Ambivalence towards discourse of disaster resilience

This paper investigates empirically how the international aid community (IAC)—donors and practitioners—considers and implements disaster resilience in a specific country setting, Nepal, and throughout the rest of the world. A key finding is that there is ambivalence about a concept that has become a discourse. On a global level, the IAC utilises the discourse of resilience in a cautiously positive manner as a bridging concept. On a national level, it is being used to influence the Government of Nepal, as well as serving as an operational tool of donors. The mythical resilient urban community is fashioned in the IAC's imaginary; understanding how people create communities and what type of linkages with government urban residents desire to develop their resilience strategies is missing, though, from the discussion. Disaster resilience can be viewed as another grand plan to enhance the lives of people. Yet, regrettably, an explicit focus on individuals and their communities is lost in the process

Coastline shift analysis in data deficient regions: Exploiting the high spatio-temporal resolution Sentinel-2 products

In most developing countries, coastline shift monitoring using in-situ (ground-based) data faces challenges due, e.g., to data unreliability, inconsistency, deficiency, inaccessibility or incompleteness. Even where practically applicable, the traditional “boots on the ground” methods are labour intensive and expensive, thus imposing burden on poor countries struggling to meet other urgent pressing daily needs, i.e., food and medicine. Remote sensing (RS) techniques provide a more efficient and effective way of collecting data for coastline shift analysis. However, moderate spatio-temporal resolution RS products such as the widely used Landsat products (30 m and 16 days) may be insufficient where high accuracy is desired. In 2015, Sentinel-2 Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) remotely sensed products with higher spatio-temporal resolution (10 m and 5 days) and high spectral resolution (13 bands), which promises to improve coastline movement monitoring to high accuracy, was launched. Using two war-impacted countries (Liberia and Somalia) as case studies of regions with data deficiency or of poor quality, for the period 2015–2018, this contribution aims at (i) assessing the suitability of the new freely available high spatio-temporal Sentinel-2 products to monitor coastline shift, (ii) assessing the possibility of filling the missing Sentinel-2 gaps with Landsat 8 panchromatic band (15 m) products to provide alternative data source for mapping of coastline movements where Sentinel-2 data is unusable, e.g., due to cloud cover, and (iii), undertake a comparative analysis between Sentinel-2 (10 m), Landsat panchromatic (15 m), and Landsat multi-spectral (30 m). The results of the evaluation indicate 23% (on average) improvement gained by using Sentinel-2 compared to the traditional Landsat 30 m resolution data (i.e., 32% for Liberia and 14% for Somalia). A comparison of 100 check points from Google Earth Pro (i.e., surrogate in-situ reference data) show 91% agreement for Liberia and 85% for Somalia, indicating the potential of using Sentinel-2 data for future coastal shift studies, particularly for the data deficient regions. The results of comparative studies for Sentinel-2, Landsat panchromatic (PAN), and Landsat multi-spectral (MS) show that the percentages of Sentinel-2 and Landsat PAN that falls within 10 m threshold is much higher than Landsat MS by 35% and 26%, respectively, and for the 2016–2017 period, they provide more detailed mapping of the Liberian coastline compared to Landsat MS (30 m). Finally, panchromatic Landsat data with 15 m resolution are found to be capable of filling the missing Sentinel-2 gaps, i.e., where cloud cover hampers its usability

Comparison of outcome and characteristics between 6343 COVID-19 patients and 2256 other community-acquired viral pneumonia patients admitted to Dutch ICUs

Purpose: Describe the differences in characteristics and outcomes between COVID-19 and other viral pneumonia patients admitted to Dutch ICUs. Materials and methods: Data from the National-Intensive-Care-Evaluation-registry of COVID-19 patients admitted between February 15th and January 1th 2021 and other viral pneumonia patients admitted between January 1st 2017 and January 1st 2020 were used. Patients' characteristics, the unadjusted, and adjusted in-hospital mortality were compared. Results: 6343 COVID-19 and 2256 other viral pneumonia patients from 79 ICUs were included. The COVID-19 patients included more male (71.3 vs 49.8%), had a higher Body-Mass-Index (28.1 vs 25.5), less comorbidities (42.2 vs 72.7%), and a prolonged hospital length of stay (19 vs 9 days). The COVID-19 patients had a significantly higher crude in-hospital mortality rate (Odds ratio (OR) = 1.80), after adjustment for patient characteristics and ICU occupancy rate the OR was respectively 3.62 and 3.58. Conclusion: Higher mortality among COVID-19 patients could not be explained by patient characteristics and higher ICU occupancy rates, indicating that COVID-19 is more severe compared to other viral pneumonia. Our findings confirm earlier warnings of a high need of ICU capacity and high mortality rates among relatively healthy COVID-19 patients as this may lead to a higher mental workload for the staff. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Variation in monitoring and treatment policies for intracranial hypertension in traumatic brain injury: A survey in 66 neurotrauma centers participating in the CENTER-TBI

