Robustness and resilience in the design of emergency management systems

Chapitre d'ouvrage (à paraître) - Titre ouvrage: "Natural hazards and risk reduction in Europe - from Science to Practice" - Editors: "J. Schanze, N. Bischof, H. Modaressi, J.M. Jacques, G. Eftichidis" - Publisher: SpringerThe aim of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for the design of information systems for crisis management. The framework is grounded in the idea that the more an organisational system is unstructured (such as in a crisis situation), the more we need information technologies (IT) which are able to promote self organizing processes. In addition, IT systems should also help to improve the shared knowledge between stakeholders in order to promote a new form of organisation. Following this perspective, we will first give some examples showing that emergence and self organization are mandatory processes in the first phase in a crisis. We will also address the two notions of robustness and resilience in order to develop a more efficient approach in engineering crisis systems

Technological University City - Moving, Merging, and Managing the Civic Engagement Mission

DIT’s roots lie in vocational education, as it grew out of a unification of several colleges around the city of Dublin, the first of which was established in 1887 (these included Colleges of Marketing and Design, Commerce, Technology, Music, and Catering). In 1992 these became Technological University City (DIT). DIT is now one of the biggest Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Technological University City is not currently recognised as a university under Irish law although it is a member of the European University Association; a process for designation is underway It offers a range of professional-oriented education and research programmes aligned with the European Qualifications Framework-equivalent levels five to eight (Higher Certificate, Degree, Masters, Doctoral degree). There are four Colleges - Engineering and Built Environment, Business, Sciences and Health, Arts and Tourism – and DIT has a Graduate Research School, several research institutes, centres and groups, and technology transfer and business incubation units. DIT has a tradition of engaging with employers, from arranging work placement opportunities for students to co-developing programmes with local industry to upskill their employees. DIT also has a strong tradition of engaging with its surrounding communities, often socio-economically disadvantaged inner-city neighbourhoods, to promote learning opportunities and access to higher education. Thirty percent of DIT students enter through non-standard routes; this includes mature students, students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, those with a disability and from further education

Fretting-corrosion between 316L SS and PMMA: Influence of ionic strength, protein and electrochemical conditions on material wear. Application to orthopaedic implants

International audienceIn biomedical field, fretting-corrosion between 316L SS femoral stem and bone cement is one of the significant causes of the hip prosthesis loosening. This article investigates wear by fretting-corrosion at the contact between 316L and PMMA. The influences of the ionic strength (NaCl solutions from 10−3 to 1 mol L−1), a model protein (albumin) and electrochemical conditions on contact behaviour are studied. At OCP (open circuit potential) conditions, the chlorides concentration, i.e. the ionic strength, increases the 316L wear; and albumin, concentration of 1 g L−1, does not play a significant role in total 316L wear. At cathodic applied potential E = −400 mV(SCE), a threshold concentration of 10−1 mol L−1 (NaCl solution), Cth, indicates two behaviours: a protective effect below Cth, and an additional anodic dissolution above Cth. One might suggest that, beyond Cth, the passive layer is not efficient for protecting against the corrosion. At this potential, albumin reduces wear due to corrosion and amplifies mechanical wear induced by corrosion. Albumin seems to act as an anodic inhibitor. To determine the mechanisms of synergism, a "more cathodic" potential is applied, E = −800 mV(SCE), during fretting-corrosion experiments. Consequently, the corrosive wear can be neglected and the mechanical wear can be only measured

Utility of B-type natriuretic peptide in predicting medium-term mortality in patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery

We assessed the ability of pre-operative B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels to predict medium-term mortality in patients undergoing major noncardiac surgery. During a median 654 days follow-up 33 patients from a total cohort of 204 patients (16%) died. The optimal cut-off in this cohort, determined using a receiver operating characteristic curve, was >35pg.mL-1. This was associated with a 3.47-fold increase in the hazard of death (p=0.001) and had a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 68% for this outcome. These findings extend recent work demonstrating that BNP levels obtained before major noncardiac surgery can be used to predict peri-operative morbidity, and indicate that they also forecast medium-term mortality.This work was supported by a grant from TENOVUS Scotland. The Health Services Research Unit is core-funded by the Chief Scientists Office of the Scottish Executive Health Department.Peer reviewedAuthor versio

