WorldWideScience

Sample records for francis vulnerable children

  1. Associations Between Social Vulnerabilities and Dietary Patterns in European Children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Iguacel, Isabel; Fernandez-Alvira, Juan M.; Bammann, Karin

    2016-01-01

    -up by applying the K-means clustering algorithm based on a higher frequency of consumption of snacks and fast food (processed), sweet foods and drinks (sweet), and fruits and vegetables (healthy). Vulnerable groups were defined at baseline as follows: children whose parents lacked a social network, children from...... single-parent families, children of migrant origin and children with unemployed parents. Multinomial mixed models were used to assess the associations between social vulnerabilities and children’s dietary patterns at baseline and follow-up. Children whose parents lacked a social network (OR 1·31; 99 % CI......Socio-economic inequalities in childhood can determine dietary patterns, and therefore future health. This study aimed to explore associations between social vulnerabilities and dietary patterns assessed at two time points, and to investigate the association between accumulation of vulnerabilities...

  2. Vulnerable children speak out: voices from one rural school in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study recommends some strategies by which the Swaziland Ministry of Education and Training, the community, and the school can make collaborative and coordinated efforts aimed at enhancing vulnerable children's quality of schooling experiences. Keywords: Children; Schooling; Rural; Vulnerability; Education; ...

  3. Asset ownership among households caring for orphans and vulnerable children in rural Zimbabwe: the influence of ownership on children's health and social vulnerabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crea, Thomas M; Lombe, Margaret; Robertson, Laura A; Dumba, Lovemore; Mushati, Phyllis; Makoni, J C; Mavise, Gideon; Eaton, Jeffrey W; Munatsi, Brighton; Nyamukapa, Constance A; Gregson, Simon

    2013-01-01

    The high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome in sub-Saharan Africa has resulted in a dramatic increase in orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) over the past decade. These children typically rely on extended family networks for support, but the magnitude of the crisis has resulted in traditional familial networks becoming overwhelmed and more economically and socially vulnerable. Previous research consistently demonstrates the positive influence of household asset ownership on children's well-being. Using data from impoverished households caring for OVC in rural Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe, this study explores the influence of household asset ownership on OVC health vulnerability (HV) and social vulnerability (SV). Findings indicate that asset ownership is associated with significantly lower SV, in terms of school attendance and birth registration. Yet, assets do not emerge as a direct influence of OVC HV as measured by disease and chronic illness, although having a chronically ill adult in the household increases HV. These findings suggest that asset ownership, specifically a combination of fixed and movable assets, may offset the influence of other risk factors for children's SV.

  4. Children of Darfur: a vulnerable population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaikin, Jennifer

    2008-02-01

    Four years of intense war in Darfur has created an entire generation of children who might never recover. Children in this region are particularly vulnerable and suffer from issues including physical and psychological illness, malnutrition, rape and unlawful military recruitment. This international crisis is among the most important public health issues in the world. The responsibility of the international community to these children is significant and required to break this cycle. This paper will discuss the concerns surrounding these children, how current strategies are failing and proposed public health nursing interventions.

  5. Community perspectives on research consent involving vulnerable children in Western Kenya.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vreeman, Rachel; Kamaara, Eunice; Kamanda, Allan; Ayuku, David; Nyandiko, Winstone; Atwoli, Lukoye; Ayaya, Samuel; Gisore, Peter; Scanlon, Michael; Braitstein, Paula

    2012-10-01

    Involving vulnerable pediatric populations in international research requires culturally appropriate ethical protections. We sought to use mabaraza, traditional East African community assemblies, to understand how a community in western Kenya viewed participation of children in health research and informed consent and assent processes. Results from 108 participants revealed generally positive attitudes towards involving vulnerable children in research, largely because they assumed children would directly benefit. Consent from parents or guardians was understood as necessary for participation while gaining child assent was not. They felt other caregivers, community leaders, and even community assemblies could participate in the consent process. Community members believed research involving orphans and street children could benefit these vulnerable populations, but would require special processes for consent.

  6. Francis Picabia hilislooming

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    1998-01-01

    Aastavahetusel Hamburgi teises Deichtorhalles olnud näitusest, kus eksponeeriti Francis Picabia (1879-1953) loomingut alates 1935. aastast. Näitus tutvustas Picabiat kui aktimaalijat, portretisti, fotograafi ja kirjameest

  7. Epidemiology of health and vulnerability among children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews, Gail; Skinner, Donald; Zuma, Khangelani

    2006-04-01

    The HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa has already orphaned a generation of children, and it is projected that by 2010, 18 million African children under the age of 18 are likely to be orphans from this single cause (UNICEF, 2005, The state of the Worlds Children: Childhood under threat. New York: UNICEF). Results from a Kellogg funded OVC project (Skinner et al., 2004, Definition of orphaned and vulnerable children. Cape Town: HSRC) supported the construct that the loss of either or both parents would indicate a situation of likely vulnerability of children. A key problem in the literature on the impact of orphanhood on the well-being of children, families and communities, is that the focus of assertions and predictions is often on the negative impact on 'AIDS orphans', or households. There are hardly any studies that compare the experiences of orphans with non-orphans. This paper thus attempts to fill that gap. It uses epidemiological data to explore the epidemiology of health and vulnerability of children within the context of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Because of data limitations, only the following aspects are examined: (i) orphan status; (ii) household structure (in particular, grandparent headedness and female-headedness); (iii) illness of parents; (iv) poverty; and (v) access to services, especially schooling, health, social services. While recognizing the limitations of the analysis, data presented in this paper indicates that orphans in sub-Saharan Africa are more vulnerable than non-orphans. The authors conclude with some suggestions for policy makers and programme implementers, highlighting the importance of focusing on interventions that will have maximum impact on the health and well-being of children.

  8. Vulnerability of children: More than a question of age

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hutton, D.

    2010-01-01

    The vulnerability of children in disasters is well-established. Children are at greater risk of the impacts of disasters because of both their age and level of physiological, anatomical, cognitive and emotional development. Frequently overlooked, however, is the influence of other social and health determinants. This article highlights the importance of family and household income in determining the ability of children to withstand the shocks of catastrophic events. Children raised in lower income families are made disadvantaged in multiple ways; by poor living and neighbourhood conditions, less stable home environments, as well as lower levels of education and health care. During disasters, lower income families and children suffer disproportionately, both because they are frequently the hardest hit but also because they have fewer resources with which to cope. The article emphasises not only the importance of understanding the vulnerability of children within a broader family context, but a continuing requirement for public health and emergency planners to integrate more fully the diverse needs of children and families into emergency preparedness policies and plans. (authors)

  9. Children of a lesser god? Orphans, Vulnerable Children (OVCs) and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Orphans, Vulnerable Children (OVCs) and poverty in Zambia: implications for social work practice. ... This paper attempts to present a conceptual linkage between a model of intervention of social protection and community practice model specifically locality development in terms of planning, organizing, decision making, ...

  10. Vulnerability of families with children with intestinal stomas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clara Ferraz Lazarini Zacarin

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Intestinal stomas cause transformations in the body and create specific and continuous needs for care that imply in hospitalization and surgeries. In this context, we applied the concept of family vulnerability in order to identify the vulnerability of the family living with a child who has intestinal stoma. It is a qualitative study which interviewed the mothers of children with this chronic condition. We used narrative analysis based on the concept of family vulnerability. The results display that the family has gone through previous noteworthy experiences associated with the child’s condition. The family cares for the child on their own and seeks ways to control the situation and regain autonomy, hoping for stoma reversal. Based on the concept of vulnerability, we observed that these families can be considered vulnerable, for they experience threats to their autonomy, but are moved by the hope of reversal and intestinal tract reconstruction. doi: 10.5216/ree.v16i2.26639.

  11. Cavitation erosion prediction on Francis turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bourdon, P.; Farhat, M.; Simoneau, R.; Lavigne, P. [Hydro-Quebec, Montreal, PQ (Canada); Pereira, F.; Dupont, P.; Avellan, F.; Caron, J.F. [IMHEF/EPFL, (France); Dorey, J.M.; Archer, A. [Electricite de France (EDF), 92 - Clamart (France). Dir. des Etudes et Recherches; and others

    1997-12-31

    On-board aggressiveness measurement methods were tested on a severely eroded prototype blade of a 266 MW Francis turbine: pressure, pit counting, DECER electrochemical and vibration measurements. The test program provided understanding of the heterogeneous erosion distribution of the prototype blades and quantitative data for comparison in subsequent tests on the model of the machine. Model tests and flow analysis were also performed, to detect cavitation on a Francis turbine model. The results are compared to those obtained on the prototype measurements. The model used for that study is built on the basis of a geometrical recovery of one of the most eroded blade of the prototype. Different methods were investigated to predict cavitation erosion on Francis turbines from model. They are based on measurement of pitting, pressure fluctuations and acceleration. The methods proposed are suitable to measure cavitation aggressiveness on model and on prototype, and that the level on the model is several orders of magnitude smaller than on the prototype. (author) 18 refs.

  12. [Vulnerability to depression in children and adolescents: update and perspectives].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purper-Ouakil, D; Michel, G; Mouren-Siméoni, M-C

    2002-01-01

    Depression in children and adolescents is associated with poor psychosocial functioning, high psychiatric comorbidity, risk of recurrent episodes or onset of bipolar disorder. These findings emphasize the importance of early identification of children and adolescents having elevated risk for future depression and further development, evaluation and greater availability of prevention strategies. Our review aims an update about depressive vulnerability in children and adolescents in the perspective of better identification of at-risk populations and targeting of prevention programs. Psychopathology, in particular anxiety and disruptive disorders are well identified risk-factors for later depression. Subclinical depressive symptomatology, also termed "demoralization", also identifies high-risk populations, likely to become incident cases of depression. It is still unclear whether this condition is prodromal depression, a specific clinical entity or the expression of biological and/or cognitive vulnerability. Familial risk for depressive disorders involves both genetic and psychosocial factors. Marital discord, poor communication and dysfunctional parenting practices are often present in families with affective disorders and can be implicated in increased depressive vulnerability in the offspring. Research on individual vulnerability in children and adolescents has focused on temperamental and cognitive characteristics. Temperament traits describe individual differences in reactivity and behavior. High emotionality, defined as the tendency to become upset easily and intensely has been associated with an increased risk for subsequent major depression. However, as the majority of high scorers will not become depressive cases, emotionality should not be the only criterion for selection of at-risk populations. Cognitive style including poor self esteem, low social competence and negative attributions are also associated with increased likelihood of depressive symptoms, but

  13. HydroHillChart – Francis module. Software used to Calculate the Hill Chart of the Francis Hydraulic Turbines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dorian Nedelcu

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the Hydro Hill Chart - Francis module application, used to calculate the hill chart of the Pelton, Francis and Kaplan hydraulic turbine models, by processing the data measured on the stand. After describing the interface and menu, the input data is graphically presented and the universal characteristic for measuring scenarios ao=const. and n11=const is calculated. Finally, the two calculated hill charts are compared through a graphical superimposition of the isolines.

  14. Francis Crick: A Singular Approach to Scientific Discovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawrence, Peter A

    2016-12-01

    Francis' office window (at the Salk) commanded a panorama of the Pacific. "This grand natural scene was a physical correlate of Francis's intellectual world: wide-ranging, brilliantly lit, a little overawing, but also immensely inviting and above all an exciting place to be." (Mitchison, 2004). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Assessing Attitude towards Religion: The Astley-Francis Scale of Attitude towards Theistic Faith

    Science.gov (United States)

    Astley, Jeff; Francis, Leslie J.; Robbins, Mandy

    2012-01-01

    This study builds on the research tradition modelled by the Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity, the Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude towards Judaism, the Sahin-Francis Scale of Attitude towards Islam and the Santosh-Francis Scale of Attitude towards Hinduism to propose a generic instrument concerned with attitudes towards theistic faith.…

  16. Major historical developments in the design of water wheels and Francis hydroturbines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lewis, B J; Cimbala, J M; Wouden, A M

    2014-01-01

    The first record of water wheels dates back to ancient Greece. Over the next several centuries the technology spread all over the world. The process of arriving at the design of the modern Francis runner lasted from 1848 to approximately 1920. Though the modern Francis runner has little resemblance to the original turbines designed by James B. Francis in 1848, it became know as the Francis turbine around 1920, in honor of his many contributions to hydraulic engineering analysis and design. The modern Francis turbine is the most widely used turbine design today, particularly for medium head and large flow rate situations, and can achieve over 95% efficiency

  17. Can friends protect genetically vulnerable children from depression?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brendgen, Mara; Vitaro, Frank; Bukowski, William M; Dionne, Ginette; Tremblay, Richard E; Boivin, Michel

    2013-05-01

    The study examined whether reciprocal friendship quantity or quality can mitigate genetic vulnerability for depression symptoms in children. The sample comprised 168 monozygotic twin pairs and 126 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs assessed in Grade 4 (mean age = 10.04 years). Friendship participation was measured via reciprocal nominations of close friendships within the classroom. Friendship quality was measured through self-reports. Depression symptoms were measured through teacher and peer reports. Genetic vulnerability for depression symptoms was unrelated to friendship participation or the number of reciprocal friends, but it was negatively related to positive friendship quality. In line with gene-environment interaction, genetic risk effects on depression symptoms were mitigated in girls who had at least one close reciprocal friend. In boys, only moderate main effects of genetic vulnerability and friendship participation were found but no interaction between them. However, among boys with at least one reciprocal friend, a greater number of friends was related to fewer depression symptoms whereas no cumulative effect of friendship was found for girls. Finally, positive friendship quality was related to fewer depression symptoms in girls and boys even when controlling for genetic risk. The findings emphasize the importance of teaching social interactional skills that promote high-quality friendship relations to help prevent the development of depression symptoms in children.

  18. Orphans and at-risk children in Haiti: vulnerabilities and human rights issues postearthquake.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicholas, Patrice K; George, Erin K; Raymond, Nadia; Lewis-OʼConnor, Annie; Victoria, Stephanie; Lucien, Sergeline; Peters-Lewis, Angelleen; Hickey, Nancy; Corless, Inge B; Tyer-Viola, Lynda; Davis, Sheila M; Barry, Donna; Marcelin, Naomie; Valcourt, Roodeline

    2012-01-01

    The vulnerability of children in Haiti has increased dramatically since the earthquake in January 2010. Prior to the earthquake, the prevalence of orphans and at-risk children was high but since the earthquake, more than 1 million people-with more than 380,000 children remaining displaced and living in over 1200 displacement sites. These existing conditions leave orphans and at-risk children vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and increased risk of HIV/AIDS. This article will focus on the complex issues affecting orphans and at-risk children and the intersection with HIV/AIDS and human rights. Specific recommendations by United Nations Children's Fund are discussed. Nursing in Haiti must address the policy-related and population-specific approaches for the care of children living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

  19. A Peer-to-Peer Health Education Program for Vulnerable Children in Uganda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falk, Diane S.; Pettet, Kristen; Mpagi, Charles

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, children attending a U.S.-sponsored private primary school serving orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda were interviewed in focus groups about their participation in a peer-to-peer health education program in which they used music, dance, poetry, art, and drama to convey health information. The children reported enhanced…

  20. Master equation and runaway speed of the Francis turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zh.

    2018-04-01

    The master equation of the Francis turbine is derived based on the combination of the angular momentum (Euler) and the energy laws. It relates the geometrical design of the impeller and the regulation settings (guide vane angle and rotational speed) to the discharge and the power output. The master equation, thus, enables the complete characteristics of a given Francis turbine to be easily computed. While applying the energy law, both the shock loss at the impeller inlet and the swirling loss at the impeller exit are taken into account. These are main losses which occur at both the partial load and the overloads and, thus, dominantly influence the characteristics of the Francis turbine. They also totally govern the discharge of the water through the impeller when the impeller is found in the standstill. The computations have been performed for the discharge, the hydraulic torque and the hydraulic efficiency. They were also compared with the available measurements on a model turbine. Excellent agreement has been achieved. The computations also enable the runaway speed of the Francis turbine and the related discharge to be determined as a function of the setting angle of the guide vanes.

  1. The VCOP Scale: A Measure of Overprotection in Parents of Physically Vulnerable Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Logan; And Others

    1993-01-01

    Developed Vulnerable Child/Overprotecting Parent Scale to measure overprotecting versus optimal developmental stimulation tendencies for parents of physically vulnerable children. Items were administered to parents whose parenting techniques had been rated as either highly overprotective or as optimal by group of physicians and other…

  2. Interviewing Francis Bacon

    OpenAIRE

    Kisters, Sandra

    2012-01-01

    British painter Francis Bacon (1909-1992) was known for the eloquence with which he talked about his art. He was easy to talk to, and was interviewed countless times by numerous critics. However, when studying Bacon's paintings one soon comes across the published interviews with art critic and curator David Sylvester (1924-2001), who interviewed him as many as 18 times between 1962 and 1986. Art historian Sandra Kisters argues that Sylvester's interviews with Bacon are carefully constructed a...

  3. in_focus - Healthy Lives for Vulnerable Women and Children ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    24 oct. 2017 ... Tremendous challenges remain to ensure that the most vulnerable populations, including women, children, and adolescents, are able to enjoy the healthy lives and well-being promised in the Sustainable Development Goals. Much of their poor health is caused by poverty, gender, lack of education, and ...

  4. On Francis Crick, the genetic code, and a clever kid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein, Bob

    2018-04-02

    A few years ago, Francis Crick's son told me a story that I can't get out of my mind. I had contacted Michael Crick by email while digging through the background of the researchers who had cracked the genetic code in the 1960s. Francis had died in 2004, and I was contacting some of the people who knew him when he was struggling to decipher the code. Francis didn't appear to struggle often - he is known mostly for his successes - and, as it turns out, this one well-known struggle may have had a clue sitting just barely out of sight. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Verdade e método em Francis Bacon

    OpenAIRE

    Secco, Márcio

    2004-01-01

    Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Filosofia. Estudo sobre o método e o conceito de verdade defendido por Francis Bacon, sendo nossos principais objetivos nesse trabalho: a) esclarecer algumas questões relativas ao método baconiano, principalmente no que se refere ao uso de hipóteses; b) apresentar uma interpretação falibilista da teoria de Francis Bacon, mostrando que a verdade e a utilidade...

  6. Development of a 5kw Francis Turbine Runner Using Computation ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A small scale Francis turbine runner for a turbine located at Awba dam in the University of Ibadan with designed head and flow rate of 6m and 0.244m3/s is designed. The basic design of the Francis turbine runner is completed based on basic fluid dynamics turbo machinery principles. A 2-D and 3-D steady state, ...

  7. Social Vulnerability as a Predictor of Physical Activity and Screen Time in European Children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Iguacel, Isabel; Fernández-Alvira, Juan M.; Bammann, Karin

    2018-01-01

    Objectives: To examine associations between social vulnerabilities and meeting physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) recommendations during a 2-year follow-up. Methods: 13,891 children aged 2.0 to ...-up. Children’s sports club membership, PA and ST were collected via parental questionnaires. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was objectively assessed with accelerometers. Performing at least 1 h of MVPA daily and spending less than 2 h of ST defined physically active and non-sedentary children...... parents had minimal social networks had a higher risk of non-compliance with PA recommendations (subjectively assessed) at baseline. Migrants and children with unemployed parents had longer ST. All vulnerable groups were less likely to be sports club members. Conclusions: Migrants and children...

  8. Emotional well-being of orphans and vulnerable children in Ogun ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Previous research has found strong links between the emotional well-being of children and young people to their personal, social development and academic performance. This study examined stigmatisation, sexual involvement and school enrolment as predictors of emotional well-being of orphans and vulnerable ...

  9. The Francis Crick Institute.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peters, Keith; Smith, Jim

    2017-04-01

    The Francis Crick Institute Laboratory, opened in 2016, is supported by the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust, and University College London, King's College London and Imperial College London. The emphasis on research training and early independence of gifted scientists in a multidisciplinary environment provides unique opportunities for UK medical science, including clinical and translational research. © Royal College of Physicians 2017. All rights reserved.

  10. Neighborhood Environments: Links to Health Behaviors and Obesity Status in Vulnerable Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choo, Jina; Kim, Hye-Jin; Park, Sooyeon

    2017-08-01

    This study aimed to identify the actual and perceived features of neighborhood environments linked to health behaviors and obesity status in vulnerable children by using geographic information systems, walking surveys, and focus group interviews. The participants were 126 children registered at community child centers and 10 mothers of study participants. Increased availability of fast food outlets and convenience stores was significantly and positively associated with fast food and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and inversely with physical activity. Reduced availability of physical activity outlets was significantly and positively associated with sedentary behaviors. Mothers' perceptions of their neighborhoods fell into three content categories: (a) changed to be unfriendly for children, (b) adapted to fast food and convenience eating, and (c) confined to physically inactive living. Based on these findings, community-level environmental strategies for reducing unhealthy behaviors linked to neighborhood environments should be prioritized to prevent childhood obesity in vulnerable populations.

  11. Francis Crick (1916–2004)

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Administrator

    The death of Francis Crick deprives us of one of the great- est scientists of the 20th century, whose creativity and power of mind dominated molecular biology in its golden years. Many people have told the story of his achievements; here I would simply like to recollect some of the qualities of this remarkable man. The first ...

  12. Francis Crick (1916–2004)

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Administrator

    him. When somebody gave a lecture, Francis was ready at the end (and often in the middle) to give them a lucid and exact account of what their work meant, for better or for worse. This made the Laboratory of Molecular Biology's end-of-year lectures a terrifying ordeal for many, but in- creased their intellectual value, and ...

  13. Francis Bacon: teory, method and contributions to the education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Carlos Simões Galvão

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available In the present article, we propose a brief analysis of Francis Bacon’s thought (1561-1626 and his contributions to the Education. With Bacon, the old religious or metaphysical character of knowledge was substituted by the objectivity of the experimental science, something unknown until then. The science started to represent a means in search of an end, i.e., man’s control over nature. The desire of Bacon to promote a reorganization of the power of the human knowledge, not based on the old scholastic knowledge, but in the new scientific knowledge, was shared by educators, philosophers and statesmen of his time. The role of the school would be to assure the dissemination of this new knowledge which, properly unified, would be within reach of all the children

  14. Associations between social vulnerabilities and dietary patterns in European children: the Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health EFfects In Children and infantS (IDEFICS) study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iguacel, Isabel; Fernández-Alvira, Juan M; Bammann, Karin; De Clercq, Bart; Eiben, Gabriele; Gwozdz, Wencke; Molnar, Dénes; Pala, Valeria; Papoutsou, Stalo; Russo, Paola; Veidebaum, Toomas; Wolters, Maike; Börnhorst, Claudia; Moreno, Luis A

    2016-10-01

    Socio-economic inequalities in childhood can determine dietary patterns, and therefore future health. This study aimed to explore associations between social vulnerabilities and dietary patterns assessed at two time points, and to investigate the association between accumulation of vulnerabilities and dietary patterns. A total of 9301 children aged 2-9 years participated at baseline and 2-year follow-up examinations of the Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health EFfects In Children and infantS study. In all, three dietary patterns were identified at baseline and follow-up by applying the K-means clustering algorithm based on a higher frequency of consumption of snacks and fast food (processed), sweet foods and drinks (sweet), and fruits and vegetables (healthy). Vulnerable groups were defined at baseline as follows: children whose parents lacked a social network, children from single-parent families, children of migrant origin and children with unemployed parents. Multinomial mixed models were used to assess the associations between social vulnerabilities and children's dietary patterns at baseline and follow-up. Children whose parents lacked a social network (OR 1·31; 99 % CI 1·01, 1·70) and migrants (OR 1·45; 99 % CI 1·15, 1·83) were more likely to be in the processed cluster at baseline and follow-up. Children whose parents were homemakers (OR 0·74; 99 % CI 0·60, 0·92) were less likely to be in the processed cluster at baseline. A higher number of vulnerabilities was associated with a higher probability of children being in the processed cluster (OR 1·78; 99 % CI 1·21, 2·62). Therefore, special attention should be paid to children of vulnerable groups as they present unhealthier dietary patterns.

  15. Maternal age and offspring developmental vulnerability at age five: A population-based cohort study of Australian children.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathleen Falster

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In recent decades, there has been a shift to later childbearing in high-income countries. There is limited large-scale evidence of the relationship between maternal age and child outcomes beyond the perinatal period. The objective of this study is to quantify a child's risk of developmental vulnerability at age five, according to their mother's age at childbirth.Linkage of population-level perinatal, hospital, and birth registration datasets to data from the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC and school enrolments in Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW, enabled us to follow a cohort of 99,530 children from birth to their first year of school in 2009 or 2012. The study outcome was teacher-reported child development on five domains measured by the AEDC, including physical health and well-being, emotional maturity, social competence, language and cognitive skills, and communication skills and general knowledge. Developmental vulnerability was defined as domain scores below the 2009 AEDC 10th percentile cut point. The mean maternal age at childbirth was 29.6 years (standard deviation [SD], 5.7, with 4,382 children (4.4% born to mothers aged <20 years and 20,026 children (20.1% born to mothers aged ≥35 years. The proportion vulnerable on ≥1 domains was 21% overall and followed a reverse J-shaped distribution according to maternal age: it was highest in children born to mothers aged ≤15 years, at 40% (95% CI, 32-49, and was lowest in children born to mothers aged between 30 years and ≤35 years, at 17%-18%. For maternal ages 36 years to ≥45 years, the proportion vulnerable on ≥1 domains increased to 17%-24%. Adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics significantly attenuated vulnerability risk in children born to younger mothers, while adjustment for potentially modifiable factors, such as antenatal visits, had little additional impact across all ages. Although the multi-agency linkage yielded a broad range of

  16. The great war correspondent: Francis McCullagh, 1874–1956

    OpenAIRE

    Horgan, John

    2009-01-01

    Trotsky of Russia knows Francis McCullagh. So does President Calles of Mexico. Peter, the King of Serbia, was McCullagh’s friend. The headhunters of the upper Amazon list Francis McCullagh as one of their principal deities. The warring tribes of Morocco call him blood brother. A room is always ready for him in the imperial palace of Siam. The latchstrings of hundreds of Siberian peasant huts are out in anticipation of his coming.

  17. Francis Crick, DNA, and the Central Dogma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olby, Robert

    1970-01-01

    This essay describes how Francis Crick, ex-physicist, entered the field of biology and discovered the structure of DNA. Emphasis is upon the double helix, the sequence hypothesis, the central dogma, and the genetic code. (VW)

  18. Francis Bacon and the Technology of Style.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Christopher

    1983-01-01

    Examines Francis Bacon's intentionally devised style for scientific writings and the theoretical basis of that style. Discusses his emphasis on a truly objective point of view, and his use of aphorisms to adapt to his audience. (HTH)

  19. Francis Goyat kuuleb pühapäeval

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2003-01-01

    Belgia kitarristist Francis Goyast, kontsertidest Pärnu kontserdimajas 19. nov., Tartus Vanemuise kontserdimajas 21.nov ja Tallinnas Estonia kontserdisaalis 23. nov., heliplaadist "Pleased to meet You, Mr. Valgre"

  20. State of the art in numerical simulation of high head Francis turbines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trivedi Chirag

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The Francis-99 test case consists in a high head Francis turbine model, which geometry together with meshes and detailed experimental measurements is freely available at www.francis-99.org. Three workshops were initially planned to exchange experience on numerical investigations of the test case concerning steady state operating conditions, transient operating conditions and fluid structure analysis. The first workshop was held in Trondheim, Norway in December 2014. Some results of the 14 contributions are presented. They are concerned with the influence of the near wall space discretization and turbulence modelling in order to capture hydraulic efficiency, torque, pressure and velocity with a good uncertainty at three operating conditions.

  1. A comparison of healthcare resource use for rotavirus and RSV between vulnerable children with co-morbidities and healthy children: a case control study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pockett, Rhys D; Campbell, David; Carroll, Stuart; Rajoriya, Fiona; Adlard, Nick

    2013-01-01

    To quantify the differences in hospital length of stay (LOS) and cost between healthy and vulnerable children with cystic fibrosis (CF), insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), cancer, and epilepsy who contract rotavirus (RVGE) or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data were collected for England, for children consideration, as for rotavirus vaccines, evaluation of a vaccination programme should consider the potentially positive impact on vulnerable children. Limitations of the study include a dependency on accurate coding, an expectation that patients are identified through laboratory testing, and the possibility of unidentified underlying conditions affecting the burden.

  2. Maternal and Paternal Perception of Child Vulnerability and Behaviour Problems in Very Preterm Born Children

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Potharst, E.S.; Houtzager, B.A.; van Wassenaer-Leemhuis, A.G.; Kok, J.H.; Koot, H.M.; Last, B.F.

    2015-01-01

    Preterm born children have more behaviour problems than term born children. Perinatal risks, current child functioning, sociodemographic characteristics, parental psychological distress and parental perceptions of child vulnerability (PCV) have been shown to be risk factors for behaviour problems.

  3. Francis Bacon and Jacobean legitimation

    OpenAIRE

    Rodríguez García, José María

    1997-01-01

    Francis Bacon (1561-1626) maintained a lifelong interest in the institutional implementation of experimental science. What changed over the years were the rhetorical strategies employed to give this project legitimacy. I systematize those changes by dividing Bacon's works into three groups according to three criteria: what rite of officialization is enacted in each text (e.g., conversion, fatherly generation, royal delegation); who the inscribed addressee is (e.g., an imagin...

  4. The relationship of parental overprotection, perceived vulnerability, and parenting stress to behavioral, emotional, and social adjustment in children with cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colletti, Christina J M; Wolfe-Christensen, Cortney; Carpentier, Melissa Y; Page, Melanie C; McNall-Knapp, René Y; Meyer, William H; Chaney, John M; Mullins, Larry L

    2008-08-01

    To examine the relationship of self-reported parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, and parenting stress to parent-reported behavioral, emotional, and social adjustment of children currently on treatment for cancer. Parents of 62 children (34 boys, 28 girls) currently on treatment for cancer were recruited from an outpatient pediatric cancer clinic. Children ranged in age from 2 to 12 years; age at diagnosis ranged from 1.33 to 11.83 years. Higher levels of parenting stress, but not parental overprotection or perceived child vulnerability, were associated with poorer behavioral and social adjustment. Higher levels of perceived child vulnerability and parenting stress, but not parental overprotection, were independently associated with poorer emotional adjustment. Specific parenting variables appear to be related to specific adjustment outcomes in children with cancer. Longitudinal follow-up of these children is necessary to determine the developmental trajectory of parent variables and long-term child outcomes.

  5. Fundamental motor skills, nutritional status, perceived competence, and school performance of Brazilian children in social vulnerability: Gender comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nobre, Glauber Carvalho; Valentini, Nadia Cristina; Nobre, Francisco Salviano Sales

    2018-06-01

    Being at risk or in social vulnerability situations can affect important aspects of child development. The aim of this study was to investigate fundamental motor skills (locomotor and object control) and school (writing, arithmetic, reading) performances, the perceived competence and the nutritional status of girls and boys living in social vulnerability in the poorest regions of Brazil. Two hundred eleven (211) children (87 girls, 41%), 7-10-year-old (M = 8.3, SD = 0.9), from public schools in Ceará (Brazil), living in social vulnerability, participated in the study. Children were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development - 2, the Body Mass Index (BMI), the Self-Perception Profile for Children, and the School Performance Test. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), adjusted for age, did not show any significant effect for locomotion. There was an effect of gender on the object control. Boys showed higher scores in striking, kicking, throwing, and rolling a ball. Quade's nonparametric analysis showed no difference in BMI between the genders. Most children presented healthy weight. The MANCOVA showed no effect of gender on children's scores on perceived competence on the subscales; moderate scores were found for most children. There were no gender effects on school performance; both boys and girls demonstrated inferior performance. Boys and girls in social vulnerability showed inferior performance in most motor skills, moderate perceived competence and inferior school performance. These results reveal that the appropriate development of these children is at risk and that intervention strategies should be implemented to compensate the difficulties presented. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. [Children and adolescents in street situation: contributions to an understanding of vulnerability and disaffiliation].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gontijo, Daniela; Medeiros, Marcelo

    2009-01-01

    The concept of vulnerability is being discussed in the public health area as a potential tool toward the transformation of the health practices for allowing an articulation individual-community. Understanding health as a process of subjectivation determined by social, cultural and historical contexts, this article aims to approach the question children and adolescents in street situation on the basis of the concept of civil vulnerability, using the theoretical background presented by Robert Castel. This author understands the social marginalization lived by different individuals and social groups in a dynamic form, determined by the association of work and social insertion. As refers to children and adolescents in street situation, we believe that they are reflecting a process of intensified vulnerability (culminating in disaffiliation) to which thousands of Brazilian families are subject due to the extreme social inequalities in our country. We hope that our theoretical discussion will be able to contribute to the development of a theoretical reference in public health and to the planning and implementation of health actions directed to this population.

  7. Francis Bacon: “pintar sensações” (Francis Bacon: “to paint sensations”)

    OpenAIRE

    Borges, Sonia; UVA

    2013-01-01

    RESUMO O texto aborda, pela via da psicanálise, o que consideramos como o “método” de Francis Bacon: “pintar sensações”. Para isto, tomo, como referências principais, a Carta 52 (1896), da correspondência de Freud com Fliess, e Em busca do tempo perdido, romance de Marcel Proust ([1922] 1995), observando a possibilidade de considerar o que Proust nomeia como “memória involuntária” e o seu papel no processo criativo como uma ilustração esclarecedora do que Freud nos traz na Carta sobre a estr...

  8. Francis Bacon: The Real's Brutality. The Figure and the Other

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guido Mannucci

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Getting in front of painting by Francis Bacon touches you deeply. I’m talking about aesthetics, sensations: resounding flow that strikes abruptly, making futile any search for meaning. Francis Bacon circumvents the figurative, the meaning, he aims to the figural: to feelings, not words. Beauty, in his paintings, shows itself in the peaceful union of the positive and of its contrary; if the negative wasn’t there, though, his paintings wouldn’t exude such a brutal sense of reality. This essay investigates the figure of Francis Bacon and the spectator – the Other – as he tries to confront the painting. Bacon will be analysed using a purely phenomenological approach, with references that range from Merleau-Ponty to Martin Heidegger; the meeting-collision between the spectator and the painting, instead, will be examined taking inspiration from the Winnicott’s thesis on the relationship between Bacon and mirrors in the painter’s childhood. In order to take distance from Winnicott’s psychoanalytical approach, this essay will focus on the relationship between spectator and painting from a more anthropological point of view. 

  9. Poetic and Francis Bacon's Ambivalence toward Language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pribble, Paula Tompkins

    Just as rhetoric is a way of knowing, so is poetic, both of which, for Francis Bacon, produce false knowledge. But Bacon is not entirely negative. When the poetic elements of language are used in strategic and public communication, like the scholarly communication Bacon attempts to reform, poetic and rhetoric work together to create a plurality of…

  10. Are former late-preterm children at risk for child vulnerability and overprotection?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samra, Haifa A; McGrath, Jacqueline M; Wey, Howard

    2010-09-01

    Parent perception of child vulnerability (PPCV) and parent overprotection (POP) are believed to have serious implications for age appropriate cognitive and psychosocial development in very low birth weight preterm children. With recent concerns about suboptimal developmental outcomes in late-preterm children, this study was aimed at examining the relationship between history of late-preterm birth (34-36 6/7 weeks gestation), and PPCV, POP, and healthcare utilization (HCU). This was a cross-sectional observational design. Study participants were mothers of 54 healthy singleton children recruited from community centers including Women and Children Clinics (WIC), primary care clinics and daycare centers in the upper Midwest region. Outcome measures included Forsyth Child Vulnerability Scale (CVS), Thomasgard Parent Protection Scale (PPS) scores, and healthcare utilization (HCU). Potential covariates included history of life-threatening illness, child and maternal demographics, and maternal stress and depression using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD). HCU (p=0.02) and the PPS subscales of supervision (p=0.003) and separation (p=0.03) were significant predictors of PPCV in mothers of 3-8 years old children with late-preterm history. Age of the child (p=0.008) and CVS scores (p=0.005) were significant predictors of POP. Maternal age (p=0.04), stress (p=0.04), and CVS scores (p=0.003) were significant predictors of HCU. Dependence, a subscale of the PPS, correlated with the child's age and gender even after controlling for age. History of late-preterm did not predict MPCV, MOP, or HCU in healthy children. Future research is needed in larger more diverse samples to better understand causal relationships and develop strategies to lessen risks of MPCV and MOP. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  11. Social vulnerability of unaccompanied migrant children: a view from the urban area of Altar, Sonora, Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mario Alexander Cabrera Duarte

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This article is the result of research carried out by the authors on the social vulnerability of unaccompanied migrant children in the urban area of Altar, Sonora, during the years 2010-2011. The main techniques used for data collection were participant observation and semi-structured interview. The results offered are limited to evidence the social vulnerability suffered by unaccompanied migrant children, by making use of the services of food, accommodation and health. Which exposes them to a number of risks, such as food shortages, the loss of their few belongings, the drug, the physical, the suffering of diseases and limited access to medical care aggressions.

  12. Anaemia of pregnancy, perinatal outcomes and children's developmental vulnerability: a whole-of-population study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smithers, Lisa G; Gialamas, Angela; Scheil, Wendy; Brinkman, Sally; Lynch, John W

    2014-09-01

    There is limited longitudinal data from high-income countries on the sequelae of anaemia during pregnancy. The aim of this study is to examine whether anaemia of pregnancy is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes and with children's developmental vulnerability. We conducted a population-based study to link routinely collected government administrative data that involved all live births in the state of South Australia 1999-2005 (n = 124 061) and a subset for whom developmental data were collected during a national census of children attending their first year of school in 2009 (n = 13 654). Perinatal outcomes were recorded by midwives using a validated, standardised form. Development was recorded by schoolteachers using the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI). Children in the lowest 10% of AEDI scores are indicative of developmental vulnerability. There were 8764/124 061 (7.1%) cases of anaemia. After adjustment for a range of potentially confounding factors, anaemia of pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of fetal distress [incident rate ratio (IRR) 1.20 [95% CI 1.13, 1.27

  13. Francis Bacon and the Historiography of Scientific Rhetoric.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zappen, James P.

    1989-01-01

    Reviews three twentieth-century interpretations of Francis Bacon's science and rhetoric: positivistic science and the plain style; institutionalized science and its more highly figured style; and democratic science. Presents the author's own interpretation, and concludes that each interpretation reflects different perceptions of the good of the…

  14. Robust Finite-Time Terminal Sliding Mode Control for a Francis Hydroturbine Governing System

    OpenAIRE

    Fengjiao Wu; Junling Ding; Zhengzhong Wang

    2016-01-01

    The robust finite-time control for a Francis hydroturbine governing system is investigated in this paper. Firstly, the mathematical model of a Francis hydroturbine governing system is presented and the nonlinear vibration characteristics are analyzed. Then, on the basis of finite-time control theory and terminal sliding mode scheme, a new robust finite-time terminal sliding mode control method is proposed for nonlinear vibration control of the hydroturbine governing system. Furthermore, the d...

  15. Power Swing Generated in Francis Turbines by Part Load and Overload Instabilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Valentín

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Hydropower plays a key role in the actual energy market due to its fast response and regulation capacity. In that way, hydraulic turbines are increasingly demanded to work at off-design conditions, where complex flow patterns and cavitation appear, especially in Francis turbines. The draft tube cavitation surge is a hydraulic phenomenon that appears in Francis turbines below and above its Best Efficiency Point (BEP. It is a low frequency phenomenon consisting of a vortex rope in the runner outlet and draft tube, which can become unstable when its frequency coincides with a natural frequency of the hydraulic circuit. At this situation, the output power can significantly swing, endangering the electrical grid stability. This study is focused on the detection of these instabilities in Francis turbines and their relationship with the output power swings. To do so, extensive experimental tests for different operating conditions have been carried out in a large prototype Francis turbine (444 MW of rated power within the frame of the European Project Hyperbole (FP7-ENERGY-2013-1. Several sensors have been installed in the hydraulic circuit (pressure sensors in the draft tube, spiral casing, and penstock, in the rotating and static structures (vibration sensors, proximity probes, and strain gauges in the runner and in the shaft, as well as in the electrical side (output power, intensity, and voltage. Moreover, a numerical Finite Element Method (FEM has been also used to relate the hydraulic excitation with the output power swing.

  16. The Internal Consistency Reliability of the Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism among Australian Jews

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrick Lumbroso

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism was developed initially to extend among the Hebrew-speaking Jewish community in Israel a growing body of international research concerned to map the correlates, antecedents and consequences of individual differences in attitude toward religion as assessed by the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity. The present paper explored the internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the English translation of the Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism among 101 Australian Jews. On the basis of these data, this instrument is commended for application in further research.

  17. Design of large Francis turbine using optimal methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flores, E.; Bornard, L.; Tomas, L.; Liu, J.; Couston, M.

    2012-11-01

    Among a high number of Francis turbine references all over the world, covering the whole market range of heads, Alstom has especially been involved in the development and equipment of the largest power plants in the world : Three Gorges (China -32×767 MW - 61 to 113 m), Itaipu (Brazil- 20x750 MW - 98.7m to 127m) and Xiangjiaba (China - 8x812 MW - 82.5m to 113.6m - in erection). Many new projects are under study to equip new power plants with Francis turbines in order to answer an increasing demand of renewable energy. In this context, Alstom Hydro is carrying out many developments to answer those needs, especially for jumbo units such the planned 1GW type units in China. The turbine design for such units requires specific care by using the state of the art in computation methods and the latest technologies in model testing as well as the maximum feedback from operation of Jumbo plants already in operation. We present in this paper how a large Francis turbine can be designed using specific design methods, including the global and local optimization methods. The design of the spiral case, the tandem cascade profiles, the runner and the draft tube are designed with optimization loops involving a blade design tool, an automatic meshing software and a Navier-Stokes solver, piloted by a genetic algorithm. These automated optimization methods, presented in different papers over the last decade, are nowadays widely used, thanks to the growing computation capacity of the HPC clusters: the intensive use of such optimization methods at the turbine design stage allows to reach very high level of performances, while the hydraulic flow characteristics are carefully studied over the whole water passage to avoid any unexpected hydraulic phenomena.

  18. Design of large Francis turbine using optimal methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Flores, E; Bornard, L; Tomas, L; Couston, M; Liu, J

    2012-01-01

    Among a high number of Francis turbine references all over the world, covering the whole market range of heads, Alstom has especially been involved in the development and equipment of the largest power plants in the world : Three Gorges (China −32×767 MW - 61 to 113 m), Itaipu (Brazil- 20x750 MW - 98.7m to 127m) and Xiangjiaba (China - 8x812 MW - 82.5m to 113.6m - in erection). Many new projects are under study to equip new power plants with Francis turbines in order to answer an increasing demand of renewable energy. In this context, Alstom Hydro is carrying out many developments to answer those needs, especially for jumbo units such the planned 1GW type units in China. The turbine design for such units requires specific care by using the state of the art in computation methods and the latest technologies in model testing as well as the maximum feedback from operation of Jumbo plants already in operation. We present in this paper how a large Francis turbine can be designed using specific design methods, including the global and local optimization methods. The design of the spiral case, the tandem cascade profiles, the runner and the draft tube are designed with optimization loops involving a blade design tool, an automatic meshing software and a Navier-Stokes solver, piloted by a genetic algorithm. These automated optimization methods, presented in different papers over the last decade, are nowadays widely used, thanks to the growing computation capacity of the HPC clusters: the intensive use of such optimization methods at the turbine design stage allows to reach very high level of performances, while the hydraulic flow characteristics are carefully studied over the whole water passage to avoid any unexpected hydraulic phenomena.

  19. Internal consistency of a five-item form of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity among adolescent students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campo-Arias, Adalberto; Oviedo, Heidi Celina; Cogollo, Zuleima

    2009-04-01

    The short form of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity (L. J. Francis, 1992) is a 7-item Likert-type scale that shows high homogeneity among adolescents. The psychometric performance of a shorter version of this scale has not been explored. The authors aimed to determine the internal consistency of a 5-item form of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity among 405 students from a school in Cartagena, Colombia. The authors computed the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the 5 items with a greater corrected item-total punctuation correlation. The version without Items 2 and 7 showed internal consistency of .87. The 5-item version of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity exhibited higher internal consistency than did the 7-item version. Future researchers should corroborate this finding.

  20. Bereavement, silence and culture within a peer-led HIV/AIDS-prevention strategy for vulnerable children in South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van der Heijden, Ingrid; Swartz, Sharlene

    2010-04-01

    In addressing the psychosocial effects of the HIV and AIDS pandemic among vulnerable children, the issue of bereavement appears inadequately addressed. Amid the global discourse on children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS, this paper explores how cultural contexts and social environments in South Africa shape children's experience of grief. The argument draws on a number of qualitative studies and uses empirical evidence from an evaluation of a peer-led HIV/AIDS-prevention strategy aimed at providing psychosocial support for 10- to 13-year-old South African children living in resource-poor communities. The paper reveals a central paradox regarding how the intervention's objective of talking about death and eliciting memories of deceased loved ones with young children is confounded by cultural practices located in notions of silence and the need to protect children. The paper acknowledges the 'culture of silence' surrounding death in some African contexts, but concludes that peer-led strategies have the potential to naturally circumvent these cultural taboos, simultaneously creating a much-needed space for young children to cry and talk among themselves, even if remaining silent at home in the presence of adults.

  1. Perception of vulnerability among mothers of healthy infants in a middle-income country.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dogan, D G; Ertem, I O; Karaaslan, T; Forsyth, B W

    2009-11-01

    Although four decades have passed since the concept of 'vulnerable children' has been introduced into paediatric literature, research on vulnerability is limited to high-income, Western countries. To adapt and adopt practices that have been advised for paediatricians to prevent 'the vulnerable child syndrome', information is needed also on the prevalence and correlates of perceived vulnerability in children in low- and middle-income (LAMI) countries. To determine the rate and correlates of the perception of vulnerability among healthy young children in a healthy population of children in Ankara, Turkey. In this cross-sectional observational study, participants comprised of a 'prescriptive sample' of healthy, thriving children with no known health risk for vulnerability. Maternal perception of child vulnerability was assessed using the Child Vulnerability Scale (CVS). Potential risks factors for vulnerability including history of threatened abortion during pregnancy, child gender, birth order, maternal and paternal age and education were collected using a structured questionnaire. A total of 519 children - 264 boys (50.9%) and 255 girls (49.1%) - comprised the sample. The internal consistency of the CVS was 0.71. Item-total scale correlations were 0.30 or above for all of the eight items. The median CVS score of the sample was 2.0 and 30 mothers (5.8%) were found to perceive their children as vulnerable. None of the socio-demographic variables that were investigated were found to be associated with high vulnerability scores. This study is the first to examine maternal perceived vulnerability of healthy children in a middle-income country. The findings imply that a high proportion of healthy children are perceived as vulnerable by their mothers and that previously studied socio-demographic factors do not explain perceived vulnerability. The results of this study may provide a comparison point for studies on childhood vulnerability in LAMI countries.

