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Systemic seismic risk assessment of urban healthcare system considering interdependencies to critical infrastructures
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The authors do not have permission to share data.Code availability:
The coding was done in PYTHON mainly including the NetworkX library along with others for the system analysis. Calculations including hazard and fragility analysis at the component level have been undertaken with the OpenQuake Engine, an open-source software for hazard and risk assessment that is available from: https://github.com/gem/oq-engine. Maps were generated from PYTHON and QGIS.The performance of healthcare and other emergency systems, like firefighting, is of utmost importance in the aftermath of natural disasters such as seismic events. However, previous studies have often overlooked the interconnectedness of emergency systems to other critical infrastructures. In reality, the performance of the healthcare system does not only rely on the vulnerability of hospital buildings, but also on the vulnerability and performance of interdependent critical infrastructures, such as the transportation system for the accessibility of injured people to hospitals from the damaged sites or the continuous supply of water and electricity for the uninterrupted operation of hospital facilities. These interdependencies can significantly impact the overall emergency response effectiveness and is vital to consider them in the design and assessment of healthcare systems to safeguard resilience of the community. This study proposes a comprehensive methodological framework and associated metrics for evaluating and mapping the healthcare system's performance considering its interdependencies with other critical infrastructures. It encompasses hazard characterization, risk assessment at both component and system levels, and network-based analysis with conditional branching to account for first and second order interdependencies. The proposed framework is applied to the healthcare system of Thessaloniki, Greece. The operational tool and insights can help to prioritize ex-ante investments and identify ex-post intervention measures, ensuring an emergency response system on an urban scale within a resilient systemic perspective. Its applicability can be extended to address a spectrum of other hazards and interdependencies at urban and regional scales, to ensure peoples' safety and minimize socioeconomic losses.The present work has been done in the framework of grant agreement No. 813137 fundedby the European Commission ITN-Marie Sklodowska-Curie project “New Challenges for Urban Engineering Seismology (URBASIS-EU)” from which the first author, Astha Poudel, has received the funding
ESG controversies and corporate performance: The moderating effect of governance mechanisms and ESG practices
Get PDFThis paper investigates the relationship between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) controversies and firm performance, examining the moderating influences of corporate governance structures and ESG practices. Utilizing quantitative methods, we analyze data from 5360 firm-year observations. Our findings reveal a significant negative relation between ESG controversies and firm performance. However, well-defined corporate governance frameworks and internal ESG strategies mitigate these adverse impacts and can transform these controversies into growth opportunities and reputation enhancement. A comparative analysis involving the United Kingdom and other European Union nations highlights the influence of geographical and regulatory contexts in shaping this dynamic. These results offer valuable insights for policymakers, corporate strategists, and investors, emphasizing the role of governance in navigating ESG controversies and enhancing firm resilience and adaptability. The study contributes to the sustainability field by providing a nuanced understanding of the interaction between ESG controversies, corporate governance, and firm performance.The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article
Royal Economic Society, a UK-based report on the status of: Women in Academic Economics
No full textReport title: Royal Economic Society, a UK-based report on the status of: Women in Academic Economics.The research finds that overall female representation in academic economics improved steadily over the 10 academic years ending in 2021/22, growing by over 6 percentage points to just under 30%, or a ratio of almost 1 in 3. Gender convergence in representation happened at a faster pace in junior and mid-seniority positions than it did at the top. The report also covers findings on gender pay gap and the leaky pipeline
A Magnetic Helical Miniature Robot with Soft Magnetic-Controlled Gripper
Get PDFMagnetic helical miniature robots (MHMRs) exhibit efficient motion performance in low Reynolds number environments, having great promise for biomedical applications like targeted delivery. However, during targeted delivery, the backward propulsion of MHMRs in previous work leads to cargo being released, limiting their degrees of freedom and interference resistance. Furthermore, the basic magnetic field parameter, amplitude, has not been effectively utilized in previous MHMRs. In this letter, we propose a magnetic helical miniature robot with soft magnetic-controlled gripper (MHMR-G), using magnetic field amplitude to functionalize MHMRs for the first time. The velocity of MHMR-G is controlled by magnetic field frequency and the grasping of gripper is controlled by magnetic field amplitude. It is proposed that the lag angle and rotation frequency will adversely affect the grasping of gripper under a rotating magnetic field, but results show that increasing magnetic field amplitude can effectively mitigate these adverse effects. Finally, a manipulation test of cargo transport is performed, demonstrating that the gripper of MHMR-G can effectively confine cargo during propulsion.10.13039/501100002858-China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Number: 2021M690701);
