RP97-362 File It Easy, Find It Fast: A Home Filing System

A home filing system makes important papers readily available when needed. If managed properly, the filing system can get older papers out of the way, making needed records more accessible. A well-organized filing system for your household can pay big dividends when it comes time to find an important paper you need NOW. There is no one best filing system for everyone; what works for you could be a disaster for someone else. Once set up, a filing system helps you to be a more effective and efficient financial manager and decision maker.

Cooperative Learning Groups in the Eighth Grade Math Classroom

In this action research study of my classroom of 8th grade mathematics students, I investigated whether cooperative learning would lead to a better understanding of the mathematical concepts and thus more success for the students. I used my three eighth grade classes with two using cooperative groups and the third not. I discovered that the students who wanted to work in cooperative groups were more successful than they had been. I also discovered that the grouping itself has a great effect on how the group works together. The wrong grouping of students can lead to disaster and many headaches for the teacher. Overall the two classes that used cooperative groups did better grade wise than the one class that was taught using the traditional way of not using cooperative groups. As a result of this research, I plan to continue using cooperative groups but will be more aware of the students who are grouped together.

Vulnerabilidade às inundações em Teresina, Piauí

Pós-graduação em Geografia - IGCE

L'eccezione è la regola: ricerca espolorativa sul fenomeno del commissariamento nel settore culturale italiano

Di fronte al moltiplicarsi di episodi di commissariamento nella pubblica amministrazione italiana e in particolare nel settore culturale, la presente ricerca mira a comprendere gli obiettivi, le modalità di intervento ed i risultati raggiunti mediante la nomina di commissari straordinari. Si tratta di un intervento anomalo ed inusuale a livello internazionale (la stessa voce commissariamento risulta intraducibile in inglese), dove la ricerca di possibili termini di paragone, effettuata passando in rassegna la letteratura di disaster management, quella sul riaccentramento amministrativo e quella sugli interventi di turnaround nel settore pubblico, restituisce un quadro estremamente specifico del fenomeno, per lo più interno ai confini nazionali. Nello studio, caratterizzato da un forte approccio esplorativo e phenomenon driven, vengono analizzati quattro casi di commissariamento nel settore culturale italiano: due aree archeologiche (quella di Napoli e Pompei e quella di Roma e Ostia) e due Fondazioni Liriche (Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova e Arena di Verona). Dalla ricerca emerge un quadro profondamente critico delle gestioni commissariali. Gli obiettivi ambigui e l’elevata discrezionalità concessa al commissario non sono accompagnati da un’adeguata trasparenza nei processi di nomina, proroga e sostituzione dei commissari, con la prevalenza di rapporti di tipo personale o ‘feudale’. Dal punto di vista dei risultati il commissariamento non incide sulla routine dell’amministrazione ordinaria, rappresentando nel migliore dei casi una parentesi temporanea di buona gestione, o, nel peggiore, perseguendo interventi non legittimi rispetto ai valori professionali che regolano le organizzazioni analizzate. Se considerato alla luce del più generale processo di riforma in senso manageriale che ha coinvolto le istituzioni analizzate dalla fine degli anni ’90, il commissariamento esalta ed intensifica gli aspetti maggiormente critici dell’approccio italiano al New Public Management, in termini di scarsa trasparenza e accountability, elevata influenza della politica nei processi decisionali e generale incoerenza dei disegni di riforma.

