Identifying and mapping community vulnerability

Disaster vulnerability is socially constructed, i.e., it arises out of the social and economic circumstances of everyday living. Most often discussed from the perspective of developing nations, this article extends the argument using American demographic trends. Examples from recent disasters, Hurricane Andrew in particular, illustrate how certain categories of people, such as the poor, the elderly, women-headed households and recent residents, are at greater risk throughout the disaster response process. Knowledge of where these groups are concentrated within communities and the general nature of their circumstances is an important step towards effective emergency management. Emergency planners, policy-makers and responding organisations are encouraged to identify and locate high-risk sectors on Community Vulnerability Maps, integrating this information into GIS systems where feasible. Effective disaster management calls for aggressively involving these neighbourhoods and groups at all levels of planning and response, as well as mitigation efforts that address the root causes of vulnerability.     

Landslides, risk and decision-making in Kinnaur District: bridging the gap between science and public opinion

In November 1989 a major landslide destroyed the link road to the village of Sapni in Kinnaur District of Himachal Pradesh in the Indian Himalaya. Although aware of the risk of further landslide activity, the community has campaigned successfully for reconstruction of the road. Decisions of this kind take place at the local level, through village institutions and open debate, with good feedback between villages and district government authorities. In this way a balance is established between meeting more immediate needs (such as domestic water supply, irrigation, road access) and taking acceptable risks. Using the Sapni landslide as a case study, this paper explores the issue of 'acceptable risk', and looks at the existing strategy for risk and disaster reduction in the district.     

An evaluation of public participation information for land use decisions: public comment,surveys, and participatory mapping

ABSTRACT

Public participation in the form of public meetings and written submissions has been criticised as a democratic ritual that fails to give citizens a real voice in government decisions. Participatory mapping and community surveys are alternative public participation (PP) methods that can augment legally required processes for land use planning. To date, there has been little evaluation research comparing the information content generated by required PP processes and alternative PP sources with respect to local land use decisions. Using multiple development projects from a case study community, we analysed and compared information generated from three different sources of public participation: (1) formal public comment (written submissions), (2) responses to community survey questions, and (3) land use preferences generated from participatory mapping. We found public comment strongly supported development while results from survey questions and participatory mapping methods revealed community ambivalence. The differences in public opinion are attributed to two key factors: the representativeness of participants in the PP process and the specific methods used for measuring public opinion. Community surveys and participatory mapping generated more accurate and representative community information compared to the formal PP process which was characterised by lower participation and vulnerability to special interest manipulation. For local government decision makers, the political risk of broadening PP information appears high relative to the risk of inaccurately assessing public opinion thus limiting adoption of alternative PP methods such as participatory mapping.     

Glocalization of COVID-19 responses and management of the pandemic in Africa

ABSTRACT

The study explores how glocalization of COVID-19 responses affects the management of the pandemic in Africa. Using data from 20 selected African countries, the study found that the reliance on local medicines alongside other salient global initiatives for containment of COVID-19 is effective in managing the pandemic in Africa. It concluded that despite the high vulnerabilities of African countries to COVID-19, the glocal approach has yielded positive outcomes by increasing the number of patients that recover from COVID-19 and scaling down the fatalities compared with the other regions.     

WEP的安全技术分析及对策

在对无线局域网WLAN标准IEEE80 2 .11的WEP描述的基础上 ,笔者深入研究了WEP协议的设计上和实际应用中存在的密钥序列重复使用、消息认证和完整性等严重安全漏洞 ;详细分析了标准无线局域网中WEP协议解决方案 ;提出了WEP的改进算法WEP2 ,WEP2将IV大小增加到 12 8bit,以增强抗攻击能力 ;分析了AES解决方案的可行性 ;在密钥再生与分配方面 ,提出在MAC层实现经认证的密钥交换 ,用来改善WEP的安全脆弱性等解决措施。最后 ,还对今后的研究方向作出进一步的展望     