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT IN CANADA

This report explores the engagement between Indigenous Peoples and the Responsible Investment (RI) industry in Canada. Based on interviews with stakeholders, observation of industry conferences, and documentary evidence collected during the first year of the pandemic (i.e., March 2020-March 2021), this report offers an overview of the current discussions regarding Indigenous Peoples in the RI industry. RI is an investment approach that incorporates Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into the selection and management of investments (RIA, 2021). In 2019, the Responsible Investment Association (RIA) estimated that assets in Canada managed using one or more RI strategies2 were worth $3.2 trillion, or 61.8 per cent, of total Canadian assets under management (RIA, 2020)

Early Starters versus Late Beginners

We consider a model of wage formation characterized by two features, learning and downward rigidity. We show that wages should exhibit a late‐beginning property: when one controls for the wage at date t, the wage at date t + 1 should be negatively correlated with the wage at date 6–1. We test this property on a sample of about 1,000 executives of a French state‐owned firm whose careers we observe for 15 years. This organization exhibits the features that charecterize internal labor markets; in particular, careers consist of sequences of discrete promotions, a fact that generates specific econometric problems. The results confirm the prediction

Atomic force microscopy investigations on pits and debris related to fretting-corrosion between 316L SS and PMMA

International audienceIn the case of hip prostheses, debris generation, due to the fretting-corrosion phenomenon between the femoral stem and the bone cement is one of the most significant causes of reintervention. In this study we use atomic force microscopy (AFM) to analyze PMMA particles and pitting corrosion on 316L SS as a function of chlorides and albumin concentration. Without albumin, the number of pits increases with the chlorides concentration. Contrary to the protective effect of albumin on global corrosive wear, albumin tends to increase the number of pits. The number of ejected particles highly depends on electrochemical conditions and the in vivo conditions, Open Circuit Potential, seem to lead to a small number of particles. This work has also explored atomic force microscopy as a "new" characterization technique for wear debris and demonstrates that 80% of particles have a size inferior to 100 nm, which is the 'critical size' for tissues response

A socio-cultural understanding of application to and participation in higher education for school leavers from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds in an inner city area.

There is considerable knowledge about why school-leavers from socio- economically disadvantaged backgrounds do not participate in higher education, however, there is less knowledge about why and how the minority of such young adults do apply and participate in higher education. From a policy and practice perspective, to increase participation in higher education, this knowledge is important. In Ireland, research from an interpretative socio-cultural perspective is particularly valuable, given the traditional dominance of research and policy based on the concepts of socio-economic group and barriers to participation, and a limited tradition of interpretative research. This study, using a combined life history and case-study methodology, provides a socio-cultural understanding of the broad range of enabling factors supporting application to and participation in higher education through in-depth interviews with a group of twenty young adults from similar socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds in an inner city area, interviews with people they identified as influential in their education decisions and interviews with education and community personnel from the area. The study shows that there were common elements in all of the young peoples' lives which enabled them to avail of increased education opportunities in the area and be in a position to consider applying to higher education. There was also evidence of diversity within socio-economic disadvantage in the form of three groups with differing orientations towards higher education, experiences of education, sense of identity and desires for their lives. Networks with different types of social capital and providing different levels of cultural capital specific to accessing higher education were key to understanding the differences between the three groups and understanding who did and did not participate in higher education. The study draws on and extends Bourdieu's work on the relationship between field, capital and habitus and Woolcock's work on social capital to provide an understanding of the factors affecting application to and participation in higher education for young adults from SED backgrounds