Visitor safety and security compliance as a key component of event planning and implementation? Findings from a German research project on COVID-19

Introduction: Event Safety and Security Production (ESSP) typically involves event organizers, private security firms, authorities, police, fire brigades, and others. Their joint responsibility is to ensure safety, decide on measures, communicate them, and enforce them when necessary. Effective ESSP relies on visitor cooperation and rule compliance. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of rule compliance in event safety and security. With the event industry’s standstill and subsequent reopening under strict conditions, organizers had to implement comprehensive safety and hygiene measures. Studies on crowd compliance under pandemic conditions identified influencing factors. These include perceived threats, sociodemographic characteristics, group behavior, trust in institutions, etc..Methods: Little research focuses on actively promoting rule compliance. Therefore, this paper addresses three research questions (RQ): (1) To what extent does the compliance of visitor safety measures play a role in the planning and implementation of events? (2) To what extent have visitor safety measures been complied with at events during the pandemic and did that change throughout the pandemic? And finally (3) How can the compliance of measures for visitor safety explicitly be taken into account in event planning and implementation? Qualitative data from 11 expert interviews and quantitative data from a representative population survey (N = 10,239) from a German research project on non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) for the safe reopening of events during the pandemic are used to answer the first two questions (RQ1; RQ2). Results of the data triangulation point to recommendations for practical application (RQ3).Results and Discussion: Findings suggest a high level of compliance with COVID-19 measures among the survey respondents, with expert consensus on the need for active and communicative visitor involvement in the implementation and enforcement of visitor safety measures. These insights extend beyond pandemic-specific events to traditional security and safety measures in crowd management. For event practice, this indicates the importance of consistent, transparent, and engaging communication strategies starting well before the event, with the customer journey approach as a potential solution. Suitable approaches to visitor safety by event organizers should be implementable and enforceable; this is the key to ensuring that event communication in relation to ESSP is effective

Spatial interactions in agent-based modeling

Agent Based Modeling (ABM) has become a widespread approach to model complex interactions. In this chapter after briefly summarizing some features of ABM the different approaches in modeling spatial interactions are discussed. It is stressed that agents can interact either indirectly through a shared environment and/or directly with each other. In such an approach, higher-order variables such as commodity prices, population dynamics or even institutions, are not exogenously specified but instead are seen as the results of interactions. It is highlighted in the chapter that the understanding of patterns emerging from such spatial interaction between agents is a key problem as much as their description through analytical or simulation means. The chapter reviews different approaches for modeling agents' behavior, taking into account either explicit spatial (lattice based) structures or networks. Some emphasis is placed on recent ABM as applied to the description of the dynamics of the geographical distribution of economic activities, - out of equilibrium. The Eurace@Unibi Model, an agent-based macroeconomic model with spatial structure, is used to illustrate the potential of such an approach for spatial policy analysis.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures, 105 references; a chapter prepared for the book "Complexity and Geographical Economics - Topics and Tools", P. Commendatore, S.S. Kayam and I. Kubin, Eds. (Springer, in press, 2014

Protein Transfection Study Using Multicellular Tumor Spheroids of Human Hepatoma Huh-7 Cells

Several protein transfection reagents are commercially available and are powerful tools for elucidating function of a protein in a cell. Here we described protein transfection studies of the commercially available reagents, Pro- DeliverIN, Xfect, and TuboFect, using Huh-7 multicellular tumor spheroid (MCTS) as a three-dimensional in vitro tumor model. A cellular uptake study using specific endocytosis inhibitors revealed that each reagent was internalized into Huh-7 MCTS by different mechanisms, which were the same as monolayer cultured Huh-7 cells. A certain amount of Pro-DeliverIN and Xfect was uptaken by Huh-7 cells through caveolae-mediated endocytosis, which may lead to transcytosis through the surface-first layered cells of MCTS. The results presented here will help in the choice and use of protein transfection reagents for evaluating anti-tumor therapeutic proteins against MCTS models

Emergency logistics for wildfire suppression based on forecasted disaster evolution

This paper aims to develop a two-layer emergency logistics system with a single depot and multiple demand sites for wildfire suppression and disaster relief. For the first layer, a fire propagation model is first built using both the flame-igniting attributes of wildfires and the factors affecting wildfire propagation and patterns. Second, based on the forecasted propagation behavior, the emergency levels of fire sites in terms of demand on suppression resources are evaluated and prioritized. For the second layer, considering the prioritized fire sites, the corresponding resource allocation problem and vehicle routing problem (VRP) are investigated and addressed. The former is approached using a model that can minimize the total forest loss (from multiple sites) and suppression costs incurred accordingly. This model is constructed and solved using principles of calculus. To address the latter, a multi-objective VRP model is developed to minimize both the travel time and cost of the resource delivery vehicles. A heuristic algorithm is designed to provide the associated solutions of the VRP model. As a result, this paper provides useful insights into effective wildfire suppression by rationalizing resources regarding different fire propagation rates. The supporting models can also be generalized and tailored to tackle logistics resource optimization issues in dynamic operational environments, particularly those sharing the same feature of single supply and multiple demands in logistics planning and operations (e.g., allocation of ambulances and police forces). © 2017 The Author(s

