Assessment of post-tsunami disaster land use/land cover change and potential impact of future sea-level rise to low-lying coastal areas: A case study of Banda Aceh coast of Indonesia

© 2019 The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the projected sea-level rise to the coastal land use/land cover (LULC) at a disaster-prone coastal area, encompassing an engineering time-scale, based on a couple of sea-level rise scenarios. We investigate the Banda Aceh coast, a low-lying coastal area vulnerable to multiple hazards such as tsunamis and co-seismic land subsidence, which is typical along the Indonesian coastlines. Three sets of multi-temporal Google Earth Engine images acquired in 2004 (pre-tsunami December 2004), 2011 and 2017 were utilized to obtain the areal coverage of various types of LULC. The scenarios of coastal inundation were pre-determined at elevation +1.0 m and +1.5 m projecting the sea-level rise in the next couple centuries. Aquaculture ponds, buildings and bare land are the top three most pre-dominant land covers in Banda Aceh coast. The finding of this study reveals that the aquaculture ponds are at the highest risk to the future sea-level rise, and potentially contribute to the unproductive seawater inundated area. The bare land which has a huge potential to be converted into settlement area (buildings, housing, etc.), experienced remarkable loss due to both future inundation scenarios. The coastal area of Banda Aceh in the next couple of centuries, thus, will be highly vulnerable to the projected sea-level rise, providing the fast-growing and ever-expanding built environment very close to the coastline. A sustainable coastal management taking into account the disaster risk should, therefore, be incorporated within the decision making for the protection of the coastal area

Exploring resilience at interconnected system levels in air traffic management

This chapter raises issues and ideas for exploring resilience, stemming from various research disciplines, projected on the domain of air traffic management and aviation at interconnected system levels. Attempts are made to connect micro, meso, and macro levels in the aviation sector identifying corresponding research challenges. Examples of this ongoing research are given on how theory has already been translated into practical methodological use. Some connections between foci from Resilience Engineering, Disaster Resilience, and other research disciplines are projected on the air traffic management domain to explore how practical benefits can be obtained from these theories and which aspects of operational practice these theories connect to. The chapter shows that the concept of resilience from various research disciplines has a potentially wide application to system levels of air traffic management, and suggests resilience to be addressed from an interconnected systems perspective to provide added value to operations. Document type: Part of book or chapter of boo

A Case Study of Crowdsourcing Imagery Coding in Natural Disasters

Crowdsourcing and open licensing allow more people to participate in research and humanitarian activities. Open data, such as geographic information shared through OpenStreetMap and image datasets from disasters, can be useful for disaster response and recovery work. This chapter shares a real-world case study of humanitarian-driven imagery analysis, using open-source crowdsourcing technology. Shared philosophies in open technologies and digital humanities, including remixing and the wisdom of the crowd, are reflected in this case study.This research was funded through the European Commission FP7-ICT project: Citizen Cyberlab: Technology Enhanced Creative Learning in the field of Citizen Cyberscience

Maritime Operations and Emergency Preparedness in the Arctic–Competence Standards for Search and Rescue Operations Contingencies in Polar Waters

Emergencies on large passenger ships in the remote High North may lead to a mass rescue operation with a heavy strain on the emergency preparedness systems of the Arctic countries. This study focuses on the need for competencies related to large-scale Search and Rescue operations (SAR operations) amongst the shipping companies, vessels and governments involved. A SAR operation is the activity related to finding and rescuing people in distress. Several international standards, in particular the conventions by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), provide direction for education and training of seafarers and rescue staff. This study elaborates on the operational competence requirements for key personnel involved in large scale SAR operations. Findings from real SAR incidents and exercises provide in-depth understanding on the operational challenges. The chapter gives directions for competence programs, beyond obligatory international standards, and recommendations for further research

Impact of caloric and dietary restriction regimens on markers of health and longevity in humans and animals: a summary of available findings

Considerable interest has been shown in the ability of caloric restriction (CR) to improve multiple parameters of health and to extend lifespan. CR is the reduction of caloric intake - typically by 20 - 40% of ad libitum consumption - while maintaining adequate nutrient intake. Several alternatives to CR exist. CR combined with exercise (CE) consists of both decreased caloric intake and increased caloric expenditure. Alternate-day fasting (ADF) consists of two interchanging days; one day, subjects may consume food ad libitum (sometimes equaling twice the normal intake); on the other day, food is reduced or withheld altogether. Dietary restriction (DR) - restriction of one or more components of intake (typically macronutrients) with minimal to no reduction in total caloric intake - is another alternative to CR. Many religions incorporate one or more forms of food restriction. The following religious fasting periods are featured in this review: 1) Islamic Ramadan; 2) the three principal fasting periods of Greek Orthodox Christianity (Nativity, Lent, and the Assumption); and 3) the Biblical-based Daniel Fast. This review provides a summary of the current state of knowledge related to CR and DR. A specific section is provided that illustrates related work pertaining to religious forms of food restriction. Where available, studies involving both humans and animals are presented. The review includes suggestions for future research pertaining to the topics of discussion

Autoregulation in resistance training : addressing the inconsistencies

Autoregulation is a process that is used to manipulate training based primarily on the measurement of an individual's performance or their perceived capability to perform. Despite being established as a training framework since the 1940s, there has been limited systematic research investigating its broad utility. Instead, researchers have focused on disparate practices that can be considered specific examples of the broader autoregulation training framework. A primary limitation of previous research includes inconsistent use of key terminology (e.g., adaptation, readiness, fatigue, and response) and associated ambiguity of how to implement different autoregulation strategies. Crucially, this ambiguity in terminology and failure to provide a holistic overview of autoregulation limits the synthesis of existing research findings and their dissemination to practitioners working in both performance and health contexts. Therefore, the purpose of the current review was threefold: first, we provide a broad overview of various autoregulation strategies and their development in both research and practice whilst highlighting the inconsistencies in definitions and terminology that currently exist. Second, we present an overarching conceptual framework that can be used to generate operational definitions and contextualise autoregulation within broader training theory. Finally, we show how previous definitions of autoregulation fit within the proposed framework and provide specific examples of how common practices may be viewed, highlighting their individual subtleties