Middleware for quality-based context distribution in mobile systems

The continuous advancements and enhancements of wireless systems are enabling new compelling scenarios where mobile services can adapt according to the current execution context, represented by the computational resources available at the local device, current physical location, people in physical proximity, and so forth. Such services called context-aware require the timely delivery of all relevant information describing the current context, and that introduces several unsolved complexities, spanning from low-level context data transmission up to context data storage and replication into the mobile system. In addition, to ensure correct and scalable context provisioning, it is crucial to integrate and interoperate with different wireless technologies (WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) and modes (infrastructure-based and ad-hoc), and to use decentralized solutions to store and replicate context data on mobile devices. These challenges call for novel middleware solutions, here called Context Data Distribution Infrastructures (CDDIs), capable of delivering relevant context data to mobile devices, while hiding all the issues introduced by data distribution in heterogeneous and large-scale mobile settings. This dissertation thoroughly analyzes CDDIs for mobile systems, with the main goal of achieving a holistic approach to the design of such type of middleware solutions. We discuss the main functions needed by context data distribution in large mobile systems, and we claim the precise definition and clean respect of quality-based contracts between context consumers and CDDI to reconfigure main middleware components at runtime. We present the design and the implementation of our proposals, both in simulation-based and in real-world scenarios, along with an extensive evaluation that confirms the technical soundness of proposed CDDI solutions. Finally, we consider three highly heterogeneous scenarios, namely disaster areas, smart campuses, and smart cities, to better remark the wide technical validity of our analysis and solutions under different network deployments and quality constraints.

Analysis and development of ecologically based approaches to coastal defense

Climate-change related impacts, notably coastal erosion, inundation and flooding from sea level rise and storms, will increase in the coming decades enhancing the risks for coastal populations. Further recourse to coastal armoring and other engineered defenses to address risk reduction will exacerbate threats to coastal ecosystems. Alternatively, protection services provided by healthy ecosystems is emerging as a key element in climate adaptation and disaster risk management. I examined two distinct approaches to coastal defense on the base of their ecological and ecosystem conservation values. First, I analyzed the role of coastal ecosystems in providing services for hazard risk reduction. The value in wave attenuation of coral reefs was quantitatively demonstrated using a meta-analysis approach. Results indicate that coral reefs can provide wave attenuation comparable to hard engineering artificial defenses and at lower costs. Conservation and restoration of existing coral reefs are cost-effective management options for disaster risk reduction. Second, I evaluated the possibility to enhance the ecological value of artificial coastal defense structures (CDS) as habitats for marine communities. I documented the suitability of CDS to support native, ecologically relevant, habitat-forming canopy algae exploring the feasibility of enhancing CDS ecological value by promoting the growth of desired species. Juveniles of Cystoseira barbata can be successfully transplanted at both natural and artificial habitats and not affected by lack of surrounding adult algal individuals nor by substratum orientation. Transplantation success was limited by biotic disturbance from macrograzers on CDS compared to natural habitats. Future work should explore the reasons behind the different ecological functioning of artificial and natural habitats unraveling the factors and mechanisms that cause it. The comprehension of the functioning of systems associated with artificial habitats is the key to allow environmental managers to identify proper mitigation options and to forecast the impact of alternative coastal development plans.

Alla ricerca della sostenibilità: lo sviluppo dell'agricoltura dall'Unità d'Italia alla Green Economy

L’elaborato finale presentato per la tesi di Dottorato analizza e riconduce a unitarietà, per quanto possibile, alcune delle attività di ricerca da me svolte durante questi tre anni, il cui filo conduttore è l'impatto ambientale delle attività umane e la promozione dello sviluppo sostenibile. Il mio filone di ricerca è stato improntato, dal punto di vista di politica economica, sull'analisi storica dello sviluppo del settore agricolo dall'Unità d'Italia ai giorni nostri e dei cambiamenti avvenuti in contemporanea nel contesto socio-economico e territoriale nazionale, facendo particolare riferimento alle tematiche legate ai consumi e alla dipendenza energetica ed all'impatto ambientale. Parte della mia ricerca è stata, infatti, incentrata sull'analisi dello sviluppo della Green Economy, in particolare per quanto riguarda il settore agroalimentare e la produzione di fonti di energia rinnovabile. Enfasi viene posta sia sulle politiche implementate a livello comunitario e nazionale, sia sul cambiamento dei consumi, in particolare per quanto riguarda gli acquisti di prodotti biologici. La Green Economy è vista come fattore di sviluppo e opportunità per uscire dall'attuale contesto di crisi economico-finanziaria. Crisi, che è strutturale e di carattere duraturo, affiancata da una crescente problematica ambientale dovuta all'attuale modello produttivo, fortemente dipendente dai combustibili fossili. Difatti la necessità di cambiare paradigma produttivo promuovendo la sostenibilità è visto anche in ottica di mitigazione del cambiamento climatico e dei suoi impatti socio-economici particolare dal punto di vista dei disastri ambientali. Questo punto è analizzato anche in termini di sicurezza internazionale e di emergenza umanitaria, con riferimento al possibile utilizzo da parte delle organizzazioni di intervento nei contesti di emergenza di tecnologie alimentate da energia rinnovabile. Dando così una risposta Green ad una problematica esacerbata dall'impatto dello sviluppo delle attività umane.