The magmatic-hydrothermal transition: a perspective from fluid & melt inclusions and mineral chemistry

The exsolution of volatile phases from a silicate melt constitutes the magmatic-hydrothermal transition, which plays a vital role in determining volcanic eruption styles or in generating a sus- tained and focused fluid flux to form magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits. In particular, metal and sulfur transport by magmatic volatiles is an important step in porphyry Cu ore genesis, but the details and relative importance of processes that shape large deposits are still debated. A major impediment in quantitative studies of volatiles is the intricacy of their preservation in the rock record. Here, the composition of magmatic and hydrothermal minerals was investigated as a potential proxy for the volatile record: (1) Plagioclase phenocrysts were analyzed to test if they could inform about the water content of the melt they crystallized from, and (2) the composition of quartz in a crystallization regime changing from magmatic to lower-temperature hydrothermal was examined, analogous to previous studies that focused on the evolution of min- eralized pegmatites. Furthermore, pristine fluid and melt inclusions from natural samples may provide small aliquots of the magmatic-hydrothermal system. Previous studies largely focused on inclusions hosted in quartz veins from ore deposits or in quartz lining miarolitic cavities. These samples, however, likely suffered from re-equilibration to changing conditions, resulting in changes from the modification of water concentrations and small, monovalent cations like Cu to the point of complete replacement by later fluids. Inclusions in rapidly-quenched volcanic ejecta, on the other hand, are more likely to preserve original compositions. Water concentrations in silicate melts are commonly estimated through phase equilibria, associated with an appreciable uncertainty, or by analyzing undegassed glass, which is not al- ways available. The incorporation of more Al than stoichiometrically allowed in plagioclase, a ubiquitous magmatic mineral, was recently hypothesized to scale with the water concentration of the melt. To test if a geo-hygrometer (tool to determine water concentrations in the melt) could be developed, compositions of natural and synthetic plagioclase were carefully estimated by electron-probe micro-analysis. The natural samples comprised unaltered plagioclase crystals in barren magmatic rocks from different geological environments to cover a wide range of water concentrations as well as rocks related to porphyry Cu deposits. The synthetic samples were crystallized in piston cylinder experiments from melts with contrasting water contents at 500 MPa. The incorporation of additional Al in plagioclase was found not to correlate with the water concentration in the melt. Instead, apparent deviations from stoichiometry were demon- strated to represent analytical artifacts primarily related to beam-induced element migration. Moreover, these results also call into question the robustness of plagioclase compositions as an exploration tool for porphyry Cu deposits. The magmatic-hydrothermal system of an upper-crustal magma chamber at the verge of eruption was studied based on the example of inclusions from the caldera-forming Kos Plateau Tuff eruption. This magma chamber formed in the Aegean Arc (Greece), in a broadly exten- sional subduction zone setting involving thin continental crust, and produced eruptible silicic melt. The studied fluid inclusions were entrapped pre- to syn-eruptively in the crystallized rind of the magma chamber, which was disrupted by the eruption to form granitic clasts in the non- welded (i.e. quickly cooled) ignimbrite deposit. Based on petrography and microthermometry, two generations of fluids were distinguished: Initially, the fluid in equilibrium with rhyolitic melt at ca. 700 ◦C and around 150-180 MPa was of intermediate density and relatively low salinity (3-11 wt% NaClequivalent). Texturally less mature inclusions, comprising vapor and high-salinity brine, recorded significant decompression to <120 MPa associated with eruption at similar tem- peratures. The compositions of the various inclusion types were analyzed using laser ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The glassy melt inclusions exhibited a trend of late-stage fractionation, revealed by increasing concentrations of incompatible trace elements including Cs. The economically important metals Cu, Mo, W, and Zn significantly partitioned into the intermediate-density fluid. In particular, Cu concentrations in this fluid in the range of 100-500 ppm agreed well with previous experimental and modeling studies and, therefore, likely represented values expected for primary magmatic fluids. Most elements except Li, As, and B got further enriched in the brine upon boiling, but the calculated partition coefficients have to be regarded with reservation due to common heterogeneous entrapment of brine in the vapor inclusions. The evolution of a cooling upper-crustal magmatic-hydrothermal system was studied based on quartz (texture and trace elements) and fluid and melt inclusions sampled by the small, dacitic Escorial Ignimbrite. This ignimbrite formed part of the Corrida de Cori volcanic field in the Central Andes, at a predominantly compressional convergent margin involving thick conti- nental crust. A range of magmatic to hydrothermal quartz, comprising magmatic phenocrysts from porphyritic clasts, single megacrysts, and microcrystalline quartz from the epithermal environment were sampled from the volcanic conduit region by the ignimbrite. Trace ele- ment compositions of the different quartz types (analyzed by laser ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry) depicted an evolution from Ti-rich (magmatic) to variably Al-rich (pegmatite-like) to very Ti-poor (epithermal), also reflected in a positive trend of Al/Ti and Ge/Ti ratios. In particular, these compositions reflected fast growth of the megacrysts in the presence of both fluid and silicate melt. Further insight into the evolution of the magmatic- hydrothermal system was provided by fluid and melt inclusions in the quartz megacrysts, stud- ied with microthermometry and laser ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The fluids were entrapped at low pressure (supposedly <100 MPa) and included brine, densely packed with salt crystals and other solid phases but no visible liquid at room temperature, low-density vapor, CO2-rich intermediate-density fluid, and rare liquid. Of particular interest were the high Cu concentrations (several percent) in the brine and the widespread immiscibility between silicate melt and brine. Element distribution between the different fluids and silicate melt could not be estimated here, but the results imply that the brine, although likely minor by volume and mass compared to the vapor, may play an important role in pre-concentrating Cu and other metals