  2. Francis Bacon, un moderne intempestif

    OpenAIRE

    Mavrakis, Annie

    2017-01-01

    À propos de la peinture de Francis Bacon et en prenant appui sur des réflexions de Michel Leiris, cet article se propose de revenir sur la question de la modernité conçue non de façon absolue (LA modernité, non figurative, anti-littéraire) mais relative, dégagée d’une vision historiciste orientée de l’histoire de l’art. Cette modernité est intempestive puisque, s’opposant au classique (cf. La Querelle des Anciens et des Modernes) et non au périmé, elle fait revivre les grandes problématiques ...

  3. A multicentric study of disease-related stress, and perceived vulnerability, in parents of children with congenital cardiac disease

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vrijmoet-Wiersma, C. M. Jantien; Ottenkamp, Jaap; van Roozendaal, Matty; Grootenhuis, Martha A.; Koopman, Hendrik M.

    2009-01-01

    Parents of children with congenitally malformed hearts can suffer from stress as a result of the medical condition of their child. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to describe levels of parental stress, and perceived vulnerability, in parents of children who underwent major cardiac surgery,

  4. Social support and vulnerability: state of the art in relation to families and children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacElveen-Hoehn, P; Eyres, S J

    1984-01-01

    The purpose of this presentation is to review the concepts of social support and vulnerable families and children, propose a theoretical model on coping and adaptation, and ascertain any significant implications for the delivery of health care services and future research. The review of the literature indicates that major problems persist in the classification, conceptualization, empirical investigation, and clinical application of social support due to a lack of clarity regarding the definition of social support and how it works. Related perspectives such as bonding, child development, and child rearing also reaffirm the need for and the utilization of social support. High-risk factors, such as low maternal age, poverty, single parenthood, and long-term health problems, increase the vulnerability of families and children. This literature strongly suggests that the interactions of adults and children with supportive members of their social networks are important in the development of essential cognitive and social skills, as well as for the promotion of security and comfort. Supports from individuals, families, and groups also are associated with more successful adaptation and favorable outcomes. Despite numerous articles and research projects, however, questions concerning how social support works to assist vulnerable children and families remain. Seven factors are proposed as a theoretical model to identify threatening situations and coping difficulties so that appropriate support can be provided. These factors are surprise, experience, confusion, perceived effectiveness, perceived allies, perceived uniqueness of threat, and overload. Additional testing is required for this model so that a more meaningful investigation and utilization of social support can be established. Additional research also is indicated to determine the specific types of support needed in the presence of certain factors, network style preferences, the supply and demand for support over the

  5. Community-Involved Learning to Expand Possibilities for Vulnerable Children: A Critical Communicative, Sen's Capability, and Action Research Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Kyung Hi

    2014-01-01

    This research, based on a case study of vulnerable children in Korea, used a mixed methods transformative approach to explore strategies to support and help disadvantaged children. The methodological approach includes three phases: a mixed methods contextual analysis, a qualitative dominant analysis based on Sen's capability approach and critical…

  6. VULNERABILITY AND SOCIAL CONCERN: THE CONDITION OF CHILDREN IN INSTITUTIONS -CASE OF ARAD COUNTY-

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria OPREA

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Without a solid education at home, children in institutions can develop behaviors and trauma, often impossible to mitigate. The absence of an emotional climate specific in a family, abuses of various types that can accompany the trajectory of institutionalization will mark, perhaps forever, the fate of children in institutions. The chances of these children to grow and to form independent life skills to succeed as future adults can often be reduced. Decision makers within state institutions that are meant to care and educate, are summoned to identify and implement measures that may secure the future for these disadvantaged and vulnerable children. Based on these considerations, the study conducted aims to highlight the condition of children in institutions in Arad County, the causes for their abandonment, schooling situation, contact with the family of origin.

  7. 75 FR 80730 - Francis Slakey on Behalf of the American Physical Society; Receipt of Petition for Rulemaking

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-23

    ... [Docket No. PRM-70-9; NRC-2010-0372] Francis Slakey on Behalf of the American Physical Society; Receipt of... the NRC by Francis Slakey on behalf of the American Physical Society (APS). The petition was docketed... that over the next few years, the NRC would be reviewing license applications for new technologies, and...

  8. Effects of draft tube on the hydraulic performance of a Francis turbine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeon, J H; Byeon, S S; Kim, Y J

    2013-01-01

    The draft tube is an important component of a Francis turbine which influences the hydraulic performance. It is located just under the runner and allowed to decelerate the flow velocity exiting the runner, thereby converting the excess of kinetic energy into static pressure. In this study, we have numerically investigated the hydraulic performance of a Francis turbine on the 15MW hydropower generation with various design parameters (three types of draft tube, thickness of guide vane) through a three-dimensional numerical method with the SST turbulent model. The vortex rope characteristics of the draft tube were confirmed. The results of the vortex flow fields and flow characteristics were graphically depicted with different design parameters and operating conditions

  9. Analysis of child poverty and vulnerability in Zambia | Moonga ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Vulnerability is increasingly becoming synonymous with poverty in the social policy literature. There are three age-groups that are more likely to be vulnerable and in poverty at any given time although with variations. These are children, adults with children and the elderly. This study focused on the children due to their ...

  10. Failure analysis of a Francis turbine runner

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frunzaverde, D; Campian, V [Research Center in Hydraulics, Automation and Heat Transfer, ' Eftimie Murgu' University of Resita P-ta Traian Vuia 1-4, RO-320085, Resita (Romania); Muntean, S [Centre of Advanced Research in Engineering Sciences, Romanian Academy - Timisoara Branch Bv. Mihai Viteazu 24, RO-300223, Timisoara (Romania); Marginean, G [University of Applied Sciences Gelsenkirchen, Neidenburger Str. 10, 45877 Gelsenkirchen (Germany); Marsavina, L [Department of Strength, ' Politehnica' University of Timisoara, Bv. Mihai Viteazu 1, RO-300222, Timisoara (Romania); Terzi, R; Serban, V, E-mail: gabriela.marginean@fh-gelsenkirchen.d, E-mail: d.frunzaverde@uem.r [Ramnicu Valcea Subsidiary, S.C. Hidroelectrica S.A., Str. Decebal 11, RO-240255, Ramnicu Valcea (Romania)

    2010-08-15

    The variable demand on the energy market requires great flexibility in operating hydraulic turbines. Therefore, turbines are frequently operated over an extended range of regimes. Francis turbines operating at partial load present pressure fluctuations due to the vortex rope in the draft tube cone. This phenomenon generates strong vibrations and noise that may produce failures on the mechanical elements of the machine. This paper presents the failure analysis of a broken Francis turbine runner blade. The failure appeared some months after the welding repair work realized in situ on fatigue cracks initiated near to the trailing edge at the junction with the crown, where stress concentration occurs. In order to determine the causes that led to the fracture of the runner blade, the metallographic investigations on a sample obtained from the blade is carried out. The metallographic investigations included macroscopic and microscopic examinations, both performed with light and scanning electron microscopy, as well as EDX - analyses. These investigations led to the conclusion, that the cracking of the blade was caused by fatigue, initiated by the surface unevenness of the welding seam. The failure was accelerated by the hydrogen embrittlement of the filling material, which appeared as a consequence of improper welding conditions. In addition to the metallographic investigations, numerical computations with finite element analysis are performed in order to evaluate the deformation and stress distribution on blade.

  11. Failure analysis of a Francis turbine runner

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frunzaverde, D; Campian, V; Muntean, S; Marginean, G; Marsavina, L; Terzi, R; Serban, V

    2010-01-01

    The variable demand on the energy market requires great flexibility in operating hydraulic turbines. Therefore, turbines are frequently operated over an extended range of regimes. Francis turbines operating at partial load present pressure fluctuations due to the vortex rope in the draft tube cone. This phenomenon generates strong vibrations and noise that may produce failures on the mechanical elements of the machine. This paper presents the failure analysis of a broken Francis turbine runner blade. The failure appeared some months after the welding repair work realized in situ on fatigue cracks initiated near to the trailing edge at the junction with the crown, where stress concentration occurs. In order to determine the causes that led to the fracture of the runner blade, the metallographic investigations on a sample obtained from the blade is carried out. The metallographic investigations included macroscopic and microscopic examinations, both performed with light and scanning electron microscopy, as well as EDX - analyses. These investigations led to the conclusion, that the cracking of the blade was caused by fatigue, initiated by the surface unevenness of the welding seam. The failure was accelerated by the hydrogen embrittlement of the filling material, which appeared as a consequence of improper welding conditions. In addition to the metallographic investigations, numerical computations with finite element analysis are performed in order to evaluate the deformation and stress distribution on blade.

  12. Numerical Study of a High Head Francis Turbine with Measurements from the Francis-99 Project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wallimann, H; Neubauer, R

    2015-01-01

    For the Francis-99 project initiated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU, Norway) and the Luleå University of Technology (LTU, Sweden) numerical flow simulation has been performed and the results compared to experimentally obtained data. The full machine including spiral casing, stay vanes, guide vanes, runner and draft tube was simulated transient for three operating points defined by the Francis-99 organisers. Two sets of results were created with differing time steps. Additionally, a reduced domain was simulated in a stationary manner to create a complete cut along constant prototype head and constant prototype discharge. The efficiency values and shape of the curves have been investigated and compared to the experimental data. Special attention has been given to rotor stator interaction (RSI). Signals from several probes and their counterpart in the simulation have been processed to evaluate the pressure fluctuations occurring due to the RSI. The direct comparison of the hydraulic efficiency obtained by the full machine simulation compared to the experimental data showed no improvement when using a 1° time step compared to a coarser 2° time step. At the BEP the 2° time step even showed a slightly better result with an absolute deviation 1.08% compared with 1.24% for the 1° time step. At the other two operating points the simulation results were practically identical but fell short of predicting the measured values. The RSI evaluation was done using the results of the 2° time step simulation, which proved to be an adequate setting to reproduce pressure signals with peaks at the correct frequencies. The simulation results showed the highest amplitudes in the vaneless space at the BEP operating point at a location different from the probe measurements available. This implies that not only the radial distance, but the shape of the vaneless space influences the RSI

  13. Psychosocial Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Public Primary Schools: Challenges and Intervention Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mwoma, Teresa; Pillay, Jace

    2015-01-01

    Much has been written about orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) with regard to their education and living. However, relatively few studies have documented the psychosocial support provided for OVC in public primary schools to enhance their psychosocial well-being. This study therefore contributes to the understanding of the challenges…

  14. Homage to Francis Perrin - 1901-1992

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-05-01

    Francis Perrin had a brilliant and rapid career. He was a strict and honest man. He had a fast intelligence, a huge knowledge, he was faithful. Finally his courtesy and his generosity had made of him an outstanding and model personality very little known because of his extreme discretion. He lived his professional career (1920-1970) with passion. He thought that science might be one mankind heritage. He worked in CEA and played a crucial role in the CERN creation. He was an accomplished scientist since he tackled the mathematics, physics, and even chemistry scope. 52 refs

  15. School Functioning of a Particularly Vulnerable Group: Children and Young People in Residential Child Care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carla González-García

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available A large proportion of the children and young people in residential child care in Spain are there as a consequence of abuse and neglect in their birth families. Research has shown that these types of adverse circumstances in childhood are risk factors for emotional and behavioral problems, as well as difficulties in adapting to different contexts. School achievement is related to this and represents one of the most affected areas. Children in residential child care exhibit extremely poor performance and difficulties in school functioning which affects their transition to adulthood and into the labor market. The main aim of this study is to describe the school functioning of a sample of 1,216 children aged between 8 and 18 living in residential child care in Spain. The specific needs of children with intellectual disability and unaccompanied migrant children were also analyzed. Relationships with other variables such as gender, age, mental health needs, and other risk factors were also explored. In order to analyze school functioning in this vulnerable group, the sample was divided into different groups depending on school level and educational needs. In the vast majority of cases, children were in primary or compulsory secondary education (up to age 16, this group included a significant proportion of cases in special education centers. The rest of the sample were in vocational training or post-compulsory secondary school. Results have important implications for the design of socio-educative intervention strategies in both education and child care systems in order to promote better school achievement and better educational qualifications in this vulnerable group.

  16. Experimental modification of interpretation bias about animal fear in young children: effects on cognition, avoidance behavior, anxiety vulnerability, and physiological responding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lester, Kathryn J; Field, Andy P; Muris, Peter

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of experimentally modifying interpretation biases for children's cognitions, avoidance behavior, anxiety vulnerability, and physiological responding. Sixty-seven children (6-11 years) were randomly assigned to receive a positive or negative interpretation bias modification procedure to induce interpretation biases toward or away from threat about ambiguous situations involving Australian marsupials. Children rapidly learned to select outcomes of ambiguous situations, which were congruent with their assigned condition. Furthermore, following positive modification, children's threat biases about novel ambiguous situations significantly decreased, whereas threat biases significantly increased after negative modification. In response to a stress-evoking behavioral avoidance test, positive modification attenuated behavioral avoidance compared to negative modification. However, no significant effects of bias modification on anxiety vulnerability or physiological responses to this stress-evoking Behavioral Avoidance Task were observed.

  17. The calculation of fluid-structure interaction and fatigue analysis for Francis turbine runner

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, X F; Li, H L; Zhu, F W

    2012-01-01

    Francis turbine, as a widely used hydro turbine, is especially suited for the hydropower station with high hydraulic head and higher hydraulic head. For such turbine generator units all around the world, the crack streaks usually come out after a long time use and the resulted accidents may cause huge losses. Hence, it is meaningful to refine the design assuring the stability and safety of the Francis turbine. In this paper, the stiffness and strength as well as the fatigue life of the Francis turbine are studied. Concerning on the turbine of one certain hydropower station, the flow field inside the turbine are first simulated and the pressure distribution around the blades are derived. Meanwhile, the stress distributions of the blades are also obtained. Based on these, the fatigue analyses are applied on the turbine. According to the results of fatigue analyses, some optimal designs on the turbine are verified. The results show that with the optimal designs, the hydraulic performances of the turbine do not change too much while the maximum stress on the turbine decrease and the fatigue life increase as well.

  18. Efficiency limit factor analysis for the Francis-99 hydraulic turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Y.; Zhang, L. X.; Guo, J. P.; Guo, Y. K.; Pan, Q. L.; Qian, J.

    2017-01-01

    The energy loss in hydraulic turbine is the most direct factor that affects the efficiency of the hydraulic turbine. Based on the analysis theory of inner energy loss of hydraulic turbine, combining the measurement data of the Francis-99, this paper calculates characteristic parameters of inner energy loss of the hydraulic turbine, and establishes the calculation model of the hydraulic turbine power. Taken the start-up test conditions given by Francis-99 as case, characteristics of the inner energy of the hydraulic turbine in transient and transformation law are researched. Further, analyzing mechanical friction in hydraulic turbine, we think that main ingredients of mechanical friction loss is the rotation friction loss between rotating runner and water body, and defined as the inner mechanical friction loss. The calculation method of the inner mechanical friction loss is given roughly. Our purpose is that explore and research the method and way increasing transformation efficiency of water flow by means of analysis energy losses in hydraulic turbine.

  19. Dos obras del escultor neoclásico inglés John Francis (1780- 1861 en una colección particular española

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Quintanilla Martínez, Emilio

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Two previously unknown works by the British neoclassical sculptor John Francis dating from the second quarter of the 19th century, representing the 1st Duke of Sutherland and, most likely, the sculptor Sir John Francis, have been located in a Spanish private collection.

    Dos obras, hasta ahora inéditas, del escultor neoclásico inglés John Francis del segundo cuarto del siglo XIX, y que representan al primer duque de Sutherland y seguramente al escultor Sir John Francis, en colección privada española.

  20. Care and support of orphaned and vulnerable children at school: helping teachers to respond

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lesley Wood

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available It is acknowledged that teacher training programmes around HIV in most of sub-Saharan Africa appear not to have been very effective in assisting teachers to respond to the demands placed on them by the pandemic. In response to the need identified by international development agencies, for research into teacher education and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, this study investigated teacher perceptions of the effectiveness of training programmes offered in a specific school district in South Africa to equip them to deal with issues arising from having orphans and vulnerable children in their classrooms. A qualitative research design was followed to purposively select teachers who had attended the departmental training to participate in focus groups to explore the phenomenon of teaching orphaned and vulnerable children. The findings that emerged from the thematic data analysis provided supporting evidence that current teacher education approaches in this regard are not perceived to be effective. The results are used to suggest guidelines for an alternative approach to the current forms of HIV and AIDS training for teachers that is more likely to be sustainable, culturally appropriate and suited to the context.

  1. LDA measurements in the Francis-99 draft tube cone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sundstrom, L R J; Amiri, K; Cervantes, M J; Bergan, C; Dahlhaug, O G

    2014-01-01

    Velocity measurements were performed in the draft tube cone of a 1:5.1 scaled model of the Tokke hydropower plant, Norway; also known as the Francis-99 model. Results from the laser Doppler anemometry measurements undertaken at three operating points will be used as validation data for an upcoming workshop on the state of the art of Francis turbine numerical simulation. With the turbine operating at the best efficiency point, a sensitivity analysis of the flow parameters head, flow rate and runner rotational speed shows that the effects on the dimensionless velocity profiles are small as long as n ED and Q ED are held constant. The results indicate a well-functioning turbine at the best efficiency point and high load. At the part load operating point, a vortex breakdown occurs which distorts the velocity profiles and significantly lowers the turbine's hydraulic efficiency. Frequency spectrums of each LDA signal at part load reveals a peak which is asynchronous to that of the runner angular speed. The peaks might be related to the precession of a rotating vortex rope but the characteristics of the LDA signals are different compared to previous studies involving rotating vortex ropes

  2. "Ajaloo lõpp" on lähedal / Francis Fukuyama ; interv. Adam Piore

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Fukuyama, Francis

    2003-01-01

    Ajakirjas Newsweek ilmunud intervjuus vastab filosoof Francis Fukuyama küsimustele 2004. aasta kõige olulisemate probleemide, EL-i, Cancunis toimunud Maailma Kaubandusorganisatsiooni kõneluste, ajaloo lõppu jõudmise, Pakistani presidendile tehtud atentaadi kohta

  3. Five-Item Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity: Construct and Nomological Validity and Internal Consistency among Colombian College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ceballos, Guillermo A.; Suescun, Jesus D.; Oviedo, Heidi C.; Herazo, Edwin; Campo-Arias, Adalberto

    2015-01-01

    The Spanish version of the five-item Francis scale of attitude toward Christianity is a refinement of the short version of the Francis scale of attitude toward Christianity. The scale is a good measurement for intrinsic religiosity. It has been applied previously among Colombian adolescent students. The internal consistency and construct and…

  4. 60 years ago, Francis Crick changed the logic of biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cobb, Matthew

    2017-09-01

    In September 1957, Francis Crick gave a lecture in which he outlined key ideas about gene function, in particular what he called the central dogma. These ideas still frame how we understand life. This essay explores the concepts he developed in this influential lecture, including his prediction that we would study evolution by comparing sequences.

  5. The Vulnerabilities of Orphaned Children Participating in Research: A Critical Review and Factors for Consideration for Participation in Biomedical and Behavioral Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Rachel T.; Meslin, Eric M.; Braitstein, Paula K. A.; Nyandiko, Winstone M.; Ayaya, Samuel O.; Vreeman, Rachel C.

    2013-01-01

    Orphans are a subpopulation with a unique set of additional vulnerabilities. Increasing focus on children’s rights, pediatric global health, and pediatric research makes it imperative to recognize and address unique vulnerabilities of orphaned children. This paper describes the unique vulnerabilities of the orphaned pediatric population and offers a structured set of factors that require consideration when including orphans in biomedical research. Pediatric orphans are particularly vulnerable due to decreased economic resources, psychosocial instability, increased risk of abuse, and delayed/decreased access to healthcare. These vulnerabilities are significant. By carefully considering each issue in a population in a culturally specific and study-specific manner, researchers can make valuable contributions to the overall health and well-being of this uniquely vulnerable population. PMID:23086048

  6. Effect of Guide Vane Clearance Gap on Francis Turbine Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ravi Koirala

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Francis turbine guide vanes have pivoted support with external control mechanism, for conversion of pressure to kinetic energy and to direct them to runner vanes. This movement along the support is dependent on variation of load and flow (operating conditions. Small clearance gaps between facing plates and the upper and lower guide vane tips are available to aid this movement, through which leakage flow occurs. This secondary flow disturbs the main flow stream, resulting performance loss. Additionally, these increased horseshoe vortex, in presence of sand, when crosses through the gaps, both the surfaces are eroded. This causes further serious effect on performance and structural property by increasing gaps. This paper discusses the observation of the severity in hydropower plants and effect of clearance gaps on general performance of the Francis turbine through computational methods. It also relates the primary result with the empirical relation for leakage flow prediction. Additionally, a possible method to computationally estimate thickness depletion has also been presented. With increasing clearance gap, leakage increases, which lowers energy conversion and turbine efficiency along with larger secondary vortex.

  7. Sunrayce 97 Continues Day 7 - Smith Center to St. Francis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manager (202) 586-0713 St. Francis, Kan. -- It was a close race for the top three places on the 7th day of running great. It's a solid car. We may not have the fastest or most efficient vehicle in the race, but we withdraw from the race yesterday due to suspension problems. The team was presented an "Inspector's

  8. Scientific Cousins: The Relationship between Charles Darwin and Francis Galton

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fancher, Raymond E.

    2009-01-01

    This article traces the personal as well as the intellectual and scientific relationship between Charles Darwin and his younger half-cousin Francis Galton. Although they had been on friendly terms as young men, and Darwin had in some ways been a role model for Galton, the two did not share major scientific interests until after the publication of…

  9. 60 years ago, Francis Crick changed the logic of biology.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew Cobb

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available In September 1957, Francis Crick gave a lecture in which he outlined key ideas about gene function, in particular what he called the central dogma. These ideas still frame how we understand life. This essay explores the concepts he developed in this influential lecture, including his prediction that we would study evolution by comparing sequences.

  10. 60 years ago, Francis Crick changed the logic of biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    In September 1957, Francis Crick gave a lecture in which he outlined key ideas about gene function, in particular what he called the central dogma. These ideas still frame how we understand life. This essay explores the concepts he developed in this influential lecture, including his prediction that we would study evolution by comparing sequences. PMID:28922352

  11. Robust Finite-Time Terminal Sliding Mode Control for a Francis Hydroturbine Governing System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fengjiao Wu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The robust finite-time control for a Francis hydroturbine governing system is investigated in this paper. Firstly, the mathematical model of a Francis hydroturbine governing system is presented and the nonlinear vibration characteristics are analyzed. Then, on the basis of finite-time control theory and terminal sliding mode scheme, a new robust finite-time terminal sliding mode control method is proposed for nonlinear vibration control of the hydroturbine governing system. Furthermore, the designed controller has good robustness which could resist external random disturbances. Numerical simulations are employed to verify the effectiveness and superiority of the designed finite-time sliding mode control scheme. The approach proposed in this paper is simple and also provides a reference for relevant hydropower systems.

  12. Resilience and vulnerability among refugee children of traumatized and non-traumatized parents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daud Atia

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of the study was to explore resilience among refugee children whose parents had been traumatized and were suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD. Methods The study comprised 80 refugee children (40 boys and 40 girls, age range 6–17 yrs, divided into two groups. The test group consisted of 40 refugee children whose parents had been tortured in Iraq before coming to Sweden. In accordance with DSM-IV criteria, these children were further divided in two sub-groups, those who were assessed as having PTSD-related symptoms (n = 31 and those who did not have PTSD-related symptoms (n = 9. The comparison group consisted of 40 children from Egypt, Syria and Morocco whose parents had not been tortured. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 3rd edn. (WISC-III, Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents- Revised (DICA-R, Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms checklist (PTSS, "I Think I am" (ITIA and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ were used to assess IQ; PTSD-related symptoms; self-esteem; possible resilience and vulnerability. Results Children without PTSD/PTSS in the traumatized parents group had more favorable values (ITIA and SDQ with respect to total scores, emotionality, relation to family, peer relations and prosocial behavior than the children in the same group with PTSD/PTSS and these values were similar to those the children in the comparison group (the non-traumatized parents group. The children in the non-traumatized parents group scored significantly higher on the IQ test than the children with traumatized parents, both the children with PTSD-related symptoms and those without PTSD-related symptoms. Conclusion Adequate emotional expression, supportive family relations, good peer relations, and prosociality constituted the main indicators of resilience. Further investigation is needed to explore the possible effects of these factors and the effects of IQ. The findings of this study are

  13. On the centenary of the birth of Francis H. C. Crick - from physics to genetics and neuroscience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teive, Hélio A G

    2016-04-01

    The year 2016 marks the centenary of the birth of Francis Crick (1916-2004), who made outstanding contributions to genetics and neuroscience. In 1953, in a collaborative study, Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the DNA double helix, and in 1962 they and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Crick subsequently became very interested in neuroscience, particularly consciousness and its relationship to the claustrum, a small gray matter structure between the insula and putamen.

  14. Hydroacoustic simulation of rotor-stator interaction in resonance conditions in Francis pump-turbine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nicolet, C; Ruchonnet, N; Alligne, S; Avellan, F; Koutnik, J

    2010-01-01

    Combined effect of rotating pressure field related to runner blade and wakes of wicket gates leads to rotor stator interactions, RSI, in Francis pump-turbines. These interactions induce pressures waves propagating in the entire hydraulic machine. Superposition of those pressure waves may result in standing wave in the spiral casing and rotating diametrical mode in the guide vanes and can cause strong pressure fluctuations and vibrations. This paper presents the modeling, simulation and analysis of Rotor-Stator Interaction of a scale model of a Francis pump-turbine and related test rig using a one-dimensional approach. The hydroacoustic modeling of the Francis pump-turbine takes into account the spiral casing, the 20 guide vanes, the 9 rotating runner vanes. The connection between stationary and rotating parts is ensured by a valve network driven according to the unsteady flow distribution between guide vanes and runner vanes. Time domain simulations are performed for 2 different runner rotational speeds in turbine mode. The simulation results are analyzed in frequency domain and highlights hydroacoustic resonance between RSI excitations and the spiral case. Rotating diametrical mode in the vaneless gap and standing wave in the spiral case are identified. The influence of the resonance on phase and amplitude of pressure fluctuations obtained for both the spiral case and the vaneless gap is analyzed. The mode shape and frequencies are confirmed using eigenvalues analysis.

  15. Francis Farley presenting his novel "Catalysed Fusion" in the CERN Library

    CERN Multimedia

    Farley, Irina

    2013-01-01

    "Catalysed Fusion" is described by its author Francis Farley, 92, as a "true-to-life fantasy woven around particle physics" set in 1980s Geneva – "the city where nations meet and particles collide". Farley presented the book in the program "Literature in Focus" on Tuesday 16th April 2013.

  16. Vulnerable children, stigmatised smokers: The social construction of target audiences in media debates on policies regulating smoking in vehicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bain, Josh; Weishaar, Heide; Semple, Sean; Duffy, Sheila; Hilton, Shona

    2017-11-01

    Following restrictions on smoking in vehicles carrying children in several countries, legislation to safeguard minors from second-hand smoke exposure in vehicles is under-consideration or has been implemented across the United Kingdom. This article presents the first investigation into social constructions of children, smokers and smoking parents in newsprint media and coverage of debates about protecting children from exposure to second-hand smoke in vehicles. Using Scotland as an example, articles on children's exposure to second-hand smoke published between 1 January 2004 and 16 February 2014 in three Scottish newspapers were identified using Nexis UK. In all, 131 articles were thematically coded and analysed. Children were portrayed as vulnerable and requiring protection, with few articles highlighting children's ability to voice concerns about the dangers of smoking. Smokers and smoking parents were mainly portrayed in a factual manner, but also frequently as irresponsible and, in some cases, intentionally imposing harm. Individual smokers were blamed for their recklessness, with only a small number of articles mentioning the need to assist smokers in quitting. Supporters of legislation focused on corresponding discourse, whereas critics directed debates towards established arguments against policy, including individual freedom, privacy and problems of enforcement. Focusing on children's vulnerability to second-hand smoke might have increased support for legislation but risked a side effect of smokers being stigmatised. The media and supporters of public health policy are encouraged to consider appropriate approaches to raise awareness of the health harms of second-hand smoke to children while avoiding unintended stigmatisation of those in which they want to encourage behaviour change.

  17. Reliability of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity among 8-yr-olds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robbins, Mandy; Francis, Leslie J; Williams, Naomi

    2003-02-01

    The Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity was completed by 78 8-yr.-olds (40 boys and 38 girls) whose data support reliability measured as the internal consistency of the scale for this young sample.

  18. The Second Christ, Saint Francis of Assisi and ecological consciousness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hendrik Viviers

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Even though the life stories of Jesus and the so-called second Christ, Francis of Assisi, incline to the fantastical, their value for a modern ecological consciousness is defendable. Behind Francis� personification of nature and his mystical experiences of nature lie an intuitive sense of interconnectedness and interdependence, of being fully part of the natural web of life (confirmed by empirical science. The same is true of the immanence of Jesus. Religious figures like Francis and Jesus can provide a sound moral attitude towards caring for the natural world, but attitudes need to be informed by scientific knowledge to act ecologically correct. A partnership between attitudes and knowledge hopefully contains good news for a sustainable �green� planet.Intradisciplinary and/or�interdisciplinary�implications: Ecological hermeneutics (part of liberation theology or hermeneutics challenges traditional theologies� often anthropocentric bias in the intra-disciplinary arena. It respects the interconnectedness or interdependence of human and non-human life, including the non-organic, empirically substantiated by natural science. This shared realisation allows for a fruitful inter-disciplinary discourse with science to address the global ecological crisis.

  19. Glade/woodland restoration in the St. Francis Mountain Bird Conservation Area

    Science.gov (United States)

    David A. Hasenbeck

    2007-01-01

    The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service, and American Bird Conservancy, share goals to restore and manage high quality glade, savanna, and woodland habitats within the Saint Francis Bird Conservation Area. The partnership endeavors to maintain and enhance an ecosystem with native glade and...

  20. Experiences from families of children with cerebral paralysis in context of social vulnerability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marja Rany Rigotti Baltor

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: to describe and to analyze the experience from families of children with cerebral paralysis living under circumstances of social vulnerability. METHOD: six resident families in area with this characteristic were interviewed. It was opted to use the Symbolic Interactionism as theoretic reference and the Thematic Content Analysis of Bardin as analysis method for the data. RESULT: the experience of such families is represented in the subjects: Reorganizing the Life, with the categories "Discovering the way" and "Accommodating the routine", and Stopping a Constant Fight with the categories: "Primary Carer being overcharged", "Coexisting with the preconception", "Having locomotion difficulty" and "Living with financial difficulties". CONCLUSION: the social vulnerability influences how the family bears the chronic condition. Professionals and strategies of public health are a power to minimize impacts including those related to the family budget, but they have not been effective. They need to be sensitized to become supporting resources, to offer and to guide the access to the support networks and to spur the social service in action when necessary. This study adds knowledge to the already existing by pointing out peculiarities of the family experience in situations regarding two variables of difficult handling: chronicity and social vulnerability, evidencing the role of the professional in search of the solution for the confrontation of demands and sufferings together with the family.

  1. Cost of enlarged operating zone for an existing Francis runner

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monette, Christine; Marmont, Hugues; Chamberland-Lauzon, Joël; Skagerstrand, Anders; Coutu, André; Carlevi, Jens

    2016-11-01

    Traditionally, hydro power plants have been operated close to best efficiency point, the more stable operating condition for which they have been designed. However, because of changes in the electricity market, many hydro power plants operators wish to operate their machines differently to fulfil those new market needs. New operating conditions can include whole range operation, many start/stops, extensive low load operation, synchronous condenser mode and power/frequency regulation. Many of these new operating conditions may impose more severe fatigue damage than the traditional base load operation close to best efficiency point. Under these conditions, the fatigue life of the runner may be significantly reduced and reparation or replacement cost might occur sooner than expected. In order to design reliable Francis runners for those new challenging operating scenarios, Andritz Hydro has developed various proprietary tools and design rules. These are used within Andritz Hydro to design mechanically robust Francis runners for the operating scenarios fulfilling customer's specifications. To estimate residual life under different operating scenarios of an existing runner designed years ago for best efficiency base load operation, Andritz Hydro's design rules and tools would necessarily lead to conservative results. While the geometry of a new runner can be modified to fulfil all conservative mechanical design rules, the predicted fatigue life of an existing runner under off-design operating conditions may appear rather short because of the conservative safety factor included in the calculations. The most precise and reliable way to calculate residual life of an existing runner under different operating scenarios is to perform a strain gauge measurement campaign on the runner. This paper presents the runner strain gage measurement campaign of a mid-head Francis turbine over all the operating conditions available during the test, the analysis of the measurement signals

  2. “The Impact of Community-based Capital Cash Transfers on the Schooling of Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in Kenya”

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skovdal, Morten; Webale, A.; Mwasiaji, W.

    2013-01-01

    In this article we report on a community-based capital cash transfer initiative (CCCT) in Kenya that sought to mobilise and enable HIV-affected communities to respond to the needs of orphaned and vulnerable children. With bilateral funding, the Social Services Department in Kenya provided 80 comm...... of orphaned children, particularly amongst girls. We conclude that CCCT is a viable strategy for improving orphan schooling in sub-Saharan Africa....

  3. Research-based Reflections on How the Educational, Economic and Social Circumstances Faced by Some Children and Young People Can Lead to Significant Disadvantage and Vulnerability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tucker Stanley

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The paper provides detailed reflections on the educational, economic and social circumstances that impact on the lives of many disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people. Drawing largely on primary research data collected in Romania, Germany and the United Kingdom, three illustrative case studies are presented for consideration focusing on: life in residential care and youth offending institutions; experiences of educational vulnerability; and human trafficking. The methodological approach adopted across the research projects explored, was shaped by the demands and expectations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC. All of the reported data reflects the views of children and young people who were interviewed as part of three research projects. It is argued that the difficult and challenging circumstances that many children and young people find themselves in, place them at significant disadvantage and increased vulnerability in terms of their social and educational development and life chances.

  4. Saint Francis Xavier on Jesuit School Stages of the Bohemian Province

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Bobková, Kateřina; Jacková, Magdaléna

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 25, č. 2 (2015), s. 135-155 ISSN 0515-3190 R&D Projects: GA ČR GPP406/12/P823 Institutional support: RVO:68378068 ; RVO:67985963 Keywords : St. Francis Xavier * Jesuit saints * Jesuit theatre * neolatin drama * school theatre * Avancini, Nicolaus * Engel, Arnoldus Subject RIV: AJ - Letters, Mass-media, Audiovision; AB - History (HIU-Y)

  5. Francis Bacon's New Science: Rhetoric and the Transformative Power of Print.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heckel, David

    The process of projecting textual models onto the phenomenal world began with the invention of writing and accelerated through the manuscript culture of classical antiquity and the Middle Ages into the age of print. In Francis Bacon's work, the book (a metaphor for the phenomenal world) adapted to the demands of the printed text and reflects the…

  6. Parental Depression and Child Cognitive Vulnerability Predict Children’s Cortisol Reactivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayden, Elizabeth P.; Hankin, Benjamin L.; Mackrell, Sarah V.M.; Sheikh, Haroon I.; Jordan, Patricia L.; Dozois, David J.A.; Singh, Shiva M.; Olino, Thomas M.; Badanes, Lisa S.

    2015-01-01

    Risk for depression is expressed across multiple levels of analysis. For example, parental depression and cognitive vulnerability are known markers of depression risk, but no study has examined their interactive effects on children’s cortisol reactivity, a likely mediator of early depression risk. We examined relations across these different levels of vulnerability using cross-sectional and longitudinal methods in two community samples of children. Children were assessed for cognitive vulnerability using self-reports (Study 1; n = 244) and tasks tapping memory and attentional bias (Study 2; n = 205), and their parents were assessed for depression history using structured clinical interviews. In both samples, children participated in standardized stress tasks and cortisol reactivity was assessed. Cross-sectionally and longitudinally, parental depression history and child cognitive vulnerability interacted to predict children’s cortisol reactivity; specifically, associations between parent depression and elevated child cortisol activity were found when children also showed elevated depressotypic attributions, as well as attentional and memory biases. Findings indicate that models of children’s emerging depression risk may benefit from the examination of the interactive effects of multiple sources of vulnerability across levels of analysis. PMID:25422972

  7. Francis Bacon and Magnetical Cosmology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaona

    2016-12-01

    A short-lived but important movement in seventeenth-century English natural philosophy—which scholars call “magnetical philosophy” or “magnetical cosmology”—sought to understand gravity (both terrestrial and celestial) by analogy with magnetism. The movement was clearly inspired by William Gilbert’s De magnete (1600) and culminated with Robert Hooke’s prefiguring of the universal principle of gravitation, which he personally communicated to Isaac Newton in 1679. But the magnetical cosmology, as professed by those in the movement, differed from Gilbert’s philosophy in highly significant ways. Proponents never accepted Gilbert’s animistic account of magnets and seem tacitly to have accepted a belief in action at a distance that Gilbert himself rejected. This essay argues that Francis Bacon (1561–1626) had already provided just the adaptations to Gilbert’s philosophy that the later thinkers adopted, including an important endorsement of action at a distance, and that he should be recognized as playing an important role in the movement.

  8. Needs and challenges of lay community health workers in a palliative care environment for orphans and vulnerable children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bonita Bernice Visagie

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The escalation of HIV/AIDS infections in the last decade has increased the need for palliative care community organizations to care for orphans and vulnerable children, who are in dire need of support. Many of these organizations depend on the services of lay community health workers to provide constant care to those in need of it in their local communities. The focus of this study is to explore the role of lay health workers in a community organization located in rural Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng Province of South Africa. That provides palliative care for orphans and vulnerable children diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Their roles were analysed critically through a job-demands and job-resources theoretical framework. Methods: A descriptive phenomenological case study design was employed to collect data through twenty five individual interviews, two separate focus groups consisting of ten participants in one group and eleven participants in the other group, observations and document analysis. Data were processed through a rigorous thematic analysis. Results: The findings pointed out specific knowledge and skills these lay community health workers needed in order to be satisfied with, and successful in, their administration of palliative care to orphans and vulnerable children. Participants identified the following organizational challenges that were deemed to be impacting negatively on their work experiences: the lack of career pathing processes; sufficient career guidance; and inadequate employment processes, such as staff retention, succession planning, and promotion. Conclusion: Through the findings, a framework for enhancing the work experiences of the lay community health workers was developed. The uniqueness of this framework is that the focus is on improving the work lives of the lay community health workers, who have serious skills-resourcing needs. There were specific concrete strategies that the organization could adopt to support

  9. The green roof dilemma - discussion of Francis and Lorimer (2011).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henry, Alexandre; Frascaria-Lacoste, Nathalie

    2012-08-15

    Urban ecosystems are the most complex mosaics of vegetative land cover that can be found. In a recent paper, Francis and Lorimer (2011) evaluated the reconciliation potential of living roofs and walls. For these authors, these two techniques for habitat improvement have strong potential for urban reconciliation ecology. However they have some ecological and societal limitations such as the physical extreme environmental characteristics, the monetary investment and the cultural perceptions of urban nature. We are interested in their results and support their conclusions. However, for a considerable time, green roofs have been designed to provide urban greenery for buildings and the green roof market has only focused on extensive roof at a restricted scale within cities. Thus, we have strong doubts about the relevance of their use as possible integrated elements of the network. Furthermore, without dynamic progress in research and the implementation of well-thought-out policies, what will be the real capital gain from green roofs with respect to land-use complementation in cities? If we agree with Francis and Lorimer (2011) considering that urban reconciliation ecology between nature and citizens is a current major challenge, then "adaptive collaborative management" is a fundamental requirement. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Temporal stability of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity short-form: test-retest data over one week.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Christopher Alan; Cruise, Sharon Mary; McGuckin, Conor

    2005-04-01

    This study evaluated the test-retest reliability of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity short-form. 39 Northern Irish undergraduate students completed the measure on two occasions separated by one week. Stability across the two administrations was high, r = .92, and there was no significant change between Time 1(M = 25.2, SD = 5.4) and Time 2 (M = 25.7, SD = 6.2). These data support the short-term test-retest reliability of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity short-form.

  11. On the centenary of the birth of Francis H. C. Crick – from physics to genetics and neuroscience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hélio A. G. Teive

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT The year 2016 marks the centenary of the birth of Francis Crick (1916–2004, who made outstanding contributions to genetics and neuroscience. In 1953, in a collaborative study, Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the DNA double helix, and in 1962 they and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Crick subsequently became very interested in neuroscience, particularly consciousness and its relationship to the claustrum, a small gray matter structure between the insula and putamen.

  12. A Song in the Dark. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of Brother Sun

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Speelman Willem Marie

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The Canticle of the Creatures or Canticle of Brother Sun is based on a particular way of perceiving reality. Francis, who had turned away from ‘the world’, discovered a different way of looking at it. This is a divine way of perceiving, in which the senses do not grasp reality, but accept it as it communicates itself. This way of perceiving is only possible if one does not attempt to master the environment, but allows one’s senses to be weak. It is significant, therefore, that this song of praise was born at a moment of the utmost despair and weakness. The song’s content is in line with this weak perception: it is not about Francis who praises God and (or for His creatures, but rather it is a testimony that the creatures-the elements-are already praising God, and a prayer that He should let Himself be praised by the creatures. Also in line with this weak perception is the fact that the creatures are praised just as they communicate themselves to Francis: as bodies. The theology of this song is that the creatures through their bodies resonate (strengthen, and colour the blessings that come from God, thereby making His blessing present here on earth. Francis’ role is to give a voice and a language to the heavenly praises as they resound in his environment. The transformative power of this song is that we, whether consciously or not, do the same thing when we participate in this song.

  13. Hydraulic Turbines: The Francis Turbine. Technical Terminology Bulletin. Terminotech, Vol. 2, No. 2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    General Electric Co. of Canada, Ltd., Montreal, Quebec.

    This issue of a bulletin of technological terminology is devoted to the Francis turbine. A brief narrative on the subject is presented in both French and English. An English-French dictionary of terms comprises the bulk of the document. An explanatory illustration is appended. (JB)

  14. Dynamic stresses in a Francis model turbine at deep part load

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Wilhelm; von Locquenghien, Florian; Conrad, Philipp; Koutnik, Jiri

    2017-04-01

    A comparison between numerically obtained dynamic stresses in a Francis model turbine at deep part load with experimental ones is presented. Due to the change in the electrical power mix to more content of new renewable energy sources, Francis turbines are forced to operate at deep part load in order to compensate stochastic nature of wind and solar power and to ensure grid stability. For the extension of the operating range towards deep part load improved understanding of the harsh flow conditions and their impact on material fatigue of hydraulic components is required in order to ensure long life time of the power unit. In this paper pressure loads on a model turbine runner from unsteady two-phase computational fluid dynamics simulation at deep part load are used for calculation of mechanical stresses by finite element analysis. Therewith, stress distribution over time is determined. Since only few runner rotations are simulated due to enormous numerical cost, more effort has to be spent to evaluation procedure in order to obtain objective results. By comparing the numerical results with measured strains accuracy of the whole simulation procedure is verified.

  15. Experimental investigations of the unsteady flow in a Francis turbine draft tube cone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baya, A; Muntean, S; Campian, V C; Cuzmos, A; Diaconescu, M; Balan, G

    2010-01-01

    Operating Francis turbines at partial discharge is often hindered by the development of the helical vortex (so-called vortex rope) downstream the runner, in the draft tube cone. The unsteady pressure field induced by precessing vortex rope leads to pressure fluctuations. The paper presents the experimental investigations of the unsteady pressure field generated by precessing vortex rope and its associated pressure fluctuations into a draft tube of the Francis turbine operating at partial discharge. In situ measurements are performed in order to evaluate the pressure fluctuations and vortex rope frequency at partial load operation. Three pressure taps are installed on the cone wall of the draft tube in order to record the unsteady pressure. As a result, the Fourier spectra are obtained in order to evaluate the amplitude of pressure fluctuations and vortex rope frequency. Moreover, the wall pressure recovery along to the draft tube cone is acquired. Finally, conclusions are drawn in order to present the vortex rope effects.

  16. Experimental investigations of the unsteady flow in a Francis turbine draft tube cone

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baya, A [Department of Hydraulic Machinery, ' Politehnica' University of Timisoara Bv. Mihai Viteazu 1, RO-300222, Timisoara (Romania); Muntean, S [Centre of Advanced Research in Engineering Sciences, Romanian Academy - Timisoara Branch Bv. Mihai Viteazu 24, RO-300223, Timisoara (Romania); Campian, V C; Cuzmos, A [Research Center in Hydraulics, Automation and Heat Transfer, ' Eftimie Murgu' University of Resita P-ta. Traian Vuia 1-4, RO-320085, Resita (Romania); Diaconescu, M; Balan, G, E-mail: abaya@mh.mec.upt.r [Ramnicu Valcea Subsidiary, S.C. Hidroelectrica S.A. Str. Decebal 11, RO-240255, Ramnicu Valcea (Romania)

    2010-08-15

    Operating Francis turbines at partial discharge is often hindered by the development of the helical vortex (so-called vortex rope) downstream the runner, in the draft tube cone. The unsteady pressure field induced by precessing vortex rope leads to pressure fluctuations. The paper presents the experimental investigations of the unsteady pressure field generated by precessing vortex rope and its associated pressure fluctuations into a draft tube of the Francis turbine operating at partial discharge. In situ measurements are performed in order to evaluate the pressure fluctuations and vortex rope frequency at partial load operation. Three pressure taps are installed on the cone wall of the draft tube in order to record the unsteady pressure. As a result, the Fourier spectra are obtained in order to evaluate the amplitude of pressure fluctuations and vortex rope frequency. Moreover, the wall pressure recovery along to the draft tube cone is acquired. Finally, conclusions are drawn in order to present the vortex rope effects.

