Community-based landslide risk reduction:Managing disasters in small steps

Many areas of the world are at risk from landslides and their consequences; rainfall-triggered landslides particularly affect developing countries in the tropics. Rapid urbanization and the associated growth of unauthorized and densely populated communities in hazardous locations, such as steep slopes, are powerful drivers in a cycle of disaster risk accumulation. Frequently, it is the most socioeconomically vulnerable who inhabit landslide-prone slopes?thus increasing their exposure to landslide hazards and often increasing the hazard itself. There is growing recognition that urban landslide disaster risk is increasing in developing countries, and that new approaches to designing and delivering landslide risk reduction measures on-the-ground are urgently needed. Community-based Landslide Risk Reduction: Managing Disasters in Small Steps gives practical guidance to policy makers, project managers, and practitioners on how to work with the most vulnerable urban communities to mitigate landslide disasters. The book aims to establish three foundations for delivering ex-ante landslide risk reduction: ?a scientific base: landslide hazard can often be reduced through the construction of strategically aligned networks of surface drains; ?a community base: community residents are not just seen as those ?at risk,? but as the people with the best practical knowledge of the slopes where they live, and who can actively participate in delivering landslide risk reduction solutions; and, ?an evidence base: delivering effective landside risk reduction measures can change ex-ante risk management practices and policies. The authors provide a flexible blueprint for Management of Slope Stability in Communities (?MoSSaiC?) in which policy makers, project managers, practitioners, and communities are engaged in understanding rainfall-triggered landslide hazards, developing local teams for project delivery, prioritizing the most at-risk communities, designing and constructing appropriate slope drainage solutions, and adopting good slope stability management practices. This approach can lead governments to develop new policies for reducing landslide risk

Plasma Perturbations and Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy in the Linearly Expanding Milne-like Universe

We expose the scenarios of primordial baryon-photon plasma evolution within the framework of the Milne-like universe models. Recently, such models find a second wind and promise an inflation-free solution of a lot of cosmological puzzles including the cosmological constant one. Metric tensor perturbations are considered using the five-vectors theory of gravity admitting the Friedmann equation satisfied up to some constant. The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) spectrum is calculated qualitatively.Comment: 20 page

Asthma Prevalence, Knowledge, and Perceptions among Secondary School Pupils in Rural and Urban Costal Districts in Tanzania.

Asthma is a common chronic disease of childhood that is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of asthma among secondary school pupils in urban and rural areas of coast districts of Tanzania. The study also aimed to describe pupils' perception towards asthma, and to assess their knowledge on symptoms, triggers, and treatment of asthma. A total of 610 pupils from Ilala district and 619 pupils from Bagamoyo district formed the urban and rural groups, respectively. Using a modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire, a history of "diagnosed" asthma or the presence of a wheeze in the previous 12 months was obtained from all the studied pupils, along with documentation of their perceptions regarding asthma. Pupils without asthma or wheeze in the prior 12 months were subsequently selected and underwent a free running exercise testing. A >= 20% decrease in the post-exercise Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) values was the criterion for diagnosing exercise-induced asthma. The mean age of participants was 16.8 (+/-1.8) years. The prevalence of wheeze in the past 12 months was 12.1% in Bagamoyo district and 23.1% in Ilala district (p < 0.001). Self-reported asthma was found in 17.6% and 6.4% of pupils in Ilala and Bagamoyo districts, respectively (p < 0.001). The prevalence of exercise-induced asthma was 2.4% in Bagamoyo, and 26.3% in Ilala (P < 0.002). In both districts, most information on asthma came from parents, and there was variation in symptoms and triggers of asthma reported by the pupils. Non-asthmatic pupils feared sleeping, playing, and eating with their asthmatic peers. The prevalence rates of self-reported asthma, wheezing in the past 12 months, and exercise-induced asthma were significantly higher among urban than rural pupils. Although bronchial asthma is a common disease, pupils' perceptions about asthma were associated with fear of contact with their asthmatic peers in both rural and urban schools

Gut thinking: the gut microbiome and mental health beyond the head

Background: In recent decades, dominant models of mental illness have become increasingly focused on the head, with mental disorders being figured as brain disorders. However, research into the active role that the microbiome-gut-brain axis plays in affecting mood and behaviour may lead to the conclusion that mental health is more than an internalised problem of individual brains. Objective: This article explores the implications of shifting understandings about mental health that have come about through research into links between the gut microbiome and mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. It aims to analyse the different ways that the lines between mind and body and mental and physical health are re-shaped by this research, which is starting to inform clinical and public understanding. Design: As mental health has become a pressing issue of political and public concern it has become increasingly constructed in socio-cultural and personal terms beyond clinical spaces, requiring a conceptual response that exceeds biomedical inquiry. This article argues that an interdisciplinary critical medical humanities approach is well positioned to analyse the impact of microbiome-gut-brain research on conceptions of mind. Results: The entanglement of mind and matter evinced by microbiome-gut-brain axis research potentially provides a different way to conceptualise the physical and social concomitants of mental distress. Conclusion: Mental health is not narrowly located in the head but is assimilated by the physical body and intermingled with the natural world, requiring different methods of research to unfold the meanings and implications of gut thinking for conceptions of human selfhood

Factor Analysis of the Occurrence of Filariasis Type Wuchereria Bancrofti, and Brugia Malayi in the District of East Manggarai in 2016

