Robustness of the holistic seismic risk evaluation in urban centers using the USRi

The Urban Seismic Risk index (USRi) published in a previous article (Carreño et al., Nat Hazards 40:137–172, 2007) is a composite indicator that measures risk from an integrated perspective and guides decision-making for identifying the main interdisciplinary factors of vulnerability to be reduced or intervened. The first step of the method is the evaluation of the potential physical damage (hard approach) as a result of the convolution of the seismic hazard with the physical vulnerability of buildings and infrastructure. Subsequently, a set of social context conditions that aggravate the physical effects is also considered (soft approach). According to this procedure, the physical risk index is evaluated for each unit of analysis from existing loss scenarios, whereas the total risk index is obtained by multiplying the former index by an impact factor using an aggravating coefficient, based on variables associated with the socio-economic conditions of each unit of analysis. The USRi has been developed using the underlying holistic and multi-hazard approach of the Urban Risk Index framework proposed for the evaluation of disaster risk in different megacities worldwide. This article presents the sensitivity analysis of the index to different parameters such as input data, weights and transformation functions used for the scaling or normalization of variables. This analysis has been performed using the Monte Carlo simulation to validate the robustness of this composite indicator, understanding as robustness how the cities maintain the ranking as well as predefined risk level ranges, when compared with the deterministic results of risk. Results are shown for different cities of the world

Archival Enterprise Across Early Modern Europe: A Review Essay

In the early modern era, archives were a conduit for information transfer across Europe. Historians have increasingly centered archives and archivists as actors in scholarship of Early Modern European (c. 1450-1800) historical concerns. In particular, two linked areas of inquiry have been emphasized: the impact of archives on forming European identities, and the influence of European archivists on shaping archives. Studies of archives are rich sources that tease out ideological shifts in early modern times. This essay discusses recent literature and seminal writings contributing to understandings of emergent archives and archival practices across Early Modern Europe. Exploring the concept of “archival enterprise” within these contexts presents exciting opportunities to examine its manifestations through a multitude of lenses and fields of study. The works illuminate the fortitude and resilience of archivists engaged in archival labor during the early modern era. They also recast the archivist’s persona from a neutral information facilitator to an interventionist mediator of the past

What Impact does Internet of Things have on Project Management in Project based Firms?

The highest benefit of IT spans through the enabling of personnel to attain their organizational goals. However, acquiring the IT skills that were not aware of in the past will boost and enhance the personnel for greater performance. IoT technology gives understanding from novel data generated and gives solutions. Therefore, allowing organizations to access new strategies via technological innovation will bring about efficiency and productivity with the project lifecycle. However, this project aimed at assessing the impact of IoT on PM in project-based organizations. A qualitative method of investigation was adopted through interviews and discussions with 9 selected respondents. The result shows the benefit and the usefulness of IoT in project-based organizations. This was assessed using the five project management model namely initiating, planning, executing, control and monitoring, and closing. It is established that the impact of IoT can be seen using any of the five stages. Hence, this study identifies the most critical elements of any project-based organization to include people, possessing on personnel and how their impact the invention of project-based organizations

We Can Update our Own Stories: Trans*-Informed Principles for Gender-Inclusive Science Teaching.

