Search results for "vulnerability"
showing 10 items of 407 documents
Vulnerability of a Damaged Bridge Abutment in a Seismic Area
2018
The case of the abutment of a motorway urban viaduct damaged by human intervention is presented. Built in the 1960s, it lies in a critical seismic area and the human-induced damage involved the elements of the abutment foundation. The structure is geometrically complex and the evaluations of its structural safety were carried out by applying Italian codes from different times: those concerning the time of construction, those of a recent past (1996), and those of the present (2008), inspired by Eurocodes. A comparison between the safety checks performed and the requirements of all these codes is presented and discussed, especially regarding safety coefficients after the damage was done. Two …
Near Real-Time Decision Support for Disaster Management: Hurricane Sandy
2014
Assessing vulnerability is fundamental for efficient risk management and emergency response. Integrating analyses from preparedness and risk reduction to inform the response phase requires that structural information about demographics or industry is combined with specific local information that highlights hotspots or emerging risks in near real-time. Owing to its availability on social media or other platforms, this local information is today often collected and processed remotely with the aim to inform responders and the public via reports, maps and apps published online. This paper addresses and discusses the challenges of remote near-real time vulnerability assessments by using an indic…
Emergent vulnerabilities in Integrated Operations: A proactive simulation study of economic risk
2009
Abstract The protection of critical infrastructure requires an understanding of the effects of change on current and future safety and operations. Vulnerabilities may emerge during the rollout of updated techniques and integration of new technology with existing work practices. Managers need to understand how their decisions, often focused on economic priorities, affect the dynamics of vulnerability over time. Such understanding is difficult to obtain, as the historical data typically used for decision support, prediction and forecasting may not be available. We report on the use of group model building and simulation to consider proactively the effects of a 10-year, multi-billion dollar mo…
Disaster vulnerability by demographics?
2020
This article provides a brief overview of the relationship between disaster vulnerability and demographic variables. Population numbers and densities are examined along with using a gender focus as illustrative of individual characteristics. For the most part, people’s and society’s choices create vulnerabilities based on demographics rather than specific demographic characteristics inevitably conferring vulnerability.
Nowhere Home: The Waiting of Vulnerable Child Refugees
2020
In her 2012 documentary Nowhere Home, filmmaker Margreth Olin sheds light on the vulnerabilities and injurabilities of child migrants subjected to prolonged waiting. The documentary shows unaccompanied minors being offered only temporary residence and thus identifies why these irregular migrants can be characterized as ‘particularly vulnerable’ by having their childhoods put on hold. Although the concept is contested, I conceive vulnerability as based on humans’ existential precondition in terms of something bodily and enabling. Due to child refugees’ particular vulnerability, prolonged waiting can violate their inherent dignity, bodily health, life quality and human rights. Therefore, in l…
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on human rights of women and girls with disabilities
2021
El presente artículo aborda la situación de especial vulnerabilidad en la que se encuentran las mujeres y niñas con discapacidad, la cual se ha visto agravada en el contexto de la crisis provocada por la pandemia de Covid-19. En efecto, en la primera parte el autor toma nota del actual deterioro de los derechos humanos de las mujeres y niñas con discapacidad, lo cual constituye un desafío para evitar su marginación en términos de doble discriminación. Para afrontar dicho reto, en la segunda parte se pone el énfasis en el papel crucial de la Convención de Naciones Unidas sobre los derechos de las personas con discapacidad como estándar mínimo de protección. En este sentido, en la tercera par…
Decision Support for Disaster Risk Management: Integrating Vulnerabilities into Early-Warning Systems
2014
International audience; Despite the potential of new technologies and the improvements of early-warning systems since the 2004 Tsunami, damage and harm caused by disasters do not stop to increase. There is a clear need for better integrating the fragmented landscape of researchers and practitioners working on different aspects of decision support for disaster risk reduction and response. To demonstrate and discuss the advantages of integrated systems, we will focus in this paper on vulnerabilities and early-warning systems. While vulnerabilities are mostly used to allocate risk management resources (preparedness), early-warning systems are designed to initiate the response phase. Indicator …
Trafficking and labour exploitation in domestic work and the agricultural sector in Italy
2016
In Italy, as in many European countries, agriculture and domestic work are sectors characterised by high levels of irregular work without contract and with no respect of minimum pay, humane living conditions or access to basic services. Generalised informality however sometimes leads to cases of sever exploitation and outright human trafficking. This report focuses on the conditions that can lead from irregular work to abuse and trafficking in agriculture and domestic work – we question the cultural and economic aspects that make such situations possible. We also review the relevant legislation punishing exploiters and protecting victims with a view of identifying existing gaps and make sug…
Psychosocial maladjustment in adolescence: parental socialization, self-esteem, and substance use
2018
Este estudio analiza la vulnerabilidad de los adolescentes a par- tir de la autoestima y el consumo de sustancias, y la protección o riesgo del estilo de socialización. La muestra fue de 1445 adolescentes españoles (59.4% mujeres), 600 tempranos de 12 a 15 años (41.5%) y 845 tardíos de 16 a 17 años (58.5%). Las familias se clasificaron en una de las cuatro tipo- logías: indulgente, autorizativa, autoritaria y negligente. El ajuste de los hijos se midió con autoestima (emocional, familiar y física) y consumo de sustan- cias (alcohol, tabaco, cannabis y drogas de síntesis). Los resultados mostra- ron que en la adolescencia tardía la vulnerabilidad fue mayor que en la tem- prana. Se encontró u…
Influence of the Novelty-Seeking Endophenotype on the Rewarding Effects of Psychostimulant Drugs in Animal Models
2015
Novelty seeking (NS), defined as a tendency to pursue novel and intense emotional sensations and experiences, is one of the most relevant individual factors predicting drug use among humans. High novelty seeking (HNS) individuals present an increased risk of drug use compared to low novelty seekers. The NS endophenotype may explain some of the differences observed among individuals exposed to drugs of abuse in adolescence. However, there is little research about the particular response of adolescents to drugs of abuse in function of this endophenotype, and the data that do exist are inconclusive. The present work reviews the literature regarding the influence of NS on psychostimulant reward…