Decreasing the Economic Vulnerability of the Built Environment throughout the Disaster Recovery Processes: An Agent based Model Framework

The recurrent disastrous events impact a broad spectrum of stakeholders. Accordingly, decision-makers need to decrease the vulnerability of the built environment to future hazards to achieve long-term sustainability for the future generations. This paper discusses a decision-making framework via an agent-based model that assimilates the different participating entities in the recovery processes, while decreasing the economic vulnerability of the built environment. The developed model accounts for the objectives of the government agencies, and the needs of the residential and economic sectors in repairing their households and regaining the monthly revenue. The developed model utilizes a learning module that depicts the learning behavior of the stakeholders. In addition, the model utilizes a well-established economic vulnerability indicator that evaluates the susceptibility of the community to economic losses. Through integrating the economic vulnerability indicator into the associated stakeholder\u27s objective function, effective strategies for post-disaster recovery were identified. The model was tested on the post-Katrina recovery in the three coastal counties of Mississippi. The model was able to provide better recovery, and lower economic vulnerability values in comparison to the existing conditions in the three counties. As such, the proposed decision-making framework can be utilized by the recovery and planning agencies to balance between the short-term redevelopment objectives, and the long-term goals in decreasing the built environment vulnerabilities. Such innovative decision-making framework will be implemented on other case studies to furtherly validate the results of the model

Evolution from magmatic to hydrothermal activity beneath the Cerro Escorial volcano (NW Argentina) as sampled by erupted quartz and brines

Large quartz pebbles erupted with the Escorial ignimbrite provide insight into the late-magmatic evolution of the shallow, cooling magmatic-hydrothermal system below the Cerro Escorial volcano of the Southern Central Volcanic Zone in the Argentine Andes. The ignimbrite is of relatively small volume, crystal-rich, dacitic in composition, and not particularly water-rich, as amphibole is absent. Eruption temperature was estimated to be close to 850 °C. The quartz pebbles provide insight into the magmatic-hydrothermal transition beneath the volcano. Based on textures, trace element composition (analyzed by laser-ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry), and inclusion content, the pebbles can be separated into pegmatite-like megacrysts and lower-temperature, epithermal microcrystalline quartz. Both types are distinct from magmatic phenocrysts present in porphyritic clasts ejected by the ignimbrite. The megacrysts show a wide range of trace element concentrations, with elevated Al concentrations and Al/Ti and Ge/Ti ratios compared to quartz phenocrysts. Although some contamination by submicroscopic inclusions and cooling to near-solidus temperatures may perturb the signal in some cases, the range of trace element concentrations in quartz crystals from this system may reflect a change in crystallization conditions from initial precipitation from typical evolved silicate melt to fast growth from residual melt and/or fluid in pegmatitic pockets or coarse-grained hydrothermal “veins” at locally variable precipitation conditions. Abundant primary and secondary silicate melt inclusions and a variety of secondary fluid inclusions are present within the megacrysts. In particular, brine inclusions are densely packed with salt crystals, sometimes anhydrite and/or a silicate crystal, but no visible liquid at room temperature, and co-existing vapor inclusions are of very low density. Heating experiments of brine inclusions reveal last salt and vapor bubble dissolution temperatures around 600–700 °C, but an immiscible silicate melt surrounding the homogenized salt globule remains even at unreasonably high temperature. The co-existence of silicate melt and fluid inclusions reinforces the magmatic nature of the fluids, while boiling trails of brine (with Cu concentrations of several percent) and vapor point to relatively low pressures (<100 MPa). © 2020 Elsevier B.V.ISSN:0024-493