Guangdong Province Key Area Research and Development Program (Grant Number: 2022B0303010001)
The impact of oil and global markets on Saudi stock market predictability: A machine learning approach
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Data available on request from the authors.JEL classification: C45; D53; G15.This study investigates the predictability power of oil prices and six international stock markets namely, China, France, UK, Germany, Japan, and the USA, on the Saudi stock market using five Machine Learning (ML) techniques and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). Our analysis reveals that prior to the 2006 collapse, oil exerted the least influence on the Saudi market, while the UK and Japan were the most influential stock markets. However, after the collapse, oil became the most influential factor, highlighting the strong dependence of Saudi Arabia's economic structure on oil production. This finding is particularly noteworthy given Saudi Arabia's efforts to reduce its reliance on oil through Vision 2030. We further demonstrate that China's influence on the Saudi market increased significantly after the 2006 collapse, surpassing that of the UK. This is attributable to the substantial trade between China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia, as well as the rise in Saudi foreign direct investment in China, and the decline in such investment in the UK post-collapse. Our results carry important implications for stock market investors and policymakers alike. We suggest that policymakers in Saudi Arabia should continue to diversify their economy away from oil and strengthen economic ties with emerging markets, particularly China, to reduce their vulnerability to oil price fluctuations and ensure sustainable economic growth.The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article
Mixed-method heat acclimation induces heat adaptations in international triathletes without training modification
Get PDFData Availability Statement: Data may be made available upon request to the corresponding author.Purpose:
Heat acclimation (HA) kinetics often necessitates that the intervention is conducted in the weeks immediately preceding athletic competitions, potentially interfering with a training taper. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of a mixed-method HA protocol, superimposed over planned external training loads, during the 3-weeks prior to the 2022 U23 World Triathlon Championships.
Methods:
Six international triathletes completed 8 pre-competition HA sessions (5 active: running/cycling, 3 passive: hot water immersion [HWI]), across 2-weeks. Outdoor high-intensity training sessions were followed by 30–60 min HWI, whilst low-intensity cycling/running sessions were completed in a hot, humid environmental chamber. To assess heat adaptations, participants completed three 25 min heat stress tests (HST) involving iso-speed treadmill running (session 1 = HST1, session 5 = HST2, and session 8 = HST3). Physiological, haematological and wellbeing monitoring were conducted throughout HA.
Results:
Reduced heart rate (~ − 6 beats/min) was observed within HST3 (P = 0.01, ηp^2 = 0.64), versus HST1 and HST2. No changes in core temperature were observed across HSTs (P = 0.055, ηp^2 = 0.44). Sweat sodium concentration was lower by HST2 at the arm (− 23 ± 16 mmol/L, P = 0.02) and back (− 27 ± 17 mmol/L, P = 0.01). White blood cell count reduced from baseline to the end of HA (P = 0.02, ηp2 = 0.27), but no changes were found in any other haematological markers (all P > 0.05). Perceptual wellbeing measures did not change across HA (all P > 0.05).
Conclusion:
By HST3, seven prior mixed-method HA sessions improved markers of heat adaptation (exercising HR and sweat concentration) within international triathletes. Mixed-method HA may be implemented without modifying training load, with no apparent detrimental effects on athlete health or training stress markers.Open access funding provided by Hong Kong Baptist University Library
A new generation of spaceplanes is taking advantage of the latest in technology
Get PDFThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original at https://theconversation.com/a-new-generation-of-spaceplanes-is-taking-advantage-of-the-latest-in-technology-222307 .Nasa’s space shuttle operated in low-Earth orbit for 30 years before its retirement in 2011. However, the US space agency’s replacement for this vehicle, Orion, returned to the conical capsule design familiar from the Apollo missions. This was because Nasa intended that this newer craft be used for exploring targets in deep space, such as the Moon
Experience-dominant logic: laying the groundwork for an experience-dominant view of firm practices in the marketplace
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This paper aims to introduce the experience-dominant (Ex-D) logic model, which synthesizes the creation, perceptions and outcomes of Ex-D logic. It is designed to offer valuable insights for strategic managerial applications and future research directions.
