mountain landscapes have experiment natural and man-made landcover/use changes with mainly the development of tourism activities and the reduction of agro-pastoral activities. These transformations have directly influenced the spatial organization of mountain landscapes. To better anticipate the future exposure of the territory to natural hazards, decision-makers need retrospective analyses of the past changes. In the frame of the SAMCO project, whose objective is to propose mountain risk assessment methodologies in the context of global changes, this research presents a retrospective analysis of land cover/use changes (from 1948 to 2013) in the Vars catchment (French South Alps) submitted to several natural hazards (rockfall, landslide, and flood). Database of elements at risk has been built for five dates and evolution of vulnerability is performed through a versatile GIS-based analysis tool developed for the estimation of vulnerability indicators (physical, economical, social) at a fine scale (1:5000). Results allow identifying several areas with different trajectories of vulnerability which can be use as input data for risk analysis and define future trends.