Industrial accidents triggered by lightning: causes and consequences

Natural hazards affecting industrial installations could directly or indirectly cause an accident or series of accidents with serious consequences for the environment and for human health. Accidents initiated by a natural hazard or disaster which result in the release of hazardous materials are commonly referred to as Natech (Natural Hazard Triggering a Technological Disaster) accidents. The conditions brought about by these kinds of events are particularly problematic, the presence of the natural event increases the probability of exposition and causes consequences more serious than standard technological accidents. Despite a growing body of research and more stringent regulations for the design and operation of industrial activities, Natech accidents remain a threat. This is partly due to the absence of data and dedicated risk-assessment methodologies and tools. Even the Seveso Directives for the control of risks due to major accident hazards do not include any specific impositions regarding the management of Natech risks in the process industries. Among the few available tools there is the European Standard EN 62305, which addresses generic industrial sites, requiring to take into account the possibility of lightning and to select the appropriate protection measures. Since it is intended for generic industrial installations, this tool set the requirements for the design, the construction and the modification of structures, and is thus mainly oriented towards conventional civil building. A first purpose of this project is to study the effects and the consequences on industrial sites of lightning, which is the most common adverse natural phenomenon in Europe. Lightning is the cause of several industrial accidents initiated by natural causes. The industrial sectors most susceptible to accidents triggered by lightning is the petrochemical one, due to the presence of atmospheric tanks (especially floating roof tanks) containing flammable vapors which could be easily ignited by a lightning strike or by lightning secondary effects (as electrostatic and electromagnetic pulses or ground currents). A second purpose of this work is to implement the procedure proposed by the European Standard on a specific kind of industrial plant, i.e. on a chemical factory, in order to highlight the critical aspects of this implementation. A case-study plant handling flammable liquids was selected. The application of the European Standard allowed to estimate the incidence of lightning activity on the total value of the default release frequency suggested by guidelines for atmospheric storage tanks. Though it has become evident that the European Standard does not introduce any parameters explicitly pointing out the amount of dangerous substances which could be ignited or released. Furthermore the parameters that are proposed to describe the characteristics of the structures potentially subjected to lightning strikes are insufficient to take into account the specific features of different chemical equipment commonly present in chemical plants.

Analisi critica degli interventi atti a ridurre la vulnerabilità sismica degli edifici in muratura

