Assessing Vulnerability Before, During and After a Natural Disaster in Fragile Regions: Case Study of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in Sri Lanka and Indonesia

Current approaches of measuring vulnerability to natural hazards generally use a rather static perspective that focuses on a single point in time?often before a hazardous event occurs. In contrast, the paper argues that vulnerability assessment should also take into account the changing dynamics during and after a disaster. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the situation in Sri Lanka and Indonesia within the context of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The author presents concepts for measuring revealed vulnerabilities and methods of assessing the recovery process, and highlights the differing ways in which the tsunami affected the ongoing civil conflicts in both regions.vulnerability, dynamics, transition, natural hazards, fragile regions, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, coastal regions, tsunami

Very cold and massive cores near ISOSS J18364-0221: Implications for the initial conditions of high-mass star-formation

We report the discovery of two very cold and massive molecular cloud cores in the region ISOSS J18364-0221. The object has been identified by a systematic search for very early evolutionary stages of high-mass stars using the 170 micron ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey (ISOSS). Submm continuum and molecular line measurements reveal two compact cores within this region. The first core has a temperature of 16.5 K, shows signs of ongoing infall and outflows, has no NIR or MIR counterpart and is massive enough (M ~ 75 M_sun) to form at least one O star with an associated cluster. It is therefore considered a candidate for a genuine high-mass protostar and a high-mass analog to the Class 0 objects. The second core has an average gas and dust temperature of only ~ 12 K and a mass of M ~ 280 M_sun. Its temperature and level of turbulence are below the values found for massive cores so far and are suggested to represent the initial conditions from which high-mass star formation occurs.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

” in schwedischer und dänischer Übersetzung

The article discusses the very frequent occurrence of indirect (reported) speech in Grass’ novel Der Butt. It presents strategies which have been chosen by the Swedish (resp. Danish) translator of the novel. By means of graphemic, syntactic, lexical and other indicators the translation substitutes the morphological category of subjunctive in the original text. Nevertheless it fails quite often to indicate clearly whether the construction in question is reported speech or the author’s commentary

Usability Challenges with Insulin Pump Devices in Diabetes Care: What Trainers Observe with First-Time Pump Users

Insulin pumps are designed for the self-management of diabetes mellitus in patients and are known for their complexity of use. Pump manufacturers engage trainers to teach patients how to use the devices correctly to control the symptoms of their disease. Usability research related to insulin pumps and other infusion pumps with first-time users as participants has centered on the relationship between user interface design and the effectiveness of task completion. According to prior research, the characteristics of system behavior in a real life environment remain elusive. A suitable approach to acquire information about potential usability problems encountered by first-time users is to obtain this information from the health care professionals who train them. The purpose of the study was to discover the lived experiences and shared impressions of insulin pump trainers during training sessions with first-time users. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to uncover the phenomena associated with usability challenges that first-time users of insulin pumps face when learning to use the device. Six participants representing a homogeneous sample were recruited from a wide geographic area in the United States, and semi-structured interviews containing open-ended questions were conducted with the respondents. The data from the lived experiences and shared impressions of the participants were used to develop the following five super-ordinate themes: Emotion-charged Environment, Personalized Training, Safety Issues and Disaster Planning, Professional Dedication, and The Voice. The essence of participants’ experience was described around the pivotal moment when the training sessions are successfully completed and insulin pump therapy becomes alive. The findings of this study have implications for information systems professionals who conduct research on the safe design and usability of safety critical medical devices. In addition, the findings from this study create opportunities for practice to improve the initiation of insulin pump therapy in patients with diabetes

An infrared-submillimeter study of star-forming regions selected by the ISOSS 170um survey

Using the ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey (ISOSS) at 170um a sample of galactic star-forming regions exhibiting very cold dust temperatures (< 20 K) and high masses (> 100 M_sun) has been established. We characterise the star-forming content of five regions that were selected as potential sites for early stage high-mass star formation using SCUBA (JCMT) and Spitzer observations. In every region we identify one to four submillimeter clumps with projected sizes between 0.1 and 0.4 pc. The dust temperatures range from 11.6 to 21.3 K and the estimated clump masses are 2 to 166 M_sun. Towards the majority of submillimeter peaks we find point sources in the near- to mid-infrared. Most are interpreted as low-mass young stellar objects but we also detect very red sources. They probably represent very young and deeply embedded protostars that continue to accrete clump material and may reach higher masses. Several candidate intermediate-mass proto- or pre-main-sequence stars embedded in the clumps are identified. A subset of four clumps may be massive enough (> 100 M_sun) to form high-mass stars and accompanying clusters. The absence of stellar precursors with current masses in the high-mass regime leave the type of star formation occuring in the clumps unsettled. We confirm the presence of large fractions of cold material as derived from large-scale far-infrared measurements which dominates the emission of most clumps and suggests that the star-forming process will continue.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Infrared spectroscopy of intermediate mass young stellar objects