Filariasis Environmental factors Independent Filariasis is a chronic infectious disease caused by filarial worms and transmitted by Mansonia, Anopheles, Culex, Armigeres mosquitoes. Living microfilariah is channeled and lymph nodes and causes inflammation of lymph node channels. This disease is one of the serious public healthproblems in Indonesia. Almost all regions of Indonesia are filariasis endemic areas, especially in Eastern Indonesia which has a higher prevalence. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors associated with the incidence of filariasis in Pota District, East Manggarai Regency in 2016. The location of this study was carried out in Pota Subdistrict,East Manggarai Regency, with sampling in 4 villages conducted for approximately 2 months, namely in September to October 2016. This study used descriptive survey method and finger blood survey to see the description of physical environmental factors and behavior of the head of the family in filariasis disease and type of microfilarias. Independent variables (free), which are included in this variable are environmental factors and behavior of the family head with indications of the physical environment (temperature, humidity, place of breeding of family mosquitoes and mosquito resting places) and the behavior of the head of the family which consists of knowledge and attitudes (knowledge of disease Filariasis: Dependent variable (bound) or variable Y which is expected to experience changes due to the influence of independent variables included in this variable is the incidence of Filariasis Disease.The population in this study were all family heads in Pota District, totaling 4570 populations, with Sampling technique is proportionally 154. Data is processed and analyzed descriptively presented in the form of frequency distribution tables of each independent variable with a 95% confidence level (α = 0.05) .The results of this study indicate that the four factors include environment, work, Air humidity, per Night effects significantly have a risk of filariasis transmission (p> 0.05). Of the various species found two types of filariasis species namely Wuchereria Bancrofti and Brugia Malayi. The conclusion from the results of this study can be concluded that the incidence of filariasis in Sambi Rampas subdistrict, East Manggarai Regency was caused by environmental factors, occupation, air humidity, human behavior and all blood survey samples found (100%) positive for filariasis Wuchereria Bancrofti and Brugia Malayi

Stochastic Gravity: Theory and Applications

Whereas semiclassical gravity is based on the semiclassical Einstein equation with sources given by the expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of quantum fields, stochastic semiclassical gravity is based on the Einstein-Langevin equation, which has in addition sources due to the noise kernel. In the first part, we describe the fundamentals of this new theory via two approaches: the axiomatic and the functional. In the second part, we describe three applications of stochastic gravity theory. First, we consider metric perturbations in a Minkowski spacetime, compute the two-point correlation functions of these perturbations and prove that Minkowski spacetime is a stable solution of semiclassical gravity. Second, we discuss structure formation from the stochastic gravity viewpoint. Third, we discuss the backreaction of Hawking radiation in the gravitational background of a black hole and describe the metric fluctuations near the event horizon of an evaporating black holeComment: 100 pages, no figures; an update of the 2003 review in Living Reviews in Relativity gr-qc/0307032 ; it includes new sections on the Validity of Semiclassical Gravity, the Stability of Minkowski Spacetime, and the Metric Fluctuations of an Evaporating Black Hol

Formation and Propagation of Matter Wave Soliton Trains

Attraction between atoms in a Bose-Einstein-Condensate renders the condensate unstable to collapse. Confinement in an atom trap, however, can stabilize the condensate for a limited number of atoms, as was observed with 7Li, but beyond this number, the condensate collapses. Attractive condensates constrained to one-dimensional motion are predicted to form stable solitons for which the attractive interactions exactly compensate for the wave packet dispersion. Here we report the formation or bright solitons of 7Li atoms created in a quasi-1D optical trap. The solitons are created from a stable Bose-Einstein condensate by magnetically tuning the interactions from repulsive to attractive. We observe a soliton train, containing many solitons. The solitons are set in motion by offsetting the optical potential and are observed to propagate in the potential for many oscillatory cycles without spreading. Repulsive interactions between neighboring solitons are inferred from their motion

Mechanisms and Impacts of Earth System Tipping Elements

Tipping elements are components of the Earth system which may respond nonlinearly to anthropogenic climate change by transitioning toward substantially different long-term states upon passing key thresholds or “tipping points.” In some cases, such changes could produce additional greenhouse gas emissions or radiative forcing that could compound global warming. Improved understanding of tipping elements is important for predicting future climate risks and their impacts. Here we review mechanisms, predictions, impacts, and knowledge gaps associated with 10 notable Earth system components proposed to be tipping elements. We evaluate which tipping elements are approaching critical thresholds and whether shifts may manifest rapidly or over longer timescales. Some tipping elements have a higher risk of crossing tipping points under middle-of-the-road emissions pathways and will possibly affect major ecosystems, climate patterns, and/or carbon cycling within the 21st century. However, literature assessing different emissions scenarios indicates a strong potential to reduce impacts associated with many tipping elements through climate change mitigation. The studies synthesized in our review suggest most tipping elements do not possess the potential for abrupt future change within years, and some proposed tipping elements may not exhibit tipping behavior, rather responding more predictably and directly to the magnitude of forcing. Nevertheless, uncertainties remain associated with many tipping elements, highlighting an acute need for further research and modeling to better constrain risks

Coherent spinor dynamics in a spin-1 Bose condensate

Collisions in a thermal gas are perceived as random or incoherent as a consequence of the large numbers of initial and final quantum states accessible to the system. In a quantum gas, e.g. a Bose-Einstein condensate or a degenerate Fermi gas, the phase space accessible to low energy collisions is so restricted that collisions be-come coherent and reversible. Here, we report the observation of coherent spin-changing collisions in a gas of spin-1 bosons. Starting with condensates occupying two spin states, a condensate in the third spin state is coherently and reversibly created by atomic collisions. The observed dynamics are analogous to Josephson oscillations in weakly connected superconductors and represent a type of matter-wave four-wave mixing. The spin-dependent scattering length is determined from these oscillations to be -1.45(18) Bohr. Finally, we demonstrate coherent control of the evolution of the system by applying differential phase shifts to the spin states using magnetic fields.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figure