Design/methodology/approach:
Employing a qualitative approach by using eight selected product launch events from reviewed 100 event videos and 55 in-depth interviews with industrial managers to develop an Ex-D logic model, and data were coded and analysed via NVivo.
Findings:
Results show that the firm’s Ex-D logic is operationalized as the mentalizing of the three types of customer needs (service competence, hedonic excitations and meaning making), the materializing of three types of customer experiences and customer journeys (service experience, hedonic experience and brand experience) and the moderating of three types of customer values (service values, hedonic values and brand values).
Research limitations/implications:
This study has implications for adding new insights into existing theory on dominant logic and customer experience management and also offers actionable recommendations for managerial applications.
Originality/value:
This study sheds light on the importance of Ex-D logic from a strategic point of view and provides an organic view of the firm. It distinguishes firm perspective from customer perspective, firm experience from customer experience and firm journey from consumer journey
New insights into the mechanism of ultrasonic atomization for the production of metal powders in additive manufacturing
Get PDFData availability: Data will be made available on request.Ultrasonic atomization is one of the promising technologies for producing metal powders for additive manufacturing, where precise control of particle size and morphology is essential. In this study, we coupled an ultrasonic transducer with a carbon fibre plate and atomized liquid droplets and films under different vibration amplitudes. Water, glycerol, and pure aluminium melt were used to study the atomization mechanism and the resulting droplet/powder characteristics, respectively. High-speed optical and ultrafast synchrotron X-ray imaging were used to study in situ the ultrasonic atomization dynamics, including pulsation and clustering of cavities inside the liquid layer/films, development of capillary waves, and formation of liquid droplets. For the first time, we observed and captured the occurrence of cavitation in the atomization of resting drops, films and impact droplets. The inertial cavitation events interfered with the capillary waves across the interphase boundary, puncturing and breaking the boundary to produce atomized mist. The in situ observation revealed the intricate dynamics of ultrasonic atomization and underscored the pivotal role of cavitation events throughout the entire atomization process. We also conducted experiments on ultrasonic atomization of liquid aluminium, producing particles of perfectly spherical shape. The particle size decreased as the vibration amplitude was decreased. Our work has demonstrated the important processing strategies on how to tailor the particle size while ensuring consistent particle shape and morphology, which is the key processing capability for producing high quality feedstock for additive manufacturing applications.UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under the project PAAM (grant EP/W006774/1, EP/W006154/1 and EP/W00593X/1). J. Mi would like to gratefully acknowledge the award of the synchrotron X-ray beam time (GUP 264609) by the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, USA. Use of the Advanced Photon Source, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory, was supported by the U.S. DOE under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357
Groundwater Age and Origin and Its Relation with Anthropogenic and Climatic Factors
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The data used in this study includes spatial data, isotopic data of precipitation, and water bodies. This is freely available and can be accessed from the websites given in the data section of the manuscript. The isotopic data on groundwater is the property of the Center of Excellence in Water Resources Engineering (CEWRE), Lahore, and the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), which can be retrieved by making a request to the corresponding author. However, the climatic data is the property of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) and can be requested via official channels.Groundwater plays a major role in addressing the worldwide problem of water scarcity and food security. With a growing population and increasing urbanization, there is a rising demand for groundwater to meet agricultural and domestic water needs. A variety of advanced approaches are necessary to sustain groundwater management. This study investigated the age and origin of groundwater, as well as its relationship with anthropogenic and climatic factors. Stable isotopes were used, namely oxygen-18 (18O) and deuterium (2H) for the estimation of groundwater origin and radioactive isotopes of Tritium (3H) for the estimation of its age. The investigation of stable isotopes revealed that the aquifer is predominantly influenced by river water, with a minor contribution from rainwater. Furthermore, the analysis of radioactive isotopes revealed that the groundwater age ranges from 5 to 50 years old in most areas. Older groundwater is predominantly found in urban areas, while younger groundwater is present in agricultural and woodland regions. However, the presence of “old” water in the upper groundwater layers in urban areas is attributed to over-abstraction and limited natural recharge. The primary climatic factor that governs the age and origin of groundwater is rainfall upstream of the study area, which directly contributes to the river flows. The rainfall is high in the east but, due to urbanization, recharge is decreased. Consequently, old and river recharge groundwater is found in this area. These observations underscore the unsustainable and alarming use of groundwater in urban areas.Center of Excellence in Water Resources Engineering;
Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH), Pakistan;
Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources
Data sources:
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