  17. Tsunami survivors' perspectives on vulnerability and vulnerability reduction: evidence from Koh Phi Phi Don and Khao Lak, Thailand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steckley, Marylynn; Doberstein, Brent

    2011-07-01

    This paper presents the results of primary research with 40 survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in two communities: Khao Lak (n=20) and Koh Phi Phi Don (n=20), Thailand. It traces tsunami survivors' perceptions of vulnerability, determines whether residents felt that the tsunami affected different communities differently, identifies the populations and sub-community groups that survivors distinguished as being more vulnerable than others, highlights community-generated ideas about vulnerability reduction, and pinpoints a range of additional vulnerability reduction actions. Tsunami survivors most consistently identified the 'most vulnerable' community sub-populations as women, children, the elderly, foreigners, and the poor. In Khao Lak, however, respondents added 'Burmese migrants' to this list, whereas in Koh Phi Phi Don, they added 'Thai Muslims'. Results suggest that the two case study communities, both small, coastal, tourism-dominated communities no more than 100 kilometres apart, have differing vulnerable sub-groups and environmental vulnerabilities, requiring different post-disaster vulnerability reduction efforts. © 2011 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2011.

  18. Identification of vulnerability within a child and family health service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimla, Katarina; Nathanson, Dania; Woolfenden, Susan; Zwi, Karen

    2017-11-21

    Objective The aims of the present study were to describe the prevalence of vulnerability in a cohort of newborns, identify the factors that increase the risk of vulnerability and examine whether those who are most vulnerable are receiving home visits. Methods A prospective cross-sectional study was performed using data collected from questionnaires completed by child and family health nurses and obstetric discharge summaries for each mother-baby dyad. Descriptive frequencies and percentages are used to describe the proportions of children who were vulnerable, offered services and had risk factors for vulnerability. Categorical data were compared using Pearson's Chi-squared analysis. Results In all, 1517 newborns were included in the present study. Of these, 40.5% were identified as vulnerable and 13.9% had two or more risk factors for vulnerability (95% confidence interval (CI) 12-16%). The most common risk factors were biological. Across all newborns, 33.7% were visited at home, and 74.6% of vulnerable newborns were offered a home visit. Children identified as vulnerable were more likely to have a home visit than those who were not (z for 95% CI=1.96; Pvulnerability allowed the offer of home visiting to be directed towards those most likely to benefit. What is known about the topic? Of the Australian child population, 10-20% are vulnerable to adverse health, developmental and wellbeing outcomes. Vulnerable infants are at a greater risk of becoming vulnerable children, adolescents and adults over the life course. Biological and psychosocial risk factors for vulnerability are well described. Families with the greatest need are often the least likely to access or receive support, and have lower utilisation of preventative health services despite evidence that support in the first few years of life can significantly improve long-term outcomes. What does this paper add? This paper provides a detailed description of vulnerabilities in a cohort of newborns and

  19. The Power of the Word and the Mastery of Nature: Renaissance Magic and Francis Bacon

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Špelda, Daniel

    19/43/, - (2005), s. 7-36. ISBN 80-7007-236-9. ISSN 0231-5955 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z90090514 Keywords : magic * renaissance philosophy * Francis Bacon Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion

  20. Transient CFD simulation of a Francis turbine startup

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nicolle, J; Morissette, J F; Giroux, A M

    2012-01-01

    To assess the life expectancy of hydraulic turbines, it is essential to obtain the loading on the blades, especially during transient operations known to be the most damaging. This paper presents a simplified CFD setup to model the startup phase of a Francis turbine while it goes from rest to speed no-load condition. The fluid domain included one distributor sector coupled with one runner passage. The guide vane motion and change in the angular velocity were included in a commercial code with user functions. Comparisons between numerical results and measurements acquired on a full-size turbine showed that most of the flow physics occurring during startup were captured.

  1. Expected load spectra of prototype Francis turbines in low-load operation using numerical simulations and site measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eichhorn, M.; Taruffi, A.; Bauer, C.

    2017-04-01

    The operators of hydropower plants are forced to extend the existing operating ranges of their hydraulic machines to remain competitive on the energy market due to the rising amount of wind and solar power. Faster response times and a higher flexibility towards part- and low-load conditions enable a better electric grid control and assure therefore an economic operation of the power plant. The occurring disadvantage is a higher dynamic excitation of affected machine components, especially Francis turbine runners, due to pressure pulsations induced by unsteady flow phenomena (e.g. draft tube vortex ropes). Therefore, fatigue analysis becomes more important even in the design phase of the hydraulic machines to evaluate the static and dynamic load in different operating conditions and to reduce maintenance costs. An approach including a one-way coupled fluid-structure interaction has been already developed using unsteady CFD simulations and transient FEM computations. This is now applied on two Francis turbines with different specific speeds and power ranges, to obtain the load spectra of both machines. The results are compared to strain gauge measurements on the according Francis turbines to validate the overall procedure.

  2. What makes children with cerebral palsy vulnerable to malnutrition? Findings from the Bangladesh cerebral palsy register (BCPR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jahan, Israt; Muhit, Mohammad; Karim, Tasneem; Smithers-Sheedy, Hayley; Novak, Iona; Jones, Cheryl; Badawi, Nadia; Khandaker, Gulam

    2018-04-16

    vulnerable groups should be focused in designing nutrition intervention and rehabilitation programs. Disability inclusive and focused nutrition intervention programme need to be kept as priority in national nutrition policies and nutrition action plans specially in low- and middle-income countries. Community-based management of malnutrition has the potential to overcome this poor nutritional scenario of children with disability (i.e., cerebral palsy). The global leaders such as World Health Organization, national and international organizations should take this in account and conduct further research to develop nutritional guidelines for this vulnerable group of population.

  3. Influence of the rotor-stator interaction on the dynamic stresses of Francis runners

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guillaume, R; Scolaro, D; Deniau, J L; Colombet, C

    2012-01-01

    Thanks to advances in computing capabilities and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques, it is now possible to calculate realistic unsteady pressure fields in Francis turbines. This paper will explain methods to calculate the structural loads and the dynamic behaviour in order to optimize the turbine design and maximize its reliability and lifetime. Depending on the operating conditions of a Francis turbine, different hydraulic phenomena may impact the mechanical behaviour of the structure. According to their nature, these highly variable phenomena should be treated differently and specifically in order to estimate the potential risks arising on submerged structures, in particular the runner. The operating condition studied thereafter is the point at maximum power with the maximum head. Under this condition, the runner is excited by only one dynamic phenomenon named the Rotor-Stator Interaction (RSI). The origin of the phenomenon is located on the radial gap of the turbine and is the source of pressure fluctuations. A fluid-structure analysis is performed to observe the influence of that dynamic pressure field on the runner behaviour. The first part of the paper deals with the unsteady fluid computation. The RSI phenomenon is totally unsteady so the fluid simulation must take into account the entire machine and its rotation movement, in order to obtain a dynamic pressure field. In the second part of the paper, a method suitable for the RSI study is developed. It is known that the fluctuating pressure in this gap can be described as a sum of spatial components. By evaluating these components in the CFD results and on the scale model, it is possible to assess the relevance of the numerical results on the whole runner. After this step, the numerical pressure field can be used as the dynamic load of the structure. The final part of the paper presentsthe mechanical finite element calculations. A modal analysis of the runner in water and a harmonic analysis of its

  4. The Norwegian translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francis, Leslie J; Enger, Trond

    2002-12-01

    This paper reviews the development of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity and then examines the psychometric properties of the Norwegian translation of this instrument among a sample of 479 young people between the ages of 11 and 18 years attending secondary school. The data support the reliability of this instrument and commend it for further validation studies and for wider general use among young people in Norway.

  5. Health related quality of life and perceptions of child vulnerability among parents of children with a history of Kawasaki disease

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Oers, Hedy A.; Tacke, Carline E.; Haverman, Lotte; Kuipers, Irene M.; Maurice-Stam, Heleen; Kuijpers, Taco W.; Grootenhuis, Martha A.

    2014-01-01

    Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute paediatric vasculitis. The psychosocial consequences of this sudden illness for parents are unknown. This study aimed to evaluate health related quality of life (HRQOL) and parental perceptions of child vulnerability (PPCV) in parents of children with KD, and to

  6. Inventing Citizens, Imagining Gender Justice: The Suffrage Rhetoric of Virginia and Francis Minor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ray, Angela G.; Richards, Cindy Koenig

    2007-01-01

    From the late 1860s through the mid-1870s, woman suffrage activists developed an ingenious legal argument, claiming that the U.S. Constitution already enfranchised women citizens. The argument, first articulated by St. Louis activists Virginia and Francis Minor, precipitated rhetorical performances by movement activists on public platforms and in…

  7. Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in preschool-children from vulnerable neighborhoods in Bogotá

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marlieke C.H Bouwmans

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs are neglected tropical diseases, even though their prevalence is high in many developing countries. The public health impact of IPIs is substantial, in particular for children due to the negative effect on growth and development. Objectives: This study examines the prevalence and risk factors of IPIs in preschool-children from at-risk neighborhoods, including those from internally displaced families. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study among 239 preschool-children from two vulnerable neighborhoods in Bogotá. Fecal samples were collected and microscopically examined (direct and Ritchie technique and data regarding related factors was obtained through a questionnaire. Results: A prevalence of 26.4% for pathogenic parasites (Giardia duodenalis, Blastocystis spp, Trichuris trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides, and Hymenolepis nana was found. Logistic regression resulted in four risk factors: siblings ≤5 years (OR 2.33 [1.077-5.021], stray dogs (OR 2.91 [0.867-9.767], household members (OR 2.57 [1.155-5.706] and child's sex (OR 2.17 [1.022-4.615]. Discussion: IPI presence in preschool children is an important health issue in Bogotá which should be addressed. A high protozoan prevalence was found compared to helminthes. Implementing policies addressing risk factors could be a first step in decreasing IPI prevalence

  8. Bayesian distributed lag interaction models to identify perinatal windows of vulnerability in children's health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Ander; Chiu, Yueh-Hsiu Mathilda; Hsu, Hsiao-Hsien Leon; Wright, Robert O; Wright, Rosalind J; Coull, Brent A

    2017-07-01

    Epidemiological research supports an association between maternal exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and adverse children's health outcomes. Advances in exposure assessment and statistics allow for estimation of both critical windows of vulnerability and exposure effect heterogeneity. Simultaneous estimation of windows of vulnerability and effect heterogeneity can be accomplished by fitting a distributed lag model (DLM) stratified by subgroup. However, this can provide an incomplete picture of how effects vary across subgroups because it does not allow for subgroups to have the same window but different within-window effects or to have different windows but the same within-window effect. Because the timing of some developmental processes are common across subpopulations of infants while for others the timing differs across subgroups, both scenarios are important to consider when evaluating health risks of prenatal exposures. We propose a new approach that partitions the DLM into a constrained functional predictor that estimates windows of vulnerability and a scalar effect representing the within-window effect directly. The proposed method allows for heterogeneity in only the window, only the within-window effect, or both. In a simulation study we show that a model assuming a shared component across groups results in lower bias and mean squared error for the estimated windows and effects when that component is in fact constant across groups. We apply the proposed method to estimate windows of vulnerability in the association between prenatal exposures to fine particulate matter and each of birth weight and asthma incidence, and estimate how these associations vary by sex and maternal obesity status in a Boston-area prospective pre-birth cohort study. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  9. The vulnerabilities in childhood and adolescence and the Brazilian public policy intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fonseca, Franciele Fagundes; Sena, Ramony Kris R; dos Santos, Rocky Lane A; Dias, Orlene Veloso; Costa, Simone de Melo

    2013-06-01

    To review and discuss childhood and adolescence vulnerabilities, as well as Brazilian public policies of intervention. A narrative review was performed, considering studies published between 1990 and 2012, found in the Virtual Health Library databases (Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde - BVS). A combination of the following descriptors was used in the search strategy: "Adolescent Health", "Child Health", "Health Public Politics" and "Vulnerability". In addition, Brazilian official documents, the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent, Guardianship Council, Bolsa Família and Saúde na Escola Programs were evaluated. The results were divided into five categories of analysis: Vulnerability of Children and Adolescents in Brazil, Public Politics of Intervention to Risk Factors in Childhood and Adolescence, the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent and Guardianship Council, Bolsa Família Program and Saúde na Escola Program. The studies show that children and adolescents are vulnerable to environmental and social situations. Vulnerabilities are exhibited in daily violence within families and schools, which results in the premature entrance of children and adolescents in the work environment and/or in the drug traffic. To deal with these problems, the Brazilian Government established the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent as well as social programs. Literature exposes the risks experienced by children and adolescents in Brazil. In the other hand, a Government endeavor was identified to eliminate or minimize the suffering of those in vulnerable situations through public policies targeted to this population group.

  10. O duplo legado de Francis Poulenc

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joana Resende

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Déjàvu,or better,déjà écouté is an appropriate expression to describe an audition of certain works by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963. A sui-generis character in 20th century music, Poulenc has questioned the whole heritage that came before him, French or not, according to the premises of the group he belonged to, Les Six, although not always reaching similar results. His main concern was to make good music, an ideal not far from that of Debussy, “music should humbly seek to please” (Harry Halbreich. This article approaches the use of quotation and other processes of allusion in the works by Poulenc, as seen in his voice and piano mélodies cycle La fraîcheur et le feu, identifying thematic, melodic, and harmonic, origins used coherently in several pieces. and helping to solidly build his musical language.

  11. Vulnerable children, stigmatised smokers: The social construction of target audiences in media debates on policies regulating smoking in vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bain, Josh; Weishaar, Heide; Semple, Sean; Duffy, Sheila; Hilton, Shona

    2016-01-01

    Following restrictions on smoking in vehicles carrying children in several countries, legislation to safeguard minors from second-hand smoke exposure in vehicles is under-consideration or has been implemented across the United Kingdom. This article presents the first investigation into social constructions of children, smokers and smoking parents in newsprint media and coverage of debates about protecting children from exposure to second-hand smoke in vehicles. Using Scotland as an example, articles on children’s exposure to second-hand smoke published between 1 January 2004 and 16 February 2014 in three Scottish newspapers were identified using Nexis UK. In all, 131 articles were thematically coded and analysed. Children were portrayed as vulnerable and requiring protection, with few articles highlighting children’s ability to voice concerns about the dangers of smoking. Smokers and smoking parents were mainly portrayed in a factual manner, but also frequently as irresponsible and, in some cases, intentionally imposing harm. Individual smokers were blamed for their recklessness, with only a small number of articles mentioning the need to assist smokers in quitting. Supporters of legislation focused on corresponding discourse, whereas critics directed debates towards established arguments against policy, including individual freedom, privacy and problems of enforcement. Focusing on children’s vulnerability to second-hand smoke might have increased support for legislation but risked a side effect of smokers being stigmatised. The media and supporters of public health policy are encouraged to consider appropriate approaches to raise awareness of the health harms of second-hand smoke to children while avoiding unintended stigmatisation of those in which they want to encourage behaviour change. PMID:27457688

  12. Validez y confiabilidad de la escala breve de Francis para actitud ante el cristianismo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zuleima Cogollo

    2012-04-01

    Resultados. La escala Francis-5 mostró una estructura unidimensional, con un valor propio de 3,681 que dio cuenta del 73,6% de la varianza. Las mujeres puntuaron significativamente mayor que los varones, 18,5 (DE=2,7 vs. 17,9 (DE=3,3 (t = 4,3; p

  13. Associations Between Social Vulnerabilities and Psychosocial Problems in European Children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Iguacel, Isabel; Michels, Nathalie; Fernández-Alvira, Juan M.

    2017-01-01

    The effect of socioeconomic inequalities on children’s mental health remains unclear. This study aims to explore the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between social vulnerabilities and psychosocial problems, and the association between accumulation of vulnerabilities and psychosocial...

  14. [Sir Francis Galton: the father of eugenics].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aubert-Marson, Dominique

    2009-01-01

    Not only was Sir Francis Galton a famous geographer and statistician, he also invented "eugenics" in 1883. Eugenics, defined as the science of improving racial stock, was developed from a new heredity theory, conceived by Galton himself, and from the evolution theory of Charles Darwin, transposed to human society by Herbert Spencer. Galton's eugenics was a program to artificially produce a better human race through regulating marriage and thus procreation. Galton put particular emphasis on "positive eugenics", aimed at encouraging the physically and mentally superior members of the population to choose partners with similar traits. In 1904, he presented his ideas in front of a vast audience of physicians and scientists in London. His widely-publicized lecture served as the starting point for the development of eugenics groups in Europe and the United States during the first half of the 20th century.

  15. Experimental vibration level analysis of a Francis turbine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bucur, D M; Dunca, G; Calinoiu, C

    2012-01-01

    In this study the vibration level of a Francis turbine is investigated by experimental work in site. Measurements are carried out for different power output values, in order to highlight the influence of the operation regimes on the turbine behavior. The study focuses on the turbine shaft to identify the mechanical vibration sources and on the draft tube in order to identify the hydraulic vibration sources. Analyzing the vibration results, recommendations regarding the operation of the turbine, at partial load close to minimum values, in the middle of the operating domain or close to maximum values of electric power, can be made in order to keep relatively low levels of vibration. Finally, conclusions are drawn in order to present the real sources of the vibrations.

  16. AMS radiocarbon dating of medieval textile relics: The frocks and the pillow of St. Francis of Assisi

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fedi, M.E. [Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita di Firenze and INFN Sezione di Firenze, via Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy)], E-mail: fedi@fi.infn.it; Cartocci, A.; Taccetti, F.; Mando, P.A. [Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita di Firenze and INFN Sezione di Firenze, via Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy)

    2008-05-15

    Since natural textiles usually originate from short-lived organisms, they can represent a useful material to date samples from historical periods with a good accuracy. In this work, we present a set of radiocarbon measurements on medieval textile relics: two woollen habits and a pillow traditionally associated with St. Francis of Assisi, the saint patron of Italy. The strategy in choosing samples for radiocarbon dating is first discussed and the procedures for measurements - performed at the 3 MV Tandetron accelerator of Laboratorio di Tecniche Nucleari per i Beni Culturali (LABEC), Florence - are described; AMS results for the two frocks showed that only one of them, presently kept in the church of St. Francis in Cortona, is compatible with the Saint's period of life, as is the pillow also kept in Cortona. Another frock attributed to St. Francis appears to date from at least 80 years after his death. However, the goal of these measurements was not a bare authentication/disconfirmation of the relics; they just represent an example of how scientific analysis can integrate with humanistic studies. Indeed, AMS results, combined with a thorough analysis of the textiles typologies, confirmed the historical hypotheses based on documentary studies and on tradition. The overall conclusions contributed to the decisions taken for conservation, and have as a whole enhanced the religious importance of the relics.

  17. AMS radiocarbon dating of medieval textile relics: The frocks and the pillow of St. Francis of Assisi

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fedi, M.E.; Cartocci, A.; Taccetti, F.; Mando, P.A.

    2008-01-01

    Since natural textiles usually originate from short-lived organisms, they can represent a useful material to date samples from historical periods with a good accuracy. In this work, we present a set of radiocarbon measurements on medieval textile relics: two woollen habits and a pillow traditionally associated with St. Francis of Assisi, the saint patron of Italy. The strategy in choosing samples for radiocarbon dating is first discussed and the procedures for measurements - performed at the 3 MV Tandetron accelerator of Laboratorio di Tecniche Nucleari per i Beni Culturali (LABEC), Florence - are described; AMS results for the two frocks showed that only one of them, presently kept in the church of St. Francis in Cortona, is compatible with the Saint's period of life, as is the pillow also kept in Cortona. Another frock attributed to St. Francis appears to date from at least 80 years after his death. However, the goal of these measurements was not a bare authentication/disconfirmation of the relics; they just represent an example of how scientific analysis can integrate with humanistic studies. Indeed, AMS results, combined with a thorough analysis of the textiles typologies, confirmed the historical hypotheses based on documentary studies and on tradition. The overall conclusions contributed to the decisions taken for conservation, and have as a whole enhanced the religious importance of the relics

  18. AMS radiocarbon dating of medieval textile relics: The frocks and the pillow of St. Francis of Assisi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fedi, M. E.; Cartocci, A.; Taccetti, F.; Mandò, P. A.

    2008-05-01

    Since natural textiles usually originate from short-lived organisms, they can represent a useful material to date samples from historical periods with a good accuracy. In this work, we present a set of radiocarbon measurements on medieval textile relics: two woollen habits and a pillow traditionally associated with St. Francis of Assisi, the saint patron of Italy. The strategy in choosing samples for radiocarbon dating is first discussed and the procedures for measurements - performed at the 3 MV Tandetron accelerator of Laboratorio di Tecniche Nucleari per i Beni Culturali (LABEC), Florence - are described; AMS results for the two frocks showed that only one of them, presently kept in the church of St. Francis in Cortona, is compatible with the Saint's period of life, as is the pillow also kept in Cortona. Another frock attributed to St. Francis appears to date from at least 80 years after his death. However, the goal of these measurements was not a bare authentication/disconfirmation of the relics; they just represent an example of how scientific analysis can integrate with humanistic studies. Indeed, AMS results, combined with a thorough analysis of the textiles typologies, confirmed the historical hypotheses based on documentary studies and on tradition. The overall conclusions contributed to the decisions taken for conservation, and have as a whole enhanced the religious importance of the relics.

  19. Prediction Method for the Complete Characteristic Curves of a Francis Pump-Turbine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Huang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Complete characteristic curves of a pump-turbine are essential for simulating the hydraulic transients and designing pumped storage power plants but are often unavailable in the preliminary design stage. To solve this issue, a prediction method for the complete characteristics of a Francis pump-turbine was proposed. First, based on Euler equations and the velocity triangles at the runners, a mathematical model describing the complete characteristics of a Francis pump-turbine was derived. According to multiple sets of measured complete characteristic curves, explicit expressions for the characteristic parameters of characteristic operating point sets (COPs, as functions of a specific speed and guide vane opening, were then developed to determine the undetermined coefficients in the mathematical model. Ultimately, by combining the mathematical model with the regression analysis of COPs, the complete characteristic curves for an arbitrary specific speed were predicted. Moreover, a case study shows that the predicted characteristic curves are in good agreement with the measured data. The results obtained by 1D numerical simulation of the hydraulic transient process using the predicted characteristics deviate little from the measured characteristics. This method is effective and sufficient for a priori simulations before obtaining the measured characteristics and provides important support for the preliminary design of pumped storage power plants.

  20. Hydrologic and water quality monitoring on Turkey Creek watershed, Francis Marion National Forest, SC

    Science.gov (United States)

    D.M. Amatya; T.J. Callahan; A. Radecki-Pawlik; P. Drewes; C. Trettin; W.F. Hansen

    2008-01-01

    The re-initiation of a 7,260 ha forested watershed study on Turkey Creek, a 3rd order stream, within the Francis Marion National forest in South Carolina, completes the development of a multi-scale hydrology and ecosystem monitoring framework in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Hydrology and water quality monitoring began on the Santee Experimental...

  1. Human Rights and Vulnerability. Examples of Sexism and Ageism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mª DEL CARMEN BARRANCO AVILÉS

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available A human rights based approach applied to the idea of ‘vulnerable group’ connects vulnerability and structural discrimination. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability provides some elements that allow to state that we are facing a new paradigm in the International Human Rights Law. One of the keys for the understanding of this new framework is the assumption of the disadvantage related to vulnerability as, at least in a part, socially built and ideologically justified. Sexism and ageism are examples of how ideologies reinforce vulnerability of women, children and aged persons transforming them in groups which members are in risk of discrimination.

  2. Parental stress and perceived vulnerability at 5 and 10 years after pediatric SCT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vrijmoet-Wiersma, C M J; Egeler, R M; Koopman, H M; Bresters, D; Norberg, A L; Grootenhuis, M A

    2010-06-01

    With the aim of assessing parental stress after SCT, 73 parents of children and adolescents who underwent SCT 5 or 10 years ago responded to questionnaires on general distress (General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)), disease-related stress (Pediatric Inventory for Parents-short form (PIP-SF)) and perceptions of child vulnerability (Child Vulnerability Scale (CVS)). General distress scores were comparable with the reference groups, but 40% of the mothers at 5 years after SCT reported increased stress levels as compared with 26% in the community-based reference group. Disease-related stress was comparable with the reference group of parents of children who were just off cancer treatment, 5 years after SCT. At 10 years after SCT, scores were lower than the reference group. Perceived child vulnerability did diminish over time, but remained high in parents of SCT survivors, compared with parents of healthy children: 96% of the parents at 5 years after SCT and 76% of the parents at 10 years after SCT scored above the cutoff point. Perceived vulnerability was found to be a predictor for parental disease-related stress. To conclude, although most parents of SCT survivors are resilient, the majority of parents perceive their child to be much more vulnerable as compared with parents of healthy children. This perception is associated with disease-related stress and may induce overprotective parenting.

  3. Francis Bacon: constructing natural histories of the invisible.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rusu, Doina-Cristina

    2012-01-01

    The natural histories contained in Francis Bacon's Historia naturalis et experimentalis seem to differ from the model presented in De augmentis scientiarum and the Descriptio globi intellectualis in that they are focused on the defining properties of matter, its primary schematisms and the spirits. In this respect, they are highly speculative. In this paper I aim to describe the Historia naturalis et experimentalis as a text about matter theory, the histories of which are ascending from what is most evident to the senses to what is least accessible to them. Moreover, the Latin natural histories are parts of a methodological procedure in which the provisional rules and axioms obtained in one history can be used as theoretical assumptions for another history, thereby permitting one to delve ever more profoundly into the structure of nature.

  4. Who Are the Children Most Vulnerable to Social Exclusion? The Moderating Role of Self-Esteem, Popularity, and Nonverbal Intelligence on Cognitive Performance Following Social Exclusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tobia, Valentina; Riva, Paolo; Caprin, Claudia

    2017-05-01

    Social exclusion has a profound emotional impact on children. However, there is still limited and partly conflicting experimental evidence for the possible effect of social exclusion on children's cognitive performance. In the present study, we tested the possibility that some children are more vulnerable than others to the negative effects of social exclusion on cognitive performance. We selected 4 potential candidates that could moderate the effects of social exclusion: relational self-esteem, peer ratings of popularity, rejection sensitivity and nonverbal intelligence. Individual differences in these 4 potential moderating factors were first assessed in a sample of 318 children (45.6 % females; mean age = 9.92 years). Then, in a subsequent experimental session, the participants were either socially included or excluded using a typical manipulation (i.e., the Cyberball paradigm). Following the manipulation, the children's cognitive performance was assessed using a logical reasoning test. The results showed that the children with lower scores for relational self-esteem (the bottom 37.46 % of the sample), lower popularity (43.49 %) or weaker nonverbal intelligence (37.80 %) performed worse on the logical reasoning test following social exclusion. Moreover, children with combined low self-esteem, popularity and nonverbal intelligence were the most affected by social exclusion. This study identified factors that make some children more vulnerable to the negative effects of social exclusion. Overall, the present work underscores the value of considering basic cognitive and relational individual differences when developing interventions aimed at preventing the negative effects of social exclusion among children.

  5. Parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, and parenting stress: a cross-illness comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hullmann, Stephanie E; Wolfe-Christensen, Cortney; Ryan, Jamie L; Fedele, David A; Rambo, Philip L; Chaney, John M; Mullins, Larry L

    2010-12-01

    The current study sought to investigate differences in parenting capacity variables across four disease groups. Parents (N = 425), the majority of whom were mothers, of children with either cancer, asthma, Type 1 diabetes, or cystic fibrosis, completed measures of parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, and parenting stress. After controlling for significant demographic variables, parents of children with cystic fibrosis and asthma reported higher perceived child vulnerability than parents of children with either diabetes or cancer, while parents of children with asthma and diabetes reported higher parenting stress than parents of children with cancer or cystic fibrosis. No differences between disease groups were found for parental overprotection. The current study provides support for an illness-specific approach to understanding parenting capacity variables in the context of childhood chronic illnesses.

  6. Francis Bacon's Valerius Terminus and the Voyage to the "Great Instauration".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serjeantson, Richard

    2017-01-01

    Francis Bacon's earliest surviving natural philosophical treatise (composed circa 1603) bears the title Valerius Terminus of the Interpretation of Nature. This study, resting on fresh attention to the surviving authorial manuscript, has three goals. It begins by identifying a lost precursor work apparently entitled "Of Active Knowledge." It then examines the significance of the pseudonyms Bacon chose to introduce his ideas, considering especially his invocation of Erasmus's emblem, the Roman deity Terminus. Finally, it shows how the Valerius Terminus's global vision of contemporary knowledge ultimately helped shape the iconography of Bacon's published Instauratio magna.

  7. 78 FR 59913 - Revision of the Land Management Plan for the Francis Marion National Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-30

    ... telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800- 877... planning process can also be found on the Francis Marion National Forest Web site at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/scnfs/fmplan . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the 2012 Forest Planning Rule (36 CFR Part 219...

  8. A highly efficient Francis turbine designed for energy recovery in cooling towers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daqing Zhou

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available In China, cooling water entering cooling towers still retains surplus pressure between 39,240 and 147,150 Pa. In order to utilize this wasted energy, it is suggested that the surplus water energy can be harnessed to drive a type of hydroturbine installed in the inner platform of cooling tower and make the fan rotate via its coupled shafts. However, conventional hydroturbines are not suited for this job because of their low efficiency or unmatched rotating speed with that of the fan under the operating conditions of cooling towers. In this article, according to the requirements of turbine work environment in cooling towers, a new type of hydroturbine, Francis turbine with ultra-low specific speed (ns  = 50 m.kW, was designed to replace the fan motor in a cooling tower. Primarily, the shape, position, and number of runner blades were designed and optimized through theoretical analyses and computational fluid dynamics simulations. Additionally, metal elliptical volute and single-row ring guide vanes were applied to scale down the structural dimensions. Finally, the optimal scheme of the new Francis turbine was proven to have a high efficiency of 88% and good operation stability through testing of a physical model and can achieve the goal of harvesting renewable energy in the cooling tower.

  9. Narrative self-constitution and vulnerability to co-authoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McConnell, Doug

    2016-02-01

    All people are vulnerable to having their self-concepts shaped by others. This article investigates that vulnerability using a theory of narrative self-constitution. According to narrative self-constitution, people depend on others to develop and maintain skills of self-narration and they are vulnerable to having the content of their self-narratives co-authored by others. This theoretical framework highlights how vulnerability to co-authoring is essential to developing a self-narrative and, thus, the possibility of autonomy. However, this vulnerability equally entails that co-authors can undermine autonomy by contributing disvalued content to the agent's self-narrative and undermining her authorial skills. I illustrate these processes with the first-hand reports of several women who survived sexual abuse as children. Their narratives of survival and healing reveal the challenges involved in (re)developing the skills required to manage vulnerability to co-authoring and how others can help in this process. Finally, I discuss some of the implications of co-authoring for the healthcare professional and the therapeutic relationship.

  10. Vulnerable Genders, Vulnerable Loves

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schleicher, Marianne

    2015-01-01

    This chapter analyses religious reflections on vulnerable genders and vulnerable loves from the Hebrew Bible to early Rabbinic literature. It is based on theories by inter alia Donna Haraway on complex identities, Turner and Maryanski on love as a prerequisite for survival, Michel Foucault...... on gathering knowledge and its often unpremeditated effect of recognition and inclusion, and Judith Butler on cultural intelligibility and subversion from within. With these theories as a departing point for the analysis, the chapter links the vulnerability of complex identities with the vulnerability...... of cultures which leads to the overall understanding that culture can accommodate complex identities associated with individual and cultural vulnerability as long as the overall survival of the culture is not threatened. This understanding questions the feasibility of the ethical position of thinkers...

  11. Francis Bacon's natural history and the Senecan natural histories of early modern Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jalobeanu, Dana

    2012-01-01

    At various stages in his career, Francis Bacon claimed to have reformed and changed traditional natural history in such a way that his new "natural and experimental history" was unlike any of its ancient or humanist predecessors. Surprisingly, such claims have gone largely unquestioned in Baconian scholarship. Contextual readings of Bacon's natural history have compared it, so far, only with Plinian or humanist natural history. This paper investigates a different form of natural history, very popular among Bacon's contemporaries, but yet unexplored by contemporary students of Bacon's works. I have provisionally called this form of natural history'Senecan' natural history, partly because it took shape in the Neo-Stoic revival of the sixteenth-century, partly because it originates in a particular cosmographical reading of Seneca's Naturales quaestiones. I discuss in this paper two examples of Senecan natural history: the encyclopedic and cosmographical projects of Pierre de la Primaudaye (1546-1619) and Samuel Purchas (1577-1626). I highlight a number of similarities between these two projects and Francis Bacon's natural history, and argue that Senecan natural history forms an important aspect in the historical and philosophical background that needs to be taken into consideration if we want to understand the extent to which Bacon's project to reform natural history can be said to be new.

  12. Research on Francis Turbine Modeling for Large Disturbance Hydropower Station Transient Process Simulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guangtao Zhang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In the field of hydropower station transient process simulation (HSTPS, characteristic graph-based iterative hydroturbine model (CGIHM has been widely used when large disturbance hydroturbine modeling is involved. However, by this model, iteration should be used to calculate speed and pressure, and slow convergence or no convergence problems may be encountered for some reasons like special characteristic graph profile, inappropriate iterative algorithm, or inappropriate interpolation algorithm, and so forth. Also, other conventional large disturbance hydroturbine models are of some disadvantages and difficult to be used widely in HSTPS. Therefore, to obtain an accurate simulation result, a simple method for hydroturbine modeling is proposed. By this method, both the initial operating point and the transfer coefficients of linear hydroturbine model keep changing during simulation. Hence, it can reflect the nonlinearity of the hydroturbine and be used for Francis turbine simulation under large disturbance condition. To validate the proposed method, both large disturbance and small disturbance simulations of a single hydrounit supplying a resistive, isolated load were conducted. It was shown that the simulation result is consistent with that of field test. Consequently, the proposed method is an attractive option for HSTPS involving Francis turbine modeling under large disturbance condition.

  13. Prediction of Francis Turbine Prototype Part Load Pressure and Output Power Fluctuations with Hydroelectric Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alligné, S.; Nicolet, C.; Béguin, A.; Landry, C.; Gomes, J.; Avellan, F.

    2017-04-01

    The prediction of pressure and output power fluctuations amplitudes on Francis turbine prototype is a challenge for hydro-equipment industry since it is subjected to guarantees to ensure smooth and reliable operation of the hydro units. The European FP7 research project Hyperbole aims to setup a methodology to transpose the pressure fluctuations induced by the cavitation vortex rope from the reduced scale model to the prototype generating units. A Francis turbine unit of 444MW with a specific speed value of ν = 0.29, is considered as case study. A SIMSEN model of the power station including electrical system, controllers, rotating train and hydraulic system with transposed draft tube excitation sources is setup. Based on this model, a frequency analysis of the hydroelectric system is performed for all technologies to analyse potential interactions between hydraulic excitation sources and electrical components. Three technologies have been compared: the classical fixed speed configuration with Synchronous Machine (SM) and the two variable speed technologies which are Doubly Fed Induction Machine (DFIM) and Full Size Frequency Converter (FSFC).

  14. Francis Bacon's behavioral psychology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacDonald, Paul S

    2007-01-01

    Francis Bacon offers two accounts of the nature and function of the human mind: one is a medical-physical account of the composition and operation of spirits specific to human beings, the other is a behavioral account of the character and activities of individual persons. The medical-physical account is a run-of-the-mill version of the late Renaissance model of elemental constituents and humoral temperaments. The other, less well-known, behavioral account represents an unusual position in early modern philosophy. This theory espouses a form of behavioral psychology according to which (a) supposed mental properties are "hidden forms" best described in dispositional terms, (b) the true character of an individual can be discovered in his observable behavior, and (c) an "informed" understanding of these properties permits the prediction and control of human behavior. Both of Bacon's theories of human nature fall under his general notion of systematic science: his medical-physical theory of vital spirits is theoretical natural philosophy and his behavioral theory of disposition and expression is operative natural philosophy. Because natural philosophy as a whole is "the inquiry of causes and the production of effects," knowledge of human nature falls under the same two-part definition. It is an inquisition of forms that pertains to the patterns of minute motions in the vital spirits and the production of effects that pertains both to the way these hidden motions produce behavioral effects and to the way in which a skillful agent is able to produce desired effects in other persons' behavior. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Psychometric properties of the Francis Scale of Attitude Towards Christianity among Portuguese university students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira, Ana Veríssimo; Neto, Félix

    2002-12-01

    To facilitate use of the adult form of the Francis Scale of Attitude Towards Christianity in cross-cultural studies, the psychometric characteristics of the translated scale were examined among 323 university students in Portugal (130 men and 193 women). Their ages ranged from 18 to 31 years. Analysis supported the unidimensionality, internal consistency, and construct validity of this scale in this sample of Portuguese university students.

  16. Numerical analysis of solid–liquidtwo-phase turbulent flow in Francis turbine runner with splitter bladesin sandy water

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hua Hong

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available As the key component of a hydroelectric power generation system, hydraulic turbine plays a decisive role in the overall performance of the system. There are many sandy rivers in the world, and turbines working in these rivers are seriously damaged. Therefore, the research of flow in sandy water has great theoretical significance and practical value. Based on the specific hydrological conditions of a hydropower station, the solid–liquid two-phase flow in the whole flow passage of a Francis turbine with splitter blades in sandy water was numerically studied. A geometric model of the whole flow passage of the Francis turbine was established on the basis of given design parameters. The solid–liquid two-phase turbulent flows in Francis turbine runner under three different loads were numerically analyzed by using this model. The three different loads are as follows: Condition 1: single unit with 1/4 load, Condition 2: single unit with 1/2 load, and Condition 3: single unit with full load. The distributions of pressure and sand concentration on the leading side and the suction side of the runner blades, as well as the velocity vector distribution of water and sand on the horizontal section of the runner, were obtained under different load conditions. Therefore, the damages to various flow passage components by sand can be qualitatively predicated under various conditions. To guarantee the safety and stability of the unit, the adverse conditions shall be avoided, which can provide certain reference for plant operation.

  17. The Culture of Science and the Rhetoric of Scientism: From Francis Bacon to the Darwin Fish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lessl, Thomas M.

    2007-01-01

    The culture of modern science continues to establish its public identity by appealing to values and historical conceptions that reflect its appropriation of various religious ideals during its formative period, most especially in the rhetoric of Francis Bacon. These elements have persisted because they continue to achieve similar goals, but the…

  18. Compassionate care in radiography recruitment, education and training: A post-Francis Report review of the current literature and patient perspectives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bleiker, J.; Knapp, K.M.; Hopkins, S.; Johnston, G.

    2016-01-01

    Compassion is elemental in the care of a patient during their medical imaging (MI) procedure and is highly topical in the light of the Francis Report. The patient–practitioner interaction is an amalgam of context, communication and individual differences, and whilst compassion is a term in common parlance in the media, policy and radiographers' professional documents, its meaning and manifestation in radiography recruitment, education and practice are less clearly articulated. A review of the existing literature was undertaken, including a small scale study exploring patients' experiences in diagnostic medical imaging. Themes from the study included communication; competence; emotions; attitudes and relationships, but notably absent was any mention of compassion per se. Radiography research would benefit from further exploratory work into the nature of compassionate patient care in the unique context of the medical imaging encounter; offering an evidence-based contribution to radiography in the light of the Francis Report. - Highlights: • An increased focus on compassion was recommended in the Francis Report. • Best compassionate care is a requirement in radiographers' Code of Professional Conduct. • The meaning of compassionate patient care in radiography is not well understood. • Equally neither is the expression of compassion in radiography. • Research into compassion will contribute to evidence-based practice in radiography.

  19. Population-level associations between preschool vulnerability and grade-four basic skills.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amedeo D'Angiulli

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available This is a predictive validity study examining the extent to which developmental vulnerability at kindergarten entry (as measured by the Early Development Instrument, EDI is associated with children's basic skills in 4th grade (as measured by the Foundation Skills Assessment, FSA.Relative risk analysis was performed on a large database linking individual-level EDI ratings to the scores the same children obtained on a provincial assessment of academic skills (FSA--Foundation Skills Assessment four years later. We found that early vulnerability in kindergarten is associated with the basic skills that underlie populations of children's academic achievement in reading, writing and math, indicating that the Early Development Instrument permits to predict achievement-related skills four years in advance.The EDI can be used to predict children's educational trends at the population level and can help select early prevention and intervention programs targeting pre-school populations at minimum cost.

  20. Molecular epidemiology of acute leukemia in children: causal model, interaction of three factors-susceptibility, environmental exposure and vulnerability period.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mejía-Aranguré, Juan Manuel

    Acute leukemias have a huge morphological, cytogenetic and molecular heterogeneity and genetic polymorphisms associated with susceptibility. Every leukemia presents causal factors associated with the development of the disease. Particularly, when three factors are present, they result in the development of acute leukemia. These phenomena are susceptibility, environmental exposure and a period that, for this model, has been called the period of vulnerability. This framework shows how the concepts of molecular epidemiology have established a reference from which it is more feasible to identify the environmental factors associated with the development of leukemia in children. Subsequently, the arguments show that only susceptible children are likely to develop leukemia once exposed to an environmental factor. For additional exposure, if the child is not susceptible to leukemia, the disease does not develop. In addition, this exposure should occur during a time window when hematopoietic cells and their environment are more vulnerable to such interaction, causing the development of leukemia. This model seeks to predict the time when the leukemia develops and attempts to give a context in which the causality of childhood leukemia should be studied. This information can influence and reduce the risk of a child developing leukemia. Copyright © 2016 Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

  1. Vulnerabilities faced by the children of sex workers in two Mexico-US border cities: a retrospective study on sexual violence, substance use and HIV risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Servin, Argentina E; Strathdee, Steffanie; Muñoz, Fatima A; Vera, Alicia; Rangel, Gudelia; Silverman, Jay G

    2015-01-01

    Most studies of female sex workers (FSWs) conducted in the Mexico-US border region have focused on individual HIV risk, centered on sexual behaviors and substance abuse patterns. Little attention has been drawn to the reality that sex workers are often parents whose children potentially face vulnerabilities unique to their family situation. The objective of the present study was to identify the vulnerabilities faced by the children of FSWs in two Mexican-US border cities. From 2008 to 2010, 628 FSW-injection drug users underwent interviewer-administered surveys and HIV/STI testing. Approximately one in five participants (20%) reported having a parent involved in sex work and majority referred it was their mother (88%). Close to one-third of participants (31%) reported first injecting drugs prostitute <18 years of age. First drinking alcohol <18 years old (AOR = 1.87, 95%CI: 1.13-3.08), lifetime cocaine use (AOR = 1.76, 95%CI: 1.09-2.84), ever being forced or coerced into non-consensual sex as a minor (<18 years of age; AOR = 1.54, 95%CI: 1.01-2.35), and injecting drugs with used syringes in the prior month (AOR = 1.63, 95%CI: 1.07-2.49) were the factors associated with having had a parent involved in sex work. These findings begin to lay the groundwork for understanding the potential vulnerabilities faced by the children of sex workers. Understanding these potential needs is necessary for creating relevant, evidence-based interventions focused on supporting these women.

  2. Parental perceptions of child vulnerability, overprotection, and parental psychological characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomasgard, M

    1998-01-01

    While a parental perception of child vulnerability to illness/injury is often used interchangeably with parental overprotection, research suggests that these constructs are independent. Distinct parental psychological characteristics were hypothesized for each construct. The parents of 871 children, ages 22-72 months, completed a four-part protocol (clinical background data, Child Vulnerability Scale, Parent Protection Scale, and Brief Symptom Inventory). A distinct parent symptom profile was found for perceived child vulnerability (somatization, obsessive-compulsiveness, and anxiety). Overprotection was associated with phobic anxiety, psychoticism, and paranoid ideation. These findings provide further support for the differentiation of these constructs.

  3. The relationship between parental overprotection and health-related quality of life in pediatric cancer: the mediating role of perceived child vulnerability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hullmann, Stephanie E; Wolfe-Christensen, Cortney; Meyer, William H; McNall-Knapp, Rene Y; Mullins, Larry L

    2010-11-01

    The current study sought to examine the relation of parental overprotection and perceived child vulnerability to parent-reported health-related quality of life in parents of children with cancer. Parents (N = 89) of children who had been diagnosed with cancer completed measures of parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, and parent-proxy report of health-related quality of life. After controlling for theoretically relevant covariates, parental overprotection and perceived child vulnerability were both found to be significantly related to child health-related quality of life. Additional analyses revealed that perceived child vulnerability mediated the relationship between overprotective parenting behaviors and the child's health-related quality of life. The findings highlight the need to assess for these discrete parenting variables in parents of children with cancer and to develop interventions to target parental perceptions of vulnerability.

  4. The Effects of Socioeconomic Vulnerability, Psychosocial Services, and Social Service Spending on Family Reunification: A Multilevel Longitudinal Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esposito, Tonino; Delaye, Ashleigh; Chabot, Martin; Trocmé, Nico; Rothwell, David; Hélie, Sonia; Robichaud, Marie-Joelle

    2017-09-09

    Socio-environmental factors such as poverty, psychosocial services, and social services spending all could influence the challenges faced by vulnerable families. This paper examines the extent to which socioeconomic vulnerability, psychosocial service consultations, and preventative social services spending impacts the reunification for children placed in out-of-home care. This study uses a multilevel longitudinal research design that draws data from three sources: (1) longitudinal administrative data from Quebec's child protection agencies; (2) 2006 and 2011 Canadian Census data; and, (3) intra-province health and social services data. The final data set included all children ( N = 39,882) placed in out-of-home care for the first time between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2013, and followed from their initial out-of-home placement. Multilevel hazard results indicate that socioeconomic vulnerability, controlling for psychosocial services and social services spending, contributes to the decreased likelihood of reunification. Specifically, socioeconomic vulnerability, psychosocial services, and social services spending account for 24.0% of the variation in jurisdictional reunification for younger children less than 5 years of age, 12.5% for children age 5 to 11 years and 21.4% for older children age 12 to 17 years. These findings have implications for decision makers, funding agencies, and child protection agencies to improve jurisdictional resources to reduce the socioeconomic vulnerabilities of reunifying families.

