Addressing the needs of children with disabilities experiencing disaster or terrorism

Purpose of review: This paper reviews the empirical literature on psychosocial factors relating to children with disabilities in the context of disaster or terrorism. Recent findings: Research indicates individuals with disabilities experience increased exposure to hazards due to existing social disparities and barriers associated with disability status. However, studies on the psychological effects of disaster/terrorism on children with preexisting disabilities are exceedingly few and empirical evidence of the effectiveness of trauma-focused therapies for this population is limited. Secondary adversities, including social stigma and health concerns, also compromise the recovery of these children post-disaster/terrorism. Schools and teachers appear to be particularly important in the recovery of children with disabilities to disaster. Disasters, terrorism, and war all contribute to the incidence of disability, as well as disproportionately affect children with preexisting disabilities. Summary: Disaster preparedness interventions and societal changes are needed to decrease the disproportionate environmental and social vulnerability of children with disabilities to disaster and terrorism

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Modify Human Cortical Visual Processing—A Double-Blind, Crossover Study

While cardiovascular and mood benefits of dietary omega-3 fatty acids such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) are manifest, direct neurophysiological evidence of their effects on cortical activity is still limited. Hence we chose to examine the effects of two proprietary fish oil products with different EPA∶DHA ratios (EPA-rich, high EPA∶DHA; DHA-rich) on mental processing speed and visual evoked brain activity. We proposed that nonlinear multifocal visual evoked potentials (mfVEP) would be sensitive to any alteration of the neural function induced by omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, because the higher order kernel responses directly measure the degree of recovery of the neural system as a function of time following stimulation. Twenty-two healthy participants aged 18–34, with no known neurological or psychiatric disorder and not currently taking any nutritional supplementation, were recruited. A double-blind, crossover design was utilized, including a 30-day washout period, between two 30-day supplementation periods of the EPA-rich and DHA-rich diets (with order of diet randomized). Psychophysical choice reaction times and multi-focal nonlinear visual evoked potential (VEP) testing were performed at baseline (No Diet), and after each supplementation period. Following the EPA-rich supplementation, for stimulation at high luminance contrast, a significant reduction in the amplitude of the first slice of the second order VEP kernel response, previously related to activation in the magnocellular pathway, was observed. The correlations between the amplitude changes of short latency second and first order components were significantly different for the two supplementations. Significantly faster choice reaction times were observed psychophysically (compared with baseline performance) under the EPA-rich (but not DHA-rich) supplementation, while simple reaction times were not affected. The reduced nonlinearities observed under the EPA-rich diet suggest a mechanism involving more efficient neural recovery of magnocellular-like visual responses following cortical activation

A conceptual governance framework for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction integration

Climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) have similar targets and goals in relation to climate change and related risks. The integration of CCA in core DRR operations is crucial to provide simultaneous benefits for social systems coping with challenges posed by climate extremes and climate change. Although state actors are generally responsible for governing a public issue such as CCA and DRR integration, the reform of top-down governing modes in neoliberal societies has enlarged the range of potential actors to include non state actors from economic and social communities. These new intervening actors require in-depth investigation. To achieve this goal, the article investigates the set of actors and their bridging arrangements that create and shape governance in CCA and DRR integration. The article conducts a comprehensive literature review in order to retrieve main actors and arrangements. The article summarizes actors and arrangements into a conceptual governance framework that can be used as a backdrop for future research on the topic. However, this framework has an explorative form, which must be refined according to site- and context-specific variables, norms, or networks. Accordingly, this article promotes an initial application of the framework to different contexts. Scholars may adopt the framework as a roadmap with which to corroborate the existence of a theoretical and empirical body of knowledge on governance of CCA and DRR integration

Impact of Urban Conditions of Firm Performance of Migrant Entrepreneurs: A Comparative Dutch - US Study

Recent studies on ethnic entrepreneurship have pointed at an increasing share of migrants in urban small- and medium-sized entrepreneurial businesses. These migrant activities are crucial to the urban economy in many countries, as they employ a significant part of the workforce. The main objective of our study is to identify success conditions of ethnic entrepreneurship by using concepts from social capital and human capital from the literature on empirical factors that are responsible for successful ethnic entrepreneurship. The empirical part of the paper is based on a survey questionnaire among migrant entrepreneurs in the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and in Fairfax, County in the state of Virginia in the US. We present an overview of cultural, ethno-psychological and motivational aspects that contribute to the understanding of similarities and differences between ethnic entrepreneurs in both locations. The analysis is structured around several dimensions of social and human capital including personal and business characteristics, and network participation for improving business performance. The findings of the two studies are compared to explore a possible correspondence in business performance patterns. The research tool used to assess performance is Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a technique for comparative efficiency analysis in various types of corporate organizations. Finally, concluding remarks are presented and possible extensions of the analysis are suggested. © Springer-Verlag 2009

Universal Design of Information Sharing Tools for Disaster Risk Reduction

acceptedVersio

Towards an Indoor Navigation Application for Emergency Evacuations and Persons with Visual Impairments – Experiences from First Responders and End Users

As natural and human disaster are increasingly affecting people’s lives around the globe in a growing and variegated way, the need to be prepared for a variety of conditions is imperative. Notwithstanding the relevance of ICT in assisting in preparedness and the importance of addressing the diversity of the population have been recognized, there are still gaps in understanding How to properly apply these principles in emergency management. This study explores how indoor navigation technology can contribute to faster, better and safer evacuations by providing useful information to emergency personnel and affected public at the scene of the evacuation. For this purpose, the ongoing INSIDE project aims to take an existing mobile app that provides universally designed indoor-navigation at Oslo Metropolitan University, the OsloMet application, and re-design it to support first responders with situational awareness assistance as well as to assist the public in evacuating efficiently. Contextually, a survey has been conducted among emergency services’ representatives, in order to identify what information and functionality could be valuable for their work during emergency evacuation