102 research outputs found

    Housing Arrangement and Location Determine the Likelihood of Housing Loss Due to Wildfire

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    Surging wildfires across the globe are contributing to escalating residential losses and have major social, economic, and ecological consequences. The highest losses in the U.S. occur in southern California, where nearly 1000 homes per year have been destroyed by wildfires since 2000. Wildfire risk reduction efforts focus primarily on fuel reduction and, to a lesser degree, on house characteristics and homeowner responsibility. However, the extent to which land use planning could alleviate wildfire risk has been largely missing from the debate despite large numbers of homes being placed in the most hazardous parts of the landscape. Our goal was to examine how housing location and arrangement affects the likelihood that a home will be lost when a wildfire occurs. We developed an extensive geographic dataset of structure locations, including more than 5500 structures that were destroyed or damaged by wildfire since 2001, and identified the main contributors to property loss in two extensive, fire-prone regions in southern California. The arrangement and location of structures strongly affected their susceptibility to wildfire, with property loss most likely at low to intermediate structure densities and in areas with a history of frequent fire. Rates of structure loss were higher when structures were surrounded by wildland vegetation, but were generally higher in herbaceous fuel types than in higher fuel-volume woody types. Empirically based maps developed using housing pattern and location performed better in distinguishing hazardous from non-hazardous areas than maps based on fuel distribution. The strong importance of housing arrangement and location indicate that land use planning may be a critical tool for reducing fire risk, but it will require reliable delineations of the most hazardous locations

    Rapamycin and the transcription factor C/EBPβ as a switch in osteoclast differentiation: implications for lytic bone diseases

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    Lytic bone diseases and in particular osteoporosis are common age-related diseases characterized by enhanced bone fragility due to loss of bone density. Increasingly, osteoporosis poses a major global health-care problem due to the growth of the elderly population. Recently, it was found that the gene regulatory transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein beta (C/EBPβ) is involved in bone metabolism. C/EBPβ occurs as different protein isoforms of variable amino terminal length, and regulation of the C/EBPβ isoform ratio balance was found to represent an important factor in osteoclast differentiation and bone homeostasis. Interestingly, adjustment of the C/EBPβ isoform ratio by the process of translational control is downstream of the mammalian target of rapamycin kinase (mTOR), a sensor of the nutritional status and a target of immunosuppressive and anticancer drugs. The findings imply that modulating the process of translational control of C/EBPβ isoform expression could represent a novel therapeutic approach in osteolytic bone diseases, including cancer and infection-induced bone loss

    Post-disaster social recovery: disaster governance lessons learnt from Tropical Cyclone Yasi

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    Post-disaster social recovery remains the least understood of the disaster phases despite increased risks of extreme events leading to disasters due to climate change. This paper contributes to advance this knowledge by focusing on the disaster recovery process of the Australian coastal town of Cardwell which was affected by category 4/5 Tropical Cyclone Yasi in 2011. Drawing on empirical data collected through semi-structured interviews with Cardwell residents post-Yasi, it examines issues related to social recovery in the first year of the disaster and 2 years later. Key findings discuss the role played by community members, volunteers and state actors in Cardwell’s post-disaster social recovery, especially with respect to how current disaster risk management trends based on self-reliance and shared responsibility unfolded in the recovery phase. Lessons learnt concerning disaster recovery governance are then extracted to inform policy implementation for disaster risk management to support social recovery and enhance disaster resilience in the light of climate change

    Основы творческой деятельности веб-журналиста. Учебная программа учреждения высшего образования по учебной дисциплине для специальности: 1-23 01 08 Журналистика (по направлениям) направления специальности 1-23 01 08-03 Журналистика (веб-журналистика)