  5. A POÉTICA DE FRANCIS BACON

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonia Borges

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available A partir da perspectiva psicanalítica, a autora aborda a obra de Francis Bacon se utilizando de uma concepção estética que a reconhece como uma realidade ontológica. Dessa forma, considera que como obra de arte, são seus próprios elementos constitutivos, numa tensão interna, que são capazes de provocar efeitos ou as sensações que são o seu objetivo último conforme defendia Bacon. Em sua análise a autora examina e discute a dialética “tempo - espaço”, revelada pelo poeta pintor, como sendo de especial interesse para a clínica psicanalítica na medida em que esclarece importantes questões relativas ao Real como impossível, tal como o compreendeu Lacan. A pintura de Bacon examinada como referência à “sublimação criacionista da pulsão de morte” permite, segundo a autora, vislumbrarmos o para além da cadeia significante. Conclui que a arte, assim como a clínica psicanalítica, supõe deslocamentos subjetivos que implicam corte - rompimento com a tendência unificadora e pacificadora de Eros.

  6. Exploring impacts of multi-year, community-based care programs for orphans and vulnerable children: a case study from Kenya.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, Bruce A; Wambua, Nancy; Masila, Juliana; Wangai, Susan; Rohr, Julia; Brooks, Mohamad; Bryant, Malcolm

    2013-01-01

    The Community-Based Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CBCO) program operated in Kenya during 2006-2010. In Eastern Province, the program provided support to approximately 3000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) living in 1500 households. A primary focus of the program was to support savings and loan associations composed of OVC caregivers (typically elderly women) to improve household and OVC welfare. Cross-sectional data were collected in 2011 from 1500 randomly selected households from 3 populations: program participants (CBCO group, n=500), households in the same villages as program participants but not in the program (the local-community-group = Group L, n=300), and households living in nearby villages where the program did not operate (the adjacent-community-group, Group A, n=700). Primary welfare outcomes evaluated are household food security, as measured by the Household Food Insecurity Access instrument, and OVC educational attainment. We compared outcomes between the CBCO and the subset of Group L not meeting program eligibility criteria (L-N) to investigate disparities within local communities. We compared outcomes between the CBCO group and the subset of Group A meeting eligibility criteria (A-E) to consider program impact. We compared outcomes between households not eligible for the program in the local and adjacent community groups (L-N and A-N) to consider if the adjacent communities are similar to the local communities. In May-June 2011, at the end of the OVC program, the majority of CBCO households continued to be severely food insecure, with rates similar to other households living in nearby communities. Participation rates in primary school are high, reflecting free primary education. Among the 18-22 year olds who were "children" during the program years, relatively few children completed secondary school across all study groups. Although the CBCO program likely provided useful services and benefits to program participants, disparities

  7. Perceived vulnerability as a common basis of moral emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dijker, Anton J M

    2010-06-01

    It is theorized that many moral emotions are triggered when a mechanism for (parental) care is activated by perceived vulnerability, and changes in the care object's well-being are subsequently evaluated and causally attributed. Participants reported different moral emotions (tenderness, concern, sympathy, guilt, and moral anger) in relation to different photographs of males and females widely differing in age. Using variation between emotion objects, it was shown that emotional reactions were highly intercorrelated and strongly related to perceived vulnerability and aroused protective tendency; with children and elderly arousing the strongest, and adult males the weakest, emotions. Moreover, these intercorrelations largely disappeared when vulnerability and protective tendency were statistically controlled. Theoretical implications are discussed.

  8. Vulnerability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taback, I.

    1979-01-01

    The discussion of vulnerability begins with a description of some of the electrical characteristics of fibers before definiting how vulnerability calculations are done. The vulnerability results secured to date are presented. The discussion touches on post exposure vulnerability. After a description of some shock hazard work now underway, the discussion leads into a description of the planned effort and some preliminary conclusions are presented.

  9. Assessing clergy work-related psychological health : reliability and validity of the Francis Burnout Inventory

    OpenAIRE

    Francis, Leslie J.; Laycock, Patrick; Crea, Giuseppe

    2017-01-01

    Drawing on the classic model of balanced affect, the Francis Burnout Inventory (FBI) conceptualised good work-related psychological health among clergy in terms of negative affect being balanced by positive affect. In the FBI negative affect is assessed by the Scale of Emotional Exhaustion in Ministry (SEEM) and positive affect is assessed by the Satisfaction in Ministry Scale (SIMS). In support of the idea of balanced affect, previous work had shown a significant interaction between the effe...

  10. Internal consistency of a Spanish translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity Short Form.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campo-Arias, Adalberto; Oviedo, Heidi Celina; Díaz, Carmen Elena; Cogollo, Zuleima

    2006-12-01

    This study evaluated the internal consistency of a Spanish version of the short form of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity based on responses of 405 Colombian adolescent students ages 13 to 17 years. This translated short-form version of the scale had an internal consistency of .80. This estimate indicates suitable internal consistency reliability for research use in this population.

  11. Legislative vulnerability of minority groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paula, Carlos Eduardo Artiaga; Silva, Ana Paula da; Bittar, Cléria Maria Lôbo

    2017-12-01

    Minorities are in an inferior position in society and therefore vulnerable in many aspects. This study analyzes legislative vulnerability and aims to categorize as "weak" or "strong" the protection conferred by law to the following minorities: elderly, disabled, LGBT, Indians, women, children/ adolescents and black people. In order to do so, it was developed a documental research in 30 federal laws in which legal provisions were searched to protect minorities. Next, the articles were organized in the following categories: civil, criminal, administrative, labor and procedural, to be analyzed afterwards. Legal protection was considered "strong" when there were legal provisions that observed the five categories and "weak" when it did not meet this criterion. It was noted that six groups have "strong" legislative protection, which elides the assertion that minorities are outside the law. The exception is the LGBT group, whose legislative protection is weak. In addition, consecrating rights through laws strengthens the institutional channels for minorities to demand their rights. Finally, it was observed that the legislative protection granted tominorities is not homogeneous but rather discriminatory, and there is an interference by the majority group in the rights regulation of vulnerable groups.

  12. Are female children more vulnerable to the long-term effects of maternal depression during pregnancy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quarini, Catherine; Pearson, Rebecca M; Stein, Alan; Ramchandani, Paul G; Lewis, Glyn; Evans, Jonathan

    2016-01-01

    Female fetuses are more vulnerable to high levels of maternal glucocorticoids. We examined whether exposure to prenatal maternal depression, a condition associated with high glucocorticoids, carries greater risk for depression at 12 and 18 years in girls. Our sample comprised 7959 mothers and children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children following imputation for missing data. Maternal depression was assessed pre-and post-natally, and offspring depression at ages 12 and 18. We used logistic regression models to examine the relationship between exposure to prenatal and postnatal depression and offspring depression at 18 and 12 and interactions with gender. There was an interaction between prenatal depression and gender (P=0.027) and between postnatal depression and gender (P=0.027) for offspring depression at 18. Following adjustment in pre-natally depressed mothers, the odds ratio for offspring depression at 18 was 1.55 (95% c.i. 1.03-2.34) for girls and 0.54 (0.23-1.26) for boys. In post-natally depressed mothers, the odds ratio for offspring depression at 18 was 1.15 (0.70-1.89) in girls and 3.13 (1.52-6.45) in boys. However there was no evidence for interaction between prenatal or postnatal depression and gender (P=0.559 and 0.780 respectively) for offspring depression at 12. As expected with this large cohort spanning over 18 years, there was loss-to-follow-up. This is the first evidence in humans that increased vulnerability of female fetuses to maternal stress responses during pregnancy persists into adolescence. One explanation for gender differences emerging later is more depressive symptomatology is attributed to heritable risk at 12, whereas biological processes involved in brain development at 18 may be influenced by foetal programming. If replicated, this study has potential to help understand intergenerational transmission of depression, a leading cause of morbidity worldwide. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B

  13. On the sloshing free surface in the draft tube cone of a Francis turbine operating in synchronous condenser mode

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vagnoni, E.; Andolfatto, L.; Avellan, F.

    2017-04-01

    Hydropower plants may be required to operate in synchronous condenser mode in order to supply reactive power to the grid for compensating the fluctuations introduced by the intermittent renewable energies such wind and solar. When operating in this mode, the tail water in the Francis turbine or pump-turbine is depressed below the runner by injecting pressurized air in order to spin in air to reduce the power consumption. Many air-water interaction phenomena occur in the machine causing air losses and a consequent power consumption to recover the air lost. In this paper, the experimental investigation of the sloshing motion in the cone of a dewatered Francis turbine performed by image visualization and pressure measurements is presented. The developed image post processing method for identifying the amplitude and frequency of the oscillation of the free surface is described and the results obtained are illustrated and discussed.

  14. Cognitive Vulnerability to Depressive Symptoms in Children: The Protective Role of Self-efficacy Beliefs in a Multi-Wave Longitudinal Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steca, P.; Abela, J. R. Z.; Monzani, D.; Greco, A.; Hazel, N. A.; Hankin, B. L.

    2015-01-01

    The current multi-wave longitudinal study on childhood examined the role that social and academic self-efficacy beliefs and cognitive vulnerabilities play in predicting depressive symptoms in response to elevations in idiographic stressors. Children (N = 554; males: 51.4%) attending second and third grade completed measures of depressive symptoms, negative cognitive styles, negative life events, and academic and social self-efficacy beliefs at four time-points over 6 months. Results showed that high levels of academic and social self-efficacy beliefs predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms, whereas negative cognitive styles about consequences predicted higher depression. Furthermore, children reporting higher social self-efficacy beliefs showed a smaller elevation in levels of depressive symptoms when reporting an increases in stress than children with lower social self-efficacy beliefs. Findings point to the role of multiple factors in predicting children’s depression in the long term and commend the promotion of self-efficacy beliefs and the modification of cognitive dysfunctional styles as relevant protective factors. PMID:23740171

  15. Study on stress characteristics of Francis hydraulic turbine runner based on two-way FSI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, W R; Xiao, R F; Yang, W; Wang, F J; Liu, J

    2012-01-01

    In recent years, cracking phenomenon occurs in many large-sized turbines both nationally and internationally, which has threatened the stable operation of hydraulic turbines. Consequently, Stress characteristics calculation and analysis of a Francis hydraulic turbine runner by application of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) technology become significantly important. In order to introduce two-way coupling technology to hydraulic machinery, two-way FSI technology is applied in this article to calculate and analyze stress characteristics. Through coordinate system transformation, the continuity equations and Navier-Stokes equations in the Cartesian coordinates system are firstly transformed to ALE coordinates system. The fluid field control equations are then constructed and discrete equations can be obtained by using flow-condition-based interpolation (FBIC-C). The structure static mechanics equations used are established in rotation coordinate system, and modeled with the finite method. Two-way coupling is computed by using iteration method. The fluid equations and structure equations are iterated until coupling coefficients converge. According to structure result, the maximum stress, displacement as well as its location can be found. As a result, the most easily wear position can be discovered which provides valuable basis for optimized design and stable operation of Francis hydraulic turbines. After comparing the results with that of one-way coupling, it is discovered that displacements is the key factors which affects the results of one-way and two-way coupling.

  16. On the performance of a high head Francis turbine at design and off-design conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aakti, B; Amstutz, O; Casartelli, E; Romanelli, G; Mangani, L

    2015-01-01

    In the present paper, fully 360 degrees transient and steady-state simulations of a Francis turbine were performed at three operating conditions, namely at part load (PL), best efficiency point (BEP), and high load (HL), using different numerical approaches for the pressure-velocity coupling. The simulation domain includes the spiral casing with stay and guide vanes, the runner and the draft tube. The main target of the investigations is the numerical prediction of the overall performance of the high head Francis turbine model as well as local and integral quantities of the complete machine in different operating conditions. All results were compared with experimental data published by the workshop organization. All CFD simulations were performed at model scale with a new in-house, 3D, unstructured, object-oriented finite volume code within the framework of the open source OpenFOAM library. The novel fully coupled pressure-based solver is designed to solve the incompressible RANS- Equations and is capable of handling multiple references of frame (MRF). The obtained results show that the overall performance is well captured by the simulations. Regarding the local flow distributions within the inlet section of the draft-tube, the axial velocity is better estimated than the circumferential component

  17. Measuring Attitude toward Theistic Faith: Assessing the Astley-Francis Scale among Christian, Muslim and Secular Youth in England

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francis, Leslie J.; Brockett, Adrian; Village, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    Alongside a family of instruments designed to measure the attitudinal dimension of religion within specific faith contexts (Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism), the Astley-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Theistic Faith was designed to assess the attitudinal dimension of religion within a multifaith context. Drawing on a sample of 4338…

  18. Rotor optimization of a Francis type hydraulic turbine through the computer flow analysis (CFD); Optimizacion del rodete de una turbina hidraulica tipo Francis a traves del analisis computacional del flujo (CFD)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rosado Tamariz, Erick

    2007-06-15

    In the analysis of fluid behavior through hydraulic turbines, two basic methodologies for flow analysis and optimization processes in turbines are used, which are: a) modeled of flow through the entire turbine (joint), or modeled one of each component separately, obtaining satisfactory results by both methodologies. The analysis of computational fluids dynamics (CFD) to geometries improved by means of finite volume method (FVM) with their corresponding initials and boundary conditions is made, to solve a system differential equations of second order that correspond to the flow around the dominion of runner blades; considering nonviscous flow and the implementation of the two equations models for the solution of the equations that govern the turbulent flow. Also, used parameterization techniques based in a parametric geometry an objective function and the diminution of cavitation. This work presents the optimization of a runner from a Francis hydro turbine for a 75 MW considering three different load conditions (75%, 85% and 100%) through CFD as a part of the hydraulic analysis for modernization of the actual condition of a power generation unit. Francis runner optimization is made, through a previous analysis of CFD by means of the FVM, considering the viscous effects of the fluid and the model of turbulence developed by Sparlart and Allmaras; modeling the wicket and runner separately. Later the generation of a parametric model of the runner is made and the simulation for the generation of data base is formed. Finally an objective function is considered to develop the optimal geometry of the runner blades. The results are presented in a graphic form in such a way, that it shows the distributions of pressure and speed around the blades runner, the geometrical and performance (efficiency and power) comparison between original and optimized model. [Spanish] En el analisis del comportamiento del fluido a traves de turbinas hidraulicas, se emplean dos metodologias

  19. Factors Contributing to Human Trafficking, Contexts of Vulnerability ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Human trafficking has recently emerged as an exceedingly intricate international crime. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most vulnerable region from which a substantial amount of victims has been recruited for both continental and intercontinental transaction. This also holds true for Ethiopian men, women and children who have ...

  20. Trends of overweight and obesity among children in Tijuana, Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacardi-Gascón, M; Jiménez-Cruz, A; Jones, E; Velasquez Perez, I; Loaiza Martinez, J A

    2009-01-01

    The objectives of this study were to compare the trends of obesity from 2001-02 to 2006-07 in school children of Tijuana, Mexico and to investigate the relationship with the child's gender and type of school attended. Bietapic random sample was selected by cluster of schools and groups. Results of the 1684 children from 6-14 years of age assessed showed an overall prevalence of obesity (> 95(th)) of 28%. An overall increase of overweight and obesity of 7-percentage points (p=0.0003), from 41 to 48%, being higher among boys and younger girls. Prevalence of obesity was higher among boys and children from private schools. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

  1. Childlessness and vulnerability of older people in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Zhixin

    2018-03-01

    the number of childless older people is increasing in China, but relatively little is known about the role of childlessness in health outcomes. This study investigates the relationship between childlessness and three health outcomes: difficulty with Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), self-rated health and depression. this study includes 13,171 individuals aged 50 and above from national survey data of the second wave of the China Family Panel Study (2012). Binary/multinomial logistic and ordinary least squares regression models are presented. childless individuals whose children have all died exhibit worse health outcomes than individuals with children, but this effect is influenced by demographic characteristics, socio-economic status and social security. On the other hand, individuals who are childless due to other reasons (involuntary or voluntary) are less likely to report difficulty with IADLs and to report depression than older people with all children alive after controlling for demographic and socio-economic and social security factors. the death of a child has an adverse effect on people's health for both childless people whose children have all died and those who have lost a child but have other children alive. These two groups are in the most vulnerable position, which could also suggest that their children have died because they grew up in a vulnerable family. The government needs to improve the social security for these two groups and provide social services (particularly mental health services) to older people who have lost a child; these could contribute to alleviating some of the adverse effects of the death of a child. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society.

  2. Video game violence use among "vulnerable" populations: the impact of violent games on delinquency and bullying among children with clinically elevated depression or attention deficit symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson, Christopher J; Olson, Cheryl K

    2014-01-01

    The issue of children's exposure to violent video games has been a source of considerable debate for several decades. Questions persist whether children with pre-existing mental health problems may be influenced adversely by exposure to violent games, even if other children are not. We explored this issue with 377 children (62 % female, mixed ethnicity, mean age = 12.93) displaying clinically elevated attention deficit or depressive symptoms on the Pediatric Symptom Checklist. Results from our study found no evidence for increased bullying or delinquent behaviors among youth with clinically elevated mental health symptoms who also played violent video games. Our results did not support the hypothesis that children with elevated mental health symptoms constitute a "vulnerable" population for video game violence effects. Implications and suggestions for further research are provided.

  3. Aesthetic of the subversion and the violence in Francis Bacon and Frida Kahlo’s WorKs of Art

    OpenAIRE

    Pinheiro, Catarina; Dias, Maria João; Rosa, Alda

    2009-01-01

    Having Frida Kahlo and Francis Bacon ́s work as a starting point, the authors discuss the dimensions of violence and trauma present in their creative forms and on the impact produced on the spectator. They also reflect on its connections with the clinic on the impact/countertransference phenomenon and its transformational possibilities.

  4. Aesthetic of the subversion and the violence in Francis Bacon and Frida Kahlo’s WorKs of Art

    OpenAIRE

    Catarina Pinheiro; Maria João Dias; Alda Rosa

    2014-01-01

    Having Frida Kahlo and Francis Bacon ́s work as a starting point, the authors discuss the dimensions of violence and trauma present in their creative forms and on the impact produced on the spectator. They also reflect on its connections with the clinic on the impact/countertransference phenomenon and its transformational possibilities.

  5. Sir Francis Joseph Campbell and His Family: The First Family in Professional Services for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welsh, Richard L.

    2008-01-01

    The author discusses the pivotal roles of Sir Francis Campbell (1832-1914) and members of his family, especially his son Charles Campbell, in the evolution of the blindness field to a professional and reason-based service.

  6. Misconceptions about children`s pain

    OpenAIRE

    Miloseva, Lence; Vukosavljevic-Gvozden, Tanja; Milosev, Vladimir

    2014-01-01

    Managing hospitalized children's pain is challenging for health care professionals. The ethical principles of the duty to benefit another and the duty to do no harm oblige health care professionals to provide pain management to all patients, including children, who are vulnerable because of their constant developmental changes, being ill, and being hospitalized. During the last 20 years, researchers started to show an interest in misconceptions about children`s pain. Literature review showed...

  7. Providing mentoring for orphans and vulnerable children in internally displaced person camps: The case of northern Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathan H. Chiroma

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The challenge of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC has become central to the response of many organisations (UN, UNHCR, AONN, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, etc. today. The number of OVC throughout northern Nigeria is growing as a result of the Boko Haram pandemic. Mostly, this is caused by the death of parents who have been killed by the insurgents. It has been estimated that by 2015, 200 000 children under the age of 18 had been orphaned by the Boko Haram insurgents. As the number of OVC is growing, it is becoming more and more difficult for their communities to address all their needs, including their need for positive role models and mentors. This article discusses the role that mentoring can play in the development of OVC affected by violence in northern Nigeria, specifically those in internally displaced person (IDP camps. This article argued that one approach to improve the holistic care of OVC in IDP camps in northern Nigeria is through the use of mentors.

  8. Providing mentoring for orphans and vulnerable children in internally displaced person camps: The case of northern Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathan H. Chiroma

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The challenge of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC has become central to the response of many organisations (UN, UNHCR, AONN, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, etc. today. The number of OVC throughout northern Nigeria is growing as a result of the Boko Haram pandemic. Mostly, this is caused by the death of parents who have been killed by the insurgents. It has been estimated that by 2015, 200 000 children under the age of 18 had been orphaned by the Boko Haram insurgents. As the number of OVC is growing, it is becoming more and more difficult for their communities to address all their needs, including their need for positive role models and mentors. This article discusses the role that mentoring can play in the development of OVC affected by violence in northern Nigeria, specifically those in internally displaced person (IDP camps. This article argued that one approach to improve the holistic care of OVC in IDP camps in northern Nigeria is through the use of mentors.

  9. Special article: Francis Hoeffer McMechan, MD: creator of modern anesthesiology?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacon, Douglas R

    2012-12-01

    If one person can be credited with the creation of the infrastructure of modern anesthesiology, that individual would be Francis Hoeffer McMechan. He has been largely forgotten since his death in 1939 despite his remarkable and enduring accomplishments. McMechan edited the first national journal devoted to anesthesiology, created and managed almost all of the national and regional societies devoted to the specialty between 1912 and his death, and created the first international physician certification as a specialist in anesthesiology. His accomplishments are even more amazing given the severe arthritis that left him wheelchair-bound for almost his entire professional life and denied him the ability to practice anesthesia. Our specialty owes an incredible debt to this largely unknown and unsung hero.

  10. Self-validated calculation of characteristics of a Francis turbine and the mechanism of the S-shape operational instability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Z; Titzschkau, M

    2012-01-01

    A calculation method has been presented to accurately estimate the characteristics of a Francis turbine. Both the shock loss at the impeller inlet and the swirling flow loss at the Impeller exit have been confirmed to dominantly influence the turbine characteristics and particularly the hydraulic efficiency. Both together totally govern the through flow of water through the impeller being at the rest. Calculations have been performed for the flow rate, the shaft torque and the hydraulic efficiency and compared with the available measurements on a model turbine. Excellent agreements have been achieved. Some other interesting properties of the turbine characteristics could also be derived from the calculations and verified by experiments. For this reason and because of not using any unreliable assumptions the calculation method has been confirmed to be self-validated. The operational instability in the upper range of the rotational speed, known as the S-shape instability, is ascribed to the total flow separation and stagnation at the impeller inlet. In that range of the rotational speed, the operation of the Francis turbine oscillates between pump and turbine mode.

  11. Prediction of dynamic blade loading of the Francis-99 turbine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nicolle, J; Cupillard, S

    2015-01-01

    CFD simulations focusing on capturing dynamic fluctuations of the flow for three operating points were performed for a scale model of a high head Francis turbine. A mesh sensitivity study showed an influence of the near wall resolution, consequently a low Reynolds mesh with a SST turbulence model was used. Rotor/stator fluctuations are well reproduced with the full turbine simulation at all operating points. Velocity contours and average velocity profiles from LDV measurements in the draft tube confirm that the flow physics is generally well reproduced. Simplified approaches such as profile transform and Fourier transform underestimated the measured fluctuations. As full turbine simulations were time-consuming, a simulation with only the draft tube was performed at part load to predict the fluctuations in the draft tube cone. The SAS-SST turbulence model was able to capture the vortex rope behavior

  12. Environmental Health Ethics in Study of Children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, L. E.; Hansen, P. W.; Pedersen, M.

    2017-01-01

    Children are not small adults in relation to exposure and vulnerability. Rapid growth, development, and anatomical and physiological changes in various organs and organ systems differentiate children from adults in relation to exposure and vulnerability to environmental exposures. The unborn chil...

  13. Factors Contributing to Exacerbating Vulnerabilities in Global Clinical Trials

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Silva, Ricardo E.; Amato, Angélica A.; Guilhem, Dirce B.; de Carvalho, Marta R.; Lima, Elisangela da C.; Novaes, Maria Rita C. G.

    2018-01-01

    Background: Although policies and guidelines make use of the concept of vulnerability, few define it. The European Union's directive for clinical trials does not include explanations for or the reasoning behind the designation of certain groups as vulnerable. Emerging economies from lower middle-income countries have, in recent years, had the largest average annual growth rate, as well as increase, in number of clinical trials registered in the US government's database. Nevertheless, careful supervision of research activities has to be ensured. Objective: To describe and analyze the features of the clinical trials involving vulnerable populations in various countries classified by development status and geographic region. Methods: Retrospective study that involved analysis of data obtained from the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) database between 01/2014 and 12/2014 from countries with (i) highest trial densities during 2005 to 2012, (ii) highest average growth rate in clinical trials, and (iii) greatest trial capabilities. Results: Statistical analysis of this study showed that patients incapable of giving consent personally are 11.4 times more likely to be vulnerable patients than patients who are capable, and that patients in upper-middle-income countries are 1.7 times more likely to be vulnerable patients than patients from high-income countries when participating in global clinical trials. Malaysia (21%), Egypt (20%), Turkey (19%), Israel (18%), and Brazil (17%) had the highest percentages of vulnerable populations involving children. Conclusions: Although the inability to provide consent personally was a factor associated with vulnerability, arbitrary criteria may have been considered when classifying the populations of clinical trials as vulnerable. The EU Clinical Trials Register should provide guidance regarding exactly what aspects or factors should be taken into account to frame given populations as vulnerable, because

  14. Aesthetic of the subversion and the violence in Francis Bacon and Frida Kahlo’s WorKs of Art

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catarina Pinheiro

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Having Frida Kahlo and Francis Bacon ́s work as a starting point, the authors discuss the dimensions of violence and trauma present in their creative forms and on the impact produced on the spectator. They also reflect on its connections with the clinic on the impact/countertransference phenomenon and its transformational possibilities.

  15. Processing the papal encyclical through perceptual filters: Pope Francis, identity-protective cognition, and climate change concern.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landrum, Asheley R; Lull, Robert B; Akin, Heather; Hasell, Ariel; Jamieson, Kathleen Hall

    2017-09-01

    Previous research suggests that when individuals encounter new information, they interpret it through perceptual 'filters' of prior beliefs, relevant social identities, and messenger credibility. In short, evaluations are not based solely on message accuracy, but also on the extent to which the message and messenger are amenable to the values of one's social groups. Here, we use the release of Pope Francis's 2015 encyclical as the context for a natural experiment to examine the role of prior values in climate change cognition. Based on our analysis of panel data collected before and after the encyclical's release, we find that political ideology moderated views of papal credibility on climate change for those participants who were aware of the encyclical. We also find that, in some contexts, non-Catholics who were aware of the encyclical granted Pope Francis additional credibility compared to the non-Catholics who were unaware of it, yet Catholics granted the Pope high credibility regardless of encyclical awareness. Importantly, papal credibility mediated the conditional relationships between encyclical awareness and acceptance of the Pope's messages on climate change. We conclude by discussing how our results provide insight into cognitive processing of new information about controversial issues. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Velocity and pressure measurements in guide vane clearance gap of a low specific speed Francis turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thapa, B. S.; Dahlhaug, O. G.; Thapa, B.

    2016-11-01

    In Francis turbine, a small clearance gap between the guide vanes and the cover plates is usually required to pivot guide vanes as a part of governing system. Deflection of cover plates and erosion of mating surfaces causes this gap to increase from its design value. The clearance gap induces the secondary flow in the distributor system. This effects the main flow at the runner inlet, which causes losses in efficiency and instability. A guide vane cascade of a low specific speed Francis turbine has been developed for experimental investigations. The test setup is able to produce similar velocity distributions at the runner inlet as that of a reference prototype turbine. The setup is designed for particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements from the position of stay vane outlet to the position of runner inlet. In this study, velocity and pressure measurements are conducted with 2 mm clearance gap on one side of guide vane. Leakage flow is observed and measured together with pressure measurements. It is concluded that the leakage flow behaves as a jet and mixes with the main flow in cross-wise direction and forms a vortex filament. This causes non-uniform inlet flow conditions at runner blades.

  17. Development Trends in the Fields of Education and Care for Vulnerable Groups in Slovenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobolt, Alenka; Pavel, Jana Rapus

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents the main developments in education and care for vulnerable groups of children and youth in Slovenia over the past twenty years. It describes the education system and provides an overview of the development of social pedagogy as a discipline and the practice of working with some groups of vulnerable young people. The trends can…

  18. The Rule of Three for Prizes in Science and the Bold Triptychs of Francis Bacon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein, Joseph L

    2016-09-22

    For many scientific awards, such as Nobels and Laskers, the maximum number of recipients is three. This Rule of Three forces selection committees to make difficult decisions that increase the likelihood of singling out those individuals who open a new field and continue to lead it. The Rule of Three is reminiscent of art's three-panel triptych, a form that the modern master Francis Bacon used to distill complex stories in a bold way. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Fukuyama : kõigepealt hea valitsus, siis demokraatia ja ajaloo lõpp / Francis Fukuyama ; interv. Nathan Gardels

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Fukuyama, Francis

    2005-01-01

    Francis Fukuyama sõnul vajab riik oma arenguks esmajoones head valitsemist. Kõige olulisem on, et oleks toimiv riik, mis suudab tagada julgeoleku ja majandusarengu elementaarsed tingimused. Iraagi praeguste probleemide põhjus on selles, et USA ei suutnud ette näha, kuidas riik Saddami kukkudes kokku variseb, kuid tuleb mõista, et aeg-ajalt on USA ja kogu maailma huvides kusagil maailma nurgas riigi ehitamine tõsiselt ette võtta, ütleb autor

  20. Modelling and Internal Fuzzy Model Power Control of a Francis Water Turbine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Klemen Nagode

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents dynamic modelling of a Francis turbine with a surge tank and the control of a hydro power plant (HPP. Non-linear and linear models include technical parameters and show high similarity to measurement data. Turbine power control with an internal model control (IMC is proposed, based on a turbine fuzzy model. Considering appropriate control responses in the entire area of turbine power, the model parameters of the process are determined from a fuzzy model, which are further included in the internal model controller. The results are compared to a proportional-integral (PI controller tuned with an integral absolute error (IAE objective function, and show an improved response of internal model control.

  1. The Welcoming Pope: Images of Pope Francis in the Catholicism under mediatization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiane MILANI

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In the context of the society in mediatization more and more the social fields are inserted in an ambiance in which borders are constantly tensioned, meaning that social practices are crossed by the logic of other fields, rather than their own place of knowing. It is perceived that the social/political/religious conjuncture interpenetrates with the logic of mediatization, and this phenomenon arouses transformations in all Christianity. The objective of this work is to analyze the circulation of Pope Francis' images in the media which formulate, in the collective imaginary, a mediated totem image of the Pope of embrace or of the welcoming Pope, what adheres to the new media technologies.

  2. Recognition for reaching the most vulnerable populations in Burkina ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Recognition for reaching the most vulnerable populations in Burkina Faso. 07 novembre 2016. An IDRC supported project was recognized for its efforts to improve health service provision and the monitoring of pregnant women, new mothers, children, and people living with HIV in Burkina Faso's Nouna district. Dr Maurice ...

  3. Renaissance Epyllions: A Comparative Reading of Christopher Marlowe's "Hero and Leander," Thomas Lodge's "Scylla's Metamorphosis" and Francis Beaumont's "Salmacis and Hermaphroditus"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmoudi, Yazdan

    2016-01-01

    The present paper is supposed to compare and contrast three of these masterpieces written the Renaissance period. The epyllions under study are Christopher Marlowe's "Hero and Leander," Thomas Lodge's "Scylla's Metamorphosis" and Francis Beaumont's "Salmacis and Hermaphroditus." Bush believes that "the influence…

  4. A Move in the Security Measurement Stalemate: Elo-Style Ratings to Quantify Vulnerability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pieters, Wolter; van der Ven, Sanne H.G.; Probst, Christian W.

    2012-01-01

    One of the big problems of risk assessment in information security is the quantification of risk-related properties, such as vulnerability. Vulnerability expresses the likelihood that a threat agent acting against an asset will cause impact, for example, the likelihood that an attacker will be ab...... to its application to children solving math problems. It provides an innovative and sound way to quantify vulnerability in models of (information) security.......One of the big problems of risk assessment in information security is the quantification of risk-related properties, such as vulnerability. Vulnerability expresses the likelihood that a threat agent acting against an asset will cause impact, for example, the likelihood that an attacker will be able......-interprets security from the field of Item Response Theory. By observing the success of threat agents against assets, one can rate the strength of threats and controls, and predict the vulnerability of systems to particular threats. The application of Item Response Theory to the field of risk is new, but analogous...

  5. Simulations of Steady Cavitating Flow in a Small Francis Turbine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed Laouari

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The turbulent flow through a small horizontal Francis turbine is solved by means of Ansys-CFX at different operating points, with the determination of the hydrodynamic performance and the best efficiency point. The flow structures at different regimes reveal a large flow eddy in the runner and a swirl in the draft tube. The use of the mixture model for the cavity/liquid two-phase flow allowed studying the influence of cavitation on the hydrodynamic performance and revealed cavitation pockets near the trailing edge of the runner and a cavitation vortex rope in the draft tube. By maintaining a constant dimensionless head and a distributor vane opening while gradually increasing the cavitation number, the output power and efficiency reached a critical point and then had begun to stabilize. The cavitation number corresponding to the safety margin of cavitation is also predicted for this hydraulic turbine.

  6. Vertical distribution, feeding and vulnerability to tactile predation in Metridia longa (Copepoda, Calanoida)

    KAUST Repository

    Vestheim, Hege

    2013-12-01

    We assessed the vertical distribution and feeding of the calanoid copepod Metridia longa in the Oslofjord, Norway during winter and spring 2006. Adult females of Metridia longa inhabited the whole 200 m deep-water column. Their distribution was shallower at night than during the day. Enumeration of egested faecal pellets suggested that feeding activity was greater at night than during the day and that more pellets were produced by individuals collected at shallow depths vs. by individuals found deeper. There was no pronounced difference between months in feeding activity. Although the hypothesis is that they prey on Calanus eggs and nauplii, scanning of Metridia faecal pellets by PCR using Calanus-specific primers did not confirm the presence of any Calanus prey DNA. Most pellets had a greenish colour, implying herbivorous feeding. Feeding is related to swimming, and the actively swimming Metridia would presumably be vulnerable to tactile invertebrate predators. However, predation experiments where the carnivorous copepod Pareuchaeta norvegica was offered similar-sized Metridia and Calanus proved that Pareuchaeta consumed the less-active Calanus, but not the Metridia. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

  7. Assessing flash flood vulnerability using a multi-vulnerability approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karagiorgos Konstantinos

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In the framework of flood risk assessment, while the understanding of hazard and exposure has significantly improved over the last years, knowledge on vulnerability remains one of the challenges. Current approaches in vulnerability research are characterised by a division between social scientists and natural scientists. In order to close this gap, we present an approach that combines information on physical and social vulnerability in order to merge information on the susceptibility of elements at risk and society. With respect to physical vulnerability, the study is based on local-scale vulnerability models using nonlinear regression approaches. Modified Weibull distributions were fit to the data in order to represent the relationship between process magnitude and degree of loss. With respect to social vulnerability we conducted a door-to-door survey which resulted in particular insights on flood risk awareness and resilience strategies of exposed communities. In general, both physical and social vulnerability were low in comparison with other European studies, which may result from (a specific building regulations in the four Mediterranean test sites as well as general design principles leading to low structural susceptibility of elements at risk, and (b relatively low social vulnerability of citizens exposed. As a result it is shown that a combination of different perspectives of vulnerability will lead to a better understanding of exposure and capacities in flood risk management.

  8. Differences in health care utilization between parents who perceive their child as vulnerable versus overprotective parents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomasgard, M; Metz, W P

    1996-06-01

    While a parental perception of child vulnerability to illness/injury is often used interchangeably with parental overprotection, research suggests that they are independent constructs. We hypothesized more frequent pediatric nonwell-child visits for perceived child vulnerability, but not for parental overprotection. The parents of 300 children, ages 2-5 years, enrolled in a health maintenance organization, were sampled. For children without medical conditions, there were no differences in nonwell-child care visits between the high perceived vulnerability and high parental protection groups (Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test, WRST, P = .31). As expected, high parental protection was not significantly associated with increased nonwell-child care visits compared with the low parental protection group (WRST, P = .14). These findings suggest that markers other than health care utilization are required to identify these forms of parent-child relationship disorders.

  9. Challenges and Responses to the Vulnerability of Families in a Preschool Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nada Turnšek

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Problems in vulnerable families are multilayered and include the intersection of physical, psychosocial and other forms of distress. The multidimensional nature of the problems of these families is closely linked to the fact that there are many institutions in the field of education, social welfare, health care and others, in which treatment and support are not satisfactory or adapted to their needs. The article presents the partial results of a large-scale qualitative research study, results that refer to the position of vulnerable families in the context of preschool education. The study examined how vulnerability is experienced by parents of preschool children, how the expert workers in the preschools involved in the study responded to the parents’ vulnerability, and how they cooperated with experts from other services outside the preschool. A qualitative research method was used in the study. Data was collected partly through semi-structured interviews with various expert workers employed in two preschools, as well as with the parents of children in the preschools; the interviews were conducted individually and in focus groups. Using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, we have identified four representative themes: amongst parents, the two recurring themes can be subsumed under the headings “from door to door” and “adaptation/flexibility”, and amongst experts, under the headings “powerlessness/ incompetence/lack of information” and “power/innovation/ sensitivity”. The study finds that the ability to effectively contend with vulnerability presumes a reconceptualisation of the attitude of institutional preschool education towards the family, including a change in the professional role of preschool teachers.

  10. Regional vulnerability of longitudinal cortical association connectivity: Associated with structural network topology alterations in preterm children with cerebral palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ceschin, Rafael; Lee, Vince K; Schmithorst, Vince; Panigrahy, Ashok

    2015-01-01

    Preterm born children with spastic diplegia type of cerebral palsy and white matter injury or periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), are known to have motor, visual and cognitive impairments. Most diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies performed in this group have demonstrated widespread abnormalities using averaged deterministic tractography and voxel-based DTI measurements. Little is known about structural network correlates of white matter topography and reorganization in preterm cerebral palsy, despite the availability of new therapies and the need for brain imaging biomarkers. Here, we combined novel post-processing methodology of probabilistic tractography data in this preterm cohort to improve spatial and regional delineation of longitudinal cortical association tract abnormalities using an along-tract approach, and compared these data to structural DTI cortical network topology analysis. DTI images were acquired on 16 preterm children with cerebral palsy (mean age 5.6 ± 4) and 75 healthy controls (mean age 5.7 ± 3.4). Despite mean tract analysis, Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) demonstrating diffusely reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) reduction in all white matter tracts, the along-tract analysis improved the detection of regional tract vulnerability. The along-tract map-structural network topology correlates revealed two associations: (1) reduced regional posterior-anterior gradient in FA of the longitudinal visual cortical association tracts (inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, optic radiation, posterior thalamic radiation) correlated with reduced posterior-anterior gradient of intra-regional (nodal efficiency) metrics with relative sparing of frontal and temporal regions; and (2) reduced regional FA within frontal-thalamic-striatal white matter pathways (anterior limb/anterior thalamic radiation, superior longitudinal fasciculus and cortical spinal tract) correlated with

  11. Adam Smith e Francis Ysidro Edgeworth: uma crítica do utilitarismo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Solange Regina Marin

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Sugerimos, nesse trabalho, a investigação das concepções de Adam Smith e a de Francis Ysidro Edgeworth do utilitarismo. Ambas as concepções foram utilizadas para desenvolver a Ciência Econômica. Porém, também apresentaram as limitações da teoria econômica, cujas fronteiras vislumbradas pelos autores remetem para a necessidade de avaliar as ações e condutas humanas com teoria moral diferente do utilitarismo. Entendemos que a teoria moral de Adam Smith, esquecida pela história do pensamento econômico, se apresenta como alternativa e, em decorrência, uma ideia promissora para aperfeiçoar o estudo das ações e condutas ditas econômicas.

  12. Applying mixed reality to simulate vulnerable populations for practicing clinical communication skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chuah, Joon Hao; Lok, Benjamin; Black, Erik

    2013-04-01

    Health sciences students often practice and are evaluated on interview and exam skills by working with standardized patients (people that role play having a disease or condition). However, standardized patients do not exist for certain vulnerable populations such as children and the intellectually disabled. As a result, students receive little to no exposure to vulnerable populations before becoming working professionals. To address this problem and thereby increase exposure to vulnerable populations, we propose using virtual humans to simulate members of vulnerable populations. We created a mixed reality pediatric patient that allowed students to practice pediatric developmental exams. Practicing several exams is necessary for students to understand how to properly interact with and correctly assess a variety of children. Practice also increases a student's confidence in performing the exam. Effective practice requires students to treat the virtual child realistically. Treating the child realistically might be affected by how the student and virtual child physically interact, so we created two object interaction interfaces - a natural interface and a mouse-based interface. We tested the complete mixed reality exam and also compared the two object interaction interfaces in a within-subjects user study with 22 participants. Our results showed that the participants accepted the virtual child as a child and treated it realistically. Participants also preferred the natural interface, but the interface did not affect how realistically participants treated the virtual child.

  13. Child daily care: needs and vulnerabilities from the perspective of adolescent mothers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaqueline Silva Santos

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to analyze the care of children from the perspective of adolescent mothers, in order to identify vulnerabilities and needs in the nursing care scope. This is an exploratory research with inductive, qualitative thematic analysis of the data, based on recorded interviews with 20 adolescent mothers of children between six months and under two years old, registered and assisted by Family Health teams of the municipality of Passos, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The maternal reports express aspects about the daily care of the child, attention to their needs, coping with difficulties and recognition of vulnerable situations. Maternal care in adolescence was a unique experience, with maternal reports that point out aspects to be more explored by healthcare professionals, especially by nursing, in search of support offer and enhance maternal trust.

  14. Stability of the Spanish version of the five-item Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miranda-Tapia, Giskar Alonso; Cogollo, Zuleima; Herazo, Edwin; Campo-Arias, Adalberto

    2010-12-01

    The aim of this study was to establish test-retest reliability of a Spanish version of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity (Campo-Arias, Oviedo, & Cogollo, 2009) among adolescent students in Cartagena, Colombia. A group of ninth grade students from two public schools in Colombia (N = 157) completed the five-item scale. Cronbach's alphas were .74 and .76 in the first and second administrations, respectively. Both Pearson's rho and intra-class correlation coefficient were .69. A Spanish translation of the 5-item scale had consistent stability over four weeks.

  15. The Visual Shock of Francis Bacon: An essay in neuroesthetics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Semir eZeki

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we discuss the work of Francis Bacon in the context of his declared aim of giving a visual shock. We explore what this means in terms of brain activity and what insights into the brain’s visual perceptive system his work gives. We do so especially with reference to the representation of faces and bodies in the human visual brain. We discuss the evidence that shows that both these categories of stimuli have a very privileged status in visual perception, compared to the perception of other stimuli, including man-made artifacts such as houses, chairs and cars. We show that viewing face and house stimuli that depart significantly from a normal representation of faces and bodies entails a significant difference in the pattern of brain activation. We argue that Bacon succeeded in delivering his visual shock because he subverted the normal neural representation of faces and bodies, without at the same time subverting the representation of man-made artifacts.

  16. The "Visual Shock" of Francis Bacon: an essay in neuroesthetics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeki, Semir; Ishizu, Tomohiro

    2013-01-01

    In this paper we discuss the work of Francis Bacon in the context of his declared aim of giving a "visual shock."We explore what this means in terms of brain activity and what insights into the brain's visual perceptive system his work gives. We do so especially with reference to the representation of faces and bodies in the human visual brain. We discuss the evidence that shows that both these categories of stimuli have a very privileged status in visual perception, compared to the perception of other stimuli, including man-made artifacts such as houses, chairs, and cars. We show that viewing stimuli that depart significantly from a normal representation of faces and bodies entails a significant difference in the pattern of brain activation. We argue that Bacon succeeded in delivering his "visual shock" because he subverted the normal neural representation of faces and bodies, without at the same time subverting the representation of man-made artifacts.

  17. Community vulnerability to health impacts of wildland fire ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Identifying communities vulnerable to adverse health effects from exposure to wildfire smoke may help prepare responses, increase the resilience to smoke and improve public health outcomes during smoke days. We developed a Community Health-Vulnerability Index (CHVI) based on factors known to increase the risks of health effects from air pollution and wildfire smoke exposures. These factors included county prevalence rates for asthma in children and adults, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, percent of population 65 years of age and older, and indicators of socioeconomic status including poverty, education, income and unemployment. Using air quality simulated for the period between 2008 and 2012 over the continental U.S. we also characterized the population size at risk with respect to the level and duration of exposure to fire-originated fine particulate matter (fire-PM2.5) and CHVI. We estimate that 10% of the population (30.5 million) lived in the areas where the contribution of fire-PM2.5 to annual average ambient PM2.5 was high (>1.5 µg m3) and that 10.3 million individuals experienced unhealthy air quality levels for more than 10 days due to smoke. Using CHVI we identified the most vulnerable counties and determined that these communities experience more smoke exposures in comparison to less vulnerable communities. We describe the development of an index of community vulnerability for the health effects of smoke based o

  18. Strategies for expanding health insurance coverage in vulnerable populations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Liying; Yuan, Beibei; Huang, Fei; Lu, Ying; Garner, Paul; Meng, Qingyue

    2014-01-01

    Background Health insurance has the potential to improve access to health care and protect people from the financial risks of diseases. However, health insurance coverage is often low, particularly for people most in need of protection, including children and other vulnerable populations. Objectives To assess the effectiveness of strategies for expanding health insurance coverage in vulnerable populations. Search methods We searched Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), part of The Cochrane Library. www.thecochranelibrary.com (searched 2 November 2012), PubMed (searched 1 November 2012), EMBASE (searched 6 July 2012), Global Health (searched 6 July 2012), IBSS (searched 6 July 2012), WHO Library Database (WHOLIS) (searched 1 November 2012), IDEAS (searched 1 November 2012), ISI-Proceedings (searched 1 November 2012),OpenGrey (changed from OpenSIGLE) (searched 1 November 2012), African Index Medicus (searched 1 November 2012), BLDS (searched 1 November 2012), Econlit (searched 1 November 2012), ELDIS (searched 1 November 2012), ERIC (searched 1 November 2012), HERDIN NeON Database (searched 1 November 2012), IndMED (searched 1 November 2012), JSTOR (searched 1 November 2012), LILACS(searched 1 November 2012), NTIS (searched 1 November 2012), PAIS (searched 6 July 2012), Popline (searched 1 November 2012), ProQuest Dissertation &Theses Database (searched 1 November 2012), PsycINFO (searched 6 July 2012), SSRN (searched 1 November 2012), Thai Index Medicus (searched 1 November 2012), World Bank (searched 2 November 2012), WanFang (searched 3 November 2012), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CHKD-CNKI) (searched 2 November 2012). In addition, we searched the reference lists of included studies and carried out a citation search for the included studies via Web of Science to find other potentially relevant studies. Selection criteria Randomised controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomised controlled trials (NRCTs), controlled before-after (CBA

  19. Vulnerability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Issa, Sahar; van der Molen, Irna; Stel, Nora

    2015-01-01

    This chapter reviews the literature on vulnerability. Together with Chapter 3, that offers a literature review specifically focused on resilience, it lays the conceptual foundations for the empirical chapters in this edited volume. Vulnerability symbolizes the susceptibility of a certain system to

  20. Methamphetamine use and dependence in vulnerable female populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kittirattanapaiboon, Phunnapa; Srikosai, Soontaree; Wittayanookulluk, Apisak

    2017-07-01

    The study reviews recent publications on methamphetamine use and dependence women in term of their epidemic, physical health impact, psychosocial impacts, and also in the identified vulnerable issues. Studies of vulnerable populations of women are wide ranging and include sex workers, sexual minorities, homeless, psychiatric patients, suburban women, and pregnant women, in which amphetamine type stimulants (ATSs) are the most commonly reported illicit drug used among them. The prenatal exposure of ATS demonstrated the small for gestational age and low birth weight; however, more research is needed on long-term studies of methamphetamine-exposed children. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is commonly reported by female methamphetamine users as perpetrators and victims. However, statistics and gendered power dynamics suggest that methamphetamine-related IPV indicates a higher chance of femicide. Methamphetamine-abusing women often have unresolved childhood trauma and are introduced to ATS through families or partners. Vulnerable populations of women at risk of methamphetamine abuse and dependence. Impacts on their physical and mental health, IPV, and pregnancy have been reported continuing, which guide that empowering and holistic substance abuse are necessary for specific group.