Obiettivo del presente elaborato è quello di condurre un’analisi critica degli interventi atti a ridurre la vulnerabilità sismica di edifici esistenti in muratura al fine di individuare una metodologia che consenta di stimare l’intervento o la serie di interventi con il miglior rapporto diminuzione di vulnerabilità/costo d’intervento. Partendo dalla definizione dello United Nations Disaster Relief Coordination Office, con il termine vulnerabilità intenderò il grado di perdita di funzionalità, che può essere espresso in una scala da zero, che significa nessun danno, o cento, che significa perdita totale. Tale perdita si può produrre su un certo elemento o su un gruppo di elementi esposti a rischio al seguito del verificarsi di un evento calamitoso, nel caso specifico, il sisma. La normativa vigente individua, nel definire i criteri generali per la valutazione della sicurezza e per la progettazione, l’esecuzione ed il collaudo degli interventi sulle costruzioni esistenti, le seguenti categorie di intervento: 1)interventi di adeguamento atti a conseguire i livelli di sicurezza previsti dalla normativa stessa, 2)interventi di miglioramento atti ad aumentare la sicurezza strutturale esistente, pur senza necessariamente raggiungere i livelli richiesti dalla normativa, 3)riparazioni o interventi locali che interessino elementi isolati, e che comunque non comportino un miglioramento delle condizioni di sicurezza preesistenti. Nel proseguo, circoscriverò pertanto lo studio esclusivamente agli interventi di miglioramento, ovvero a quegli interventi che siano comunque finalizzati ad accrescere la capacità di resistenza delle strutture esistenti alle azioni considerate. Tuttavia, poiché gli interventi di riparazione del danno raramente sono solo fini a se stessi in quanto comportano sempre anche una componente di miglioramento, e dunque di riduzione della vulnerabilità sismica dell’edificio, la metodologia che verrà presentata potrà essere adottata sia nel caso di edifici che non hanno subito eventi sismici, e quindi non danneggiati, sia per gli edifici danneggiati da un evento sismico, scorporando, per questi ultimi, la quota parte del costo dell’intervento attribuibile alla sola riparazione del danno da quella attribuibile al miglioramento. Successivamente, partendo dalla descrizione delle schede di 2° livello GNDT (Gruppo Nazionale Difesa Terremoti), si procederà alla definizione di un indice di vulnerabilità degli edifici in muratura che tenga conto delle classi di vulnerabilità associate ai parametri riportati in dette schede in funzione delle carenze strutturali rilevate in fase di sopralluogo. Detto indice verrà poi utilizzato per valutare possibili ipotesi di intervento da applicarsi su un edificio in muratura esistente scelto come caso di studio. Per ciascun intervento ipotizzato, verrà calcolato il rapporto tra la riduzione di vulnerabilità ed i costi degli interventi stessi individuando, in un’ottica di analisi costi-benefici, l’ipotesi d’intervento più idonea.

Cascading events triggering industrial accidents: quantitative assessment of NaTech and domino scenarios

The so called cascading events, which lead to high-impact low-frequency scenarios are rising concern worldwide. A chain of events result in a major industrial accident with dreadful (and often unpredicted) consequences. Cascading events can be the result of the realization of an external threat, like a terrorist attack a natural disaster or of “domino effect”. During domino events the escalation of a primary accident is driven by the propagation of the primary event to nearby units, causing an overall increment of the accident severity and an increment of the risk associated to an industrial installation. Also natural disasters, like intense flooding, hurricanes, earthquake and lightning are found capable to enhance the risk of an industrial area, triggering loss of containment of hazardous materials and in major accidents. The scientific community usually refers to those accidents as “NaTechs”: natural events triggering industrial accidents. In this document, a state of the art of available approaches to the modelling, assessment, prevention and management of domino and NaTech events is described. On the other hand, the relevant work carried out during past studies still needs to be consolidated and completed, in order to be applicable in a real industrial framework. New methodologies, developed during my research activity, aimed at the quantitative assessment of domino and NaTech accidents are presented. The tools and methods provided within this very study had the aim to assist the progress toward a consolidated and universal methodology for the assessment and prevention of cascading events, contributing to enhance safety and sustainability of the chemical and process industry.

