Search results for "Construction"

Making sense of crises: the implications of information asymmetries for resilience and social justice in disaster-ridden communities

2017

New information and communication technologies (ICT) have enabled communities to collect and share information and tap into a network of peers in unprecedented ways. For more than a decade, informa...

The role of social perception in disaster risk reduction: Beliefs, perception, and attitudes regarding flood disasters in communities along the Volta…

2017

Abstract People's perceptions of natural, spiritual, and social phenomena are socially constructed. Social perception is important because it helps people to make sense of the physical and social world and therein interact with it. Earlier research specializing in the study of human behaviour has emphasized a linkage between people's perceptions and their behaviour. In this article, the authors employ a similar theory with the intent of proposing a theoretical framework that examines the factors that influence people's perception and attitude (mitigation and response) towards the hazards they face. This discussion is done on the premise of “culture”, “experiences” and “disaster risk reducti…

2018

Abstract Disaster diplomacy investigates how and why disaster-related activities do and do not influence conflict and cooperation. Studies into the topic so far have tended to develop the theory, analyse a specific case study in space and time, or connect both. Explorations of disaster diplomacy case studies over the long-term are so far absent from the literature. This paper explores Jammu and Kashmir in the Himalaya as a long-term case study for disaster diplomacy. Jammu and Kashmir has a long history of conflicts, multiple environmental hazards, and significant vulnerabilities yielding major disasters, with each topic generally addressed separately in the literature. This paper explores …

Helices of disaster memory: How forgetting and remembering influence tropical cyclone response in Mauritius

2020

Abstract Tropical cyclones have had a considerable impact on Mauritius. Large cyclones are relatively rare, and in popular imagination are thought to hit Mauritius every 15 years. Yet it has been over 25 years since the last cyclone widely considered as ‘significant’. Critically, there is little known about the role of memory in responses to cyclones and details regarding responses to past cyclones in Mauritian history are scant. This article examines past experiences and impacts of cyclones in Mauritius, as well as contemporary perceptions of cyclone vulnerability and memories of historical cyclones. The analysis draws on both community interviews and archival research conducted in Mauriti…

Measuring the quality of humanitarian information products: Insights from the 2015 Nepal earthquake

2018

Information plays a critical role in humanitarian assistance. It has become a product that is shared for multiple purposes such as situational awareness, decision-making, coordination, reporting, and attracting funding. In the aftermath of sudden onset disasters, humanitarians are constrained with huge workload, time pressure, and uncertainties and thus, information products are often criticized with respect to quality issues. In this paper, we aim at developing an empirically grounded framework that can measure the quality of information products through accuracy, objectivity, completeness, and consistency. We validate the framework with the help of practitioners and apply it to the inform…

Seismic behavior of structures equipped with variable friction dissipative (VFD) systems

2021

Usually, to mitigate the stresses in framed structures, different strategies are used. Among them, base isolation, viscous/friction/metallic yielding dampers and tuned mass dumpers have been widely investigated. Fluid Viscous Dampers (FVD) probably result the most diffused for the simplicity in the applications. However, these type of dampers request limited interstorey drifts to avoid dangerous effects. Further, they have an elevate cost. On the contrary, friction dampers are not so expensive but request high interstorey drifts to give a significant contribute in the dissipation of energy during an earthquake. In this paper an approach for the energy dissipation by friction, modified with …

Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WRMSD) in Construction Workers and Main Causes

2017

Construction industry still is characterized with physically demanding work duties despite the ongoing modernization of new technology. Construction work requires physical and psychosocial effort, working in compulsory and awkward postures. WRMSD are the most common health problems among employees in construction. The aim of this study was to determine WRMSD reasons caused by physical load and psychosocial risks at work for painters and tilers in the construction enterprise. Results of the study shows that causes of WRMSD in employed in construction, are not only physical risks at work, but also psychosocial risks, as well as individual attitude towards one’s own health.

"Free or Perforator-Pedicled Propeller Flaps in Lower Extremity Reconstruction: Defining the Coverage Failure": Response.

2018

Low-Cost Optical Mapping Systems for Panoramic Imaging of Complex Arrhythmias and Drug-Action in Translational Heart Models.

2017

[EN] Panoramic optical mapping is the primary method for imaging electrophysiological activity from the entire outer surface of Langendorff-perfused hearts. To date, it is the only method of simultaneously measuring multiple key electrophysiological parameters, such as transmembrane voltage and intracellular free calcium, at high spatial and temporal resolution. Despite the impact it has already had on the fields of cardiac arrhythmias and whole-heart computational modeling, present-day system designs precludes its adoption by the broader cardiovascular research community because of their high costs. Taking advantage of recent technological advances, we developed and validated low-cost opti…

Yeast Cth2 protein represses the translation of ARE-containing mRNAs in response to iron deficiency

2018

In response to iron deficiency, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergoes a metabolic remodeling in order to optimize iron utilization. The tandem zinc finger (TZF)-containing protein Cth2 plays a critical role in this adaptation by binding and promoting the degradation of multiple mRNAs that contain AU-rich elements (AREs). Here, we demonstrate that Cth2 also functions as a translational repressor of its target mRNAs. By complementary approaches, we demonstrate that Cth2 protein inhibits the translation of SDH4, which encodes a subunit of succinate dehydrogenase, and CTH2 mRNAs in response to iron depletion. Both the AREs within SDH4 and CTH2 transcripts, and the Cth2 TZF are es…