Background: No definitive evidence exists on how intracranial hypertension should be treated in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). It is therefore likely that centers and practitioners individually balance potential benefits and risks of different intracranial pressure (ICP) management strategies, resulting in practice variation. The aim of this study was to examine variation in monitoring and treatment policies for intracranial hypertension in patients with TBI. Methods: A 29-item survey on ICP monitoring and treatment was developed based on literature and expert opinion, and pilot-tested in 16 centers. The questionnaire was sent to 68 neurotrauma centers participating in the Collaborative European Neurotrauma Effectiveness Research (CENTER-TBI) study. Results: The survey was completed by 66 centers (97% response rate). Centers were mainly academic hospitals (n = 60, 91%) and designated level I trauma centers (n = 44, 67%). The Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines were used in 49 (74%) centers. Approximately ninety percent of the participants (n = 58) indicated placing an ICP monitor in patients with severe TBI and computed tomography abnormalities. There was no consensus on other indications or on peri-insertion precautions. We found wide variation in the use of first- and second-tier treatments for elevated ICP. Approximately half of the centers were classified as having a relatively aggressive approach to ICP monitoring and treatment (n = 32, 48%), whereas the others were considered more conservative (n = 34, 52%). Conclusions: Substantial variation was found regarding monitoring and treatment policies in patients with traumatic brain injury and intracranial hypertension. The results of this survey indicate a lack of consensus between European neurotrauma centers and provide an opportunity and necessity for comparative effectiveness research

SPC helpt producent te sturen op veiligheid en kwaliteit

Statistische procesbeheersing (SPC), deze wordt in de voedingsindustrie nog nauwelijks toegepast ondanks dat de potentiele voordelen gelijk zijn aan die voor andere industrieen. In een tabel zijn de aspecten van HACCP en SPC naast elkaar geze

Natuur- en landschapscriteria voor Nationale Parken van Wereldklasse – Naar Nederlandse natuur van internationale allure : Adviesrapport

Om tot de gewenste opschaling en kwaliteitsimpuls voor de Nationale Parken van Wereldklasse te komen zijn afwegingscriteria nodig met betrekking tot de ruimtelijke positie en dimensies van zo’n park. Hiervoor is een studie naar de landschapsecologische en cultuurhistorische kwaliteiten nodig waarop dergelijke afwegingscriteria gefundeerd kunnen zijn. Bovendien wil de programmadirectie Na-tionale Parken weten in hoeverre deze kwaliteiten aansluiten bij internationaal gangbare criteria. De vraag waar dit adviesrapport antwoord op moet geven, luidt dan ook: ‘Wat zijn de natuur- en land-schapscriteria op basis waarvan natuur van internationaal belang in Nederland geïdentificeerd, be-grensd en verder ontwikkeld kunnen worden, in relatie tot Nationale Parken van Wereldklasse?

Adaptive bone formation in acellular vertebrae of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.)

Mammalian bone is an active tissue in which osteoblasts and osteoclasts balance bone mass. This process of adaptive modelling and remodelling is probably regulated by strain-sensing osteocytes. Bone of advanced teleosts is acellular yet, despite the lack of osteocytes, it is capable of an adaptive response to physical stimuli. Strenuous exercise is known to induce lordosis. Lordosis is a ventrad curvature of the vertebral column, and the affected vertebrae show an increase in bone formation. The effects of lordosis on the strain distribution in sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) vertebrae are assessed using finite element modelling. The response of the local tissue is analyzed spatially and ontogenetically in terms of bone volume. Lordotic vertebrae show a significantly increased strain energy due to the increased load compared with normal vertebrae when loaded in compression. High strain regions are found in the vertebral centrum and parasagittal ridges. The increase in strain energy is attenuated by a change in architecture due to the increased bone formation. The increased bone formation is seen mainly at the articular surfaces of the vertebrae, although some extra bone is formed in the vertebral centrum. Regions in which the highest strains are found do not spatially correlate with regions in which the most extensive bone apposition occurs in lordotic vertebrae of sea bass. Mammalian-like strain-regulated bone modelling is probably not the guiding mechanism in adaptive bone modelling of acellular sea bass vertebrae. Chondroidal ossification is found at the articular surfaces where it mediates a rapid adaptive response, potentially attenuating high stresses on the dorsal zygapophyses

