Impact of culture towards disaster risk reduction

Number of natural disasters has risen sharply worldwide making the risk of disasters a global concern. These disasters have created significant losses and damages to humans, economy and society. Despite the losses and damages created by disasters, some individuals and communities do not attached much significance to natural disasters. Risk perception towards a disaster not only depends on the danger it could create but also the behaviour of the communities and individuals that is governed by their culture. Within this context, this study examines the relationship between culture and disaster risk reduction (DRR). A comprehensive literature review is used for the study to evaluate culture, its components and to analyse a series of case studies related to disaster risk. It was evident from the study that in some situations, culture has become a factor for the survival of the communities from disasters where as in some situations culture has acted as a barrier for effective DRR activities. The study suggests community based DRR activities as a mechanism to integrate with culture to effectively manage disaster risk

Geographic Variations in Retention in Care among HIV-Infected Adults in the United States

ObjectiveTo understand geographic variations in clinical retention, a central component of the HIV care continuum and key to improving individual- and population-level HIV outcomes.DesignWe evaluated retention by US region in a retrospective observational study.MethodsAdults receiving care from 2000–2010 in 12 clinical cohorts of the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design (NA-ACCORD) contributed data. Individuals were assigned to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-defined regions by residential data (10 cohorts) and clinic location as proxy (2 cohorts). Retention was ≥2 primary HIV outpatient visits within a calendar year, >90 days apart. Trends and regional differences were analyzed using modified Poisson regression with clustering, adjusting for time in care, age, sex, race/ethnicity, and HIV risk, and stratified by baseline CD4+ count.ResultsAmong 78,993 adults with 444,212 person-years of follow-up, median time in care was 7 years (Interquartile Range: 4–9). Retention increased from 2000 to 2010: from 73% (5,000/6,875) to 85% (7,189/8,462) in the Northeast, 75% (1,778/2,356) to 87% (1,630/1,880) in the Midwest, 68% (8,451/12,417) to 80% (9,892/12,304) in the South, and 68% (5,147/7,520) to 72% (6,401/8,895) in the West. In adjusted analyses, retention improved over time in all regions (p<0.01, trend), although the average percent retained lagged in the West and South vs. the Northeast (p<0.01).ConclusionsIn our population, retention improved, though regional differences persisted even after adjusting for demographic and HIV risk factors. These data demonstrate regional differences in the US which may affect patient care, despite national care recommendations

Viral suppression among persons in HIV care in the United States during 2009-2013: sampling bias in Medical Monitoring Project surveillance estimates.

PURPOSE: To assess sampling bias in national viral suppression (VS) estimates derived from the Medical Monitoring Project (MMP) resulting from use of an abbreviated (four-month) annual sampling period. We aimed to improve VS estimates using cohort data from the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design (NA-ACCORD) and a novel cohort-adjustment method. METHODS: Using full calendar years of NA-ACCORD data, we assessed timing of HIV care attendance (inside vs. exclusively outside MMP's four-month sampling period), VS status at last test (<200 vs. ≥200 copies/mL), and associated demographics. These external estimates were used to standardize MMP to NA-ACCORD data with multivariable regression models of care attendance and VS, yielding adjusted 2009-2013 VS estimates with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Weighted percentages of VS among persons in HIV care were 67% in 2009 and 77% in 2013. These estimates are slightly lower than previously published MMP estimates (72% and 80% in 2009 and 2013, respectively). The number of persons receiving HIV care was previously underestimated by 20%, because patients receiving care exclusively outside the MMP sampling period did not contribute toward the weighted population estimate. CONCLUSIONS: Careful examination of national surveillance estimates using data triangulation and novel methodologies can improve the robustness of VS estimates

There is no such thing as ‘undisturbed’ soil and sediment sampling: sampler-induced deformation of salt marsh sediments revealed by 3D X-ray computed tomography

Purpose: Within most environmental contexts, the collection of 'undisturbed' samples is widely relied-upon in studies of soil and sediment properties and structure. However, the impact of sampler-induced disturbance is rarely acknowledged, despite the potential significance of modification to sediment structure for the robustness of data interpretation. In this study, 3D-computed X-ray microtomography (μCT) is used to evaluate and compare the disturbance imparted by four commonly-used sediment sampling methods within a coastal salt-marsh. Materials and methods: Paired sediment core samples from a restored salt-marsh at Orplands Farm, Essex, UK were collected using four common sampling methods (push, cut, hammer and gouge methods). Sampling using two different area-ratio cores resulted in a total of 16 cores that were scanned using 3D X-Ray computed tomography, to identify and evaluate sediment structural properties of samples that can be attributed to sampling method. Results and discussion: 3D qualitative analysis identifies a suite of sampling-disturbance structures including gross-scale changes to sediment integrity and substantial modification of pore-space, structure and distribution, independent of sediment strength and stiffness. Quantitative assessment of changes to pore-space and sediment density arising from the four sampling methods offer a means of direct comparison between the impact of depth-sampling methods. Considerable disturbance to samples result from use of push, hammer and auguring samplers, whilst least disturbance is found in samples recovered by cutting and advanced trimming approaches. Conclusions: It is evident that with the small-bore tubes and samplers commonly used in environmental studies, all techniques result in disturbance to sediment structure to a far greater extent than previously reported, revealed by μCT. This work identifies and evaluates for the first time the full nature, extent and significance of internal sediment disturbance arising from common sampling methods

Components of Culture: Nature, Interconnections, and Relevance to the Decisions on the Organization Structure

Culture is defined in terms of components and parts. The logical nature of the components and of the connections between them are identified and analyzed. These connections are used as a basis for the argument that there is a meaningful concept of the fit between the components of the organization structure and those of its cultural setting. This concept of fit is defined and the values it may logically take are identified. A theory on the goodness and badness of fit between structure components and culture components is discussed and two of its many pieces are developed in detail.culture, organization, beliefs, values, decisions