In this paper we present Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph spectroscopy for 14 intermediate-mass young stellar objects. We use Spitzer spectroscopy to investigate the physical properties of these sources and their environments. Our sample can be divided into two types of objects: young isolated, embedded objects with spectra that are dominated by ice and silicate absorption bands, and more evolved objects that are dominated by extended emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and pure H2 rotational lines. We are able to constrain the illuminating FUV fields by classifying the PAH bands below 9micron. For most of the sources we are able to detect several atomic fine structure lines. In particular, the [NeII] line appearing in two regions could originate from unresolved photodissociation regions (PDRs) or J-shocks. We relate the identified spectral features to observations obtained from NIR through submillimeter imaging. The spatial extent of several H2 and PAH bands is matched with morphologies identified in previous Spitzer/IRAC observations. This also allows us to distinguish between the different H2 excitation mechanisms. In addition, we calculate the optical extinction from the silicate bands and use this to constrain the spectral energy distribution fit, allowing us to estimate the masses of these YSOs.Comment: 21 pages, 26 figures, accepted to Ap

Nominal Topology for Data Languages

We propose a novel topological perspective on data languages recognizable by orbit-finite nominal monoids. For this purpose, we introduce pro-orbit-finite nominal topological spaces. Assuming globally bounded support sizes, they coincide with nominal Stone spaces and are shown to be dually equivalent to a subcategory of nominal boolean algebras. Recognizable data languages are characterized as topologically clopen sets of pro-orbit-finite words. In addition, we explore the expressive power of pro-orbit-finite equations by establishing a nominal version of Reiterman's pseudovariety theorem.Comment: Extended version of the corresponding paper accepted for ICALP 202

Integrating Remote Sensing and Social Science - The correlation of urban morphology with socioeconomic parameters

The alignment, small-scale transitions and characteristics of buildings, streets and open spaces constitute a heterogeneous urban morphology. The urban morphology is the physical reflection of a society that created it, influenced by historical, social, cultural, economic, political, demographic and natural conditions as well as their developments. Within the complex urban environment homogeneous physical patterns and sectors of similar building types, structural alignments or similar built-up densities can be localized and classified. Accordingly, it is assumed that urban societies also feature a distinctive socioeconomic urban morphology that is strongly correlated with the characteristics of a city’s physical morphology: Social groups settle spatially with one’s peer more or less segregated from other social groups according to, amongst other things, their economic status. This study focuses on the analysis, whether the static physical urban morphology correlates with socioeconomic parameters of its inhabitants – here with the example indicators income and value of property. Therefore, the study explores on the capabilities of high resolution optical satellite data (Ikonos) to classify patterns of urban morphology based on physical parameters. In addition a household questionnaire was developed to investigate on the cities socioeconomic morphology

Der Einfluss einer einmaligen, oralen Gabe von Dexamethason auf Leukozyten, die Plasmaspiegel inflammatorischer Zytokine und lösliche Zytokinrezeptoren