Functional analysis of postnatal collagen network remodelling in articular cartilage

Healthy adult articular cartilage (AC) has a typical depth-dependent composition and structure that results in a tissue stiffness gradient: AC stiffness increases with increasing distance from the articular surface. This gradient is important for normal functioning of the mature joint, but is absent at birth and develops in early life. AC is a hydrated porous tissue in which the collagen network comprises ~75% of the solid mass. We investigated the development of the collagen network in 50 sheep divided over ten sample points between birth and maturity. We assessed three collagen network parameters: predominant collagen fibril orientation, collagen density, and collagen network anisotropy. Results were used in a numerical model to estimate the contributions of the development of each of these parameters to the development of the AC stiffness gradient. Predominant fibril orientation changed from parallel to the articular surface at birth, to a depth-dependent arcade-like structure. Collagen reorientation was finished before sexual maturity (36 weeks). Collagen density increased over the full tissue depth, increased most adjacent to the bone, and had not yet stabilised at 72 weeks. The numerical simulations show that collagen reorientation alone can result in a stiffness gradient that spans an order of magnitude. Based on the simulations, we hypothesise that reorientation of fibrils and increase in collagen density serve distinct functional roles: reorientation functions to establish the stiffness gradient, and collagen density increases to reduce fibril strains that tend to increase due to reorientation

A functional analysis of myotomal muscle-fibre reorientation in developing zebrafish Danio rerio

The fast muscle fibres in the anterior trunk of teleost fish are primarily responsible for large amplitude undulatory swimming motions. Previous theoretical studies suggested that the near-helical arrangement of these fibres results in a (fairly) uniform distribution of fibre strain and work output during swimming. However, the underlying simplifications of these studies precluded unequivocal support for this hypothesis. We studied the fast muscle-fibre reorientation and the concomitant myotomal strain variance in a body segment near the anus during larval and juvenile development in the zebrafish. From 2 to 4 days post fertilization (d.p.f.), the measured angles between the muscle fibres and the longitudinal axis of the zebrafish were small. Yet, onset of a near-helical muscle-fibre arrangement was recognized. Juveniles of 51 d.p.f. have larger mean fibre angles and already possess the near-helical pattern of adult teleosts. We present a model that computes the distribution of the strain along the muscle fibres from measured muscle-fibre orientations, body curvature and prescribed tissue deformations. We selected the most extreme body curvatures, which only occur during fast starts and turning manoeuvres. Using the model, we identified the (non-linear) tissue deformations that yield the least variance in the muscle-fibre strain. We show that simple beam theory cannot reliably predict the strain distribution: it results in very small strains and negligible work output of the most medial fibres. In our model, we avoided these functional limitations by adding a shear deformation to the simple beam deformation. At 2 d.p.f., the predicted variance in the muscle-fibre strain for the shear deformation optimized for strain uniformity is fairly small, due to the small variation in the fibre distances to the medial plane that is caused by the relatively large spinal cord and notochord. The predicted minimal strain variance increases sharply from 2 d.p.f. to 3 d.p.f., remains relatively large at 4 d.p.f., but decreases again considerably at 15 and 39 d.p.f. The 51 d.p.f. stage exhibits the smallest variance in the fibre strains (for the identified optimal deformation), in spite of the widely varying muscle-fibre distances to the medial plane. The non-linear nature of the body deformations with the least strain variance implies an interesting optimization constraint: the juvenile muscle-fibre arrangement results in small predicted spatial strain variations at large-amplitude body curvatures, at the (modest) expense of a large coefficient of variation for small curvatures. We conclude that larval fish rapidly change their muscle-fibre orientations (probably in response to mechanical signals). Within the theoretically examined plausible range of deformations, the closest correspondence to a uniform strain field was found for the juvenile stage