Across the United States, Anti-LGBTQ curriculum laws are being passed in staggering numbers, impacting an estimated 25 million children. At a time where a majority of LBGTQ students report feeling unsafe at school, a significant education challenge is how to meet the needs of these students while addressing and dismantling the way the institution of science education continues to uphold systems of oppression. While there have been waves of LGBTQinclusive science education reform, these movements have been stymied by a lack of cohesive guidelines for practice and are generally limited in their inclusion of considerations that attend to the needs of trans* and gender creative students. In order to address the epistemic erasure of trans* voices and perspectives in LGBTQinclusive science education reform, this dissertation explored the gender-inclusive teaching practices of 10 trans*-identified science teachers with the purpose of learning from their experiences creating trans*-inclusive science curriculum. Using a qualitative research design, this dissertation collected three sources of data (interviews, instructional materials samples, and reflective teaching statements) in order to answer the research questions. Emergent in the data was the overarching theme of trans*-informed science education pedagogy which encompassed the central philosophies and practices employed by the teacher participants. First, participant interview data revealed that teachers’ trans* experiences impacted the development of their teaching motivations, desires to be visible trans* role models, and shaped their epistemological relationships to science as well as to science teaching and learning. Second, the triangulation of teaching materials and reflective statements with interview data led to the identification of three teaching practices including interrogating and accessing power, resisting essentialism, and embracing experiential knowledge and personal epistemologies. Together, these philosophies and practices lay the theoretical and conceptual foundation for a set of teaching principles that can guide teachers in implementing gender-inclusive science teacher through a trans*-informed lens. These recommendations implore teachers to Teach with Continuity and Authenticity, Center Epistemic Justice, Affirm Diversity, Embrace Scientific Complexity, Emphasize Experiential Knowledge and Personal Epistemologies, and Critically Assess Provenance and Validity when selecting gender-inclusive teaching materials. The findings of this dissertation are valuable to the science education community because they amplify and center the experiential knowledge of teachers whose voices are critically absent from conversations surrounding LGBTQ-inclusive science education practice. Moreover, the principles derived from trans* teachers’ experiences can be used to guide other educators in making their science classrooms more trans*-inclusive

Does Good Design Matter in the Seedstock Advertising Business? Effects of Graphic Design in Beef Seedstock Ads on Cattle Producers’ Trust and Credibility

Designers are trained professionals who understand how to effectively visually communicate based on executing principles of design and an understanding of their audience. Within the beef seedstock industry, ad design varies widely in terms of technical effectiveness, but how do those differences affect potential customers? This study tested the effects of seedstock ad’s graphic design on the viewer’s trust and credibility among 561 Angus cattle producers. Our results show the graphic design of a beef seedstock ranch ad promoting an upcoming bull sale did not influence producers’ perceptions of trust and credibility. However, results did reveal better designed ads are positively related to producers’ trust of that brand. We suggest the study results were influenced by a first impression established through the brand description presented to all treatment groups, which illustrates beef seedstock buyers may be more reliant on other informational cues than design to inform their purchasing decisions. Future research is needed to parcel out effects of the brand information relative to the design aspects of the ad

Transmitting sunnī learning in Fāṭimid Egypt: the female voices

In this paper I propose to investigate the contribution of women as transmitters of Sunnī learning in Egypt under the Fāṭimids as part of a broader project I am conducting on the intellectual history of Sunnism in Fāṭimid Egypt. This study attempts to charter the careers of prominent 6th/12th century female figures such as Zaynab bint ‘Awf and Khadīja bint al-Silafī who were active in Alexandria, but also lesser known female transmitters who came to prominence in Fusṭāṭ in the 4th/10th and 5th/11th centuries

Drug Supply Chain Security Act of 2013 and It’s Computer System Implementation

Since 1987, the federal government and state governments, have tried to combat counterfeit drugs from entering the United States and the states\u27 pharmaceutical supply chain. The latest attempt to prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the state drug supply chain was the California E-Pedigree drug tracing program that was to be implemented by the end of 2017. The California E-Pedigree system uses GS1 PDMS tracing system as its guideline. Since all of the states use paper format pedigree systems, California would have been the first electronic pedigree system in the U.S. However, on November 27, 2013, the President of the United States signed into law the Drug Quality Security Act (DQSA). Title II of DQSA is called the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) and it removes all existing or future drug track or trace systems including pedigree systems from all states. DSCSA does establish a new federal drug tracing program that uses pedigrees and product identifiers for verification of the drugs being accepted by the buyer. Although the full implementation of the DSCSA will take about ten years from its enactment, the basic structure of the new federal tracing program is laid out. My thesis will analyze the current state of the pharmaceutical industry, the impact of counterfeit medicine, and anti-counterfeit technologies. We will proceed to analyze the DSCSA to create a basic logical model and show a possible implementation of its verification process. Additionally, we will discuss DSCSA model as to its effectiveness of the basic design against the entrance of counterfeit medicine into the United States Pharmaceutical Supply Chain. This will be followed by a conclusion