Das unspezifische Immunsystem und die HHN-Achse stehen in engem Zusammenhang und beeinflussen sich gegenseitig in komplexer Weise: Während die zum Immunsystem zählenden Zytokine bei inflammatorischen Reaktionen auf verschiedenen Ebenen die Aktivierung der HHN-Achse erhöhen und somit zu vermehrter Sekretion von Kortisol aus der Nebenniere führt, hemmt die Zugabe von Glukokortikoiden die Ausschüttung eben dieser inflammatorischen Zytokine aus immunkompetenten Zellen. Bereits kleinste Veränderungen der Spiegel von durch das neuroendokrine System regulierten, zirkulierenden Zytokinen spielen zudem eine wichtige Rolle in der Interaktion von Gehirn und Immunsystem, sowie in Erkrankungen des ZNS: So werden Parameter wie Vigilanz, Appetit, Kognition und Schlaf-Wach-Verhalten durch die Spiegel von IL-1, IL-6 und TNF-a beeinflusst. Demzufolge wirken Glukokortikoide immunmodulatorisch auf das aktivierte, unspezifische Immunsystem und bereits kleine Veränderungen zirkulierender inflammatorischer Zytokine haben physiologische Relevanz in Bezug auf die Interaktion von ZNS und Immunsystem. Es ist jedoch nicht klar, ob geringfügige physiologische Änderungen von Glukokortikoidspiegeln bei Gesunden und nicht immunaktivierten Menschen überhaupt Zytokine supprimieren können. In einer doppelblinden, Plazebo-kontrollierten Studie wurde daher in einer aufwendigen Studie mit Bestimmung von Zytokinen durch ELISA Verfahren und Analyse immunologisch aktiver Zellen mit Hilfe von Immunfluoreszenzdurchflusszytometrie (FACS) der Einfluss von 1.5mg beziehungsweise 3.0mg Dexamethason (DEX), welches zu verschiedenen Zeitpunkten entweder um 9:00 Uhr oder um 21:00 appliziert wurde, an gesunden männlichen Probanden untersucht. Dabei zeigte zunächst, dass die meisten der gemessenen Parameter bereits unter Plazebo - Bedingungen signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den Messzeitpunkten aufwiesen, was sich im wesentlichen mit der bestehenden Literatur deckt, während solche tageszeitlichen Unterschiede für die Anzahl und Leuchtdichte CD16b bzw. CD18 tragender Zellen in der Immunfluoreszenz, sowie für IL-6, TNF-a und die löslichen TNF-Rezeptoren so noch nicht in vivo vorbeschrieben sind. Weiterhin konnte neben einer Dosis- und Applikationszeitpunkts-unabhängigen Suppression der endogenen Kortisolsekretion auch eine signifikante Temperaturerhöhung am Morgen durch abendlich appliziertes DEX nachgewiesen werden. Eine mehrfach vorbeschriebene Leukozytose konnte über die Versuchsreihe über 24 Stunden gezeigt werden, wobei diese nach 12 Stunden auf einen Anstieg der Granulozytenzahlen, nach 24 Stunden auf Anstiege von Lymphozyten- und Granulozytenzahlen zurückzuführen war. In ihrer Aktivität wurden neutrophile Granulozyten 12 Stunden nach morgendlicher Gabe gemindert, während 24 Stunden nach DEX-Gabe sich dagegen sogar ein signifikanter Anstieg bei Abend-Applikation von DEX einstellte. Die Spiegel von TNF-a und des löslichen TNF-Rezeptors p75 wurden nach Applikation für 24 Stunden signifikant gesenkt. Dabei wurden die Spiegel von sTNF-R p75 12 Stunden nach Einnahme stärker beeinflusst, wenn die Applikation am Abend erfolgte. Die Spiegel des anderen löslichen TNF-Rezeptors p55 dagegen waren zwar 12 Stunden nach Einnahme abgesenkt, stiegen nach 24 Stunden jedoch wieder sogar signifikant über das Ausgangsniveau an. Bei den IL-6 Spiegeln konnte nach 12 Stunden dagegen kein signifikanter supprimierender Effekt nachgewiesen werden, nach 24 Stunden nach Einnahme von DEX kam es zu einem signifikanten Anstieg. Die Untersuchung immunmodulatorischer Effekte von Dexamethason auf Leukozyten und Plasmaspiegel von inflammatorischen Zytokinen bestätigte also bekannte Effekte von DEX, lieferte aber auch neue Erkenntnisse und sogar unerwartete Befunde: Zusätzlich zur bekannten Granulozytose konnte bei geringen Mengen DEX auch ein später Anstieg von Lymphozyten und Monozytenzahlen im peripheren Blut nachgewiesen werden. Erstmals konnte in der durchgeführten Studie zudem gezeigt werden, dass sich die geringen, beim Gesunden vorhandenen Spiegel von TNF-a, sTNF-R p55 und p75 durch kleine Mengen Dexamethason supprimieren lassen. Somit konnte gezeigt werden, dass nicht nur eine Erhöhung der Spiegel inflammatorischer Zytokine und deren Rezeptoren, sondern auch Suppression derselben unter physiologischen Bedingungen ohne Aktivierung des Immunsystems eine bedeutende Rolle zum Beispiel in Bezug auf Interaktionen zwischen Gehirn und Immunsystem spielen kann