  1. Safeguarding vulnerable families: work with refugees and asylum seekers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burchill, John

    2011-02-01

    This paper will highlight one of the key findings of a qualitative study based on the analysis of in-depth interviews with 14 health visitors describing their experiences working with refugees and asylum seekers. Despite changes in government legislation to improve children's services in order to prevent harm to children, this recent study demonstrated that health visitors were working with the complexities of needs among refugees and asylum seekers related to safeguarding both children and vulnerable women. The health visitors often worked with families and individuals with no support from other professional services, they worked with failed asylum seekers who were unable to access other forms of support and they worked with women and children who were caught in a cycle of domestic abuse due to their immigration status. They were also working with families who would disappear from the systems in place to safeguard children.

  2. How to calculate the annual costs of NGO-implemented programmes to support orphans and vulnerable children: a six-step approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, Bruce A; Wambua, Nancy

    2011-12-19

    Information on the costs of implementing programmes designed to provide support of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere is increasingly being requested by donors for programme evaluation purposes. To date, little information exists to document the costs and structure of costs of OVC programmes as actually implemented "on the ground" by local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This analysis provides a practical, six-step approach that NGOs can incorporate into routine operations to evaluate their costs of implementing their OVC programmes annually. This approach is applied to the Community-Based Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CBCO) Program implemented by BIDII (a Kenyan NGO) in Eastern Province of Kenya. The costing methodology involves the following six steps: accessing and organizing the NGO's annual financial report into logical sub-categories; reorganizing the sub-categories into input cost categories to create a financial cost profile; estimating the annual equivalent payment for programme equipment; documenting donations to the NGO for programme implementation; including a portion of NGO organizational costs not attributed to specific programmes; and including the results of Steps 3-5 into an expanded cost profile. Detailed results are provided for the CBCO programme. This paper shows through a concrete example how NGOs implementing OVC programmes (and other public health programmes) can organize themselves for data collection and documentation prospectively during the implementation of their OVC programmes so that costing analyses become routine practice to inform programme implementation rather than a painful and flawed retrospective activity. Such information is required if the costs and outcomes achieved by OVC programmes will ever be clearly documented and compared across OVC programmes and other types of programmes (prevention, treatment, etc.).

  3. On the upper part load vortex rope in Francis turbine: Experimental investigation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nicolet, C; Zobeiri, A; Maruzewski, P; Avellan, F

    2010-01-01

    The swirling flow developing in Francis turbine draft tube under part load operation leads to pressure fluctuations usually in the range of 0.2 to 0.4 times the runner rotational frequency resulting from the so-called vortex breakdown. For low cavitation number, the flow features a cavitation vortex rope animated with precession motion. Under given conditions, these pressure fluctuations may lead to undesirable pressure fluctuations in the entire hydraulic system and also produce active power oscillations. For the upper part load range, between 0.7 and 0.85 times the best efficiency discharge, pressure fluctuations may appear in a higher frequency range of 2 to 4 times the runner rotational speed and feature modulations with vortex rope precession. It has been pointed out that for this particular operating point, the vortex rope features elliptical cross section and is animated of a self-rotation. This paper presents an experimental investigation focusing on this peculiar phenomenon, defined as the upper part load vortex rope. The experimental investigation is carried out on a high specific speed Francis turbine scale model installed on a test rig of the EPFL Laboratory for Hydraulic Machines. The selected operating point corresponds to a discharge of 0.83 times the best efficiency discharge. Observations of the cavitation vortex carried out with high speed camera have been recorded and synchronized with pressure fluctuations measurements at the draft tube cone. First, the vortex rope self rotation frequency is evidenced and the related frequency is deduced. Then, the influence of the sigma cavitation number on vortex rope shape and pressure fluctuations is presented. The waterfall diagram of the pressure fluctuations evidences resonance effects with the hydraulic circuit. The time evolution of the vortex rope volume is compared with pressure fluctuations time evolution using image processing. Finally, the influence of the Froude number on the vortex rope shape and

  4. On the upper part load vortex rope in Francis turbine: Experimental investigation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nicolet, C [Power Vision Engineering sarl Ch. des Champs-Courbes 1, CH-1024 Ecublens (Switzerland); Zobeiri, A; Maruzewski, P; Avellan, F, E-mail: christophe.nicolet@powervision-eng.c [Laboratory for Hydraulic Machines, Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne, EPFL Av. de Cour 33bis, CH-1007 Lausanne (Switzerland)

    2010-08-15

    The swirling flow developing in Francis turbine draft tube under part load operation leads to pressure fluctuations usually in the range of 0.2 to 0.4 times the runner rotational frequency resulting from the so-called vortex breakdown. For low cavitation number, the flow features a cavitation vortex rope animated with precession motion. Under given conditions, these pressure fluctuations may lead to undesirable pressure fluctuations in the entire hydraulic system and also produce active power oscillations. For the upper part load range, between 0.7 and 0.85 times the best efficiency discharge, pressure fluctuations may appear in a higher frequency range of 2 to 4 times the runner rotational speed and feature modulations with vortex rope precession. It has been pointed out that for this particular operating point, the vortex rope features elliptical cross section and is animated of a self-rotation. This paper presents an experimental investigation focusing on this peculiar phenomenon, defined as the upper part load vortex rope. The experimental investigation is carried out on a high specific speed Francis turbine scale model installed on a test rig of the EPFL Laboratory for Hydraulic Machines. The selected operating point corresponds to a discharge of 0.83 times the best efficiency discharge. Observations of the cavitation vortex carried out with high speed camera have been recorded and synchronized with pressure fluctuations measurements at the draft tube cone. First, the vortex rope self rotation frequency is evidenced and the related frequency is deduced. Then, the influence of the sigma cavitation number on vortex rope shape and pressure fluctuations is presented. The waterfall diagram of the pressure fluctuations evidences resonance effects with the hydraulic circuit. The time evolution of the vortex rope volume is compared with pressure fluctuations time evolution using image processing. Finally, the influence of the Froude number on the vortex rope shape and

  5. On the physical mechanisms governing self-excited pressure surge in Francis turbines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Müller, A; Favrel, A; Landry, C; Yamamoto, K; Avellan, F

    2014-01-01

    The required operating range for hydraulic machines is continually extended in an effort to integrate renewable energy sources with unsteady power outputs into the existing electrical grid. The off-design operation however brings forth unfavorable flow patterns in the machine, causing dynamic problems involving cavitation, which may represent a limiting factor to the energy production. In Francis turbines it is observed that the self-excited oscillation of a vortex rope in the draft tube cone prevents the delivery of maximum power when required. This phenomenon is referred to as full load pressure surge and has been the object of extensive research during the past decades. Several contributions deepened its understanding through measurement and simulation of the local flow properties and the global stability parameters. The draft tube pressure level and the runner outlet swirl are identified as key variables in the modelling of the vortex rope dynamics. Recently, a cyclic appearance of blade cavitation has been observed at overload conditions in a multiphase numerical simulation coupling the runner and the draft tube. From the analysis of the simulation it becomes obvious that the cyclic appearance of blade cavitation has a direct effect on the runner outlet swirl, thus introducing an additional interaction mechanism that is not accounted for in formerly published models. For the presented work, the results of this numerical study are confirmed experimentally on a reduced scale model of a Francis turbine. Several wall pressure measurements in the draft tube cone are performed, together with high speed visualizations of the vortex rope and the blade cavitation. The flow swirl is calculated based on Laser Doppler Velocimetry measurements. A possible mechanism explaining the coupling between the self-excited pressure and vortex rope oscillation and the cyclic appearance of the blade cavitation is proposed. Furthermore, the streamwise propagation speed of the flow

  6. On the upper part load vortex rope in Francis turbine: Experimental investigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicolet, C.; Zobeiri, A.; Maruzewski, P.; Avellan, F.

    2010-08-01

    The swirling flow developing in Francis turbine draft tube under part load operation leads to pressure fluctuations usually in the range of 0.2 to 0.4 times the runner rotational frequency resulting from the so-called vortex breakdown. For low cavitation number, the flow features a cavitation vortex rope animated with precession motion. Under given conditions, these pressure fluctuations may lead to undesirable pressure fluctuations in the entire hydraulic system and also produce active power oscillations. For the upper part load range, between 0.7 and 0.85 times the best efficiency discharge, pressure fluctuations may appear in a higher frequency range of 2 to 4 times the runner rotational speed and feature modulations with vortex rope precession. It has been pointed out that for this particular operating point, the vortex rope features elliptical cross section and is animated of a self-rotation. This paper presents an experimental investigation focusing on this peculiar phenomenon, defined as the upper part load vortex rope. The experimental investigation is carried out on a high specific speed Francis turbine scale model installed on a test rig of the EPFL Laboratory for Hydraulic Machines. The selected operating point corresponds to a discharge of 0.83 times the best efficiency discharge. Observations of the cavitation vortex carried out with high speed camera have been recorded and synchronized with pressure fluctuations measurements at the draft tube cone. First, the vortex rope self rotation frequency is evidenced and the related frequency is deduced. Then, the influence of the sigma cavitation number on vortex rope shape and pressure fluctuations is presented. The waterfall diagram of the pressure fluctuations evidences resonance effects with the hydraulic circuit. The time evolution of the vortex rope volume is compared with pressure fluctuations time evolution using image processing. Finally, the influence of the Froude number on the vortex rope shape and

  7. The medical philosophy of Francis Bacon (1561-1626).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boss, J

    1978-01-01

    Francis Bacon's view of man is dualistic but, although he takes note of mental faculties, he makes the relation between mind and body, rather than the substance of mind, the basis for enquiry into mental processes and, more particularly, for the medically relevant study of mind. (He uses "mind" and "soul" as equivalent terms.) The healing of the body requires study of the body, and the ineffectiveness of physicians is due to their failure in this respect rather than to the body's complexity. To learn about the body requires clinical observation and recording, together with the comparison of bodies, experiments on living animals and attention to pathological changes. The aims of medicine should include not only the restoration of health but also the relief of suffering and they are not to be limited by putting aside a disease as incurable. To learn from treatment it must be fixed in its ordering with controlled and limited variation. Bacon has no separation of medicine from natural science; his philosophy of medicine is his general philosophy of the advancement of knowledge, but limited to a particular field of application. If medicine is separated from natural philosophy it is changed wholly or greatly into empiricism.

  8. Internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the Dutch translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity among adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francis, L J; Hermans, C A

    2000-02-01

    A sample of 1,021 young people attending Years 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 at Catholic secondary schools within the state-maintained sector completed the Dutch translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity. The data support its reliability and validity and commend it for further use in studies conducted among young people in The Netherlands.

  9. Applicability of vulnerability maps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andersen, L.J.; Gosk, E.

    1989-01-01

    A number of aspects to vulnerability maps are discussed: the vulnerability concept, mapping purposes, possible users, and applicability of vulnerability maps. Problems associated with general-type vulnerability mapping, including large-scale maps, universal pollutant, and universal pollution scenario are also discussed. An alternative approach to vulnerability assessment - specific vulnerability mapping for limited areas, specific pollutant, and predefined pollution scenario - is suggested. A simplification of the vulnerability concept is proposed in order to make vulnerability mapping more objective and by this means more comparable. An extension of the vulnerability concept to the rest of the hydrogeological cycle (lakes, rivers, and the sea) is proposed. Some recommendations regarding future activities are given

  10. Dialoguing from a Fixed Point: How Aristotle and Pope Francis Illuminate the Promise--and Limits--of Inclusion in Catholic Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petrusek, Matthew Richard

    2017-01-01

    This article examines the meaning of the word "inclusion" as it relates to Catholic identity in higher education. Noting the widespread presence of this value in the mission statements of Catholic colleges, the article draws on insights from Aristotelian logic and Pope Francis's theology of encounter to argue that inclusion can only be…

  11. Improving Early Childhood Development among Vulnerable Populations: A Pilot Initiative at a Women, Infants, and Children Clinic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brian A. Ferguson

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. Early childhood development (ECD programs have demonstrated drastic improvements in survival, growth, health, and social productivity. An ECD pilot intervention was delivered to vulnerable populations of a Women, Infants, and Children (WIC clinic in Des Moines, Iowa, to assess ECD outcomes and parental receivability in this setting. Study Design. In a randomized, single blinded control initiative, WIC group sessions of mothers (children aged 2 years and younger were selected for pilot ECD intervention (37 participants or control (36. Care for Child Development ECD course material was supplemented to intervention groups. Survey results were assessed with paired samples T-testing and by an ANOVA. Results. Pilot session receivability demonstrated significance in all areas relative to control: enjoyment, p=0.008; learning capacity, p=0.011; and participant sharing, p=0.023. Furthermore, the previously validated ECD intervention demonstrated significantly improved cumulative 1 month behavior outcomes following the intervention: p=0.006. Conclusions. The WIC setting provides an ideal environment for delivering ECD education beyond traditional counseling in nutrition. High receivability indices among parents demonstrate remarkable capacity for improvement and growth. The significance in receivability, as well as 1 month behavior outcomes, represents parents’ overall readiness to enhance the home environment for their child if merely educated how.

  12. Environmental Protection Agency, Protecting Children's Environmental Health

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... and Research Centers Contact Us Share Protecting Children's Environmental Health Children are often more vulnerable to pollutants ... during development. Learn more about children's health, the environment, and what you can do. Basic Information Children ...

  13. Making and Selling the “Rock Star Pope”: The Celebritization of Pope Francis during His Five-Day Visit to the Philippines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerry M. Lanuza

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper is an attempt to provide an analysis of the celebritization and celebrification of Pope Francis when he visited the Philippines from January 15 to 19, 2015. Employing the analytic concept of “culture industry” developed by the members of the Frankfurt School, and combining it with the current analyses in existing celebrity study under late capitalism, this paper will show how the local giant media corporations, namely, GMA and ABS-CBN, staged a grand “media event” that nationally mediatized and publicly magnified the celebrity status of the so-called “rock star Pope.” The current study contributes to the growing literature on celebrity study by focusing on the popular and charismatic religious leader of 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide. Toward the end of this paper, consistent with the critical slant of the Frankfurt School’s critique of mass deception, it is argued that the celebrity culture that created the “spectacle” of Pope Francis must be distinguished from his prophetic message. And this must be explored in future studies.

  14. Lack of Knowledge Sharing Amongst Institutions in Denmark Responsible for Vulnerable Groups

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bojsen, Ann Kristina Mikkelsen

    they share their knowledge about risk and policy management. In order to protect vulnerable groups such as children, disabled, sick and elderly people, we need to learn more about the general risk understanding and sharing of such according to region, responsibility, common events and hazards....... This information is needed to protect against future unintentional and intentional hazards and compare those with the institutional responsibilities. Risk understanding and knowledge sharing among professionals with responsibility for vulnerable groups can be a crucial tool for handling everyday threats as well......Lack of Knowledge Sharing Amongst Institutions in Denmark Responsible for Vulnerable Groups Ann Bojsen, Senior Lecturer Emergency and Risk Management Department, Metropolitan University College, Copenhagen, Denmark Even though understanding risk and how it is enacted is regarded as a crucial step...

  15. VULNERABILITY OF COMPANIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ARMEAN ANDREEA

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available In present, the study of vulnerability of companies is increasing in every field due to the unstable economic environment influences. The object of this research is to define and identify vulnerabilities of companies and the establishment of evaluation methods at their level. This article emphasizes the importance and usefulness of one of the best known model in this way, from our point of view, namely Băileşteanu, Negrila Pattern. This pattern covers both external factors and internal ones, that increase vulnerabilities of companies, and fit the companies in which the state of vulnerability are (vitality, viability, vulnerability, high vulnerability, difficulty and high difficulty, with a matrix. The result of the research is that any company belonging to any field, can be analyzed using this model, and assigned to one of the conditions defined within.

  16. Strategies for expanding health insurance coverage in vulnerable populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Liying; Yuan, Beibei; Huang, Fei; Lu, Ying; Garner, Paul; Meng, Qingyue

    2014-11-26

    Health insurance has the potential to improve access to health care and protect people from the financial risks of diseases. However, health insurance coverage is often low, particularly for people most in need of protection, including children and other vulnerable populations. To assess the effectiveness of strategies for expanding health insurance coverage in vulnerable populations. We searched Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), part of The Cochrane Library. www.thecochranelibrary.com (searched 2 November 2012), PubMed (searched 1 November 2012), EMBASE (searched 6 July 2012), Global Health (searched 6 July 2012), IBSS (searched 6 July 2012), WHO Library Database (WHOLIS) (searched 1 November 2012), IDEAS (searched 1 November 2012), ISI-Proceedings (searched 1 November 2012),OpenGrey (changed from OpenSIGLE) (searched 1 November 2012), African Index Medicus (searched 1 November 2012), BLDS (searched 1 November 2012), Econlit (searched 1 November 2012), ELDIS (searched 1 November 2012), ERIC (searched 1 November 2012), HERDIN NeON Database (searched 1 November 2012), IndMED (searched 1 November 2012), JSTOR (searched 1 November 2012), LILACS(searched 1 November 2012), NTIS (searched 1 November 2012), PAIS (searched 6 July 2012), Popline (searched 1 November 2012), ProQuest Dissertation &Theses Database (searched 1 November 2012), PsycINFO (searched 6 July 2012), SSRN (searched 1 November 2012), Thai Index Medicus (searched 1 November 2012), World Bank (searched 2 November 2012), WanFang (searched 3 November 2012), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CHKD-CNKI) (searched 2 November 2012).In addition, we searched the reference lists of included studies and carried out a citation search for the included studies via Web of Science to find other potentially relevant studies. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomised controlled trials (NRCTs), controlled before-after (CBA) studies and Interrupted time series (ITS) studies that

  17. Francis Bacon and the "Interpretation of Nature" in the late Renaissance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serjeantson, Richard

    2014-12-01

    The "interpretation of nature" (interpretatio naturae) is the leading idea in Francis Bacon's natural philosophy. But by contrast with his ideas about method, induction, or experiment, the significance of the "interpretation of nature" has received very little scholarly attention. This essay tests the originality of Bacon's idea by means of a focused survey of existing forms of Renaissance natural knowledge-Aristotelian and anti-Aristotelian natural philosophy, Galenic and Paracelsian medicine, natural magic, physiognomy, natural history-before turning to consider the much more prominent place of "interpretation" in the fields of Renaissance logic, revealed and natural theology, and law. It finds that Bacon's application of the idea of "interpretation" to nature was highly original, but also that certain important aspects of his conception have analogies in Renaissance civil law. The essay concludes by exploring the implications of these findings for a recent body of scholarship in the history of the sciences that invokes the notion of the "interpretation of nature" to characterize pre-Baconian natural philosophy more generally.

  18. The “Visual Shock” of Francis Bacon: an essay in neuroesthetics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeki, Semir; Ishizu, Tomohiro

    2013-01-01

    In this paper we discuss the work of Francis Bacon in the context of his declared aim of giving a “visual shock.”We explore what this means in terms of brain activity and what insights into the brain's visual perceptive system his work gives. We do so especially with reference to the representation of faces and bodies in the human visual brain. We discuss the evidence that shows that both these categories of stimuli have a very privileged status in visual perception, compared to the perception of other stimuli, including man-made artifacts such as houses, chairs, and cars. We show that viewing stimuli that depart significantly from a normal representation of faces and bodies entails a significant difference in the pattern of brain activation. We argue that Bacon succeeded in delivering his “visual shock” because he subverted the normal neural representation of faces and bodies, without at the same time subverting the representation of man-made artifacts. PMID:24339812

  19. Francis Bacon's concept of objectivity and the idols of the mind.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zagorin, P

    2001-12-01

    This paper examines the concept of objectivity traceable in Francis Bacon's natural philosophy. After some historical background on this concept, it considers the question of whether it is not an anachronism to attribute such a concept to Bacon, since the word 'objectivity' is a later coinage and does not appear anywhere in his writings. The essay gives reasons for answering this question in the negative, and then criticizes the accounts given of Bacon's understanding of objectivity by Lorraine Daston and Julie Robin Solomon. It argues that this understanding is most directly and fully expressed in his discussion of the idols of the mind. In this connection, the paper notes Bacon's critical attitude to sixteenth-century scepticism and its relevance to the idea of objectivity implicit in his comments on the idols. In conclusion, the paper argues that Bacon was not a pure empiricist and describes the place assigned to theories and hypotheses in his natural philosophy.

  20. Classics in psychiatry and the law: Francis Wharton on involuntary confessions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weiss, Kenneth J

    2012-01-01

    Philadelphia attorney Francis Wharton was a key intellectual figure in linking the sciences of medicine and law. In 1860, he published a monograph on involuntary confessions, which represented the closing chapter of Wharton and Stillé's Treatise on Medical Jurisprudence. He had already published A Monograph on Mental Unsoundness in 1855, the first book of the Treatise in its first edition. Wharton was convinced that many criminals had an inner compulsion to confess or to be caught, explained as divine jurisprudence. His remarks on confessions include a typology spanning psychodynamics to police tactics, using contemporaneous, historical, and literary examples. This remarkable document provides insight into the dynamics of unintended and involuntary confessions and is compatible, in part, with current scholarship. The author contrasts Wharton's schema with those of his English predecessor Jeremy Bentham, the psychoanalyst Theodore Reik, and others, and concludes that it represents an important transition toward a psychological approach to the criminology of confessions.

  1. The Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology and Francis Cecil Sumner.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Roger K

    2011-01-01

    In 1939, a psychologist could become a member of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SSPP) automatically with the endorsement of two members, payment of dues, and membership in the American Psychological Association (APA). Non-APA members with endorsements and payment of dues had to be voted in by the membership. In 1940, the rules for admission were changed to eliminate the automatic membership for APA members. Francis Cecil Sumner, the first African American PhD in psychology, qualified for SSPP membership as a member of the APA in 1939, but the SSPP's council delayed his membership and introduced the amendment to its constitution that eliminated Sumner's route to membership. This article examines the circumstances surrounding council's actions and the role that Sumner's application for membership played in it as an example of the role that race and discrimination played in the decision to change the route to SSPP membership for members of the APA.

  2. After The Tsunami: Human Rights of Vulnerable Populations

    OpenAIRE

    Fletcher, Laurel; Stover, Eric; Weinstein, Harvey

    2005-01-01

    The tsunami of December 26, 2004 devastated thousands of communities along the coastline of the Indian Ocean. More than 240,000 people were killed, with tens of thousands missing and presumed dead, and more than a million people displaced. Immediately following the tsunami, international aid agencies feared that human traffickers might seize the opportunity to compel those most vulnerable (women, children, and migrant workers) into situations of forced labor. Fortunately, few incidents of tra...

  3. Computation of Cavitating Flow in a Francis Hydroturbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonard, Daniel; Lindau, Jay

    2013-11-01

    In an effort to improve cavitation characteristics at off-design conditions, a steady, periodic, multiphase, RANS CFD study of an actual Francis hydroturbine was conducted and compared to experimental results. It is well-known that operating hydroturbines at off-design conditions usually results in the formation of large-scale vaporous cavities. These cavities, and their subsequent collapse, reduce efficiency and cause damage and wear to surfaces. The conventional hydro community has expressed interest in increasing their turbine's operating ranges, improving their efficiencies, and reducing damage and wear to critical turbine components. In this work, mixing planes were used to couple rotating and stationary stages of the turbine which have non-multiple periodicity, and provide a coupled solution for the stay vanes, wicket gates, runner blades, and draft tube. The mixture approach is used to simulate the multiphase flow dynamics, and cavitation models were employed to govern the mass transfer between liquid and gas phases. The solution is compared with experimental results across a range of cavitation numbers which display all the major cavitation features in the machine. Unsteady computations are necessary to capture inherently unsteady cavitation phenomena, such as the precessing vortex rope, and the shedding of bubbles from the wicket gates and their subsequent impingement upon the leading edge of the runner blades. To display these features, preliminary unsteady simulations of the full machine are also presented.

  4. The health and well-being of neglected, abused and exploited children: the Kyiv Street Children Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerfoot, Michael; Koshyl, Vira; Roganov, Oleksandr; Mikhailichenko, Kateryna; Gorbova, Irina; Pottage, David

    2007-01-01

    To report on the backgrounds and physical and emotional well-being of street children using two street shelters in Kyiv, Ukraine. This study is important because personal accounts of street children may highlight individual or family factors that are associated with vulnerability for and risk of poor mental health, and these could have serious repercussions for the future. This study also poses a challenge to research because street children are a highly elusive population that services find hard to reach. Ninety-seven children were recruited and interviewed using a semistructured, psychosocial interview schedule; psychopathology was measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ). Seventy percent of street children scored for behavioral and emotional difficulties on the SDQ, and 74% scored for depression on the MFQ. Current health problems were reported by 78%, with 43% described as persistent or severe. Two thirds of the children in this sample were not homeless but had chosen life on the streets in preference to permanent residence with their families. Their "survival" history on the streets contributed to the development of three different profiles of vulnerability. High rates of physical and emotional problems in a population of street children, many of whom were still connected to their families, emphasize the importance of developing different approaches for children with different vulnerabilities. This study also demonstrates the feasibility of embedding on-going field research into the service dimension of "front-line" social care agencies.

  5. The 2-year stability of parental perceptions of child vulnerability and parental overprotection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomasgard, M; Metz, W P

    1996-08-01

    Clinicians often identify parent-child relationships that are believed to be problematic for the child's future emotional growth, yet there are minimal outcome data on which to base anticipatory guidance. This 2-year follow-up study examined the stability and child behavioral correlates of parental perceptions of increased child vulnerability and parental overprotection. Of 192 potential participants, 114 parents (93% mothers, 86% white, 75% married, 90% middle-upper socioeconomic status) with children age 4 to 7 years successfully completed the Parent Protection Scale, Child Vulnerability Scale, Child Behavior Checklist 4-18, and the Parental Bonding Instrument. The 2-year stability of high parental overprotection was 37%; for high parental perception of child vulnerability, it was 31%. High perceived vulnerability at enrollment was significantly associated with both internalizing (somatic complaints, anxious/depressed) and externalizing (aggressive) behaviors at follow-up. A history of overprotection in the parent's childhood was not associated with current parental report of overprotective behaviors toward the child.

  6. [Socioeconomic vulnerability and obesity in Chilean schoolchildren attending first grade: comparison between 2009 and 2013].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrera, Juan Carlos; Lira, Mariana; Kain, Juliana

    2017-12-01

    Although obesity is related to socioeconomic level, studies are inconclusive. To determine obesity risk according to socioeconomic vulnerability among Chilean children (1st grade) in 2009 and 2013 and assess its change during that period, by sex and geographical area. Cross-sectional study (N = 175,462 in 2009) and (N = 189,055 in 2013) which included: weight, height, rural / urban, gender and vulnerability obtained from JUNAEB's survey. BMI Z, % obesity and 3 categories of vulnerability (very vulnerable, moderate, non-vulnerable) were determined. For the descriptive analyses, we used t tests and for predictor variables (2 categories of vulnerability) and outcome (obesity) by sex and area, we used %2. Logistic regression models determined OR to develop obesity by. % obesity was 19.6% and 24.1% in 2009 and 2013, higher in boys. In urban and rural areas respectively, OR to develop obesity were: 0.85 (0.82-0.88) and 0.70 (0.64-0.75) in the most vulnerable students and 0.94 (0.91-0.97) and 0.81 (0.74-0.88) in those with moderate vulnerability in 2009 and 0.96 (0.93-0.98) and 0.89 (0.82-0.96) in the most vulnerable students and 0.99 (0.96-1.02) and 0.94 (0.86-1.02) in students with moderate vulnerability in 2013. The highest increase in obesity was observed among the most vulnerable group from rural areas (16, 6 to 24.3%). vulnerability. The non-vulnerable group had the highest % obesity. Although the most vulnerable students in rural areas had the lowest obesity risk in both years, the highest increase in obesity during the period, occurred in that group.

  7. Health adaptation policy for climate vulnerable groups: a 'critical computational linguistics' analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seidel, Bastian M; Bell, Erica

    2014-11-28

    Many countries are developing or reviewing national adaptation policy for climate change but the extent to which these meet the health needs of vulnerable groups has not been assessed. This study examines the adequacy of such policies for nine known climate-vulnerable groups: people with mental health conditions, Aboriginal people, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, aged people, people with disabilities, rural communities, children, women, and socioeconomically disadvantaged people. The study analyses an exhaustive sample of national adaptation policy documents from Annex 1 ('developed') countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: 20 documents from 12 countries. A 'critical computational linguistics' method was used involving novel software-driven quantitative mapping and traditional critical discourse analysis. The study finds that references to vulnerable groups are relatively little present or non-existent, as well as poorly connected to language about practical strategies and socio-economic contexts, both also little present. The conclusions offer strategies for developing policy that is better informed by a 'social determinants of health' definition of climate vulnerability, consistent with best practice in the literature and global policy prescriptions.

  8. Hippocampal developmental vulnerability to methylmercury extends into prepubescence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maryann eObiorah

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The developing brain is sensitive to environmental toxicants such as methylmercury (MeHg, to which humans are exposed via contaminated seafood. Prenatal exposure in children is associated with learning, memory and IQ deficits, which can result from hippocampal dysfunction. To explore underlying mechanisms, we have used the postnatal day (P7 rat to model the third trimester of human gestation. We previously showed that a single low exposure (0.6 µg/gbw that approaches human exposure reduced hippocampal neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG 24 hours later, including later proliferation and memory in adolescence. Yet, the vulnerable stem cell population and period of developmental vulnerability remain undefined. In this study, we find that P7 exposure of stem cells has long-term consequences for adolescent neurogenesis. It reduced the number of mitotic S-phase cells (BrdU, especially those in the highly proliferative Tbr2+ population, and immature neurons (Doublecortin in adolescence, suggesting partial depletion of the later stem cell pool. To define developmental vulnerability to MeHg in prepubescent (P14 and adolescent (P21 rats, we examined acute 24 h effects of MeHg exposure on mitosis and apoptosis. We found that low exposure did not adversely impact neurogenesis at either age, but that a higher exposure (5 µg/gbw at P14 reduced the total number of neural stem cells (Sox2+ by 23% and BrdU+ cells by 26% in the DG hilus, suggesting that vulnerability diminishes with age. To see if these effects may reflect changes in MeHg transfer across the blood brain barrier, we assessed Hg content in the hippocampus after peripheral injection and found that similar levels (~800 ng/gm were obtained at 24 h at both P14 and P21, declining in parallel, suggesting that changes in vulnerability depend more on local tissue and cellular mechanisms. Together, we show that MeHg vulnerability depends on age, and that early exposure impairs later neurogenesis in

  9. School performance and school behavior of children affected by AIDS in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tu, Xiaoming; Lv, Yunfei; Li, Xiaoming; Fang, Xiaoyi; Zhao, Guoxiang; Lin, Xiuyun; Hong, Yan; Zhang, Liying; Stanton, Bonita

    2009-01-01

    It is generally recognized that the AIDS epidemic will have a negative effect on the orphans’ school education. However, few studies have been carried out to examine the school performance and school behavior of AIDS orphans and vulnerable children (children living with HIV-infected parents). Using both self-report and teacher evaluation data of 1625 children from rural central China, we examined the impact of parental HIV/AIDS on children's school performances (academic marks, educational expectation, and student leadership) and school behaviors (e.g., aggression, shy/anxious and assertive social skills). Results indicate that AIDS orphans and vulnerable children had disadvantages in school performances in comparison to their peers from the same community who did not experience AIDS-related death and illness in their family (comparison children). AIDS orphans had the lowest academic marks based on the reports of both children and teachers. Educational expectation was significantly lower among AIDS orphans and vulnerable children than comparison children from teacher's perspective. AIDS orphans were significantly more likely to demonstrate aggressive, impulsive and anxious behaviors than non-orphans. Moreover, orphans have more learning difficulties. Vulnerable children were also at a disadvantage on most measures. The data suggest that a greater attention is needed to the school performance and behavior of children affected by AIDS. The findings also indicate that AIDS relief and assistance program for children should go beyond the school attendance and make efforts to improve their school performance and education aspiration. PMID:20107622

  10. Tod in den Anden. Ein Brief Francis Halls an Humboldt 1831 und seine historischen und politischen Hintergründe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Schmuck

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Zusammenfassung Der Forschungsreisende Francis Hall kam als Soldat nach Südamerika und betätigte sich hier auch als Pflanzensammler, Reiseschriftsteller und Bergsteiger. Er war Freund und Briefpartner Jeremy Benthams und versuchte gemeinsam mit Jean-Baptiste Boussingault den Chimborazo zu besteigen. Der liberale Journalist wurde 1833 in bürgerkriegsähnlichen Unruhen in Ecuador ermordet. Der einzige Brief Halls an Humboldt, in dem er diesen für die Naturerschließung des Landes zu gewinnen versucht, eine Sammlung andiner Pflanzen übersendet und seine Einschätzung zur politischen Lage und Zukunft Südamerikas kundtut, wird hier veröffentlicht und kommentiert. Abstract The British explorer Francis Hall was active in South-America as a soldier, a collector of plants, a writer of travelogues and a mountaineer. Together with Jean-Baptiste Boussingault he failed in ascending the Chimborazo. Friend and correspondent of Jeremy Bentham and also liberal journalist, Hall was killed during riots in Ecuador in 1833. In one single letter addressed to Humboldt, which is presented here, Hall tries to awaken interest for Ecuador, develops his views on the political future of South America and sends a collection of plants from the Andes. Resumen El explorador británico Francis Hall llegó a América del Sur como soldado y allí también se dedicó a la colección de plantas, a escribir sobre viajes y a hacer alpinismo. Intentó subir al Chimborazo con Jean-Baptiste Boussingault. El periodista liberal, amigo de Jeremy Bentham con el que también mantenía correspondencia, fue asesinado en los disturbios de 1833 en Ecuador. En la única carta de Hall a Humboldt, que está publicada y comentada aquí, Hall intenta despertar el interés de Humboldt por la naturaleza del país enviando una colección de plantas andinas y dando su opinión sobre la situación política y el futuro de América del Sur. (Traducción: Christine Lebas

  11. Social vulnerability to heat in Greater Atlanta, USA: spatial pattern of heat, NDVI, socioeconomics and household composition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sim, Sunhui

    2017-10-01

    The purpose of the article is evaluating spatial patterns of social vulnerability to heat in Greater Atlanta in 2015. The social vulnerability to heat is an index of socioeconomic status, household composition, land surface temperature and normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI). Land surface temperature and NDVI were derived from the red, NIR and thermal infrared (TIR) of a Landsat OLI/TIRS images collected on September 14, 2015. The research focus is on the variation of heat vulnerability in Greater Atlanta. The study found that heat vulnerability is highly clustered spatially, resulting in "hot spots" and "cool spots". The results show significant health disparities. The hotspots of social vulnerability to heat occurred in neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic status as measured by low education, low income and more poverty, greater proportion of elderly people and young children. The findings of this study are important for identifying clusters of heat vulnerability and the relationships with social factors. These significant results provide a basis for heat intervention services.

  12. Sexual violence against children and vulnerability

    OpenAIRE

    Trindade,Luciana C; Linhares,Silvana M. G. M.; Vanrell,Jorge; Godoy,Danilo; C. A. Martins,José; Barbas,Stela M. A. N.

    2014-01-01

    Objective To analyze the demographic and epidemiological profile of children and adolescents victims of sexual violence treated in a Unit of Forensic Medicine and the relationship between victims and perpetrators. Methods A descriptive study, with data collection from information gathered from sex abuse reports performed in 2009 on victims of sexual violence aged less than 18 years. The data collection tool was a form filled out with demographic information about the victim – gender a...

  13. Children in Medical Research : Ethical challenges

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    W. Bos (Wendy)

    2017-01-01

    markdownabstractPaediatric research ethics evolves around a central dilemma. Either one has to accept that many childhood diseases cannot be (properly) treated and that many children receive treatments that are not (properly) tested in children, or one has to accept that children, i.e. vulnerable

  14. An holistic view on aquifer vulnerability based on a distinction of different types of vulnerability

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Luca, Domenico Antonio; Lasagna, Manuela; Franchino, Elisa

    2016-04-01

    AN HOLISTIC VIEW ON AQUIFER VULNERABILITY BASED ON A DISTINCTION OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF VULNERABILITY D.A. De Luca1 , M. Lasagna1, E. Franchino1 1Department of Earth Sciences, University of Turin The concept of vulnerability is certainly useful in the field of groundwater protection. Nevertheless, within the scientific community, the definition of groundwater vulnerability is still debatable and not clear and conclusive. This is probably due to the fact that researchers often have very different experiences and education. A positive effect of it is a constant exchange of ideas, but there are also negative consequences and difficulties in deepening the issue. The different approaches are very important but they are usable only if the concept of vulnerability is standardized: thus, for the sake of clarity, a number of definitions should be laid down, based on the different types of vulnerability. These definitions can then provide the necessary holistic view for the aquifer vulnerability assessment. Nowadays vulnerability methods focus on the degree of vulnerability and the parameters needed for its evaluation, often neglecting to clarify what is the type of vulnerability the proposed methods are referred. The type of vulnerability, indeed, is both logically and hierarchically superior to the degree of vulnerability. More specifically the type of vulnerability represents the evaluation of the hydrogeological conditions considered in the vulnerability assessment and able to influence the way in which the contamination can take place. Currently the only distinction, based on of the type of vulnerability, is referred to intrinsic and specific vulnerability. Intrinsic vulnerability assesses the susceptibility of the receptor based on the natural properties of the land and subsurface; specific vulnerability also includes properties of the analyzed contaminant. This distinction is useful but not exhaustive. In addition to this, e.g., a distinction of vertical vulnerability

  15. Hydro-acoustic resonance behavior in presence of a precessing vortex rope: observation of a lock-in phenomenon at part load Francis turbine operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Favrel, A; Landry, C; Müller, A; Yamamoto, K; Avellan, F

    2014-01-01

    Francis turbines operating at part load condition experience the development of a cavitating helical vortex rope in the draft tube cone at the runner outlet. The precession movement of this vortex rope induces local convective pressure fluctuations and a synchronous pressure pulsation acting as a forced excitation for the hydraulic system, propagating in the entire system. In the draft tube, synchronous pressure fluctuations with a frequency different to the precession frequency may also be observed in presence of cavitation. In the case of a matching between the precession frequency and the synchronous surge frequency, hydro-acoustic resonance occurs in the draft tube inducing high pressure fluctuations throughout the entire hydraulic system, causing torque and power pulsations. The risk of such resonances limits the possible extension of the Francis turbine operating range. A more precise knowledge of the phenomenon occurring at such resonance conditions and prediction capabilities of the induced pressure pulsations needs therefore to be developed. This paper proposes a detailed study of the occurrence of hydro-acoustic resonance for one particular part load operating point featuring a well-developed precessing vortex rope and corresponding to 64% of the BEP. It focuses particularly on the evolution of the local interaction between the pressure fluctuations at the precession frequency and the synchronous surge mode passing through the resonance condition. For this purpose, an experimental investigation is performed on a reduced scale model of a Francis turbine, including pressure fluctuation measurements in the draft tube and in the upstream piping system. Changing the pressure level in the draft tube, resonance occurrences are highlighted for different Froude numbers. The evolution of the hydro-acoustic response of the system suggests that a lock-in effect between the excitation frequency and the natural frequency may occur at low Froude number, inducing a hydro

  16. Vulnerability curves vs. vulnerability indicators: application of an indicator-based methodology for debris-flow hazards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papathoma-Köhle, Maria

    2016-08-01

    The assessment of the physical vulnerability of elements at risk as part of the risk analysis is an essential aspect for the development of strategies and structural measures for risk reduction. Understanding, analysing and, if possible, quantifying physical vulnerability is a prerequisite for designing strategies and adopting tools for its reduction. The most common methods for assessing physical vulnerability are vulnerability matrices, vulnerability curves and vulnerability indicators; however, in most of the cases, these methods are used in a conflicting way rather than in combination. The article focuses on two of these methods: vulnerability curves and vulnerability indicators. Vulnerability curves express physical vulnerability as a function of the intensity of the process and the degree of loss, considering, in individual cases only, some structural characteristics of the affected buildings. However, a considerable amount of studies argue that vulnerability assessment should focus on the identification of these variables that influence the vulnerability of an element at risk (vulnerability indicators). In this study, an indicator-based methodology (IBM) for mountain hazards including debris flow (Kappes et al., 2012) is applied to a case study for debris flows in South Tyrol, where in the past a vulnerability curve has been developed. The relatively "new" indicator-based method is being scrutinised and recommendations for its improvement are outlined. The comparison of the two methodological approaches and their results is challenging since both methodological approaches deal with vulnerability in a different way. However, it is still possible to highlight their weaknesses and strengths, show clearly that both methodologies are necessary for the assessment of physical vulnerability and provide a preliminary "holistic methodological framework" for physical vulnerability assessment showing how the two approaches may be used in combination in the future.

  17. Scanning-PIXE analysis of gold lace embroideries in a relic of St. Francis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Migliori, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Firenze, Via G. Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze) (Italy)], E-mail: migliori@fi.infn.it; Grassi, N.; Mando, P.A. [Dipartimento di Fisica dell' Universita and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Firenze, Via G. Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze) (Italy)

    2008-05-15

    In this work, we describe the compositional analysis performed by scanning-mode PIXE on the metal threads of a XIII century embroidery. The precious work analysed is the pillow-case used to cover the pillow, on which - according to tradition - St. Francis of Assisi was resting his head when he died. Measurements were performed in order to characterise the embroideries of the two sides and the passementerie in the lateral hems. Several areas, each of the order of two square millimetres, were scanned with a 3 MeV proton external beam of 20 {mu}m size on target, using the external micro-beam facility of our laboratory, with list-mode acquisition. Analysis of elemental maps and spectra from selected homogeneous sub-areas allowed us to extract the quantitative composition of the gilded tape and estimates of its thickness.

  18. Scanning-PIXE analysis of gold lace embroideries in a relic of St. Francis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Migliori, A.; Grassi, N.; Mando, P.A.

    2008-01-01

    In this work, we describe the compositional analysis performed by scanning-mode PIXE on the metal threads of a XIII century embroidery. The precious work analysed is the pillow-case used to cover the pillow, on which - according to tradition - St. Francis of Assisi was resting his head when he died. Measurements were performed in order to characterise the embroideries of the two sides and the passementerie in the lateral hems. Several areas, each of the order of two square millimetres, were scanned with a 3 MeV proton external beam of 20 μm size on target, using the external micro-beam facility of our laboratory, with list-mode acquisition. Analysis of elemental maps and spectra from selected homogeneous sub-areas allowed us to extract the quantitative composition of the gilded tape and estimates of its thickness

  19. Scanning-PIXE analysis of gold lace embroideries in a relic of St. Francis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Migliori, A.; Grassi, N.; Mandò, P. A.

    2008-05-01

    In this work, we describe the compositional analysis performed by scanning-mode PIXE on the metal threads of a XIII century embroidery. The precious work analysed is the pillow-case used to cover the pillow, on which - according to tradition - St. Francis of Assisi was resting his head when he died. Measurements were performed in order to characterise the embroideries of the two sides and the passementerie in the lateral hems. Several areas, each of the order of two square millimetres, were scanned with a 3 MeV proton external beam of 20 μm size on target, using the external micro-beam facility of our laboratory, with list-mode acquisition. Analysis of elemental maps and spectra from selected homogeneous sub-areas allowed us to extract the quantitative composition of the gilded tape and estimates of its thickness.

  20. Unsteady hydraulic simulation of the cavitating part load vortex rope in Francis turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brammer, J.; Segoufin, C.; Duparchy, F.; Lowys, P. Y.; Favrel, A.; Avellan, F.

    2017-04-01

    For Francis turbines at part load operation a helical vortex rope is formed due to the swirling nature of the flow exiting the runner. This vortex creates pressure fluctuations which can lead to power swings, and the unsteady loading can lead to fatigue damage of the runner. In the case that the vortex rope cavitates there is the additional risk that hydro-acoustic resonance can occur. It is therefore important to be able to accurately simulate this phenomenon to address these issues. In this paper an unsteady, multi-phase CFD model was used to simulate two part-load operating points, for two different cavitation conditions. The simulation results were validated with test-rig data, and showed very good agreement. These results also served as an input for FEA calculations and fatigue analysis, which are presented in a separate study.

