Indicators for the assessment of social resilience in flood-affected communities – A text mining-based methodology

This work turns the social resilience concept into a practical and tangible set of dimensions and indicators for social resilience assessment. It further provides an analysis of the social resilience concept in the context of flood risk governance. Floods are a worldwide recurring phenomenon that causes severe social, economic and environmental losses. In the context of global change, it is very difficult to accurately predict extreme events that may increase disaster frequency; hence the implementation of social resilience is essential to lessen the losses. Indeed, the right balance between natural and social factors and indicators is yet to be found. Social resilience has been debated extensively for decades, both in scientific and political contexts. It has been a concern in disaster risk reduction and risk governance fields, both of which have strived to implement it. The enlarged conceptual discussion regarding this topic has resulted in some indicator-based assessments that hardly reflect the conceptual discussion developed so far. These indicator-based approaches still lack accurate inclusion of social dynamics and the capacity to learn from experience. In order to contribute to a comprehensive approach (concept and methods) for assessing social resilience to floods, the evolutionary resilience concept (Davoudi, Simin; Shaw, Keith; Haider, L. Jamila; Quilnlan, Allyson E; Petterson, Garry D.; Wilkinson, Cathy; Fünfgeld, Hartmut; McEvoy, Darryn; Porter, 2012) was considered as a reference in this work, as it can include dimensions that are difficult to evaluate (non-static time and learning-capacity in multi-dimensional systems). This work addresses the challenge of a conceptual overview of social resilience to include key factors and indicators. Our methodology uses text mining, experts' surveys and bibliography reviews to generate an indicators database. The contribution of this article to the scientific debate on social resilience assessment is twofold. First, the key-concepts, words and expressions in this field are identified, which provides the basis to build a comprehensive and coherent analytical framework. Secondly, an original indicators database is proposed in line with that framework. The results of a text mining-based methodology and an online survey, involving experts from different countries, show that four of the six dimensions of the indicators database refer to social aspects of risks (Individuals, Society, Governance, and Built Environment), while the remaining two refer to the Environment and Disaster. The results obtained so far suggest the need for a next step aiming to validate the dimensions and the indicators of this database through its application to real case studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influência da água de reúso na qualidade de couros ovinos.

Com o objetivo de avaliar a influência da água de reúso na qualidade de couros ovinos, foram criados 11 cordeiros da raça Santa Inês na Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, em São Carlos, SP. Os animais receberam água a vontade, cana de açúcar como volumoso e concentrado (50:50) composto de 14,8% de proteína bruta, 74% de NDT, 0,35% de cálcio e 0,2% de fósforo, em base de matéria seca. Os animais foram mantidos em confinamento e abatidos com 160 dias de idade. Após o abate as peles foram conservadas com bactericida, curtidas com sulfato de alumínio e recurtidas com taninos naturais conjugado com sintéticos, até o estágio semi-acabado. As cargas a que foram submetidas as amostras de couro e as resistências delas à tração e ao rasgamento não diferiram (P>0,05) para os tratamentos com água de reúso e de abastecimento industrial. A carga e resistência das amostras à tração dos couros ovinos, retiradas na direção paralela ao dorso, foram maiores (P<0,05) do que para as amostras retiradas na direção perpendicular. Resultado inverso foi observado para o teste de rasgamento e alongamento (P<0,05). Tal ocorrência é atribuída à tendência dos feixes de fibras de colágeno em assumir baixos ângulos em relação à horizontal, com predominância na direção paralela à dorsal. A água de reúso de estação de tratamento de esgotos domésticos pode ser utilizada no curtimento de peles ovinas por não interferir negativamente nos aspectos qualitativos

Bayesian assessment of an existing bridge - a case study

This article presents a case study involving the assessment of an existing bridge, starting with simple methods and ending with a probabilistic analysis, the latter emphasising Bayesian methods. When assessing an existing bridge, it is common practice to collect information from the bridge in the form of samples. These samples are in general of small size, raising the question of how the corresponding statistical uncertainty can be taken into account on reliability estimates. The case study illustrates how Bayesian methods are especially suitable to deal with that source of uncertainty. Another strong point of the Bayesian methods is their ability to combine the information contained in the samples collected from the bridge with prior information, if any. This aspect will also be illustrated through the case study

Peles e couros ovinos e caprinos : indústria e mercado.

Também disponível no CD-214 SIM

Setting reference values for exhaled nitric oxide: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: The values obtained when the fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is measured are affected by several factors that are specific to the individual patient, making interpretation difficult, especially in the initial assessment of patients with respiratory symptoms. METHODS: Systematic review of studies on FeNO reference values and individual-specific factors that influence them. RESULTS: From 3739 references, 15 studies were included. Four studies included children and adolescents. In nine studies, samples were selected from the general population. Most studies reported objective measures for atopy (nine studies), but not for smoking status (one). Significant determinants of FeNO values reported were age and height (seven studies), atopy (six), smoking (four), weight (four), sex (three) and race (three). Additional factors were included in eight studies. R(2) was reported in only five studies. The logarithmic transformation of FeNO was inadequately described in seven studies. CONCLUSION: There are several equations for FeNO reference values that may be used in clinical practice, although the factors they include and the statistical methods they use vary considerably. We recommend the development of standard methods for the evaluation of normal FeNO data and that reference equations should be formulated based on a predetermined physiological model