Catastrofi ri-generative e luoghi del politico. Un'etnografia partecipata del terremoto emiliano

Questa tesi consiste nell'analisi socio-antropologica delle risposte al sisma che il 20 e il 29 maggio ha colpito l'area nord della pianura padano-emiliana, in Italia. La zona precisa di ricerca è stata quella compresa tra i comuni di Mirandola, Cavezzo, Concordia sul Secchia e San Possidonio, della provincia di Modena. Il soggetto specifico è stato Sisma.12, un comitato di terremotati, apartitico e trasversale, che porta avanti specifiche rivendicazioni, elaborando e ponendo in essere politiche “dal basso”, che nascono dalle esperienze dei suoi membri, differenti ma partecipate, come alternative alle scelte messe in atto dalle istituzioni.

A Web GIS Decision Support System For Coastal Risk Assessment and Mitigation Planning

Coastal flooding poses serious threats to coastal areas around the world, billions of dollars in damage to property and infrastructure, and threatens the lives of millions of people. Therefore, disaster management and risk assessment aims at detecting vulnerability and capacities in order to reduce coastal flood disaster risk. In particular, non-specialized researchers, emergency management personnel, and land use planners require an accurate, inexpensive method to determine and map risk associated with storm surge events and long-term sea level rise associated with climate change. This study contributes to the spatially evaluation and mapping of social-economic-environmental vulnerability and risk at sub-national scale through the development of appropriate tools and methods successfully embedded in a Web-GIS Decision Support System. A new set of raster-based models were studied and developed in order to be easily implemented in the Web-GIS framework with the purpose to quickly assess and map flood hazards characteristics, damage and vulnerability in a Multi-criteria approach. The Web-GIS DSS is developed recurring to open source software and programming language and its main peculiarity is to be available and usable by coastal managers and land use planners without requiring high scientific background in hydraulic engineering. The effectiveness of the system in the coastal risk assessment is evaluated trough its application to a real case study.

The use of satellite remote sensing for flood risk management

Over the last decades the impact of natural disasters to the global environment is becoming more and more severe. The number of disasters has dramatically increased, as well as the cost to the global economy and the number of people affected. Among the natural disaster, flood catastrophes are considered to be the most costly, devastating, broad extent and frequent, because of the tremendous fatalities, injuries, property damage, economic and social disruption they cause to the humankind. In the last thirty years, the World has suffered from severe flooding and the huge impact of floods has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, destruction of infrastructures, disruption of economic activity and the loss of property for worth billions of dollars. In this context, satellite remote sensing, along with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), has become a key tool in flood risk management analysis. Remote sensing for supporting various aspects of flood risk management was investigated in the present thesis. In particular, the research focused on the use of satellite images for flood mapping and monitoring, damage assessment and risk assessment. The contribution of satellite remote sensing for the delineation of flood prone zones, the identification of damaged areas and the development of hazard maps was explored referring to selected cases of study.

On The Choice and Impacts of Innovative International Food Assistance Instruments

The rise of new food assistance instruments, including local and regional procurement, cash, and vouchers, has surpassed increase in understanding of the tradeoffs among and impacts of these options relative to traditional food aid. Response choices rarely appear to result from systematic response analyses. Further, impacts along multiple dimensions-timeliness, cost-effectiveness, local market effects, recipient satisfaction, food quality, impact on smallholder suppliers, etc.-may be competing or synergistic. No single food assistance tool is always and everywhere preferable. A growing body of evidence, including the papers in this special section, nonetheless demonstrates the clear value-added of new food assistance instruments. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[The abdominal catastrophe]

Patients with an abdominal catastrophe are in urgent need of early, interdisciplinary medical help. The treatment plan should be based on medical priorities and clear leadership. First priority should be given to achieve optimal oxygenation of blood and stabilization of circulation during all treatment-phases. The sicker the patient, the less invasive the (surgical) treatment should to be, which means "damage control only". This short article describes 7 important, pragmatic rules that will help to increase the survival of a patient with an abdominal catastrophe. Preexisting morbidity and risk factors must be included in the overall risk-evaluation for every therapeutic intervention. The challenge in patients with an abdominal catastrophe is to carefully balance the therapeutic stress and the existing resistance of the individual patient. The best way to avoid abdominal disaster, however, is its prevention.