  1. Sexual violence against children and vulnerability

    OpenAIRE

    Trindade, Luciana C; Linhares, Silvana M. G. M.; Vanrell, Jorge; Godoy, Danilo; C. A. Martins, José; Barbas, Stela M. A. N.

    2014-01-01

    Objective To analyze the demographic and epidemiological profile of children and adolescents victims of sexual violence treated in a Unit of Forensic Medicine and the relationship between victims and perpetrators. Methods A descriptive study, with data collection from information gathered from sex abuse reports performed in 2009 on victims of sexual violence aged less than 18 years. The data collection tool was a form filled out with demographic information about the victim – gender and age...

  2. The Red-Attractiveness Effect, Applying the Ioannidis and Trikalinos (2007b) Test, and the Broader Scientific Context: A Reply to Francis (2013)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elliot, Andrew J.; Maier, Markus A.

    2013-01-01

    Francis (2013) tested for and found evidence of publication bias in 1 of the 3 focal relations examined in Elliot et al. (2010), that between red and attractiveness. He then called into question the research as a whole and the field of experimental psychology more generally. Our reply has 3 foci. First, we attend to the bottom line regarding the…

  3. Restavèk children in context: Wellbeing compared to other Haitian children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haydocy, Kelci E; Yotebieng, Marcel; Norris, Alison

    2015-12-01

    In Haiti, large numbers of vulnerable children and the country's particular historical context has led to a unique phenomenon known as the "restavèk" system. An estimated 300,000 Haitian children are restavèks, living as unpaid domestic servants. Child-welfare advocates describe the restavèk system as modern slavery, but researchers and advocates lack information about restavèk children's circumstances, particularly vis-à-vis other children in Haiti. In a cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative sample, we evaluated differences in well-being (school attendance, work responsibilities, physical abuse, and hunger) between restavèk children and: (a) all non-restavèk children; and (b) the poorest quintile of non-restavèk children. As compared to all Haitian children and the poorest Haitian children, restavèk children have statistically significantly lower school attendance rates and more labor responsibilities. However, restavèk children experience statistically significantly less physical abuse and less hunger than non-restavèk Haitian children. The restavèk system remains active in Haiti because poor families lack basic resources to support their children, and restavèk children are at risk for mistreatment due to their vulnerable social status. The surprising finding that restavèk children are better off in some respects than their non-restavèk peers highlights the desperate poverty in Haiti and suggests that structural changes for poverty reduction will be required before the restavèk system will end. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Deciphering the language of nature: cryptography, secrecy, and alterity in Francis Bacon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clody, Michael C

    2011-01-01

    The essay argues that Francis Bacon's considerations of parables and cryptography reflect larger interpretative concerns of his natural philosophic project. Bacon describes nature as having a language distinct from those of God and man, and, in so doing, establishes a central problem of his natural philosophy—namely, how can the language of nature be accessed through scientific representation? Ultimately, Bacon's solution relies on a theory of differential and duplicitous signs that conceal within them the hidden voice of nature, which is best recognized in the natural forms of efficient causality. The "alphabet of nature"—those tables of natural occurrences—consequently plays a central role in his program, as it renders nature's language susceptible to a process and decryption that mirrors the model of the bilateral cipher. It is argued that while the writing of Bacon's natural philosophy strives for literality, its investigative process preserves a space for alterity within scientific representation, that is made accessible to those with the interpretative key.

  5. The role of high cycle fatigue (HCF) onset in Francis runner reliability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gagnon, M; Tahan, S A; Bocher, P; Thibault, D

    2012-01-01

    High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) plays an important role in Francis runner reliability. This paper presents a model in which reliability is defined as the probability of not exceeding a threshold above which HCF contributes to crack propagation. In the context of combined Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) and HCF loading, the Kitagawa diagram is used as the limit state threshold for reliability. The reliability problem is solved using First-Order Reliability Methods (FORM). A study case is proposed using in situ measured strains and operational data. All the parameters of the reliability problem are based either on observed data or on typical design specifications. From the results obtained, we observed that the uncertainty around the defect size and the HCF stress range play an important role in reliability. At the same time, we observed that expected values for the LCF stress range and the number of LCF cycles have a significant influence on life assessment, but the uncertainty around these values could be neglected in the reliability assessment.

  6. Natural knowledge as a propaedeutic to self-betterment: Francis Bacon and the transformation of natural history.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lancaster, James A T

    2012-01-01

    This paper establishes the 'emblematic' use of natural history as a propaedeutic to self-betterment in the Renaissance; in particular, in the natural histories of Gessner and Topsell, but also in the works of Erasmus and Rabelais. Subsequently, it investigates how Francis Bacon's conception of natural history is envisaged in relation to them. The paper contends that, where humanist natural historians understood the use of natural knowledge as a preliminary to individual improvement, Bacon conceived self-betterment foremost as a means to Christian charity, or social-betterment. It thus examines the transformation of the moralizing aspect of Renaissance natural history in Bacon's conception of his Great Instauration.

  7. Structural challenges of holiday placement programmes for children ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Structural challenges of holiday placement programmes for children in SOS's Children Village, Zimbabwe. ... African Journal of Social Work ... Response to child protection crisis has essentially seen the placement of orphans and other vulnerable children in residential care institutions, particularly children' homes modelled ...

  8. Defining energy vulnerability in mobility. Measuring energy vulnerability in mobility. Acting against energy vulnerability in mobility. Discussing energy vulnerability in mobility. Task no. 4

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jouffe, Yves; Massot, Marie-Helene; Noble, Cyprien

    2015-01-01

    Extensive expansion of urban areas generates transportation needs and energy expenses for mobility. Households already impacted by fuel poverty also suffer from energy vulnerability in their mobility. This report was prepared in the framework of the study of fuel poverty in France in the light of several indicators from existing inquiries, databases and modeling tools. The report is organised in 4 parts dealing with: the definition of energy vulnerability in mobility, its measurement, the possible remedial actions, and the discussions about energy vulnerability in mobility through working group meetings, respectively

  9. Pharmacologic studies in vulnerable populations: Using the pediatric experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmerman, Kanecia; Gonzalez, Daniel; Swamy, Geeta K; Cohen-Wolkowiez, Michael

    2015-11-01

    Historically, few data exist to guide dosing in children and pregnant women. Multiple barriers to inclusion of these vulnerable populations in clinical trials have led to this paucity of data. However, federal legislation targeted at pediatric therapeutics, innovative clinical trial design, use of quantitative clinical pharmacology methods, pediatric thought leadership, and collaboration have successfully overcome many existing barriers. This success has resulted in improved knowledge on pharmacokinetics, safety, and efficacy of therapeutics in children. To date, research in pregnant women has not been characterized by similar success. Wide gaps in knowledge remain despite the common use of therapeutics in pregnancy. Given the similar barriers to drug research and development in pediatric and pregnant populations, the route toward success in children may serve as a model for the advancement of drug development and appropriate drug administration in pregnant women. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Francis Bacon czyli Diego Velázquez na fotelu dentystycznym - malarskie i inne cytaty jako "dodatek" do rozpraszającego się życia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Nieukerken, A.

    2014-01-01

    "Francis Bacon or Diego Velázquez in a dentist’s chair" - pictorial and other kinds of quotations as an addition to a disintegrating life The mature poetry of Tadeusz Różewicz seems to be at odds with both modernist and postmodern literary tenets. It undeniably makes abundant use of intertextuality

  11. If Auditors Are Like Belgian Beers, Which Style Would You Prefer? : Discussion of “Auditor Style and Financial Statement Comparability” by Francis, Pinnuck, and Watanabe .

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bruynseels, L.M.L.; Brenk, van H.M.

    2016-01-01

    Recent research by Francis, Pinnuck, and Watanabe (2014) has shown that financial reporting outcomes are influenced by the audit firm’s unique audit style. They argue that audit firm styles are driven by their “unique set of internal working rules that guide the auditor’s application of accounting

  12. From political economy to sociology: Francis Galton and the social-scientific origins of eugenics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renwick, Chris

    2011-09-01

    Having coined the word 'eugenics' and inspired leading biologists and statisticians of the early twentieth century, Francis Galton is often studied for his contributions to modern statistical biology. However, whilst documenting this part of his work, historians have frequently neglected crucial aspects of what motivated Galton to establish his eugenics research programme. Arguing that his work was shaped more by social than by biological science, this paper addresses these oversights by tracing the development of Galton's programme, from its roots in a debate about political economy to his appeals for it to be taken up by sociologists. In so doing, the paper not only returns Galton's ideas to their original context but also provides a reason to reflect on the place of the social sciences in history-of-science scholarship.

  13. Public Policy and Children's Television.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huston, Aletha C.; And Others

    1989-01-01

    Advocates the promotion of television programing that serves the diverse needs of children for education, entertainment, aesthetic appreciation, and knowledge; and the protection of children from television content and advertising practices that exploit their special vulnerability. More regulation is needed. (Author/BJV)

  14. Where Lies the Risk? An Ecological Approach to Understanding Child Mental Health Risk and Vulnerabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olayinka Atilola

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Efforts at improving child-health and development initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa had focused on the physical health of children due to the neglect of child and adolescent mental health (CAMH policy initiatives. A thorough and broad-based understanding of the prevalent child mental-health risk and vulnerability factors is needed to successfully articulate CAMH policies. In this discourse, we present a narrative on the child mental-health risk and vulnerability factors in sub-Saharan Africa. Through an ecological point of view, we identified widespread family poverty, poor availability and uptake of childcare resources, inadequate community and institutional childcare systems, and inadequate framework for social protection for vulnerable children as among the risk and vulnerability factors for CAMH in the region. Others are poor workplace policy/practice that does not support work-family life balance, poor legislative framework for child protection, and some harmful traditional practices. We conclude that an ecological approach shows that child mental-health risks are diverse and cut across different layers of the care environment. The approach also provides a broad and holistic template from which appropriate CAMH policy direction in sub-Saharan Africa can be understood.

  15. Where lies the risk? An ecological approach to understanding child mental health risk and vulnerabilities in sub-saharan Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atilola, Olayinka

    2014-01-01

    Efforts at improving child-health and development initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa had focused on the physical health of children due to the neglect of child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) policy initiatives. A thorough and broad-based understanding of the prevalent child mental-health risk and vulnerability factors is needed to successfully articulate CAMH policies. In this discourse, we present a narrative on the child mental-health risk and vulnerability factors in sub-Saharan Africa. Through an ecological point of view, we identified widespread family poverty, poor availability and uptake of childcare resources, inadequate community and institutional childcare systems, and inadequate framework for social protection for vulnerable children as among the risk and vulnerability factors for CAMH in the region. Others are poor workplace policy/practice that does not support work-family life balance, poor legislative framework for child protection, and some harmful traditional practices. We conclude that an ecological approach shows that child mental-health risks are diverse and cut across different layers of the care environment. The approach also provides a broad and holistic template from which appropriate CAMH policy direction in sub-Saharan Africa can be understood.

  16. Where Lies the Risk? An Ecological Approach to Understanding Child Mental Health Risk and Vulnerabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atilola, Olayinka

    2014-01-01

    Efforts at improving child-health and development initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa had focused on the physical health of children due to the neglect of child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) policy initiatives. A thorough and broad-based understanding of the prevalent child mental-health risk and vulnerability factors is needed to successfully articulate CAMH policies. In this discourse, we present a narrative on the child mental-health risk and vulnerability factors in sub-Saharan Africa. Through an ecological point of view, we identified widespread family poverty, poor availability and uptake of childcare resources, inadequate community and institutional childcare systems, and inadequate framework for social protection for vulnerable children as among the risk and vulnerability factors for CAMH in the region. Others are poor workplace policy/practice that does not support work-family life balance, poor legislative framework for child protection, and some harmful traditional practices. We conclude that an ecological approach shows that child mental-health risks are diverse and cut across different layers of the care environment. The approach also provides a broad and holistic template from which appropriate CAMH policy direction in sub-Saharan Africa can be understood. PMID:24834431

  17. Are older people a vulnerable group? Philosophical and bioethical perspectives on ageing and vulnerability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bozzaro, Claudia; Boldt, Joachim; Schweda, Mark

    2018-05-01

    The elderly are often considered a vulnerable group in public and academic bioethical debates and regulations. In this paper, we examine and challenge this assumption and its ethical implications. We begin by systematically delineating the different concepts of vulnerability commonly used in bioethics, before then examining whether these concepts can be applied to old age. We argue that old age should not, in and of itself, be used as a marker of vulnerability, since ageing is a process that can develop in a variety of different ways and is not always associated with particular experiences of vulnerability. We, therefore, turn to more fundamental phenomenological considerations in order to reconstruct from a first person perspective the intricate interconnections between the experiences of ageing and vulnerability. According to this account, ageing and old age are phenomena in which the basic anthropological vulnerability of human beings can manifest itself in an increased likelihood of harm and exploitation. Thus, we plead for a combined model of vulnerability that helps to avoid problems related to the current concepts of vulnerability. We conclude first that old age as such is not a sufficient criterion for being categorized as vulnerable in applied ethics, and second that reflections on ageing can help to develop a better understanding of the central role of vulnerability in human existence and in applied ethics. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. Measurement of pressure pulsations in Francis turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kobro, Einar

    2010-11-15

    The work presented in this thesis involves preparation and execution of measurements on Francis runners. The measurements were performed by means of onboard measuring equipment both in model runners and full-scale prototype runners. Also, analysis of the measured data, and the discussion of the results, is presented. The measurements resulted in large data sets. These data sets were used by the author to investigate the dynamic pressure and strain in the runners. The results of the analysis can be used as input in future turbine design. Andritz Hydro AG has used the data for verification of their numerical simulation tools. In connection with the refurbishment of Tokke power plant, two model runners were made available for onboard pressure measurements. To investigate the dynamic pressure in these runners, methods for integration of pressure transducers in the runner blades needed to be developed. After initial difficulties during the preparation, successful measurements were obtained from both model runners. At Tokke power plant, both the original and replacement runners were made accessible for onboard pressure and strain gauge measurements. On the original Kvaerner Brug AS runner, the test was prepared and performed by the author. This test failed, due to water intrusion in the logging chain. The second test was performed on the Andritz Hydro AG replacement runner. This test was prepared and performed by the author in close cooperation with Andritz Hydro AG, and the results were successful. The analysis results from both model and prototype runners show that the wake leaving the guide vanes is the most severe source of dynamic pressure in the runner. The draft tube vortex rope pulsation propagates upstream the runner, but does not appear as a significant frequency in the runner strain measurements. (Author)

  19. Why are some vulnerable children healthy and others stunted? A case study of vulnerability and resilience among very young children in West Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grace, K.; Nagle, N.

    2014-12-01

    Stunting, when children are shorter than average for their age, poses serious problems for short- and long-term development of individuals, families and communities. Stunting is linked to increase risk or illness or death, reduced educational attainment, reduced earnings and increases the likelihood (for girls) that the next generation of children will be stunted. Stunting occurs as a result of a culmination of inadequate food/calories, experiences with frequent illness, poor care and low weight at birth. Because almost 40% of children under 5 in the developing world suffer from stunting, understanding the community, household and individual components that lead to stunting are vital as these countries aim to improve children's health and development. We focus this research on childhood stunting in the neighboring countries of Mali and Burkina Faso, two of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. The populations of both countries are heavily reliant on subsistence farming and the share of children under 5 who are stunted hovers around 30%. In this research we aim to explore child stunting with attention to biology, behavior and environment. Specifically we aim to determine why children in some food insecure communities are stunted while others in the same community are healthy and, as an extension, why some low birth weight babies grow into healthy children and others are stunted. Because of the significance of food and nutrition on stunting outcomes, and because no micro-level estimates of food production exist, we use high resolution remotely sensed imagery (~1m) combined with coarser resolution landscape data (rainfall, slope, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) to estimate community level food production for each year of the child's life. We construct a multi-level analysis through the linking of food production data to other community features gathered from Demographic and Health Survey and smaller scale community surveys gathered by USAID

  20. Vulnerability of damage-accumulating systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lind, Niels C.

    1996-01-01

    Disastrous failures have shown that systems can be highly vulnerable. Quantified vulnerability can help designers and regulators to decide how much vulnerability is tolerable. Vulnerability of a system to a specified disturbance is defined as the ratio of the probability of failure of the disturbed system to the probability of failure of the undisturbed system. This vulnerability can be specialized to particular system types. It is adapted here to systems that are expected to deteriorate while in service due to processes such as fatigue, creep, corrosion, aging, neglect or insufficient maintenance. Application is illustrated by vulnerability to fatigue under constant and variable stress

  1. Prediction of a Francis turbine prototype full load instability from investigations on the reduced scale model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alligné, S.; Maruzewski, P.; Dinh, T.; Wang, B.; Fedorov, A.; Iosfin, J.; Avellan, F.

    2010-08-01

    The growing development of renewable energies combined with the process of privatization, lead to a change of economical energy market strategies. Instantaneous pricings of electricity as a function of demand or predictions, induces profitable peak productions which are mainly covered by hydroelectric power plants. Therefore, operators harness more hydroelectric facilities at full load operating conditions. However, the Francis Turbine features an axi-symmetric rope leaving the runner which may act under certain conditions as an internal energy source leading to instability. Undesired power and pressure fluctuations are induced which may limit the maximum available power output. BC Hydro experiences such constraints in a hydroelectric power plant consisting of four 435 MW Francis Turbine generating units, which is located in Canada's province of British Columbia. Under specific full load operating conditions, one unit experiences power and pressure fluctuations at 0.46 Hz. The aim of the paper is to present a methodology allowing prediction of this prototype's instability frequency from investigations on the reduced scale model. A new hydro acoustic vortex rope model has been developed in SIMSEN software, taking into account the energy dissipation due to the thermodynamic exchange between the gas and the surrounding liquid. A combination of measurements, CFD simulations and computation of eigenmodes of the reduced scale model installed on test rig, allows the accurate calibration of the vortex rope model parameters at the model scale. Then, transposition of parameters to the prototype according to similitude laws is applied and stability analysis of the power plant is performed. The eigenfrequency of 0.39 Hz related to the first eigenmode of the power plant is determined to be unstable. Predicted frequency of the full load power and pressure fluctuations at the unit unstable operating point is found to be in general agreement with the prototype measurements.

  2. Prediction of a Francis turbine prototype full load instability from investigations on the reduced scale model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alligne, S; Maruzewski, P; Avellan, F; Dinh, T; Wang, B; Fedorov, A; Iosfin, J

    2010-01-01

    The growing development of renewable energies combined with the process of privatization, lead to a change of economical energy market strategies. Instantaneous pricings of electricity as a function of demand or predictions, induces profitable peak productions which are mainly covered by hydroelectric power plants. Therefore, operators harness more hydroelectric facilities at full load operating conditions. However, the Francis Turbine features an axi-symmetric rope leaving the runner which may act under certain conditions as an internal energy source leading to instability. Undesired power and pressure fluctuations are induced which may limit the maximum available power output. BC Hydro experiences such constraints in a hydroelectric power plant consisting of four 435 MW Francis Turbine generating units, which is located in Canada's province of British Columbia. Under specific full load operating conditions, one unit experiences power and pressure fluctuations at 0.46 Hz. The aim of the paper is to present a methodology allowing prediction of this prototype's instability frequency from investigations on the reduced scale model. A new hydro acoustic vortex rope model has been developed in SIMSEN software, taking into account the energy dissipation due to the thermodynamic exchange between the gas and the surrounding liquid. A combination of measurements, CFD simulations and computation of eigenmodes of the reduced scale model installed on test rig, allows the accurate calibration of the vortex rope model parameters at the model scale. Then, transposition of parameters to the prototype according to similitude laws is applied and stability analysis of the power plant is performed. The eigenfrequency of 0.39 Hz related to the first eigenmode of the power plant is determined to be unstable. Predicted frequency of the full load power and pressure fluctuations at the unit unstable operating point is found to be in general agreement with the prototype measurements.

  3. Livelihoods, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in Morogoro, Tanzania

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paavola, Jouni

    2008-01-01

    This article examines farmers' livelihood responses and vulnerability to climate variability and other stressors in Morogoro, Tanzania, to understand their implications for adaptation to climate change by agricultural households in developing world more generally. In Morogoro, agricultural households have extended cultivation, intensified agriculture, diversified livelihoods and migrated to gain access to land, markets and employment as a response to climatic and other stressors. Some of these responses have depleted and degraded natural resources such as forest, soil and water resources, which will complicate their living with climate change in the future. This will be particularly problematic to vulnerable groups such as women, children and pastoralists who have limited access to employment, markets and public services. In this light, fair adaptation to climate change by agricultural households in Morogoro and elsewhere in developing countries requires several complementary responses. Adaptation efforts should involve effective governance of natural resources because they function as safety nets to vulnerable groups. In addition, strengthening of national markets by infrastructure investments and institutional reforms is needed to give incentives to intensification and diversification in agriculture. Market participation also demands enhancement of human capital by public programs on health, education and wellbeing

  4. Civil history and poetry, certainty and truth in Francis Bacon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvia Manzo

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available This article aims at studying key components of Francis Bacon’s theory of history and of his work as practitioner of civil history, particularly in regard to truth and certainty in historical narratives. It compares Bacon’s theories of history and poetry, and the way in which he conceives their relation to certainty, truth and fiction. It analyzes mainly two sorts of writings. On the one hand, it investigates the programmatic texts where Bacon’s views of history and poetry are developed. On the other hand, it examines the finished and unfinished civil histories written by Bacon as historian. In addition, the article evaluates Bacon’s stances against the background of Renaissance and early modern English historiography. It concludes that although history and poetry constitute separate branches in Bacon’s classification of learning, they share important elements, in keeping with the view of poetry maintained by his contemporary Philip Sidney. Thus, Bacon included fictional patterns in his historical narrative and distinguished certainties from conjectures in a particular way. This attitude towards civil history shows a strong contrast to Bacon’s methodology for natural histories, which, in order to reach certainty, staunchly recommends to exclude any fictional narrative in reporting the facts of nature.

  5. FRamework Assessing Notorious Contributing Influences for Error (FRANCIE): Perspective on Taxonomy Development to Support Error Reporting and Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lon N. Haney; David I. Gertman

    2003-04-01

    Beginning in the 1980s a primary focus of human reliability analysis was estimation of human error probabilities. However, detailed qualitative modeling with comprehensive representation of contextual variables often was lacking. This was likely due to the lack of comprehensive error and performance shaping factor taxonomies, and the limited data available on observed error rates and their relationship to specific contextual variables. In the mid 90s Boeing, America West Airlines, NASA Ames Research Center and INEEL partnered in a NASA sponsored Advanced Concepts grant to: assess the state of the art in human error analysis, identify future needs for human error analysis, and develop an approach addressing these needs. Identified needs included the need for a method to identify and prioritize task and contextual characteristics affecting human reliability. Other needs identified included developing comprehensive taxonomies to support detailed qualitative modeling and to structure meaningful data collection efforts across domains. A result was the development of the FRamework Assessing Notorious Contributing Influences for Error (FRANCIE) with a taxonomy for airline maintenance tasks. The assignment of performance shaping factors to generic errors by experts proved to be valuable to qualitative modeling. Performance shaping factors and error types from such detailed approaches can be used to structure error reporting schemes. In a recent NASA Advanced Human Support Technology grant FRANCIE was refined, and two new taxonomies for use on space missions were developed. The development, sharing, and use of error taxonomies, and the refinement of approaches for increased fidelity of qualitative modeling is offered as a means to help direct useful data collection strategies.

  6. Space and time reconstruction of the precessing vortex core in Francis turbine draft tube by 2D-PIV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Favrel, A.; Müller, A.; Landry, C.; Yamamoto, K.; Avellan, F.

    2016-11-01

    Francis turbines operating at part load conditions experience the development of a high swirling flow at the runner outlet, giving rise to the development of a cavitation precessing vortex rope in the draft tube. The latter acts as an excitation source for the hydro-mechanical system and may jeopardize the system stability if resonance conditions are met. Although many aspects of the part load issue have been widely studied in the past, the accurate stability analysis of hydro-power plants remains challenging. A better understanding of the vortex rope dynamics in a wide range of operating conditions is an important step towards the prediction and the transposition of the pressure fluctuations from reduced to prototype scale. For this purpose, an investigation of the flow velocity fields at the outlet of a Francis turbine reduced scale physical model operating at part load conditions is performed by means of 2D-PIV in three different horizontal cross-sections of the draft tube cone. The measurements are performed in cavitation-free conditions for three values of discharge factor, comprised between 60% and 81% of the value at the Best Efficiency Point. The present article describes a detailed methodology to properly recover the evolution of the velocity fields during one precession cycle by means of phase averaging. The vortex circulation is computed and the vortex trajectory over one typical precession period is finally recovered for each operating point. It is notably shown that below a given value of the discharge factor, the vortex dynamics abruptly change and loose its periodicity and coherence.

  7. Mangrove vulnerability index using GIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yunus, Mohd Zulkifli Mohd; Ahmad, Fatimah Shafinaz; Ibrahim, Nuremira

    2018-02-01

    Climate change, particularly its associated sea level rise, is major threat to mangrove coastal areas, and it is essential to develop ways to reduce vulnerability through strategic management planning. Environmental vulnerability can be understood as a function of exposure to impacts and the sensitivity and adaptive capacity of ecological systems towards environmental tensors. Mangrove vulnerability ranking using up to 14 parameters found in study area, which is in Pulau Kukup and Sg Pulai, where 1 is low vulnerability and 5 is very high vulnerability. Mangrove Vulnerability Index (MVI) is divided into 3 main categories Physical Mangrove Index (PMI), Biological Mangrove Index (BMI) and Hazard Mangrove Index (HMI).

  8. Automated Software Vulnerability Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sezer, Emre C.; Kil, Chongkyung; Ning, Peng

    Despite decades of research, software continues to have vulnerabilities. Successful exploitations of these vulnerabilities by attackers cost millions of dollars to businesses and individuals. Unfortunately, most effective defensive measures, such as patching and intrusion prevention systems, require an intimate knowledge of the vulnerabilities. Many systems for detecting attacks have been proposed. However, the analysis of the exploited vulnerabilities is left to security experts and programmers. Both the human effortinvolved and the slow analysis process are unfavorable for timely defensive measure to be deployed. The problem is exacerbated by zero-day attacks.

  9. Influence of Hydraulic Design on Stability and on Pressure Pulsations in Francis Turbines at Overload, Part Load and Deep Part Load based on Numerical Simulations and Experimental Model Test Results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Magnoli, M V; Maiwald, M

    2014-01-01

    Francis turbines have been running more and more frequently in part load conditions, in order to satisfy the new market requirements for more dynamic and flexible energy generation, ancillary services and grid regulation. The turbines should be able to be operated for longer durations with flows below the optimum point, going from part load to deep part load and even speed-no-load. These operating conditions are characterised by important unsteady flow phenomena taking place at the draft tube cone and in the runner channels, in the respective cases of part load and deep part load. The current expectations are that new Francis turbines present appropriate hydraulic stability and moderate pressure pulsations at overload, part load, deep part load and speed-no-load with high efficiency levels at normal operating range. This study presents series of investigations performed by Voith Hydro with the objective to improve the hydraulic stability of Francis turbines at overload, part load and deep part load, reduce pressure pulsations and enlarge the know-how about the transient fluid flow through the turbine at these challenging conditions. Model test measurements showed that distinct runner designs were able to influence the pressure pulsation level in the machine. Extensive experimental investigations focused on the runner deflector geometry, on runner features and how they could reduce the pressure oscillation level. The impact of design variants and machine configurations on the vortex rope at the draft tube cone at overload and part load and on the runner channel vortex at deep part load were experimentally observed and evaluated based on the measured pressure pulsation amplitudes. Numerical investigations were employed for improving the understanding of such dynamic fluid flow effects. As example for the design and experimental investigations, model test observations and pressure pulsation curves for Francis machines in mid specific speed range, around n qopt = 50

  10. What Does Vulnerability Mean?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parley, Fiona F

    2011-01-01

    Protection of those deemed vulnerable has received increasing attention since 2000. This article reports on care staff views of vulnerability using original data from a research study (Parley. "Vulnerability and abuse: an exploration of views of care staff working with people who have learning disabilities," PhD Thesis, 2007) in which care staff…

  11. Francis Pomponi, Vendetta, justice et politique en Corse. « L’affaire Viterbi » (1789-1821

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean-Claude Farcy

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Causes célèbres, crimes et criminels sortant de l’ordinaire ont toujours passionné l’opinion et donné naissance à une littérature à succès, revenant périodiquement sur les mêmes affaires judiciaires. Les historiens de la criminalité et de la justice ont, plus récemment, emprunté cette voie et revisité nombre de ces affaires en les replaçant, avec plus ou moins de succès, dans le contexte de leur époque. L’ouvrage de Francis Pomponi s’inscrit dans cette perspective, celle d’une étude de cas, d...

  12. Redistributing vulnerabilities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seeberg, Jens; Padmawati, Retna Siwi

    2015-01-01

    It is widely accepted that the social distribution of vulnerability in a given society may turn hazardous events into disasters. This distributional approach draws attention to continuities that explain catastrophes by virtue of the workings of society prior to the event. In this paper, we draw...... attention to the social processes whereby vulnerability is modified and renegotiated during the post-disaster period where resources for disaster alleviation and reconstruction enter local communities. Specifically, we explore the social dynamics of house damage classification in the wake of the 2006...... Central Java earthquake, and we explore relations between citizens and the state during post-disaster house reconstruction. We argue that disastrous outcomes of catastrophic events do not follow pre-existing fault lines of vulnerability in a simple or predictable manner, and that the social process...

  13. Modelling farm vulnerability to flooding: A step toward vulnerability mitigation policies appraisal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brémond, P.; Abrami, G.; Blanc, C.; Grelot, F.

    2009-04-01

    Recent catastrophic flood events such as Elbe in 2002 or Rhône in 2003 have shown limits of flood management policies relying on dykes protection: worsening of flood impacts downstream, increased damage by dykes rupture. Those events, among others, contributes to radical changes on the philosophy of flood prevention, with the promotion of new orientations for mitigating flood exposition. Two new trends may have a significant impact on rural areas: floodplain restoration and vulnerability mitigation. The Rhône River program, which is an contract of objectives signed between French Government and local collectivites, is highly illustrative of these new trends and their impact on agricultural sector. In this program, it appears that areas to be concerned by floodplain restoration are agricultural ones, because their supposed vulnerability to flood is expected to be less important to urban areas. As a consequence, agricultural sector is particularly concerned by planned actions on mitigation of assets vulnerability, an important part of the program (financial support of European Union of 7.5 Million euros). Mitigation of agricultural assets vulnerability reveals particularly interesting for two following reasons. Firstly, it is a way to maintain agricultural activities in floodplains yet existing, without promoting flood protection. Secondly, in case of floodplain restoration, vulnerability mitigation is a way for local authorities to compensate over-flooding impacts. In practice, local authorities may financially support farmers for implementing measures to mitigate their farm vulnerability. On the Rhône River, an important work has already been done to identify farm vulnerability to flooding, and propose measures to mitigate it. More than 3 000 farms exposed to flood risk have been identified representing 88 690 ha of agricultural areas which is estimated to generate damage between 400 and 800 Million euros depending on the season of occurrence for a catastrophic

  14. Poverty and Vulnerability - An Interdisciplinary Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Makoka, Donald; Kaplan, Marcus

    2005-01-01

    This paper describes the concepts of poverty and vulnerability as well as the interconnections and differences between them using an interdisciplinary approach. While poverty is a static concept, vulnerability has a forward-looking dimension. We, therefore, review the methodologies that different disciplines use to measure poverty and vulnerability. In particular, the differences between vulnerability to natural disasters, vulnerability to climate change, as well as vulnerability to poverty a...

  15. When sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy (SHE) met Charles Darwin and Francis Galton.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parrino, Liborio; Pavesi, Giovanni

    2017-08-01

    Sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy (SHE) is characterized by short-lasting seizures patterned by repetitive and stereotyped motor events in the same person. In autosomal dominant SHE, genetic factors play a well-known key role. In The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, Charles Darwin quotes a plausible example of SHE illustrated by his cousin Sir Francis Galton: "the gentleman…lay fast asleep on his back in bed, raising his right arm slowly in front of his face, up to his forehead, and then dropping it with a jerk, so that the wrist fell heavily on the bridge of his nose. The trick did not occur every night, but occasionally, and was independent of any ascertained cause. Sometimes it was repeated incessantly for an hour or more." Similar manifestations during sleep occurred also in the patient's son and granddaughter, suggesting an autosomal inheritance without sex relationship. Differential diagnosis with REM behavior disorder and other parasomnias is discussed. To our knowledge, this could be the first description of a stereotyped SHE pattern with genetic transmission. © 2017 American Academy of Neurology.

  16. Experimental Investigation on the Characteristics of Hydrodynamic Stabilities in Francis Hydroturbine Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wen-Tao Su

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an experimental investigation of flow phenomena related to the characteristic frequencies of pressure fluctuation in Francis hydroturbine models. The experiments were carried out on two test rigs with two model runners having hydraulic similarities. Flow field around the guide vanes was measured with a particle image velocimetry (PIV on the first PIV test rig. Flow structures at the inlet region of runner and in draft tube at different operating conditions were visualized on another hydrodynamic test rig. Analyses of dominant frequency of unsteady hydraulic behaviors in the tested hydroturbines were performed. It was observed that the main frequency of flow over the guide vanes and the dominant frequency of channel vortex equal the blade passing frequency; the dominant frequency of flow separation at the suction side of blade inlet equals the vane passing frequency; the vortex rope in the draft tube displays a low-frequency nature. The flow instabilities and fluctuations directly influence the running of hydroturbine, thus these experimental results could provide important evidence for the stability study of a real hydroturbine.

  17. Vulnerability of complex networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mishkovski, Igor; Biey, Mario; Kocarev, Ljupco

    2011-01-01

    We consider normalized average edge betweenness of a network as a metric of network vulnerability. We suggest that normalized average edge betweenness together with is relative difference when certain number of nodes and/or edges are removed from the network is a measure of network vulnerability, called vulnerability index. Vulnerability index is calculated for four synthetic networks: Erdős-Rényi (ER) random networks, Barabási-Albert (BA) model of scale-free networks, Watts-Strogatz (WS) model of small-world networks, and geometric random networks. Real-world networks for which vulnerability index is calculated include: two human brain networks, three urban networks, one collaboration network, and two power grid networks. We find that WS model of small-world networks and biological networks (human brain networks) are the most robust networks among all networks studied in the paper.

  18. Noise and health in vulnerable groups: A review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irene van Kamp

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Vulnerable or susceptible groups are mentioned in most reviews and documents regarding noise and health. But only a few studies address this issue in a concrete and focused way. Groups at risk most often mentioned in the literature are children, the elderly, the chronically ill and people with a hearing impairment. The other categories encountered are those of sensitive persons, shiftworkers, people with mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia or autism, people suffering from tinnitus, and fetuses and neonates. The mechanism for this vulnerability has not been clearly described and relevant research has seldom focused on the health effects of noise in these groups in an integrated manner. This paper summarizes the outcomes and major conclusions of a systematic, qualitative review of studies over the past 5 years. This review was prepared for the 10 th Conference on Noise as a Public Health Problem (ICBEN, 2011. Evidence is reviewed describing effects, groups assumed to be at risk, and mechanisms pertaining to noise sensitivity and learned helplessness.

  19. Espíritos cheios de bichos: A fauna nas viagens de Louis Agassiz e Richard Francis Burton pelo Brasil oitocentista

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janaina Zito Losada

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available O Brasil do século XIX foi alvo de inúmeras viagens realizadas por cientistas estrangeiros. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar as impressões sobre a fauna brasileira presentes nos relatos das viagens realizadas pelo naturalista suíço Louis Agassiz, em 1865, e pelo explorador inglês Richard Francis Burton, em 1868. Destes relatos privilegiam-se as descrições do meio natural de diferentes regiões brasileiras e das particularidades da fauna silvestre por eles encontrada.

  20. Put yourself in their shoes … the vulnerability of children and their families when attending for radiotherapy treatment: The role of the specialist paediatric radiotherapy radiographer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woodman, Helen

    2013-01-01

    Childhood cancer is rare; only 1 in 600 children under the age of 15 years develop a cancer. The treatment of childhood cancers is usually a multimodality approach and can involve surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Radiotherapy is used in the management of tumours of the central nervous system, solid tumours, leukaemia's and Hodgkin's Lymphoma in the paediatric setting. Paediatric patients make up just 1% of the workload in radiotherapy departments, therefore they tend to be very adult orientated environments and treating children can be complex and challenging for staff. As healthcare professionals we must acknowledge the vulnerability of children and their families when they are coming for radiotherapy treatment. The role of the specialist paediatric radiographer has evolved to work alongside the children and their families to alleviate some of the families and staff anxieties, acting as an advocate, a key point of contact and resource. The very nature of radiotherapy treatment means parents will be separated from their children whilst the treatment is delivered. As radiographers we must ensure we put ourselves in their shoes and acknowledge how difficult this is for children and their parents. The key to every interaction with families is excellent communication and this is not just between professionals, the children and families but also between colleagues to ensure care is co-ordinated. Radiographers working with paediatric patients must have refined communication skills, be able to build rapports, offer support and comfort to children and their parents to ensure they receive the best possible care that is tailored to the individual families holistic needs. The specialist paediatric radiotherapy radiographer is in a unique position to deliver this expert care and support

  1. Psychosocial considerations about children and radiological events

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lemyre, L.; Corneil, W.; Johnson, C.; Boutette, P.

    2010-01-01

    Children are identified as a vulnerable population in the case of radiological events because of their increased physical sensitivity to radiation and its impact on critical development stages. Using a comprehensive integrated risk framework, psychosocial risk protective factors are discussed in a social ecology paradigm. Children have been shown to be both vulnerable and resilient; they are both easily impressionable and also quick to adapt and learn. Psychosocial interventions during, after and most efficiently before an event can improve outcome, especially if they involve parents and schools, media and work organisations. Public education through children should be encouraged to increase knowledge of radiation and strategies to minimise exposure and irradiation. Children can become vectors of prevention, preparedness and mitigation through information and behavioural rehearsal. Special consideration must therefore be given to education, school programmes, practice rehearsal and media exposure. (authors)

  2. St. Francis Rain Garden Water Quality Sampling Interim Data Report; Total Nitrogen, Total Phosphorus, Sediments or Solids, and E. Coli for the period April to June, 2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    This interim data reported is being provided per request to the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) to provide summary statistics on a limited set of water quality parameters as measured at the St. Francis Rain Garden site in the Lick Run Valley as it pertains to MSD's Project Grou...

  3. Regional vulnerability of longitudinal cortical association connectivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael Ceschin

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Preterm born children with spastic diplegia type of cerebral palsy and white matter injury or periventricular leukomalacia (PVL, are known to have motor, visual and cognitive impairments. Most diffusion tensor imaging (DTI studies performed in this group have demonstrated widespread abnormalities using averaged deterministic tractography and voxel-based DTI measurements. Little is known about structural network correlates of white matter topography and reorganization in preterm cerebral palsy, despite the availability of new therapies and the need for brain imaging biomarkers. Here, we combined novel post-processing methodology of probabilistic tractography data in this preterm cohort to improve spatial and regional delineation of longitudinal cortical association tract abnormalities using an along-tract approach, and compared these data to structural DTI cortical network topology analysis. DTI images were acquired on 16 preterm children with cerebral palsy (mean age 5.6 ± 4 and 75 healthy controls (mean age 5.7 ± 3.4. Despite mean tract analysis, Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS and voxel-based morphometry (VBM demonstrating diffusely reduced fractional anisotropy (FA reduction in all white matter tracts, the along-tract analysis improved the detection of regional tract vulnerability. The along-tract map-structural network topology correlates revealed two associations: (1 reduced regional posterior–anterior gradient in FA of the longitudinal visual cortical association tracts (inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, optic radiation, posterior thalamic radiation correlated with reduced posterior–anterior gradient of intra-regional (nodal efficiency metrics with relative sparing of frontal and temporal regions; and (2 reduced regional FA within frontal–thalamic–striatal white matter pathways (anterior limb/anterior thalamic radiation, superior longitudinal fasciculus and cortical spinal tract

  4. Epidemiological Paradox or Immigrant Vulnerability? Obesity Among Young Children of Immigrants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Elizabeth H.; Rendall, Michael S.; Weden, Margaret M.

    2015-01-01

    According to the “immigrant epidemiological paradox,” immigrants and their children enjoy health advantages over their U.S.-born peers—advantages that diminish with greater acculturation. We investigated child obesity as a potentially significant deviation from this paradox for second-generation immigrant children. We evaluated two alternate measures of mother's acculturation: age at arrival in the United States and English language proficiency. To obtain sufficient numbers of second-generation immigrant children, we pooled samples across two related, nationally representative surveys. Each included measured (not parent-reported) height and weight of kindergartners. We also estimated models that alternately included and excluded mother's pre-pregnancy weight status as a predictor. Our findings are opposite to those predicted by the immigrant epidemiological paradox: children of U.S.-born mothers were less likely to be obese than otherwise similar children of foreign-born mothers; and the children of the least-acculturated immigrant mothers, as measured by low English language proficiency, were the most likely to be obese. Foreign-born mothers had lower (healthier) pre-pregnancy weight than U.S.-born mothers, and this was protective against their second-generation children's obesity. This protection, however, was not sufficiently strong to outweigh factors associated or correlated with the mothers' linguistic isolation and marginal status as immigrants. PMID:26111970

  5. Self-injurious behaviour in autistic children: a neuro-developmental theory of social and environmental isolation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devine, Darragh P

    2014-03-01

    Self-injurious behaviour is not one of the three core symptoms that define autism. However, children on the autism spectrum appear to be particularly vulnerable. Afflicted children typically slap their faces, punch or bang their heads, and bite or pinch themselves. These behaviours can be extremely destructive, and they interfere with normal social and educational activities. However, the neurobiological mechanisms that confer vulnerability in children with autism have not been adequately described. This review explores behavioural and neurobiological characteristics of children with autism that may be relevant for an increased understanding of their vulnerability for self-injurious behaviour. Behavioural characteristics that are co-morbid for self-injurious behaviour in children with autism are examined. In addition, the contributions of social and environmental deprivation in self-injurious institutionalized orphans, isolated rhesus macaques, and additional animal models are reviewed. There is extensive evidence that social and environmental deprivation promotes self-injurious behaviour in both humans (including children with autism) and animal models. Moreover, there are multiple lines of convergent neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and neurochemical data that draw parallels between self-injurious children with autism and environmentally deprived humans and animals. A hypothesis is presented that describes how the core symptoms of autism make these children particularly vulnerable for self-injurious behaviour. Relevant neurodevelopmental pathology is described in cortical, limbic, and basal ganglia brain regions, and additional research is suggested.

  6. The Battle between the Biometricians and the Mendelians: How Sir Francis Galton's Work Caused His Disciples to Reach Conflicting Conclusions about the Hereditary Mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillham, Nicholas W.

    2015-01-01

    Francis Galton, Charles Darwin's cousin, had wide and varied interests. They ranged from exploration and travel writing to fingerprinting and the weather. After reading Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," Galton reached the conclusion that it should be possible to improve the human stock through selective breeding, as was the…

  7. Chronic malnutrition and its determinants among refugee children ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: Malnutrition remains one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality among children throughout the world, and is an important public health problem affecting preschool children. Refugee children, due to their living condition, are the most vulnerable to suffer from this problem. The magnitude of ...

  8. [Children, television and violence].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zann, M

    2000-03-01

    The relationships between children and television are a source of heated debate. Several studies, mainly conducted in North America, have found a correlation between television violence viewing and aggressive behavior, preadolescents appearing as the most vulnerable. However, in France opinions are more nuanced and one generally considers that television-induced violence in children mainly depends upon individual and educative socio-familial factors.

  9. PORT SECURITY-Threats and Vulnerabilities

    OpenAIRE

    Kusi, Bernard

    2015-01-01

    The main objective of this thesis is to identify the threats and the vulnerabilities concerning Takoradi port, and finally recommend measure to overcome the identified threats and vul-nerabilities. Various categories of potential threats and vulnerabilities have been studied throughout the literature review. However, because each port presents a unique sets of threats and vulnerabilities, there was a need to look critically into how Takoradi port operations are being conducted in other to ide...

  10. Vulnerable Family Meetings: A Way of Promoting Team Working in GPs’ Everyday Responses to Child Maltreatment?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jenny Woodman

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This study uses observations of team meetings and interviews with 17 primary care professionals in four GP practices in England to generate hypotheses about how “vulnerable family” team meetings might support responses by GPs to maltreatment-related concerns and joint working with other professionals. These meetings are also called “safeguarding meetings”. The study found that vulnerable family meetings were used as a way of monitoring children or young people and their families and supporting risk assessment by information gathering. Four factors facilitated the meetings: meaningful information flow into the meetings from other agencies, systematic ways of identifying cases for discussion, limiting attendance to core members of the primary care team and locating the meeting as part of routine clinical practice. Our results generate hypotheses about a model of care that can be tested for effectiveness in terms of service measures, child and family outcomes, and as a potential mechanism for other professionals to engage and support GPs in their everyday responses to vulnerable and maltreated children. The potential for adverse as well as beneficial effects should be considered from involving professionals outside the core primary care team (e.g., police, children’s social care, education and mental health services.

  11. Francis-99 turbine numerical flow simulation of steady state operation using RANS and RANS/LES turbulence model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minakov, A.; Platonov, D.; Sentyabov, A.; Gavrilov, A.

    2017-01-01

    We performed numerical simulation of flow in a laboratory model of a Francis hydroturbine at three regimes, using two eddy-viscosity- (EVM) and a Reynolds stress (RSM) RANS models (realizable k-ɛ, k-ω SST, LRR) and detached-eddy-simulations (DES), as well as large-eddy simulations (LES). Comparison of calculation results with the experimental data was carried out. Unlike the linear EVMs, the RSM, DES, and LES reproduced well the mean velocity components, and pressure pulsations in the diffusor draft tube. Despite relatively coarse meshes and insufficient resolution of the near-wall region, LES, DES also reproduced well the intrinsic flow unsteadiness and the dominant flow structures and the associated pressure pulsations in the draft tube.