Current and Future Strategies for Water and Wastewater Management of Istanbul City

Istanbul has experienced rapid increases in population to more than 12 million people, which has created infrastructure problems of water supply and wastewater treatment and disposal. In this article, the achievements and approaches of the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (ISKI) to solve the water shortage problem and to improve services are summarized. Istanbul had a very severe water shortage problem in 1994 because of ignorance of the implementation of the needed projects. After reviewing the reasons and causes of the problem, new priority criteria adopted after 1994 are given. Following the implementation of the projects determined according to the aforementioned criteria, water supplied has exceeded the water demand. The added capacity is equal to one to three times of the capacity built up to 1994 for water treatment, service reservoirs, pumping stations, transmission lines, and the water distribution network; water quality has been improved the meet local and international potable water standards. Unaccounted for water has been reduced from 60% to 27%. The percentage of treated wastewater has been increased from 10% to 90% in 8 years, resulting in drastic improvements and rehabilitation of the Golden Horn and coastal water quality. Through improved customer services, complaints were reduced from 33% in 1994 to 0.3%. Some of the main criteria and the approaches behind this success are summarized. Published online     

A Quantitative Safety Assessment Model For Transgenic Protein Products Produced In Agricultural Crops

Transgenic plants are now being used to develop pharmaceutical and industrial products in addition to their use in crop improvement. Using confinement requirements, these transgenic plants are grown and processed under conditions that prevent intermixing with commodity crops. Regulatory agencies in the United States have provided guidance of zero tolerance of these new industrial crops with commodity crops. While this is a worthy goal, it is theoretically unattainable. In spite of the best containment practices, there is a potential risk using any system of production due to unforeseen incidences including natural disasters or exposure to workers. The precautionary principle has been used for numerous regulated articles in addressing the potential risks of new products and technology based on a risk assessment in similar situations. We present here a risk assessment model that could be used as a start to develop an accepted model for the industry. The model is based on current risk models used for other regulated articles, but adapted for these types of products. This could be used to determine action levels in the event of an unintended exposure or to ensure that detection or confinement methods are adequate to avoid risks. As an example, aprotinin, a therapeutic protein now being produced in maize, was evaluated for potential risk to humans using this model.     

THERMAL GRADIENTS IN RIVERS AND RESERVOIRS DUE TO HEATED PLANT EFFLUENTS1

ABSTRACT The direction of heated effluents from large thermal power plants into streams and lakes has been a matter of public concern for some time, and the collection of prototype data related to the hydraulic aspects has taken on massive proportions. Unfortunately, most of the data are proprietary and not available for public analysis. The authors have endeavored to collect such data as are available to them for the initiation of steps toward generalization and the discussion of some of the more evident hydraulic considerations. The study is primarily concerned with rivers, including estuaries, with some interest in cooling ponds.     

影响富营养化水体沉水植物修复的生态因子探讨

日益严重的水体富营养化现象，不仅降低了它的使用功能，也使水生态系统日趋退化，从而制约了当地社会经济的可持续发展。利用组建或重建沉水植物技术净化水质或进行水体生态修复是一种有效的生态工程措施。本文综述了光照、pH、营养盐、重金属、悬浮颗粒物及着生藻类等生态因子对沉水植物修复的影响和修复时应注意的问题。     

春夏两季四种植物净化生活污水的静态试验研究

在春夏两季，分别开展为期30天的静态试验，以研究芦苇、黄菖蒲、美人蕉、香蒲四种湿地植物对富营养化生活污水的净化效果。试验结果表明：通过纵向比较，夏季时植物对TN、TP的净化效果优于春季。通过横向比较，春季时黄菖蒲和香蒲的净化能力较强；夏季时美人蕉的净化能力较强。在时间上，可将喜温植物与耐寒植物结合，以保证湿地系统的长年运行；在空间上，可将挺水植物与沉水植物结合，以保证湿地系统的处理效果。