Enhancing Resilience of Systems to Individual and Systemic Risk: Steps toward An Integrative Framework

Individual events can trigger systemic risks in many complex systems, from natural to man-made. Yet, analysts are still usually treating these two types of risks separately. We suggest that, rather, individual risks and systemic risks represent two ends of a continuum and therefore should not be analyzed in isolation, but in an integrative manner. Such a perspective can further be related to the notion of resilience and opens up options for developing an integrated framework for increasing the resilience of systems to both types of risks simultaneously. Systemic risks are sometimes called network risks to emphasize the importance of inter-linkages, while, in contrast, individual risks originate from individual events that directly affect an agent and happen independently from the rest of the system. The two different perspectives on risk have major implications for strategies aiming at increasing resilience, and we, therefore, discuss how such strategies differ between individual risks and systemic risks. In doing so, we suggest that for individual risks, a risk-layering approach can be applied, using probability distributions and their associated measures. Following the risk-layering approach, agents can identify their own tipping points, i.e., the points in their loss distributions at which their operation would fail, and on this basis determine the most appropriate measures for decreasing their risk of such failures. This approach can rely on several well-established market-based instruments, including insurance and portfolio diversification. To deal with systemic risks, these individual tipping points need to be managed in their totality, because system collapses are triggered by individual failures. An additional and complementary approach is to adjust the network structure of the system, which determines how individual failures can cascade and generate systemic risks. Instead of one-size-fits-all rules of thumb, we suggest that the management of systemic risks should be based on a careful examination of a system’s risk landscape. Especially a node-criticality approach, which aims to induce a network restructuring based on the differential contributions of nodes to systemic risk may be a promising way forward toward an integrated framework. Hence, we argue that tailor-made transformational approaches are needed, which take into account the specificities of a system’s network structure and thereby push it toward safer configurations for both individual risks and systemic risks

Comparison of a proprioceptive training program on stable base and unstable base

El objetivo de este estudio fue comparar dos programas de entrenamiento propioceptivo sobre base estable (G1) y base inestable (G2). Durante 5 semanas, 18 jugadores de fútbol profesional se sometieron a un programa de entrenamiento propioceptivo, 9 formaron el G1 y 9 G2. Se aplicó el Standard Excursion Balance Test (Test de Estrella) antes y después de la intervención. Los resultados intragrupo mostraron diferencias significativas en las variables ANT.IZDO; ANTLAT.IZDO; POST.D y ANTMED.D (p<0,005) para el G1 y ANT.D; ANT.IZDO; POSTMED.D; POSTMED.IZDO Y MED.D (p <0,005) para el G2. No se hallaron evidencias significativas entre el entrenamiento en base estable y base inestable para la mejora del equilibrio y la estabilidadThe aim is to compare two proprioceptive training programs on a stable (G1) and an unstable (G2) base in terms of balance and stability. During a 5 week period, 18 professional football players underwent a proprioceptive training program, 9 in G1 and the other 9 in G2. The Standard Excursion Balance Test was applied before and after the intervention program. Significant intragroup differences were found in the variables LEFT FRONT, ANTEROLATERAL LEFT (ANTLAT.LEFT), BACK RIGHT and ANTEROMEDIAL RIGHT (ANTMED.RIGHT) (p<0,005) for the G1, and FRONT RIGHT, FRONT LEFT, POSTMED.RIGHT, POSTMED.LEFT and MED.RIGHT (p <0,005) for G2. We conclude that there are no significant differences between the unstable base training and training stable base regarding improvement in balance and stabilit

Restrictive ID policies: implications for health equity

We wish to thank Synod Community Services for their critical work to develop, support, and implement a local government-issued ID in Washtenaw County, MI. We also thank Yousef Rabhi of the Michigan House of Representatives and Janelle Fa'aola of the Washtenaw ID Task Force, Lawrence Kestenbaum of the Washtenaw County Clerk's Office, Sherriff Jerry Clayton of the Washtenaw County Sherriff's Office, and the Washtenaw ID Task Force for their tireless commitment to developing and supporting the successful implementation of the Washtenaw ID. Additionally, we thank Vicenta Vargas and Skye Hillier for their contributions to the Washtenaw ID evaluation. We thank the Curtis Center for Research and Evaluation at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan, and the University of California-Irvine Department of Chicano/Latino Studies and Program in Public Health for their support of the Washtenaw ID community-academic research partnership. Finally, we thank the reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. (Curtis Center for Research and Evaluation at the University of Michigan School of Social Work; National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan; University of California-Irvine Department of Chicano/Latino Studies; Program in Public Health)https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10903-017-0579-3.pdfPublished versio

Avaliação de basidiomicetos do gênero Ganoderma quanto ao potencial de síntese de enzimas lignocelulolíticas.

Seção: Derivados Energéticos de Alto Valor Agregado

On the degree of regularity of a certain quadratic Diophantine equation

We show that, for every positive integer r, there exists an integer b = b(r) such that the 4-variable quadratic Diophantine equation (x1 − y1)(x2 − y2) = b is r-regular. Our proof uses Szemerédi’s theorem on arithmetic progressions

Deprivations and Inequities in Cities Viewed Through a Pandemic Lens

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a halt to life as we knew it in our cities. It has also put a magnifying glass on existing inequalities and poverty. While everyone has been facing the pandemic's risks, the lived challenges of the lockdowns have been felt most acutely by the poor, the vulnerable, those in the informal sector, and without savings and safety nets. Here, we identify three ways that the COVID-19 pandemic and related containment measures have exacerbated urban inequalities and how subsequent recovery measures and policy responses have tried to redress these. First, lockdowns amplified urban energy poverty, while recovery measures and policies offer an opportunity to address entrenched inequalities in shelter and energy access. Second, preexisting digital divides even within well-connected cities have translated into inequalities in preparedness for living through the lockdown, but digitalization strategies can enhance equity in access to e-services, online work and education for all in the future. Third, slum dwellers in the world's cities have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic and lockdown measures, but the spotlight on them provides further impetus for slum upgradation efforts that through improved access to infrastructure can improve living conditions and provide more secure livelihoods