  12. Nationalism, Nuclear Policy and Children in Cold War America.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephens, Sharon

    1997-01-01

    Theorizes the place of children in America's "Cold War Consensus" of the 1950s-60s. Counterposes dominant Cold War images of abstract, generic children (inevitably white middle class) to actual children most vulnerable to risks associated with nuclear weapons production and testing. Concludes that in various ways, these children were all…

  13. The Role of Birth/Previously Adopted Children in Families Choosing to Adopt Children with Special Needs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mullin, Ellen Steele; Johnson, LeAnne

    1999-01-01

    Notes that successful child placement depends on engaging birth or previously adopted children during the adoption process, yet other children are often overlooked when parents are adopting a special-needs child. Presents a model which recognizes dynamics of strength and vulnerability and applies that model to preparing and supporting the adoptive…

  14. Where Lies the Risk? An Ecological Approach to Understanding Child Mental Health Risk and Vulnerabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Atilola, Olayinka

    2014-01-01

    Efforts at improving child-health and development initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa had focused on the physical health of children due to the neglect of child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) policy initiatives. A thorough and broad-based understanding of the prevalent child mental-health risk and vulnerability factors is needed to successfully articulate CAMH policies. In this discourse, we present a narrative on the child mental-health risk and vulnerability factors in sub-Saharan Africa...

  15. Energy vulnerability relationships

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shaw, B.R.; Boesen, J.L.

    1998-02-01

    The US consumption of crude oil resources has been a steadily growing indicator of the vitality and strength of the US economy. At the same time import diversity has also been a rapidly developing dimension of the import picture. In the early 1970`s, embargoes of crude oil from Organization of Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) created economic and political havoc due to a significant lack of diversity and a unique set of economic, political and domestic regulatory circumstances. The continued rise of imports has again led to concerns over the security of our crude oil resource but threats to this system must be considered in light of the diversity and current setting of imported oil. This report develops several important issues concerning vulnerability to the disruption of oil imports: (1) The Middle East is not the major supplier of oil to the United States, (2) The US is not vulnerable to having its entire import stream disrupted, (3) Even in stable countries, there exist vulnerabilities to disruption of the export stream of oil, (4) Vulnerability reduction requires a focus on international solutions, and (5) DOE program and policy development must reflect the requirements of the diverse supply. Does this increasing proportion of imported oil create a {open_quotes}dependence{close_quotes}? Does this increasing proportion of imported oil present a vulnerability to {open_quotes}price shocks{close_quotes} and the tremendous dislocations experienced during the 1970`s? Finally, what is the vulnerability of supply disruptions from the current sources of imported oil? If oil is considered to be a finite, rapidly depleting resource, then the answers to these questions must be {open_quotes}yes.{close_quotes} However, if the supply of oil is expanding, and not limited, then dependence is relative to regional supply sources.

  16. Numerical investigation of flow structure and pressure pulsation in the Francis-99 turbine during startup

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minakov, A.; Sentyabov, A.; Platonov, D.

    2017-01-01

    We performed numerical simulation of flow in a laboratory model of a Francis hydroturbine at startup regimes. Numerical technique for calculating of low frequency pressure pulsations in a water turbine is based on the use of DES (k-ω Shear Stress Transport) turbulence model and the approach of “frozen rotor”. The structure of the flow behind the runner of turbine was analysed. Shows the effect of flow structure on the frequency and intensity of non-stationary processes in the flow path. Two version of the inlet boundary conditions were considered. The first one corresponded measured time dependence of the discharge. Comparison of the calculation results with the experimental data shows the considerable delay of the discharge in this calculation. Second version corresponded linear approximation of time dependence of the discharge. This calculation shows good agreement with experimental results.

  17. Memory Vulnerability Diagnosis for Binary Program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tang Feng-Yi

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Vulnerability diagnosis is important for program security analysis. It is a further step to understand the vulnerability after it is detected, as well as a preparatory step for vulnerability repair or exploitation. This paper mainly analyses the inner theories of major memory vulnerabilities and the threats of them. And then suggests some methods to diagnose several types of memory vulnerabilities for the binary programs, which is a difficult task due to the lack of source code. The diagnosis methods target at buffer overflow, use after free (UAF and format string vulnerabilities. We carried out some tests on the Linux platform to validate the effectiveness of the diagnosis methods. It is proved that the methods can judge the type of the vulnerability given a binary program.

  18. Ten steps for promoting and protecting breastfeeding for vulnerable infants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spatz, Diane L

    2004-01-01

    Human milk is the preferred food for infants, including ill and preterm infants. Ensuring skilled and comprehensive breastfeeding support for these vulnerable infants requires a specialized approach. The author outlines 10 steps for promoting and protecting breastfeeding in vulnerable infants. The steps include providing the parents with information necessary to make an informed decision to breastfeed; assisting the mother with the establishment and maintenance of a milk supply; ensuring correct breast milk management (storage and handling) techniques; developing procedures and approaches to feeding the infant breast milk; providing skin-to-skin care (kangaroo care) and opportunities for non-nutritive sucking at the breast; managing the transition to the breast; measuring milk transfer; preparing the infant and the family for infant hospital discharge; and providing appropriate follow-up care. Material and examples are drawn from the author's research and clinical work at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Current research is utilized, and the role of the nurse is emphasized throughout.

  19. Experimental Investigation of Inter-Blade Vortices in a Model Francis Turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    LIU, Demin; LIU, Xiaobing; ZHAO, Yongzhi

    2017-07-01

    The inter-blade vortex in a Francis turbine becomes one of the main hydraulic factors that are likely to cause blade erosion at deep part load operating conditions. However, the causes and the mechanism of inter-blade vortex are still under investigation according to present researches. Thus the causes of inter-blade vortex and the effect of different hydraulic parameters on the inter-blade vortex are investigated experimentally. The whole life cycle of the inter-blade vortex is observed by a high speed camera. The test results illustrate the whole life cycle of the inter-blade vortex from generation to separation and even to fading. It is observed that the inter-blade vortex becomes stronger with the decreasing of flow and head, which leads to pressure fluctuation. Meanwhile, the pressure fluctuations in the vane-less area and the draft tube section become stronger when inter-blade vortices exist in the blade channel. The turbine will be damaged if operating in the inter-blade vortex zone, so its operating range must be far away from that zone. This paper reveals the main cause of the inter-blade vortex which is the larger incidence angle between the inflow angle and the blade angle on the leading edge of the runner at deep part load operating conditions.

  20. Fungal infection risk groups among school children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elżbieta Ejdas

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between ocurrence of fungi in children and living environment (city - countryside, sex, age, diet, undergone diseases therapy with antibiotics and exposure to hospital environment, and to indicate children potentially vulnerable to fungal infections. The material was consisted of swabs collected from the oral cavily, the throat and the nose of healthy children, aged 6-9 and 10-15, from both urban and rural environmens. Candida albicans, the basic aetiological factor in thc majority of mycoses recorded in humans, unquestionably prevailed in the group of the 13 speciec of yeast-like fungi and yeasts isolated. Records of C. glabrata and C. krusei increasing numbers of whose strains show resistance to basic antimycoties, as well as relatively frequent records of Trichosporon beigelii, Saccharomycopsis capsularis and Saccharomyces sp., fungi whose expansiveness and enzymatic activity have been growing, may be considered disconcerting. Vulnerability to fungal infection increases following anti-bacterial antibiotic therapy in the majority of subjects regardless season or age. This is particularly true primarily of the most stable ontocoenosis of the throat. Younger children, on the other hand, are the most vulnerable foUowing infection of the respiratory system. Fungi are likely to colonise the nose in this case. Children living in the countryside who had been ll immediately prior to the collection of the material constitute the highest risk group of the occurrence of fungi in any of the ontocoenoses studied. A greater number of positive inoculations were recorded in these children in comparison to the children from the city. It may be indicative of a more extensive spectrum of natural reservoirs of fungi and the vectors of their transmission in rural areas than those in the city, lower health hygiene and lower immunity or of a more common carriage of fungi among rural children.

  1. Turbulence modeling for Francis turbine water passages simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maruzewski, P; Munch, C; Mombelli, H P; Avellan, F; Hayashi, H; Yamaishi, K; Hashii, T; Sugow, Y

    2010-01-01

    The applications of Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD, to hydraulic machines life require the ability to handle turbulent flows and to take into account the effects of turbulence on the mean flow. Nowadays, Direct Numerical Simulation, DNS, is still not a good candidate for hydraulic machines simulations due to an expensive computational time consuming. Large Eddy Simulation, LES, even, is of the same category of DNS, could be an alternative whereby only the small scale turbulent fluctuations are modeled and the larger scale fluctuations are computed directly. Nevertheless, the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes, RANS, model have become the widespread standard base for numerous hydraulic machine design procedures. However, for many applications involving wall-bounded flows and attached boundary layers, various hybrid combinations of LES and RANS are being considered, such as Detached Eddy Simulation, DES, whereby the RANS approximation is kept in the regions where the boundary layers are attached to the solid walls. Furthermore, the accuracy of CFD simulations is highly dependent on the grid quality, in terms of grid uniformity in complex configurations. Moreover any successful structured and unstructured CFD codes have to offer a wide range to the variety of classic RANS model to hybrid complex model. The aim of this study is to compare the behavior of turbulent simulations for both structured and unstructured grids topology with two different CFD codes which used the same Francis turbine. Hence, the study is intended to outline the encountered discrepancy for predicting the wake of turbine blades by using either the standard k-ε model, or the standard k-ε model or the SST shear stress model in a steady CFD simulation. Finally, comparisons are made with experimental data from the EPFL Laboratory for Hydraulic Machines reduced scale model measurements.

  2. Turbulence modeling for Francis turbine water passages simulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maruzewski, P; Munch, C; Mombelli, H P; Avellan, F [Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne, Laboratory of Hydraulic Machines Avenue de Cour 33 bis, CH-1007 Lausanne (Switzerland); Hayashi, H; Yamaishi, K; Hashii, T; Sugow, Y, E-mail: pierre.maruzewski@epfl.c [Nippon KOEI Power Systems, 1-22 Doukyu, Aza, Morijyuku, Sukagawa, Fukushima Pref. 962-8508 (Japan)

    2010-08-15

    The applications of Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD, to hydraulic machines life require the ability to handle turbulent flows and to take into account the effects of turbulence on the mean flow. Nowadays, Direct Numerical Simulation, DNS, is still not a good candidate for hydraulic machines simulations due to an expensive computational time consuming. Large Eddy Simulation, LES, even, is of the same category of DNS, could be an alternative whereby only the small scale turbulent fluctuations are modeled and the larger scale fluctuations are computed directly. Nevertheless, the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes, RANS, model have become the widespread standard base for numerous hydraulic machine design procedures. However, for many applications involving wall-bounded flows and attached boundary layers, various hybrid combinations of LES and RANS are being considered, such as Detached Eddy Simulation, DES, whereby the RANS approximation is kept in the regions where the boundary layers are attached to the solid walls. Furthermore, the accuracy of CFD simulations is highly dependent on the grid quality, in terms of grid uniformity in complex configurations. Moreover any successful structured and unstructured CFD codes have to offer a wide range to the variety of classic RANS model to hybrid complex model. The aim of this study is to compare the behavior of turbulent simulations for both structured and unstructured grids topology with two different CFD codes which used the same Francis turbine. Hence, the study is intended to outline the encountered discrepancy for predicting the wake of turbine blades by using either the standard k-{epsilon} model, or the standard k-{epsilon} model or the SST shear stress model in a steady CFD simulation. Finally, comparisons are made with experimental data from the EPFL Laboratory for Hydraulic Machines reduced scale model measurements.

  3. Turbulence modeling for Francis turbine water passages simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maruzewski, P.; Hayashi, H.; Munch, C.; Yamaishi, K.; Hashii, T.; Mombelli, H. P.; Sugow, Y.; Avellan, F.

    2010-08-01

    The applications of Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD, to hydraulic machines life require the ability to handle turbulent flows and to take into account the effects of turbulence on the mean flow. Nowadays, Direct Numerical Simulation, DNS, is still not a good candidate for hydraulic machines simulations due to an expensive computational time consuming. Large Eddy Simulation, LES, even, is of the same category of DNS, could be an alternative whereby only the small scale turbulent fluctuations are modeled and the larger scale fluctuations are computed directly. Nevertheless, the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes, RANS, model have become the widespread standard base for numerous hydraulic machine design procedures. However, for many applications involving wall-bounded flows and attached boundary layers, various hybrid combinations of LES and RANS are being considered, such as Detached Eddy Simulation, DES, whereby the RANS approximation is kept in the regions where the boundary layers are attached to the solid walls. Furthermore, the accuracy of CFD simulations is highly dependent on the grid quality, in terms of grid uniformity in complex configurations. Moreover any successful structured and unstructured CFD codes have to offer a wide range to the variety of classic RANS model to hybrid complex model. The aim of this study is to compare the behavior of turbulent simulations for both structured and unstructured grids topology with two different CFD codes which used the same Francis turbine. Hence, the study is intended to outline the encountered discrepancy for predicting the wake of turbine blades by using either the standard k-epsilon model, or the standard k-epsilon model or the SST shear stress model in a steady CFD simulation. Finally, comparisons are made with experimental data from the EPFL Laboratory for Hydraulic Machines reduced scale model measurements.

  4. The use of whey or skimmed milk powder in fortified blended foods for vulnerable groups

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hoppe, Camilla Francis; Andersen, Gregers Stig; Jacobsen, Anne Stine

    2008-01-01

    of antinutrients has not been examined. Different lines of evidence suggest that dairy proteins have beneficial effects on vulnerable groups. Here we review the evidence on the effects of adding whey or skimmed milk powder to FBF used for malnourished infants and young children or people living with HIV or AIDS....... Adding whey or skimmed milk powder to FBF improves the protein quality, allowing a reduction in total amount of protein, which could have potential metabolic advantages. It also allows for a reduced content of soy and cereal and thereby a reduction of potential antinutrients. It is possible that adding...... is important for acceptability in vulnerable groups. The most important disadvantage is a considerable increase in price. Adding 10-15% milk powder would double the price, which means that such a product should be used only in well-defined vulnerable groups with special needs. The potential beneficial effects...

  5. The Catholic Bishops in the U.S. Public Arena: Changing Prospects under Pope Francis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard L. Wood

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The public profile of the Roman Catholic bishops of the United States results not simply from their own interventions in political life, but from the broad array of actions and actors within “public Catholicism” broadly conceived. This article assesses the contemporary profile of the American bishops from this broad angle, particularly in light of new dynamics under the papacy of Francis I. It does so by documenting public Catholicism’s presence in ecclesial institutions, other public institutions, and lay-centered social movements (particularly faith-based community organizing and via a case study of the healthcare reform debate around the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act. Cultural and institutional factors shaping Catholic public presence are analyzed in three dimensions of social life: institutional leadership; authority dynamics within the Church; and the culture of prayer, spirituality, and worship in parishes. Finally, the conclusion discusses the key dynamics likely to shape the future of public Catholicism in America.

  6. Vulnerability Identification Errors in Security Risk Assessments

    OpenAIRE

    Taubenberger, Stefan

    2014-01-01

    At present, companies rely on information technology systems to achieve their business objectives, making them vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. Information security risk assessments help organisations to identify their risks and vulnerabilities. An accurate identification of risks and vulnerabilities is a challenge, because the input data is uncertain. So-called ’vulnerability identification errors‘ can occur if false positive vulnerabilities are identified, or if vulnerabilities remain u...

  7. Simulation of the Francis-99 Hydro Turbine During Steady and Transient Operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewan, Yuvraj; Custer, Chad; Ivashchenko, Artem

    2017-01-01

    Numerical simulation of the Francis-99 hydroturbine with correlation to experimental measurements are presented. Steady operation of the hydroturbine is analyzed at three operating conditions: the best efficiency point (BEP), high load (HL), and part load (PL). It is shown that global quantities such as net head, discharge and efficiency are well predicted. Additionally, time-averaged velocity predictions compare well with PIV measurements obtained in the draft tube immediately downstream of the runner. Differences in vortex rope structure between operating points are discussed. Unsteady operation of the hydroturbine from BEP to HL and from BEP to PL are modeled. It is shown that simulation methods used to model the steady operation produce predictions that correlate well with experiment for transient operation. Time-domain unsteady simulation is used for both steady and unsteady operation. The full-fidelity geometry including all components is meshed using an unstructured polyhedral mesh with body-fitted prism layers. Guide vane rotation for transient operation is imposed using fully-conservative, computationally efficient mesh morphing. The commercial solver STAR-CCM+ is used for all portions of the analysis including meshing, solving and post-processing.

  8. Experiences with the hydraulic design of the high specific speed Francis turbine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Obrovsky, J; Zouhar, J

    2014-01-01

    The high specific speed Francis turbine is still suitable alternative for refurbishment of older hydro power plants with lower heads and worse cavitation conditions. In the paper the design process of such kind of turbine together with the results comparison of homological model tests performed in hydraulic laboratory of ČKD Blansko Engineering is introduced. The turbine runner was designed using the optimization algorithm and considering the high specific speed hydraulic profile. It means that hydraulic profiles of the spiral case, the distributor and the draft tube were used from a Kaplan turbine. The optimization was done as the automatic cycle and was based on a simplex optimization method as well as on a genetic algorithm. The number of blades is shown as the parameter which changes the resulting specific speed of the turbine between n s =425 to 455 together with the cavitation characteristics. Minimizing of cavitation on the blade surface as well as on the inlet edge of the runner blade was taken into account during the design process. The results of CFD analyses as well as the model tests are mentioned in the paper

  9. Experiences with the hydraulic design of the high specific speed Francis turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obrovsky, J.; Zouhar, J.

    2014-03-01

    The high specific speed Francis turbine is still suitable alternative for refurbishment of older hydro power plants with lower heads and worse cavitation conditions. In the paper the design process of such kind of turbine together with the results comparison of homological model tests performed in hydraulic laboratory of ČKD Blansko Engineering is introduced. The turbine runner was designed using the optimization algorithm and considering the high specific speed hydraulic profile. It means that hydraulic profiles of the spiral case, the distributor and the draft tube were used from a Kaplan turbine. The optimization was done as the automatic cycle and was based on a simplex optimization method as well as on a genetic algorithm. The number of blades is shown as the parameter which changes the resulting specific speed of the turbine between ns=425 to 455 together with the cavitation characteristics. Minimizing of cavitation on the blade surface as well as on the inlet edge of the runner blade was taken into account during the design process. The results of CFD analyses as well as the model tests are mentioned in the paper.

  10. Fuzzing and Vulnerabilities Search

    OpenAIRE

    Stanislav Evgenyevich Kirillov; Nikolai Petrovich Lavrentiev

    2013-01-01

    Fuzzing for vulnerabilities can be very effective if we know the input data format. This work contains description of network message format recovery algorithm and the usage of restored data model in fuzzing and vulnerabilities search.

  11. The Health and Well-Being of Neglected, Abused and Exploited Children: The Kyiv Street Children Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerfoot, Michael; Koshyl, Vira; Roganov, Oleksandr; Mikhailichenko, Kateryna; Gorbova, Irina; Pottage, David

    2007-01-01

    Objective: To report on the backgrounds and physical and emotional well-being of street children using two street shelters in Kyiv, Ukraine. This study is important because personal accounts of street children may highlight individual or family factors that are associated with vulnerability for and risk of poor mental health, and these could have…

  12. Aren't we all vulnerable: why do vulnerability analysis?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moench, Marcus

    2011-11-15

    The idea of 'vulnerability' is widely-used shorthand for the disproportionate impacts that climate change will have on high-risk groups and fragile ecosystems. Decision makers increasingly want to target adaptation funding to those people and environments most affected by climate change. They must also be able to monitor the effectiveness of their investments. Vulnerability analysis is sometimes presented as the solution to these wants and needs — but existing approaches are often of little use: at best, they reiterate what we already know; at worst, they are used to justify entrenched agendas. To be truly useful as a basis for dialogue, action and accountability, the meaning of 'vulnerability' must be clarified and the methods for analysing it greatly strengthened. This means establishing standard, replicable approaches that differentiate between the roles and exposure of stakeholders, systems and institutions.

  13. spatially identifying vulnerable areas

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The model structure is aimed at understanding the critical vulnerable factors that ... This paper incorporates multiple criteria and rank risk factors. ..... In terms of quantifying vulnerable areas within the country, the analysis is done based on 9 ...

  14. No Pet or Their Person Left Behind: Increasing the Disaster Resilience of Vulnerable Groups through Animal Attachment, Activities and Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kirrilly Thompson

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Increased vulnerability to natural disasters has been associated with particular groups in the community. This includes those who are considered de facto vulnerable (children, older people, those with disabilities etc. and those who own pets (not to mention pets themselves. The potential for reconfiguring pet ownership from a risk factor to a protective factor for natural disaster survival has been recently proposed. But how might this resilience-building proposition apply to vulnerable members of the community who own pets or other animals? This article addresses this important question by synthesizing information about what makes particular groups vulnerable, the challenges to increasing their resilience and how animals figure in their lives. Despite different vulnerabilities, animals were found to be important to the disaster resilience of seven vulnerable groups in Australia. Animal attachment and animal-related activities and networks are identified as underexplored devices for disseminating or ‘piggybacking’ disaster-related information and engaging vulnerable people in resilience building behaviors (in addition to including animals in disaster planning initiatives in general. Animals may provide the kind of innovative approach required to overcome the challenges in accessing and engaging vulnerable groups. As the survival of humans and animals are so often intertwined, the benefits of increasing the resilience of vulnerable communities through animal attachment is twofold: human and animal lives can be saved together.

  15. No Pet or Their Person Left Behind: Increasing the Disaster Resilience of Vulnerable Groups through Animal Attachment, Activities and Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Kirrilly; Every, Danielle; Rainbird, Sophia; Cornell, Victoria; Smith, Bradley; Trigg, Joshua

    2014-05-07

    Increased vulnerability to natural disasters has been associated with particular groups in the community. This includes those who are considered de facto vulnerable (children, older people, those with disabilities etc.) and those who own pets (not to mention pets themselves). The potential for reconfiguring pet ownership from a risk factor to a protective factor for natural disaster survival has been recently proposed. But how might this resilience-building proposition apply to vulnerable members of the community who own pets or other animals? This article addresses this important question by synthesizing information about what makes particular groups vulnerable, the challenges to increasing their resilience and how animals figure in their lives. Despite different vulnerabilities, animals were found to be important to the disaster resilience of seven vulnerable groups in Australia. Animal attachment and animal-related activities and networks are identified as underexplored devices for disseminating or 'piggybacking' disaster-related information and engaging vulnerable people in resilience building behaviors (in addition to including animals in disaster planning initiatives in general). Animals may provide the kind of innovative approach required to overcome the challenges in accessing and engaging vulnerable groups. As the survival of humans and animals are so often intertwined, the benefits of increasing the resilience of vulnerable communities through animal attachment is twofold: human and animal lives can be saved together.

  16. Fuzzing and Vulnerabilities Search

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stanislav Evgenyevich Kirillov

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Fuzzing for vulnerabilities can be very effective if we know the input data format. This work contains description of network message format recovery algorithm and the usage of restored data model in fuzzing and vulnerabilities search.

  17. Poor complementary feeding practices among young children in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Globally, 6.9 million children below the age of five years died in 2011, and 33% of these deaths are linked to malnutrition.1. Nutrition plays a vital role in the development and health of children.2 Children during the first two years of life are particularly vulnerable to growth retardation, micronutrient deficiencies, and common ...

  18. Abortion, metaphysics and morality: a review of Francis Beckwith's defending life: a moral and legal case against abortion choice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nobis, Nathan

    2011-06-01

    In Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice (2007) and an earlier article in this journal, "Defending Abortion Philosophically"(2006), Francis Beckwith argues that fetuses are, from conception, prima facie wrong to kill. His arguments are based on what he calls a "metaphysics of the human person" known as "The Substance View." I argue that Beckwith's metaphysics does not support his abortion ethic: Moral, not metaphysical, claims that are part of this Substance View are the foundation of the argument, and Beckwith inadequately defends these moral claims. Thus, Beckwith's arguments do not provide strong support for what he calls the "pro-life" view of abortion.

  19. Reinforcing the "Diminished" Subject? the Implications of the "Vulnerability Zeitgeist" for Well-Being in Educational Settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ecclestone, K.; Rawdin, C.

    2016-01-01

    Pessimistic discourses about crises in youth and children's well-being, mental health and vulnerability permeate English educational policy and practice. These generate vague and slippery elisions of wellbeing and mental health, and the related rise of an ad hoc, confusing market of psycho-emotional interventions promoted by new types of…

  20. Selective vulnerability in brain hypoxia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cervos-Navarro, J.; Diemer, Nils Henrik

    1991-01-01

    Neuropathology, selective vulnerability, brain hypoxia, vascular factors, excitotoxicity, ion homeostasis......Neuropathology, selective vulnerability, brain hypoxia, vascular factors, excitotoxicity, ion homeostasis...

  1. Children--The Effect of Rural Residence on Dental Unmet Need for Children with Special Health Care Needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skinner, Asheley Cockrell; Slifkin, Rebecca T.; Mayer, Michelle L.

    2006-01-01

    Background: Unmet need for dental care is the most prevalent unmet health care need among children with special health care needs (CSHCN), even though these children are at a greater risk for dental problems. The combination of rural residence and special health care needs may leave rural CSHCN particularly vulnerable to high levels of unmet…

  2. Caught in the Web: How Online Advertising Exploits Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasnik, Shelley

    1997-01-01

    Principals should be aware of Internet advertising targeted at children. According to a recent Center for Media Education study, many companies design online sites for children as a way to bypass adult authority and prey on children's vulnerabilities. Some companies use their online sites to develop brand loyalties or collect market-segment data…

  3. Web Application Vulnerabilities

    OpenAIRE

    Yadav, Bhanu

    2014-01-01

    Web application security has been a major issue in information technology since the evolvement of dynamic web application. The main objective of this project was to carry out a detailed study on the top three web application vulnerabilities such as injection, cross site scripting, broken authentication and session management, present the situation where an application can be vulnerable to these web threats and finally provide preventative measures against them. ...

  4. Mapping human vulnerability to climate change in the Brazilian Amazon: The construction of a municipal vulnerability index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menezes, Júlia Alves; Confalonieri, Ulisses; Madureira, Ana Paula; Duval, Isabela de Brito; Santos, Rhavena Barbosa Dos; Margonari, Carina

    2018-01-01

    Vulnerability, understood as the propensity to be adversely affected, has attained importance in the context of climate change by helping to understand what makes populations and territories predisposed to its impacts. Conditions of vulnerability may vary depending on the characteristics of each territory studied-social, environmental, infrastructural, public policies, among others. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate what makes the municipalities of the state of Amazonas, Brazil, vulnerable to climate change in the context of the largest tropical forest in the world, and which regions of the State are the most susceptible. A Municipal Vulnerability Index was developed, which was used to associate current socio-environmental characteristics of municipalities with climate change scenarios in order to identify those that may be most affected by climate change. The results showed that poor adaptive capacity and poverty had the most influence on current vulnerability of the municipalities of Amazonas with the most vulnerable areas being the southern, northern, and eastern regions of the state. When current vulnerability was related to future climate change projections, the most vulnerable areas were the northern, northeastern, extreme southern, and southwestern regions. From a socio-environmental and climatic point of view, these regions should be a priority for public policy efforts to reduce their vulnerability and prepare them to cope with the adverse aspects of climate change.

  5. Mapping human vulnerability to climate change in the Brazilian Amazon: The construction of a municipal vulnerability index.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Júlia Alves Menezes

    Full Text Available Vulnerability, understood as the propensity to be adversely affected, has attained importance in the context of climate change by helping to understand what makes populations and territories predisposed to its impacts. Conditions of vulnerability may vary depending on the characteristics of each territory studied-social, environmental, infrastructural, public policies, among others. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate what makes the municipalities of the state of Amazonas, Brazil, vulnerable to climate change in the context of the largest tropical forest in the world, and which regions of the State are the most susceptible. A Municipal Vulnerability Index was developed, which was used to associate current socio-environmental characteristics of municipalities with climate change scenarios in order to identify those that may be most affected by climate change. The results showed that poor adaptive capacity and poverty had the most influence on current vulnerability of the municipalities of Amazonas with the most vulnerable areas being the southern, northern, and eastern regions of the state. When current vulnerability was related to future climate change projections, the most vulnerable areas were the northern, northeastern, extreme southern, and southwestern regions. From a socio-environmental and climatic point of view, these regions should be a priority for public policy efforts to reduce their vulnerability and prepare them to cope with the adverse aspects of climate change.

  6. More important vulnerability to radiations among children and elderly people

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1998-01-01

    from the studies made on the Hiroshima inhabitants having survived to the atomic bombs explosions, M. Alice Stewart showed the danger of radiations for pregnant women, children and elderly people. She has estimated that the risk of dying of a neoplasm is multiplied by two for persons aged of more than 55 years, comparatively with others adults; But for children aged of less than ten years this risk is one thousand time superior than for fifty five years old people. (N.C.)

  7. Addressing Tooth Decay in Head Start Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knowlden, Adam P.; Hill, Lawrence F.; Alles-White, Monica L.; Cottrell, Randall R.

    2012-01-01

    Tooth decay is the most prevalent chronic disease of childhood. Oral health education and dental services are crucial to reducing the number of children afflicted with dental cavities. Due to limited access to preventative care, Head Start children are particularly vulnerable to tooth decay. This article outlines practical implications of a…

  8. An experience of improvement on parenting skills and socio-personal development in minors in serious social vulnerability situation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabel Bartau Rojas

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an educational intervention design and assessment aimed to improve the socio-personal development of minors in a situation of serious social vulnerability, and the parenting skills of their mothers and fathers. The sample includes families in situations of serious social vulnerability, with complex problems making parenting difficult (psychiatric problems, unemployment, social exclusion, etc.. The sample group comprised fathers, mothers and children. 18 persons (10 families took part in the first phase of intervention and 15 persons in the second. The intervention was carried out in 3 groups (fathers, mothers and minors, and consisted of 5 fortnightly sessions lasting two hours each. Assessments were carried out before, during and after the intervention, comparing the information obtained from all groups involved (fathers, mothers, minors, family workers and group leaders. The educational intervention helped both fathers and mothers to understand better their children’s needs. Improvements were found in the emotional and cooperation skills of the minors. The professionals observed improvements in the relations between parents and children, and related them to the families’ involvement in the educational program. The work carried out has contributed to increase the children awareness of their parent’s inability to look after them and the effort made by them to learn and improve, as well. It was concluded that the strictly educational intervention promotes the initiation of small improvements positively evaluated by all groups involved. The educational intervention helps to develop values such as ‘to learn caring’ in social vulnerability contexts.

  9. Images of trauma: pain, recognition, and disavowal in the works of Frida Kahlo and Francis Bacon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bose, Joerg

    2005-01-01

    The role of art in the encounter with trauma and destructiveness is comparatively studied in the works of Frida Kahlo and Francis Bacon as examples of a direct and a more indirect way of dealing with such experiences. A creative product may function intrapsychically as a kind of messenger between dissociated self-states and consciousness, and it may also serve as a witnessing presence in a self-supporting and self-constituting way. Artistic work may thus be used by the artist for an expressive as well as for a protective purpose, as a means of sympathetic participation in painful experience, or as a medium for a view from the outside. The act itself of finding and of making expressive forms at the time of traumatic experience is a remarkable assertion of the human capability to synthesize and to counteract fragmenting dissociative processes.

  10. Mining Bug Databases for Unidentified Software Vulnerabilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dumidu Wijayasekara; Milos Manic; Jason Wright; Miles McQueen

    2012-06-01

    Identifying software vulnerabilities is becoming more important as critical and sensitive systems increasingly rely on complex software systems. It has been suggested in previous work that some bugs are only identified as vulnerabilities long after the bug has been made public. These vulnerabilities are known as hidden impact vulnerabilities. This paper discusses the feasibility and necessity to mine common publicly available bug databases for vulnerabilities that are yet to be identified. We present bug database analysis of two well known and frequently used software packages, namely Linux kernel and MySQL. It is shown that for both Linux and MySQL, a significant portion of vulnerabilities that were discovered for the time period from January 2006 to April 2011 were hidden impact vulnerabilities. It is also shown that the percentage of hidden impact vulnerabilities has increased in the last two years, for both software packages. We then propose an improved hidden impact vulnerability identification methodology based on text mining bug databases, and conclude by discussing a few potential problems faced by such a classifier.

  11. Open Source Vulnerability Database Project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jake Kouns

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available This article introduces the Open Source Vulnerability Database (OSVDB project which manages a global collection of computer security vulnerabilities, available for free use by the information security community. This collection contains information on known security weaknesses in operating systems, software products, protocols, hardware devices, and other infrastructure elements of information technology. The OSVDB project is intended to be the centralized global open source vulnerability collection on the Internet.

  12. Global Climate Change and Children's Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahdoot, Samantha; Pacheco, Susan E

    2015-11-01

    Rising global temperature is causing major physical, chemical, and ecological changes across the planet. There is wide consensus among scientific organizations and climatologists that these broad effects, known as climate change, are the result of contemporary human activity. Climate change poses threats to human health, safety, and security. Children are uniquely vulnerable to these threats. The effects of climate change on child health include physical and psychological sequelae of weather disasters, increased heat stress, decreased air quality, altered disease patterns of some climate-sensitive infections, and food, water, and nutrient insecurity in vulnerable regions. Prompt implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies will protect children against worsening of the problem and its associated health effects. This technical report reviews the nature of climate change and its associated child health effects and supports the recommendations in the accompanying policy statement on climate change and children's health. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  13. Cotton genetic resources and crop vulnerability

    Science.gov (United States)

    A report on the genetic vulnerability of cotton was provided to the National Genetic Resources Advisory Council. The report discussed crop vulnerabilities associated with emerging diseases, emerging pests, and a narrowing genetic base. To address these crop vulnerabilities, the report discussed the ...

  14. Vulnerability and resilience: a critical nexus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lotz, Mianna

    2016-02-01

    Not all forms of human fragility or vulnerability are unavoidable. Sometimes we knowingly and intentionally impose conditions of vulnerability on others; and sometimes we knowingly and intentionally enter into and assume conditions of vulnerability for ourselves (for example, when we decide to trust or forgive, enter into intimate relationships with others, become a parent, become a subject of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, and the like). In this article, I propose a presently overlooked basis on which one might evaluate whether the imposition or assumption of vulnerability is acceptable, and on which one might ground a significant class of vulnerability-related obligations. Distinct from existing accounts of the importance of promoting autonomy in conditions of vulnerability, this article offers a preliminary exploration of the nature, role, and importance of resilience promotion, its relationship to autonomy promotion, and its prospects for improving human wellbeing in autonomy inhibiting conditions.

  15. Malaria Parasitemia in Children Aged less than 5 Years Presenting ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Fever is the commonest manifestation and Children aged less than 5 years are most vulnerable. An appraisal of this disease among these children is important to reducing the impact of the disease. Objective: To determine the prevalence and identify factors affecting malaria parasitemia in febrile children aged less than 5 ...

  16. Children's adjustment to their divorced parents' new relationships.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isaacs, Ar

    2002-08-01

    With new relationships common after divorce, researchers have tried to determine the factors that predict how well children adjust to their stepfamily. The many potential factors are often grouped into the categories of family process, individual risk and vulnerability, and ecological variables. Family process is concentrated on the impact of disrupted family relationships; positive outcomes are associated with low conflict and authoritative parenting. Individual risk and vulnerability includes attributes of the child and the adults; positive outcomes are associated with children who have an easy temperament. Adolescents and girls may have particular difficulty adjusting. Ecological perspectives include the larger social environment such as peers and school.

  17. Los niños y niñas un grupo vulnerable en México

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriana Jaimes Fonseca

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available One of the great problems that at the moment are debate is the vulnerability of the mexican childhood, thats because they are part of a group, when being in a process of formation and development, it maintains a relation of greater dependency with other people, what implies frequents violations of its rights, little visible in relation to other groups of the population. The situation of million children worsens when the parents live in conditions of marginalization and poverty, because the children acquire responsibilities that are not of them, resigning to means and resources necessary to increase its future opportunities like the education. Nevertheless, the constitutional reform in human rights, can constitute, in the medium term, a powerful a referring protection of the people's rights, among them, the children rights.

  18. A Comparative Study of Behavior Problems among Left-Behind Children, Migrant Children and Local Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongwei Hu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to estimate the prevalence of behavioral problems among left-behind children, migrant children and local children in China, and to compare the risks of behavioral problems among the three types of children. Data on 4479 children aged 6–16 used in this study were from a survey conducted in China in 2017. The school-age version of the Children Behavior Checklist was used to measure children’s behavioral problems. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and logistic regressions were conducted. The prevalence of behavioral problems was 18.80% and 13.59% for left-behind children and migrant children, respectively, both of which were higher than that of local children. Logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustments for individual and environmental variables, the likelihood of total, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems for left-behind children and migrant children were higher than those for local children; left-behind children had a higher likelihood of internalizing problems than externalizing problems, while migrant children had a higher prevalence of externalizing problems. Left-behind children had a higher prevalence of each specific syndrome than migrant and local children. Both individual and environmental factors were associated with child behavioral problems, and family migration may contribute to the increased risks. Left-behind and migrant children were more vulnerable than local children to behavioral problems.

  19. VT - Vermont Social Vulnerability Index

    Data.gov (United States)

    Vermont Center for Geographic Information — Social vulnerability refers to the resilience of communities when responding to or recovering from threats to public health. The Vermont Social Vulnerability Index...

  20. Experimental Hydro-Mechanical Characterization of Full Load Pressure Surge in Francis Turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, A.; Favrel, A.; Landry, C.; Yamamoto, K.; Avellan, F.

    2017-04-01

    Full load pressure surge limits the operating range of hydro-electric generating units by causing significant power output swings and by compromising the safety of the plant. It appears during the off-design operation of hydraulic machines, which is increasingly required to regulate the broad integration of volatile renewable energy sources into the existing power network. The underlying causes and governing physical mechanisms of this instability were investigated in the frame of a large European research project and this paper documents the main findings from two experimental campaigns on a reduced scale model of a Francis turbine. The multi-phase flow in the draft tube is characterized by Particle Image Velocimetry, Laser Doppler Velocimetry and high-speed visualizations, along with synchronized measurements of the relevant hydro-mechanical quantities. The final result is a comprehensive overview of how the unsteady draft tube flow and the mechanical torque on the runner shaft behave during one mean period of the pressure oscillation, thus defining the unstable fluid-structure interaction responsible for the power swings. A discussion of the root cause is initiated, based on the state of the art. Finally, the latest results will enable a validation of recent RANS flow simulations used for determining the key parameters of hydro-acoustic stability models.

  1. Water hammer effect in the spiral case and penstock of Francis turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pepa, D.; Ursoniu, C.; Gillich, R. N.; Campian, C. V.

    2017-01-01

    Sudden pressure increases in the penstock or spiral case of a hydraulic turbine are the effect of sudden flow variation that occur during transient processes of type opening / closing or load rejection of the hydro unit. The consequence of the pressure rise in the spiral case and penstock is the water hammer phenomenon, whose effects can be devastating in some cases, up to breaking pipes and calamities produced in the area. This paper aims to analyze the method of calculation of the maximum pressure values that might occur in load rejection situations to a hydraulic turbine, in spiral case and in penstock, conditioned by the limiting of the values of the over speed and measures of limiting the increase in pressure in conjunction with limiting the increase in speed in these specific processes. As an example, we studied and analyzed the situation of a hydroelectric power plant equipped with a 7.8 MW Francis turbine without pressure regulator and the inflow surge. The results of analytical calculation overlaid on the experimental measurements performed during the performance tests of the hydro unit lead to the conclusion that the calculation algorithm proposed has been chosen correctly and the 2-stage closing law of the wicket gate promoted in this case is effective in such situations.

  2. Animal models to study plaque vulnerability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schapira, K.; Heeneman, S.; Daemen, M. J. A. P.

    2007-01-01

    The need to identify and characterize vulnerable atherosclerotic lesions in humans has lead to the development of various animal models of plaque vulnerability. In this review, current concepts of the vulnerable plaque as it leads to an acute coronary event are described, such as plaque rupture,

  3. Complejidad, conflicto armado y vulnerabilidad de niños y niñas desplazados en colombia (complexity, armed conflict, and vulnerability of displaced children in colombia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jose Alonso Andrade Salazar

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available RESUMEN: Este trabajo tiene como objetivo realizar una reflexión acerca de la vulnerabilidad de los niños y niñas víctimas del conflicto armado en Colombia. Para ello se recurriro al principio de auto-eco-organización y de Bucle inter-retroactivo. La violencia es un fenómeno complejo de múltiples interacciones, de características no-lineales y tendencia auto-eo-organizativa que afecta la noción de sujeto y altera el modo como los niños y niñas interpretan el mundo y sus interacciones. ABSTRACT: This paper aims to carry out a reflection on the vulnerability of children, who are victims of the armed conflict in Colombia. This was used at the beginning of the self-eco-organization and the inter-retroactive loop. Violence is a complex phenomenon of multiple interactions, non-linear features, and a self-ecoorganizational tendency, which affects the notion of subject and alters the way that children interpret the world and their interactions.

  4. Street children in Mafikeng, North-West Province: A qualitative study ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The general perception, on the part of South African society, is that street children are a major social menace. Yet the reality is that, street children are a vulnerable group that suffer both psychological and physical violence including sexual abuse. This qualitative study investigated the social experiences of street children in ...

  5. The mine and the furnace: Francis Bacon, Thomas Russell, and early Stuart mining culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pastorino, Cesare

    2009-01-01

    Notwithstanding Francis Bacon's praise for the philosophical role of the mechanical arts, historians have often downplayed Bacon's connections with actual artisans and entrepreneurs. Addressing the specific context of mining culture, this study proposes a rather different picture. The analysis of a famous mining metaphor in The Advancement of Learning shows us how Bacon's project of reform of knowledge could find an apt correspondence in civic and entrepreneurial values of his time. Also, Bacon had interesting and so far unexplored links with the early modern English mining enterprises, like the Company of Mineral and Battery Works, ofwhich he was a shareholder. Moreover, Bacon's notes in a private notebook, Commentarius Solutus, and records of patents of invention, allow us to start grasping Bacon's connections with the metallurgist and entrepreneur Thomas Russell. Lastly, this paper argues that, to fully understand Bacon's links with the world of Stuart technicians and entrepreneurs, it is necessary to consider a different and insufficiently studied aspect of Bacon's interests, namely his work as patents referee while a Commissioner of Suits.

  6. ICMPv6 RA Flooding Vulnerability Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linas Jočys

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available ICMPv6 is the newest version of internet control message protocol, whose main purpose is to send error message indicating packet processing failure. It is know that ICMPv6 is technologically vulnerable. One of those vulnerabilities is the ICMPv6 RA flooding vulnerability, which can lead to systems in Local Area Network slow down or full stop. This paper will discuss Windows (XP, 7, 8.1 and Linux Ubuntu 14 operating systems resistance to RA flooding attack research and countermeasures to minimize this vulnerability.

  7. Assessing vulnerability of urban African communities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karlsson Nyed, Patrik; Jean-Baptiste, Nathalie; Herslund, Lise Byskov

    2014-01-01

    East African cities are in the process of assessing their vulnerabilities to climate change, but face difficulties in capturing the complexity of the various facets of vulnerability. This holistic approach, captures four different dimensions of vulnerability to flooding - Assets, Institutions......, Attitudes and the Physical environment, with Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as a case city. The methodology is actively involving the expertise of the stakeholders, and uses GIS to analyze and compile the data. The final output is presented as a comprehensible map, delineating the varying vulnerability...

  8. Analysis of the sensory profile in children with Smith-Magenis syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hildenbrand, Hanna L; Smith, Ann C M

    2012-02-01

    This study systematically assessed sensory processing in 34 children, aged 3-14 years, with Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) using the Sensory Profile Caregiver Questionnaire. Scores for the SMS cohort were significantly different from scores of the national sample of children with and without disabilities in all Sensory Profile categories and quadrants (p < .001). No main effects of age or gender were found, but an interaction effect of age by gender was found in Modulation of Sensory Input Affecting Emotional Responses, in which older females presented with the lowest scores. A significant decline over time was found in the Seeking pattern, reflecting increased vulnerability (p < .05). Nonsignificant trends suggest more vulnerabilities for older versus younger children, especially older females. The neurobehavioral phenotype in children with SMS is expanded by this description of sensory processing. How children with SMS experience and respond to everyday sensations informs multidisciplinary team decisions.

  9. Psychosocial support for orphans and vulnerable children in public ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Hennie

    human lives, along with the shape of societies (Family Health International (FHI) & United States Agency for. International ... as long-term consequences for children's balance, ... serve that, “programs [sic] could work with schools to make .... performance in school”. ..... Calverton, Maryland, USA: Macro International Inc.

  10. Motherhood, Marketization, and Consumer Vulnerability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Davies, Andrea; Prothero, Andrea; Sørensen, Elin

    2010-01-01

    This article explores consumer vulnerability and the role of public policy by focusing on new mothers. Developing the consumer vulnerability model of Baker, Gentry, and Rittenburg, the authors consider how medical contexts, political and legal factors, economic resources, societal prescriptions...... a time of physical and psychological changes in mothers-to-be. This article illustrates that the extended market logic dominating contemporary mothering environments both contributes to and has the potential to exacerbate new mothers’ vulnerability, raising important challenges for public policy, both...

  11. Groundwater vulnerability mapping of Qatar aquifers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baalousha, Husam Musa

    2016-12-01

    Qatar is one of the most arid countries in the world with limited water resources. With little rainfall and no surface water, groundwater is the only natural source of fresh water in the country. Whilst the country relies mainly on desalination of seawater to secure water supply, groundwater has extensively been used for irrigation over the last three decades, which caused adverse environmental impact. Vulnerability assessment is a widely used tool for groundwater protection and land-use management. Aquifers in Qatar are carbonate with lots of fractures, depressions and cavities. Karst aquifers are generally more vulnerable to contamination than other aquifers as any anthropogenic-sourced contaminant, especially above a highly fractured zone, can infiltrate quickly into the aquifer and spread over a wide area. The vulnerability assessment method presented in this study is based on two approaches: DRASTIC and EPIK, within the framework of Geographical Information System (GIS). Results of this study show that DRASTIC vulnerability method suits Qatar hydrogeological settings more than EPIK. The produced vulnerability map using DRASTIC shows coastal and karst areas have the highest vulnerability class. The southern part of the country is located in the low vulnerability class due to occurrence of shale formation within aquifer media, which averts downward movement of contaminants.

