Wayfinding behavior within buildings - An international survey

A building wayfinding questionnaire study is presented which analyses the importance of a set of wayfinding criteria from a building evacuation perspective. The main path selection criteria tested in this questionnaire are handedness and length of the first leg of the path. The study involved 1166 participants from 36 countries. The results suggest that the handedness, a genetic factor, and the side of the road people drive on, a cultural factor, exert a significant influence on path choice. The results of this study clarify misconceptions existing in urban wayfinding studies regarding the importance of the length of the first leg of a path. Path selection criteria along with their relative rankings are suggested for inclusion in wayfinding algorithms used within evacuation models. It is further suggested that these rankings may be country specific

The simulation of urban-scale evacuation scenarios: Swinley forest fire

Forest fires are an annual occurrence in many parts of the world causing evacuation of nearby residential areas and industrial facilities. The frequent occurrence of these events deems it necessary to develop appropriate evacuation plans for areas that are susceptible to forest fires. A well-established and well-validated evacuation model, buildingEXODUS, has been extended to model large scale urban/rural evacuations by including the road network and open spaces (e.g. parks, green spaces and town squares)along with buildings. The evacuation simulation results have been coupled with the results of a forest fire spread model and applied to the Swinley forest fire. Four evacuation procedures differing in the routes taken by the pedestrians were simulated and analysed providing key evacuation statistics such as time to reach the assembly location, the distance travelled and congestion experienced by the agents. In addition, the safety margins associated with using each evacuation route are identified. This is the time available between the safe passage of the pedestrians through the route and the route being considered no longer safe for pedestrian use. A key finding of this work is the importance of formulating evacuation procedures in response to wildfires by providing occupants timely evacuation notice and appropriate choice of routes to keep them at a safe distance from the fire even at the cost of taking longer evacuation routes

Interferon-producing Cells Fail to Induce Proliferation of Naive T Cells but Can Promote Expansion and T Helper 1 Differentiation of Antigen-experienced Unpolarized T Cells

Interferon-producing cells (IPCs) secrete high levels of type I interferon in response to certain viruses. The lack of lineage markers, the expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II and the capacity to stimulate allogeneic T cells have led these cells to be classified as a subset of dendritic cells (DCs), called plasmacytoid DCs (PDCs). However, the role of IPCs/PDCs in initiating primary immune responses remains elusive. Here we examined the antigen presenting capacity of murine IPCs in antigen specific systems. While CD8α+ and CD11b+ DCs induced logarithmic expansion of naive CD4 and CD8 T cells, without conferring T helper commitment at a first encounter, primary IPCs lacked the ability to stimulate naive T cells. However, when antigen-experienced, nonpolarized T cells expanded by classical DC subsets, were restimulated by IPCs, they proliferated and produced high amounts of IFN-γ. These data indicate that IPCs can effectively stimulate preactivated or memory-type T cells and exert an immune-regulatory role. They also suggest that expansion of naive T cells and acquisition of effector function during antigen-specific T cell responses may involve different antigen-presenting cell (APC) types. Independent and coordinated control of T cell proliferation and differentiation would provide the immune system with greater flexibility in regulating immune responses

Island vulnerability and resilience to wildfires: A case study of Corsica

The number of wildfires occurring globally is exacerbated by urbanisation and changes in weather patterns. In response, researchers have conducted studies of wildfires and human behaviour in regions such as Australia and the USA. Regions in Europe have received less attention, despite facing the same issues. Even more overlooked are one particular type of territory: islands. With their climates, islands across the Mediterranean remain attractive second home and tourist destinations, resulting in urban development. Yet due to certain features (e.g. cultural, socio-political, geographical), the ways in which their people deal with wildfires may differ somewhat from that in some mainland territories. This paper explores human behaviour in wildfire emergencies in the context of island vulnerability and resilience in Europe, with the Mediterranean island of Corsica as a case study. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews (n = 8) with Corsican professionals involved in wildfire management and quantitative analysis of around 100 surveys from civilians was conducted. This analysis revealed that Corsica’s population approach to wildfire safety is shaped by available information as well as a strong risk culture, which stands in contrast with new/temporary residents moving into the island each summer season. The results drawn from the analysed sample suggest potential social vulnerability in wildfires when a decision to evacuate the population is taken by emergency managers as the most effective emergency response. Population behaviour were not influenced by property attachment, perceived risk, hazard knowledge, community closeness and locus of control, suggesting that island WUI resident characteristics may not be generalised from human behaviour in wildfires studies carried out in the USA or Australia

Origin of early maturing pigeonpea germplasm and its impact on adaptation and cropping systems

Pigeonpea breeding activities started about a century ago and for decades only late maturing cultivars dominated the global cultivation. Historically, no early maturing cultivar was available for a very long time and breeding of such varieties started in the third quarter of 20th century but at a low key. From these efforts, some pigeonpea varieties maturing in 90–150 days were bred. Information gathered from various sources revealed that the first few early maturing genotypes originated through spontaneous mutations in the late maturing field‐grown landraces. In other cases, transgressive segregation and induced mutations also produced early maturing varieties. At present, the high yielding early maturing cultivars are contributing significantly towards widening the adaption barriers and in the diversification of some age‐old cropping systems. In this paper, the authors, besides discussing the importance of early maturing cultivars in present agricultural systems, also summarize information related to the origin of primary sources of earliness

Multiple Dendritic Cell Populations Activate CD4+ T Cells after Viral Stimulation

Dendritic cells (DC) are a heterogeneous cell population that bridge the innate and adaptive immune systems. CD8α DC play a prominent, and sometimes exclusive, role in driving amplification of CD8+ T cells during a viral infection. Whether this reliance on a single subset of DC also applies for CD4+ T cell activation is unknown. We used a direct ex vivo antigen presentation assay to probe the capacity of flow cytometrically purified DC populations to drive amplification of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells following infection with influenza virus by different routes. This study examined the contributions of non-CD8α DC populations in the amplification of CD8+ and CD4+ T cells in cutaneous and systemic influenza viral infections. We confirmed that in vivo, effective immune responses for CD8+ T cells are dominated by presentation of antigen by CD8α DC but can involve non-CD8α DC. In contrast, CD4+ T cell responses relied more heavily on the contributions of dermal DC migrating from peripheral lymphoid tissues following cutaneous infection, and CD4 DC in the spleen after systemic infection. CD4+ T cell priming by DC subsets that is dependent upon the route of administration raises the possibility that vaccination approaches could be tailored to prime helper T cell immunity