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    Wildfires pose a serious threat to life in many countries. For police, fire and emergency services authorities in most jurisdictions in North America and Australia evacuation is now the option that is preferred overwhelmingly. Wildfire evacuation modeling can assist authorities in planning evacuation responses to future threats. Understanding residents' behavior under wildfire threat may assist in wildfire evacuation modeling. This paper reviews North American and Australian research into wildfire evacuation behavior published between January 2005 and June 2017. Wildfire evacuation policies differ across the two regions: in North America mandatory evacuations are favored, in Australia most are advisory. Research from both regions indicates that following a wildfire evacuation warning some threatened residents will wish to remain on their property in order to protect it, many will delay evacuating, and some residents who are not on their property when an evacuation warning is issued may seek to return. Mandatory evacuation is likely to result in greater compliance, enforcement policies are also likely to be influential. Self-delayed evacuation is likely if warnings are not sufficiently informative: residents are likely to engage in information search rather than initiating evacuation actions. The wildfire warning and threat histories of a location may influence residents' decisions and actions. The complexities of behavioral factors influencing residents' actions following an evacuation warning pose challenges for wildfire evacuation modeling. Suggestions are offered for ways in which authorities might reduce the numbers of residents who delay evacuating following a wildfire warning. © 2018 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Natur

    Microbiota and neurologic diseases : potential effects of probiotics

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    Background: The microbiota colonizing the gastrointestinal tract have been associated with both gastrointestinal and extra-gastrointestinal diseases. In recent years, considerable interest has been devoted to their role in the development of neurologic diseases, as many studies have described bidirectional communication between the central nervous system and the gut, the so-called "microbiota-gut-brain axis". Considering the ability of probiotics (i.e., live non-pathogenic microorganisms) to restore the normal microbial population and produce benefits for the host, their potential effects have been investigated in the context of neurologic diseases. The main aims of this review are to analyse the relationship between the gut microbiota and brain disorders and to evaluate the current evidence for the use of probiotics in the treatment and prevention of neurologic conditions. Discussion: Overall, trials involving animal models and adults have reported encouraging results, suggesting that the administration of probiotic strains may exert some prophylactic and therapeutic effects in a wide range of neurologic conditions. Studies involving children have mainly focused on autism spectrum disorder and have shown that probiotics seem to improve neuro behavioural symptoms. However, the available data are incomplete and far from conclusive. Conclusions: The potential usefulness of probiotics in preventing or treating neurologic diseases is becoming a topic of great interest. However, deeper studies are needed to understand which formulation, dosage and timing might represent the optimal regimen for each specific neurologic disease and what populations can benefit. Moreover, future trials should also consider the tolerability and safety of probiotics in patients with neurologic diseases

    Cartographie du risque : recherche méthodologique pour la mise en adéquation des besoins, des données et des méthodes

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    International audienceIl existe à l'heure actuelle une très forte demande en matière de cartographie du risque d'incendie de forêt. Cette demande est le reflet de besoins très divers en termes d'application (urbanisme, aménagement ). Cependant les études en la matière sont assez hétérogènes, les concepts employés peuvent recouvrir des significations très différentes (notion de risque, d'aléa, de vulnérabilité ). De ce fait, il est apparu nécessaire de s'interroger sur les demandes et les besoins en matière de connaissance et de cartographie du risque, puis sur les modalités des réponses apportées et les enseignements tirés de ces réponses

    Italie

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    Cartographie du risque : recherche méthodologique pour la mise en adéquation des besoins, des données et des méthodes

    No full text
    Il existe à l'heure actuelle une très forte demande en matière de cartographie du risque d'incendie de forêt. Cette demande est le reflet de besoins très divers en termes d'application (urbanisme, aménagement ). Cependant les études en la matière sont assez hétérogènes, les concepts employés peuvent recouvrir des significations très différentes (notion de risque, d'aléa, de vulnérabilité ). De ce fait, il est apparu nécessaire de s'interroger sur les demandes et les besoins en matière de connaissance et de cartographie du risque, puis sur les modalités des réponses apportées et les enseignements tirés de ces réponses
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