  12. A pragmatic analysis of vulnerability in clinical research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wendler, David

    2017-09-01

    Identifying which subjects are vulnerable, and implementing safeguards to protect them, is widely regarded as essential to clinical research. Commentators have endorsed a number of responses to these challenges and have thereby made significant progress in understanding vulnerability in clinical research. At the same time, this literature points to a central contradiction which calls into question its potential to protect vulnerable subjects in practice. Specifically, analysis suggests that all human subjects are vulnerable and vulnerability in clinical research is comparative and context dependent, in the sense that individuals are vulnerable relative to others and in some contexts only. Yet, if everyone is vulnerable, there seems to be no point in citing the vulnerability of some individuals. Moreover, the conclusion that everyone is vulnerable seems inconsistent with the claims that vulnerability is comparative and context dependent, raising concern over whether it will be possible to develop a comprehensive account of vulnerability that is internally consistent. The solution to this dilemma lies in recognition of the fact that the practical significance of claims regarding vulnerability depends on the context in which they are used. The claims that appear to lead to the central contradiction are in fact accurate conclusions that follow from different uses of the term 'vulnerability'. The present manuscript describes this 'pragmatic' approach to vulnerability in clinical research and considers its implications for ensuring that subjects receive appropriate protection. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  13. National legal system in relation to vulnerable population groups

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sjeničić Marta

    2015-01-01

    coordinated solution to the problem. In the field of palliative care of terminally ill persons, a solution is on the way to be reached through the Strategy for Palliative Care, by reorganizing the health system. The health system as it is cannot fulfill the needs of persons requiring palliative care. Coextensive systems enable establishing hospices as charity organizations in the non-governmental sector, mainly financed from donations. They represent a support to the health system in taking care of terminally ill patients. For now, our legal system does now allow non-governmental organizations to engage in health activities, although there were initiatives in that direction. To some extent, national regulations offer a basis for treatment of patients with rare illnesses, but without specifying their rights to a diagnosis or treatment and without more detailed regulations on the allocation of funds directed towards diagnosing rare illnesses and treatment of the ill. A lack of legal and financial prerequisites makes them subject to discrimination. The very fact that a large number of these patients are children makes them twice as endangered category of population. The legal system has recently started dealing with a regulation that would support persons suffering from rare illnesses, but the implementation of these provisions has still not completely become a reality. The Law on Health Care and Insurance defines children and women in their reproductive period as an especially vulnerable group. The Law on Rights to Healthcare for Children, Pregnant Women and Women on Maternity Leave, has recently been brought. The Law has been brought with an aim of ensuring rights to health care and transportation costs benefits for children, pregnant women and mothers during maternity leave, regardless of the basis on which they have health insurance. The reason for bringing such a law is noble, but the form of the legal act, which was supposed to realize the set goal, was overemphasized and

  14. Not the usual suspects: addressing layers of vulnerability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luna, Florencia; Vanderpoel, Sheryl

    2013-07-01

    This paper challenges the traditional account of vulnerability in healthcare which conceptualizes vulnerability as a list of identifiable subpopulations. This list of 'usual suspects', focusing on groups from lower resource settings, is a narrow account of vulnerability. In this article we argue that in certain circumstances middle-class individuals can be also rendered vulnerable. We propose a relational and layered account of vulnerability and explore this concept using the case study of cord blood (CB) banking. In the first section, two different approaches to 'vulnerability' are contrasted: categorical versus layered. In the second section, we describe CB banking and present a case study of CB banking in Argentina. We examine the types of pressure that middle-class pregnant women feel when considering CB collection and storage. In section three, we use the CB banking case study to critique the categorical approach to vulnerability: this model is unable to account for the ways in which these women are vulnerable. A layered account of vulnerability identifies several ways in which middle-class women are vulnerable. Finally, by utilizing the layered approach, this paper suggests how public health policies could be designed to overcome vulnerabilities. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. THE SONATA FOR CLARINET AND PIANO BY FRANCIS POULENC FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE GENRE EVOLUTION OF THE 20th CENTURY SONATA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ROJNOVEANU ANGELA

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The article focuses on the analysis of the Sonata for clarinet and piano by Francis Poulenc that still presents great interest nowadays. This is a masterpiece of twenty century music – an original composition considered from the point of view of its stylistic structure in the context of the experiments carried out in the composition techniques of last century. The author ap­proaches problems of opus themes and architectonics as well as some aspects of musical language.

  16. Some Health Problems Among Working Children In Zagzig City ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: Children's increased vulnerability puts them at a high risk of work related health problems. Objectives: 1) identifying the characteristics of the child labor, work perceptions and job satisfaction among working children in Zagazig City 2) determining some health problems among them, 3) determining the ...

  17. Extending Vulnerability Assessment to Include Life Stages Considerations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodgson, Emma E; Essington, Timothy E; Kaplan, Isaac C

    2016-01-01

    Species are experiencing a suite of novel stressors from anthropogenic activities that have impacts at multiple scales. Vulnerability assessment is one tool to evaluate the likely impacts that these stressors pose to species so that high-vulnerability cases can be identified and prioritized for monitoring, protection, or mitigation. Commonly used semi-quantitative methods lack a framework to explicitly account for differences in exposure to stressors and organism responses across life stages. Here we propose a modification to commonly used spatial vulnerability assessment methods that includes such an approach, using ocean acidification in the California Current as an illustrative case study. Life stage considerations were included by assessing vulnerability of each life stage to ocean acidification and were used to estimate population vulnerability in two ways. We set population vulnerability equal to: (1) the maximum stage vulnerability and (2) a weighted mean across all stages, with weights calculated using Lefkovitch matrix models. Vulnerability was found to vary across life stages for the six species explored in this case study: two krill-Euphausia pacifica and Thysanoessa spinifera, pteropod-Limacina helicina, pink shrimp-Pandalus jordani, Dungeness crab-Metacarcinus magister and Pacific hake-Merluccius productus. The maximum vulnerability estimates ranged from larval to subadult and adult stages with no consistent stage having maximum vulnerability across species. Similarly, integrated vulnerability metrics varied greatly across species. A comparison showed that some species had vulnerabilities that were similar between the two metrics, while other species' vulnerabilities varied substantially between the two metrics. These differences primarily resulted from cases where the most vulnerable stage had a low relative weight. We compare these methods and explore circumstances where each method may be appropriate.

  18. Multi-dimensional flood vulnerability assessment using data envelopment analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zahid, Zalina; Saharizan, Nurul Syuhada; Hamzah, Paezah; Hussin, Siti Aida Sheikh; Khairi, Siti Shaliza Mohd

    2017-11-01

    Malaysia has been greatly impacted by flood during monsoon seasons. Even though flood prone areas are well identified, assessment on the vulnerability of the disaster is lacking. Assessment of flood vulnerability, defined as the potential for loss when a disaster occurs, is addressed in this paper. The focus is on the development of flood vulnerability measurement in 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia using a non-parametric approach of Data Envelopment Analysis. Scores for three dimensions of flood vulnerability (Population Vulnerability, Social Vulnerability and Biophysical) were calculated using secondary data of selected input and output variables across an 11-year period from 2004 to 2014. The results showed that Johor and Pahang were the most vulnerable to flood in terms of Population Vulnerability, followed by Kelantan, the most vulnerable to flood in terms of Social Vulnerability and Kedah, Pahang and Terengganu were the most vulnerable to flood in terms of Biophysical Vulnerability among the eleven states. The results also showed that the state of Johor, Pahang and Kelantan to be most vulnerable across the three dimensions. Flood vulnerability assessment is important as it provides invaluable information that will allow the authority to identify and develop plans for flood mitigation and to reduce the vulnerability of flood at the affected regions.

  19. Re-diseño de la línea de ejes de turbinas Francis de salto elevado para la mejora de su competitividad

    OpenAIRE

    GARCÍA MÓNACO, ALEJANDRO

    2015-01-01

    El objetivo de este proyecto es mejorar la línea de ejes de las turbinas Francis de eje horizontal. En especial, se ha trabajado con aquellas máquinas diseñadas para funcionar con saltos de agua elevados. El proyecto surge del conocimiento de importantes ventajas económicas de las turbinas horizontales frente a las verticales y de la voluntad por parte de ALSTOM HYDRO de mejorar los rendimientos de las primeras para hacerlas más competitivas. Los capítulos 3 y 4 son introductorios a la pro...

  20. Modeling Coastal Vulnerability through Space and Time.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopper, Thomas; Meixler, Marcia S

    2016-01-01

    Coastal ecosystems experience a wide range of stressors including wave forces, storm surge, sea-level rise, and anthropogenic modification and are thus vulnerable to erosion. Urban coastal ecosystems are especially important due to the large populations these limited ecosystems serve. However, few studies have addressed the issue of urban coastal vulnerability at the landscape scale with spatial data that are finely resolved. The purpose of this study was to model and map coastal vulnerability and the role of natural habitats in reducing vulnerability in Jamaica Bay, New York, in terms of nine coastal vulnerability metrics (relief, wave exposure, geomorphology, natural habitats, exposure, exposure with no habitat, habitat role, erodible shoreline, and surge) under past (1609), current (2015), and future (2080) scenarios using InVEST 3.2.0. We analyzed vulnerability results both spatially and across all time periods, by stakeholder (ownership) and by distance to damage from Hurricane Sandy. We found significant differences in vulnerability metrics between past, current and future scenarios for all nine metrics except relief and wave exposure. The marsh islands in the center of the bay are currently vulnerable. In the future, these islands will likely be inundated, placing additional areas of the shoreline increasingly at risk. Significant differences in vulnerability exist between stakeholders; the Breezy Point Cooperative and Gateway National Recreation Area had the largest erodible shoreline segments. Significant correlations exist for all vulnerability (exposure/surge) and storm damage combinations except for exposure and distance to artificial debris. Coastal protective features, ranging from storm surge barriers and levees to natural features (e.g. wetlands), have been promoted to decrease future flood risk to communities in coastal areas around the world. Our methods of combining coastal vulnerability results with additional data and across multiple time

  1. Bullying and Cyberbullying in Minorities: Are They More Vulnerable than the Majority Group?

    OpenAIRE

    Llorent García, Vicente J.; Zych, Izabela; Ortega Ruiz, Rosario

    2016-01-01

    Inclusion in education of all the children is necessary for the success, equality and peace among individuals and societies. In this context, special attention needs to be paid to the minorities. These groups might encounter additional difficulties which make them more vulnerable to be involved in bullying and cyberbullying. The current study was conducted with the objective of describing the involvement in bullying and cyberbullying of students from the majority group and also from sexual an...

  2. Using clinical supervision to improve the quality and safety of patient care: a response to Berwick and Francis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomlinson, Jonathon

    2015-06-11

    After widely publicised investigations into excess patient deaths at Mid Staffordshire hospital the UK government commissioned reports from Robert Francis QC and Professor Don Berwick. Among their recommendations to improve the quality and safety of patient care were lifelong learning, professional support and 'just culture'. Clinical supervision is in an excellent position to support these activities but opportunities are in danger of being squeezed out by regulatory and managerial demands. Doctors who have completed their training are responsible for complex professional judgements for which narrative supervision is particularly helpful. With reference to the literature and my own practice I propose that all practicing clinicians should have regular clinical supervision. Clinical supervision has patient-safety and the quality of patient care as its primary purposes. After training is completed, doctors may practice for the rest of their career without any clinical supervision, the implication being that the difficulties dealt with in clinical supervision are no longer difficulties, or are better dealt with some other way. Clinical supervision is sufficiently flexible to be adapted to the needs of experienced clinicians as its forms can be varied, though its functions remain focused on patient safety, good quality clinical care and professional wellbeing. The evidence linking clinical supervision to the quality and safety of patient care reveals that supervision is most effective when its educational and supportive functions are separated from its managerial and evaluative functions. Among supervision's different forms, narrative-based-supervision is particularly useful as it has been developed for clinicians who have completed their training. It provides ways to explore the complexity of clinical judgements and encourages doctors to question one another's authority in a supportive culture. To be successful, supervision should also be professionally led and

  3. Social vulnerability assessment: a growing practice in Europe?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tapsell, S.; McC arthy, S.

    2012-04-01

    This paper builds upon work on social vulnerability from the CapHaz-Net consortium, an ongoing research project funded by the European Commission in its 7th Framework Programme. The project focuses on the social dimensions of natural hazards, as well as on regional practices of risk prevention and management, and aims at improving the resilience of European societies to natural hazards, paying particular attention to social capacity building. The topic of social vulnerability is one of seven themes being addressed in the project. There are various rationales for examining the relevance of social vulnerability to natural hazards. Vulnerability assessment has now been accepted as a requirement for the effective development of emergency management capability, and assessment of social vulnerability has been recognised as being integral to understanding the risk to natural hazards. The aim of our research was to examine social vulnerability, how it might be understood in the context of natural hazards in Europe, and how social vulnerability can be addressed to increase social capacity. The work comprised a review of research on social vulnerability to different natural hazards within Europe and included concepts and definitions of social vulnerability (and related concepts), the purpose of vulnerability assessment and who decides who is vulnerable, different approaches to assessing or measuring social vulnerability (such as the use of 'classical' quantitative vulnerability indicators and qualitative community-based approaches, along with the advantages and disadvantages of both), conceptual frameworks for assessing social vulnerability and three case studies of social vulnerability studies within Europe: flash floods in the Italian Alps, fluvial flooding in Germany and heat waves in Spain. The review reveals variable application of social vulnerability analysis across Europe and there are indications why this might be the case. Reasons could range from the scale of

  4. Investigation of a High Head Francis Turbine at Runaway Operating Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chirag Trivedi

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Hydraulic turbines exhibit total load rejection during operation because of high fluctuations in the grid parameters. The generator reaches no-load instantly. Consequently, the turbine runner accelerates to high speed, runaway speed, in seconds. Under common conditions, stable runaway is only reached if after a load rejection, the control and protection mechanisms both fail and the guide vanes cannot be closed. The runner life is affected by the high amplitude pressure loading at the runaway speed. A model Francis turbine was used to investigate the consequences at the runaway condition. Measurements and simulations were performed at three operating points. The numerical simulations were performed using standard k-ε, k-ω shear stress transport (SST and scale-adaptive simulation (SAS models. A total of 12.8 million hexahedral mesh elements were created in the complete turbine, from the spiral casing inlet to the draft tube outlet. The experimental and numerical analysis showed that the runner was subjected to an unsteady pressure loading up to three-times the pressure loading observed at the best efficiency point. Investigates of unsteady pressure pulsations at the vaneless space, runner and draft tube are discussed in the paper. Further, unsteady swirling flow in the blade passages was observed that was rotating at a frequency of 4.8-times the runaway runner angular speed. Apart from the unsteady pressure loading, the development pattern of the swirling flow in the runner is discussed in the paper.

  5. A vulnerability-centric requirements engineering framework : Analyzing security attacks, countermeasures, and requirements based on vulnerabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Elahi, G.; Yu, E.; Zannone, N.

    2010-01-01

    Many security breaches occur because of exploitation of vulnerabilities within the system. Vulnerabilities are weaknesses in the requirements, design, and implementation, which attackers exploit to compromise the system. This paper proposes a methodological framework for security requirements

  6. Study of the use of a micro hydro in knockdown container completed with a cylindrical form housing of francis hydraulic turbine to support the development program of energy self-sustainability for remote and isolated areas in Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamal Samsul

    2017-01-01

    It shows that the implementation of the unit in a remote area has reduced the total site construction time by 1/3 compared to the predicted one with conventional unit. The performance of the Francis turbine with cylindrical form housing has shown comparable with the conventional one which has volute form housing. The superiority was even more pronounced by introducing a deflection insert in its input flow channel. The insertion was capable to create more distributed flow into the runner. Efficiency of the turbine up to 80% was performed in this research. Local manufacture for turbine usually use many craft work and welding to built a volute form housing for the Francis turbine. The cylindrical form housing here has also proven significantly in reducing the time and price for the turbine manufacturing process.

  7. Il De uno alla luce dell’Exemplum tractatus de iustitia universali, sive de fontibus iuris di Francis Bacon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Romana Bassi

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available [Reading “De uno” in light of Francis Bacon’s “Exemplum tractatus de iustitia universali, sive de fontibus iuris”]. Although Vico was admittedly disappointed by Bacon’s Exemplum tractatus, a parallel reading of this text and De uno can provide insights as to how Vico ended up having to confront a series of issues: how does the universal law project itself into history? Where does the law stem from? Is there a link between law, occasion, and utility? What are the sources and the scope of authority? How does violence affect the law? What role for religion and piety? How to devise a philology for the laws and ancient fables? Bacon’s scattered aphorisms offer glimpses into problems which find a solution in the all-encompassing order of De uno.

  8. LDV survey of cavitation and resonance effect on the precessing vortex rope dynamics in the draft tube of Francis turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Favrel, A.; Müller, A.; Landry, C.; Yamamoto, K.; Avellan, F.

    2016-11-01

    The large-scale penetration of the electrical grid by intermittent renewable energy sources requires a continuous operating range extension of hydropower plants. This causes the formation of unfavourable flow patterns in the draft tube of turbines and pump-turbines. At partial load operation, a precessing cavitation vortex rope is formed at the Francis turbine runner outlet, acting as an excitation source for the hydraulic system. In case of resonance, the resulting high-amplitude pressure pulsations can put at risk the stability of the machine and of the electrical grid to which it is connected. It is therefore crucial to understand and accurately simulate the underlying physical mechanisms in such conditions. However, the exact impact of cavitation and hydro-acoustic resonance on the flow velocity fluctuations in the draft tube remains to be established. The flow discharge pulsations expected to occur in the draft tube in resonance conditions have for instance never been verified experimentally. In this study, two-component Laser Doppler Velocimetry is used to investigate the axial and tangential velocity fluctuations at the runner outlet of a reduced scale physical model of a Francis turbine. The investigation is performed for a discharge equal to 64 % of the nominal value and three different pressure levels in the draft tube, including resonance and cavitation-free conditions. Based on the convective pressure fluctuations induced by the vortex precession, the periodical velocity fluctuations over one typical precession period are recovered by phase averaging. The impact of cavitation and hydro-acoustic resonance on both axial and tangential velocity fluctuations in terms of amplitude and phase shift is highlighted for the first time. It is shown that the occurrence of resonance does not have significant effects on the draft tube velocity fields, suggesting that the synchronous axial velocity fluctuations are surprisingly negligible compared to the velocity

  9. Children and Adolescents: Physiological Considerations during Exercise Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strawbridge, Marilyn

    2013-01-01

    Because children and adolescents are not just miniature adults, it is important to know that children might be vulnerable to injury and may not respond positively to certain types or intensities of training. It is also important to recognize how training can positively affect growth and development, so it can be judiciously applied at critical…

  10. Social withdrawal in children moderates the association between parenting styles and the children's own socioemotional development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zarra-Nezhad, Maryam; Kiuru, Noona; Aunola, Kaisa; Zarra-Nezhad, Mansour; Ahonen, Timo; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

    2014-11-01

    Social withdrawal in early childhood is a risk factor for later socioemotional difficulties. This study examined the joint effects of children's social withdrawal and mothers' and fathers' parenting styles on children's socioemotional development. Based on diatheses-stress, vantage sensitivity, and differential susceptibility models, socially withdrawn children were assumed to be more prone to parental influences than others. Teachers rated 314 children on prosocial skills, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors at three points in time between grades 1-3. Mothers (n = 279) and fathers (n = 182) filled in questionnaires measuring their affection, and their behavioral and psychological control at the same points in time. Teacher reports on children's level of social withdrawal were obtained at the end of kindergarten. Panel analysis showed that particularly those children who showed signs of social withdrawal were vulnerable to the negative effects of low maternal affection in terms of externalizing behavior. Moreover, among these children, mothers' and fathers' psychological control predicted high levels of internalizing problem but, at the same time, mothers' psychological control predicted also a high level of prosocial behavior and low levels of externalizing problem. The results supported the diathesis-stress model more than the differential susceptibility model. For example, socially withdrawn children were found to be particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of low maternal affection. Although maternal psychological control had positive effects on the prosocial skills of socially withdrawn children, and reduced the amount of externalizing problems, it was at the same time associated with an increase in their internalizing problems. In this way, socially withdrawn children seem to be at risk of pleasing their mothers at the cost of their own well-being. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. © 2014 Association for Child

  11. A measure of vulnerability and damage tolerance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lind, Niels C.

    1995-01-01

    The purpose of the paper is to present probabilistic definitions of 'vulnerability' and 'damage tolerance'. A new measure of damage is also proposed. Disastrous failures, such as of the Titanic or the Chernobyl reactor, have revealed that some systems can be highly vulnerable. A seemingly insignificant damage can reduce such a system's resistance severely. Attempts to write design code requirements for damage tolerance or structural integrity have not been successful so far. One reason is that these ideas have not been defined with the necessary precision. The suggested definitions aim to be general, applicable to all engineered systems, and readily specializable to particular system types. Vulnerability is defined as the ratio of the failure probability of the damaged system to the failure probability of the undamaged system. It is argued that 'vulnerability' and 'damage tolerance' are complementary concepts. Damage tolerance is defined as the reciprocal of vulnerability. Vulnerability and damage tolerance both concern hypothetical future damage. A damage factor, applicable for the analysis of an existing structure in an assessed state of damage, is defined analogous to vulnerability. Application is illustrated by examples

  12. Assessing the Security Vulnerabilities of Correctional Facilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morrison, G.S.; Spencer, D.S.

    1998-10-27

    The National Institute of Justice has tasked their Satellite Facility at Sandia National Laboratories and their Southeast Regional Technology Center in Charleston, South Carolina to devise new procedures and tools for helping correctional facilities to assess their security vulnerabilities. Thus, a team is visiting selected correctional facilities and performing vulnerability assessments. A vulnerability assessment helps to identi~ the easiest paths for inmate escape, for introduction of contraband such as drugs or weapons, for unexpected intrusion fi-om outside of the facility, and for the perpetration of violent acts on other inmates and correctional employees, In addition, the vulnerability assessment helps to quantify the security risks for the facility. From these initial assessments will come better procedures for performing vulnerability assessments in general at other correctional facilities, as well as the development of tools to assist with the performance of such vulnerability assessments.

  13. Drug abuse: vulnerability and transition to addiction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Moal, M

    2009-05-01

    Intrinsic vulnerability is central to the transition of recreational drug use to misuse. Several factors contribute to vulnerability, inherent or acquired, and they account for the huge individual differences observed concerning the propensity to enter in the addiction process. Some of the multifactional causes for a vulnerable phenotype will be examined: genetic factors, age and gender influences, various comorbidities and epidemiological observations. Stress-induced vulnerability will be particularly reviewed because it provides a good model for a pathophysiological research and for relating environmental events to biological consequences of drug vulnerability, namely through the striato-cortical dopamine system. Experimental studies are generally blind concerning these historical factors that contribute vulnerability and a critical evaluation of current animal models is needed. The transition of the last stage of the process, addiction, is conceptualized as a progression from homeostasis to allostasis and then, to pathology.

  14. Validation of mathematical models for predicting the swirling flow and the vortex rope in a Francis turbine operated at partial discharge

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kuibin, P.A.; Okulov, Valery; Susan-Resiga, R.F.

    2010-01-01

    recover all this information without actually computing the full three-dimensional unsteady flow in the hydraulic turbine. As a result, we provide valuable mathematical tools for assessing the turbine behaviour at off-design operating regimes in the early stages of runner design, with computational effort......The vortex rope in a hydro turbine draft tube is one the main and strong sources of pulsations in non-optimal modes of hydro turbine operation. We examine the case of a Francis turbine model operated at partial discharge, where a strong precessing vortex rope is developed in the discharge cone...... several orders of magnitude less than the current approaches of simulating the complex turbine flow....

  15. Richard Francis Burton e a inserÃÃo do kama-sutras como um manual sexual entre os vitorianos (Inglaterra, 1883)

    OpenAIRE

    Felipe Salvador Weissheimer

    2014-01-01

    Dentre os vÃrios âKama-sutrasâ difundidos no mercado, a versÃo clÃssica foi escrita por Vatsyayana (sÃculo I-IV, aproximadamente) e publicada na Inglaterra em 1883 pela Sociedade Hindu Kama-Shastra. Richard Francis Burton foi o membro de maior importÃncia na Sociedade Hindu Kama-Shastra, pois, alÃm de fomentar a publicaÃÃo, auxiliou na traduÃÃo, editou e enunciou vÃrios comentÃrios ao longo da obra. Em seus comentÃrios, percebemos que o projeto da traduÃÃo e publicaÃÃo do Kama-sutras visava e...

  16. The clinical and social vulnerability of children with special healthcare needs.

    OpenAIRE

    Tatsch Neves, Eliane; Evangelista Cabral, Ivone

    2008-01-01

    Children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN) require increasing care by relatives and health services. Due to the ‘invisibility’ of this group, a qualitative studied was carried out to analyze and to discuss the dimension of physical care provided to CSHCN. The studied included the analyses of the patients’ records, interviews of family caretakers in a university hospital in southern Brazil, and the application of a sensitive creative method. Findings showed that these children are clinical...

  17. Vulnerability to alcohol-related problems: a policy brief with implications for the regulation of alcohol marketing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babor, Thomas F; Robaina, Katherine; Noel, Jonathan K; Ritson, E Bruce

    2017-01-01

    The concern that alcohol advertising can have detrimental effects on vulnerable viewers has prompted the development of codes of responsible advertising practices. This paper evaluates critically the concept of vulnerability as it applies to (1) susceptibility to alcohol-related harm and (2) susceptibility to the effects of marketing, and describes its implications for the regulation of alcohol marketing. We describe the findings of key published studies, review papers and expert reports to determine whether these two types of vulnerability apply to population groups defined by (1) age and developmental history; (2) personality characteristics; (3) family history of alcoholism; (4) female sex and pregnancy risk; and (5) history of alcohol dependence and recovery status. Developmental theory and research suggest that groups defined by younger age, incomplete neurocognitive development and a history of alcohol dependence may be particularly vulnerable because of the disproportionate harm they experience from alcohol and their increased susceptibility to alcohol marketing. Children may be more susceptible to media imagery because they do not have the ability to compensate for biases in advertising portrayals and glamorized media imagery. Young people and people with a history of alcohol dependence appear to be especially vulnerable to alcohol marketing, warranting the development of new content and exposure guidelines focused on protecting those groups to improve current self-regulation codes promoted by the alcohol industry. If adequate protections cannot be implemented through this mechanism, statutory regulations should be considered. © 2016 Society for the Study of Addiction.

  18. A world in one dimension: Linus Pauling, Francis Crick and the central dogma of molecular biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strasser, Bruno J

    2006-01-01

    In 1957, Francis Crick outlined a startling vision of life in which the great diversity of forms and shapes of macromolecules was encoded in the one-dimensional sequence of nucleic acids. This paper situates Crick's new vision in the debates of the 1950s about protein synthesis and gene action. After exploring the reception of Crick's ideas, it shows how they differed radically from a different model of protein synthesis which enjoyed wide currency in that decade. In this alternative model, advocated by Linus Pauling and other luminaries, three-dimensional templates directed the folding of proteins. Even though it was always considered somewhat speculative, this theory was supported by a number of empirical results originating in different experimental systems. It was eventually replaced by a model in which the forms and shapes of macromolecules resulted solely from their amino acid sequence, dramatically simplifying the problem of protein synthesis which Crick was attempting to solve in 1957.

  19. Road Bridges and Culverts, MDTA Culverts, Culverts on John F. Kennedy Highway (I95), Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Throughway, Francis Scott Key Bridge, Bay bridge, Nice Bridge, Published in 2010, 1:1200 (1in=100ft) scale, Maryland Transportation Authority.

    Data.gov (United States)

    NSGIC State | GIS Inventory — Road Bridges and Culverts dataset current as of 2010. MDTA Culverts, Culverts on John F. Kennedy Highway (I95), Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Throughway, Francis Scott Key...

  20. Computation and analysis of cavitating flow in Francis-class hydraulic turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonard, Daniel J.

    Hydropower is the most proven renewable energy technology, supplying the world with 16% of its electricity. Conventional hydropower generates a vast majority of that percentage. Although a mature technology, hydroelectric generation shows great promise for expansion through new dams and plants in developing hydro countries. Moreover, in developed hydro countries, such as the United States, installing generating units in existing dams and the modern refurbishment of existing plants can greatly expand generating capabilities with little to no further impact on the environment. In addition, modern computational technology and fluid dynamics expertise has led to substantial improvements in modern turbine design and performance. Cavitation has always presented a problem in hydroturbines, causing performance breakdown, erosion, damage, vibration, and noise. While modern turbines are usually designed to be cavitation-free at their best efficiency point, due to the variable demand of the energy market it is fairly common to operate at off-design conditions. Here, cavitation and its deleterious effects are unavoidable, and hence, cavitation is a limiting factor on the design and operation of these turbines. Multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been used in recent years to model cavitating flow for a large range of problems, including turbomachinery. However, CFD of cavitating flow in hydroturbines is still in its infancy. This dissertation presents steady-periodic Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations of a cavitating Francis-class hydroturbine at model and prototype scales. Computational results of the reduced-scale model and full-scale prototype, undergoing performance breakdown, are compared with empirical model data and prototype performance estimations based on standard industry scalings from the model data. Mesh convergence of the simulations is also displayed. Comparisons are made between the scales to display that cavitation performance breakdown

  1. Safeguard Vulnerability Analysis Program (SVAP)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gilman, F.M.; Dittmore, M.H.; Orvis, W.J.; Wahler, P.S.

    1980-01-01

    This report gives an overview of the Safeguard Vulnerability Analysis Program (SVAP) developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. SVAP was designed as an automated method of analyzing the safeguard systems at nuclear facilities for vulnerabilities relating to the theft or diversion of nuclear materials. SVAP addresses one class of safeguard threat: theft or diversion of nuclear materials by nonviolent insiders, acting individually or in collusion. SVAP is a user-oriented tool which uses an interactive input medium for preprocessing the large amounts of safeguards data. Its output includes concise summary data as well as detailed vulnerability information

  2. Vulnerability of multiple-barrier systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lind, N.C.

    1996-01-01

    'Vulnerability' is defined as the ratio of the probability of failure of a damaged system to the probability of failure of the undamaged system. This definition applies to all engineered systems and can be specialized to particular system types. Some disastrous failures (e.g., Chernobyl) have shown that systems can be highly vulnerable. open-quotes Defense in depthclose quotes is a powerful design principle, reducing vulnerability when the consequences of failure can be catastrophic. In the nuclear industry, defense in depth is widely used in radiation protection, reactor control, and shutdown systems. A multiple-barrier system is a simple example of a system that has defense in depth. The idea is that the system is not vulnerable. It cannot fail if one barrier fails because there is another to take its place. This idea is untenable in waste management, but a quantified vulnerability of a system can help owners, designers, and regulators decide how much defense in depth is desirable or enough. Many multiple-barrier systems can be modeled as systems of components physically in a series, each individually able to prevent failure. Components typically have bimodal distributions of the service time to failure, as illustrated by an example of application to a hypothetical nuclear fuel waste repository

  3. Improper nutrition and diseases in pre-school children

    OpenAIRE

    Panova, Gordana; Taseva, Lence; Sumanov, Gorgi; Dzidrova, Violeta

    2017-01-01

    For healthy generation it is healthy and orderly development from early childhood. It needs proper nutrition, proper care and personal hygiene. Early childhood is the most vulnerable period in the development stage of man. Improper diet and disease in children from pre-school age are a problem for both children and parents. It is therefore important to undertake measures for proper nutrition and prevention of diseases. Described as improper diet affects children from pre-school...

  4. Disasters and vulnerabilities in the Foreman and Kennedy road informal settlements: Biographical influences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bethuel Sibongiseni Ngcamu

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available As the towards the end of the homelands in the post-apartheid South Africa, there was a scramble of poverty stricken African black youth to the most severe vulnerable and disaster prone urban areas in search for formal job opportunities. The main purpose of this empirical study is to investigate the extent in which how the biographical profiles (age, gender, marital status, education levels, occupation (males and females, children and tenure can influence vulnerability and disasters in these informal settlements. A quantitative research design was adopted and a survey method was used, whereby questionnaires were administered by the researcher to a population of 240, whereby, 140 questionnaires were completed generating a response rate of 63.6%. The findings of this study reveals that the majority of the respondents in the Foreman and Kennedy Road informal settlements are black, poverty stricken, unemployed and who are suffered economic difficulties that make them highly vulnerable to disasters. This study will act an advisory role to the decision-makers as the research findings shows that in the foreseeable future in South Africa, informal settlements will be an intergral feature of formal housing, which requires urban planners to include such settlements to housing planning.

  5. Fluctuation between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gore, Whitney L; Widiger, Thomas A

    2016-10-01

    Current literature on narcissistic personality disorder has emphasized a distinction between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Some researchers have further suggested that narcissistic persons fluctuate between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. However, this perception has been confined largely to clinical experience with no systematic research testing the hypothesis. Clinicians and clinical psychology professors in the current study identified 143 persons who fit a description of either a grandiose or a vulnerable narcissist and indicated the extent to which these persons ever demonstrated traits of the complementary variant. The results supported the fluctuation hypothesis, particularly for episodes of vulnerable narcissism in persons identified as a grandiose narcissist. Correlations of the grandiose and vulnerable narcissism traits with a brief five-factor model measure corroborated past trait descriptions of the 2 respective variants of narcissism. The results of the current study are compared with existing cross-sectional and longitudinal research, and suggestions for future research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Children's Exposure to Environmental Contaminants: An Editorial Reflection of Articles in the IJERPH Special Issue Entitled, "Children's Exposure to Environmental Contaminants".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson, Alesia; Solo-Gabriele, Helena

    2016-11-09

    Children are at increased vulnerability to many environmental contaminants compared to adults due to their unique behavior patterns, increased contaminant intake per body weight, and developing biological systems. Depending upon their age, young children may crawl on the floor and may practice increased hand to mouth activity that may increase their dose-intake of specific contaminants that accumulate in dust and other matrices. Children are also smaller in size than adults, resulting in a greater body burden for a given contaminant dose. Because children undergo rapid transitions through particular developmental stages they are also especially vulnerable during certain growth-related time windows. A Special Issue was organized focused on the latest findings in the field of children's environmental exposure for these reasons. This editorial introduces articles in this Special Issue and emphasizes their main findings in advancing the field. From the many articles submitted to this Special Issue from around the world, 23 were accepted and published. They focus on a variety of research areas such as children's activity patterns, improved risk assessment methods to estimate exposures, and exposures in various contexts and to various contaminants. The future health of a nation relies on protecting the children from adverse exposures and understanding the etiology of childhood diseases. The field of children's environmental exposures must consider improved and comprehensive research methods aimed at introducing mitigation strategies locally, nationally, and globally. We are happy to introduce a Special Issue focused on children's environmental exposure and children's health and hope that it contributes towards improved health of children.

  7. Exploitation of children and young people through prostitution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Karen Elizabeth

    2002-09-01

    The numbers of children in contemporary society involved in prostitution is still largely unknown. However, there are multiple factors which leave children vulnerable and involved in prostitution. This article aims to explore the historical context of child prostitution, factors which may predispose an adolescent engaging in prostitution, and the role that professionals within the healthcare settings can offer.

  8. Vulnerability, life events and depression amongst Moslem Malaysian women: comparing those married and those divorced or separated.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdul Kadir, Nor Ba'yah; Bifulco, Antonia

    2011-09-01

    The experiences of married and single mothers were compared in an investigation of psychosocial vulnerability, stress and depression in a community-based study of Moslem mothers in Malaysia. For the first time, a model of vulnerability-provoking agent originally developed by Brown et al. in the UK was tested in a Malaysian context. A cross-sectional study was carried out in the district of Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Of the 1,200 women approached from membership of community associations, 1,002 (84%) completed the questionnaires. Severe life events Recent Life Events Questionnaire (Brugha and Cragg in Acta Psychiatr Scand 82:77-81, 1990) and psychosocial vulnerability (VDQ) (Moran et al. in Br J Clin Psychol 40:411-427, 2001) were used to measure vulnerability factors. Depression was measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) (Havenaar et al. in Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 43:209-215, 2008). Single mothers had significantly higher rates of depression than those married (60.5 vs. 39.5%), as well as higher rates of severe life events and Negative Elements in Close Relationships (lack of support and conflict with children). However, married mothers had greater Negative Evaluation of Self. The two vulnerability factors were correlated to each other and to severe life events and social adversity. Logistic regression showed an interaction between severe life events in the material and relationship domains and joint vulnerability for depression outcome. The results are discussed in relation to the low recognition of psychosocial risks for depression in single mothers in Malaysia, as well as lack of appropriate services.

  9. Climate Vulnerability and Human Migration in Global Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grecequet, Martina; DeWaard, Jack; Hellmann, Jessica J.; Abel, Guy J.

    2018-01-01

    The relationship between climate change and human migration is not homogenous and depends critically on the differential vulnerability of population and places. If places and populations are not vulnerable, or susceptible, to climate change, then the climate–migration relationship may not materialize. The key to understanding and, from a policy perspective, planning for whether and how climate change will impact future migration patterns is therefore knowledge of the link between climate vulnerability and migration. However, beyond specific case studies, little is known about this association in global perspective. We therefore provide a descriptive, country-level portrait of this relationship. We show that the negative association between climate vulnerability and international migration holds only for countries least vulnerable to climate change, which suggests the potential for trapped populations in more vulnerable countries. However, when analyzed separately by life supporting sector (food, water, health, ecosystem services, human habitat, and infrastructure) and vulnerability dimension (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity), we detect evidence of a relationship among more, but not the most, vulnerable countries. The bilateral (i.e., country-to-country) migration show that, on average, people move from countries of higher vulnerability to lower vulnerability, reducing global risk by 15%. This finding is consistent with the idea that migration is a climate adaptation strategy. Still, ~6% of bilateral migration is maladaptive with respect to climate change, with some movement toward countries with greater climate change vulnerability. PMID:29707262

  10. Climate Vulnerability and Human Migration in Global Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grecequet, Martina; DeWaard, Jack; Hellmann, Jessica J; Abel, Guy J

    2017-05-01

    The relationship between climate change and human migration is not homogenous and depends critically on the differential vulnerability of population and places. If places and populations are not vulnerable, or susceptible, to climate change, then the climate-migration relationship may not materialize. The key to understanding and, from a policy perspective, planning for whether and how climate change will impact future migration patterns is therefore knowledge of the link between climate vulnerability and migration. However, beyond specific case studies, little is known about this association in global perspective. We therefore provide a descriptive, country-level portrait of this relationship. We show that the negative association between climate vulnerability and international migration holds only for countries least vulnerable to climate change, which suggests the potential for trapped populations in more vulnerable countries. However, when analyzed separately by life supporting sector (food, water, health, ecosystem services, human habitat, and infrastructure) and vulnerability dimension (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity), we detect evidence of a relationship among more, but not the most, vulnerable countries. The bilateral (i.e., country-to-country) migration show that, on average, people move from countries of higher vulnerability to lower vulnerability, reducing global risk by 15%. This finding is consistent with the idea that migration is a climate adaptation strategy. Still, ~6% of bilateral migration is maladaptive with respect to climate change, with some movement toward countries with greater climate change vulnerability.

  11. Methods to Secure Databases Against Vulnerabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-01

    for several languages such as C, C++, PHP, Java and Python [16]. MySQL will work well with very large databases. The documentation references...using Eclipse and connected to each database management system using Python and Java drivers provided by MySQL , MongoDB, and Datastax (for Cassandra...tiers in Python and Java . Problem MySQL MongoDB Cassandra 1. Injection a. Tautologies Vulnerable Vulnerable Not Vulnerable b. Illegal query

  12. Experimental investigation of the sloshing motion of the water free surface in the draft tube of a Francis turbine operating in synchronous condenser mode

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vagnoni, Elena; Favrel, Arthur; Andolfatto, Loïc; Avellan, François

    2018-06-01

    Hydropower units may be required to operate in condenser mode to supply reactive power. In this operating mode, the water level in the turbine or pump-turbine is decreased below the runner by closing the guide vanes and injecting pressurized air. While operating in condenser mode the machine experiences power losses due to several air-water interaction phenomena which cause air losses. One of such phenomena is the sloshing motion of the water free surface below the runner in the draft tube cone of a Francis turbine. The objective of the present work is to experimentally investigate the sloshing motion of the water free surface in the draft tube cone of a reduced scale physical model of a Francis turbine operating in condenser mode. Images acquisition and simultaneous pressure fluctuation measurements are performed and an image processing method is developed to investigate amplitude and frequency of the sloshing motion of the free surface. It is found that this motion is excited at the natural frequency of the water volume and corresponds to the azimuthal wavenumber m = 1 of a rotating gravity wave. The amplitude of the motion is perturbed by wave breaking and it decreases by increasing the densimetric Froude number. The sloshing frequency slightly increases with respect to the natural frequency of the water volume by increasing the densimetric Froude number. Moreover, it results that this resonant phenomenon is not related to the torque perturbation.

  13. Determining Vulnerability Importance in Environmental Impact Assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toro, Javier; Duarte, Oscar; Requena, Ignacio; Zamorano, Montserrat

    2012-01-01

    The concept of vulnerability has been used to describe the susceptibility of physical, biotic, and social systems to harm or hazard. In this sense, it is a tool that reduces the uncertainties of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) since it does not depend exclusively on the value assessments of the evaluator, but rather is based on the environmental state indicators of the site where the projects or activities are being carried out. The concept of vulnerability thus reduces the possibility that evaluators will subjectively interpret results, and be influenced by outside interests and pressures during projects. However, up until now, EIA has been hindered by a lack of effective methods. This research study analyzes the concept of vulnerability, defines Vulnerability Importance and proposes its inclusion in qualitative EIA methodology. The method used to quantify Vulnerability Importance is based on a set of environmental factors and indicators that provide a comprehensive overview of the environmental state. The results obtained in Colombia highlight the usefulness and objectivity of this method since there is a direct relation between this value and the environmental state of the departments analyzed. - Research Highlights: ► The concept of vulnerability could be considered defining Vulnerability Importance included in qualitative EIA methodology. ► The use of the concept of environmental vulnerability could reduce the subjectivity of qualitative methods of EIA. ► A method to quantify the Vulnerability Importance proposed provides a comprehensive overview of the environmental state. ► Results in Colombia highlight the usefulness and objectivity of this method.

  14. Differences in uptake of immunisations and health examinations among refugee children compared to Danish-born children: a cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moller, Sanne Pagh; Hjern, Anders; Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo; Norredam, Marie

    2016-04-01

    Refugee children and their families constitute a vulnerable group regarding health and access to care. In a register-based cohort design, we examined differences in uptake of immunisations and child health examinations between refugee children and Danish-born children, including predictors of uptake among refugee children. Refugee children (n = 16,701) who, between January 1993 and December 2010, obtained residency permits in Denmark were included and matched in a 1:6 ratio on age and sex with Danish-born children (n = 100,206). Personal identification numbers were cross-linked to the National Danish Health Service Register, identifying all contacts for immunisation and child health examinations. We estimated hazard ratios (HR) of uptake. Refugee children had a lower uptake of all immunisations compared to Danish-born children. The lowest uptake was found for immunisation against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio (HR = 0.50; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.48-0.51). Participation in child health examinations was also lower among refugee children with the lowest at the last child health examination at age 5 (HR = 0.48; 95 % CI 0.47-0.50). Adjusting the analysis for parental income increased the HRs by 10-20 %. This Danish register-based study using nationwide data revealed a lower uptake of routine immunisations and child health examinations among refugee children compared to Danish-born children. •Uptake of immunisation and child health examination is associated with low household income, unemployment and low educational status among the parents. •Uptake may be even lower among refugee families as they constitute a vulnerable group regarding access to healthcare. What is New: •Refugee children had lower uptake of immunisations and child health examinations compared to Danish-born children. •Several predictors of uptake were identified including region of origin and duration of residence.

  15. A Parametric Study of Unsteady Rotor-Stator Interaction in a Simplified Francis Turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wouden, Alex; Cimbala, John; Lewis, Bryan

    2011-11-01

    CFD analysis is becoming a critical stage in the design of hydroturbines. However, its capability to represent unsteady flow interactions between the rotor and stator (which requires a 360-degree, mesh-refined model of the turbine passage) is hindered. For CFD to become a more effective tool in predicting the performance of a hydroturbine, the key interactions between the rotor and stator need to be understood using current numerical methods. As a first step towards evaluating this unsteady behavior without the burden of a computationally expensive domain, the stator and Francis-type rotor blades are reduced to flat plates. Local and global variables are compared using periodic, semi-periodic, and 360-degree geometric models and various turbulence models (k-omega, k-epsilon, and Spalart-Allmaras). The computations take place within the OpenFOAM® environment and utilize a general grid interface (GGI) between the rotor and stator computational domains. The rotor computational domain is capable of dynamic rotation. The results demonstrate some of the strengths and limitations of utilizing CFD for hydroturbine analysis. These case studies will also serve as tutorials to help others learn how to use CFD for turbomachinery. This research is funded by a grant from the DOE.

  16. Let's Stop Trying to Quantify Household Vulnerability: The Problem With Simple Scales for Targeting and Evaluating Economic Strengthening Programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moret, Whitney M

    2018-03-21

    Economic strengthening practitioners are increasingly seeking data collection tools that will help them target households vulnerable to HIV and poor child well-being outcomes, match households to appropriate interventions, monitor their status, and determine readiness for graduation from project support. This article discusses efforts in 3 countries to develop simple, valid tools to quantify and classify economic vulnerability status. In Côte d'Ivoire, we conducted a cross-sectional survey with 3,749 households to develop a scale based on the definition of HIV-related economic vulnerability from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for the purpose of targeting vulnerable households for PEPFAR-funded programs for orphans and vulnerable children. The vulnerability measures examined did not cluster in ways that would allow for the creation of a small number of composite measures, and thus we were unable to develop a scale. In Uganda, we assessed the validity of a vulnerability index developed to classify households according to donor classifications of economic status by measuring its association with a validated poverty measure, finding only a modest correlation. In South Africa, we developed monitoring and evaluation tools to assess economic status of individual adolescent girls and their households. We found no significant correlation with our validation measures, which included a validated measure of girls' vulnerability to HIV, a validated poverty measure, and subjective classifications generated by the community, data collector, and respondent. Overall, none of the measures of economic vulnerability used in the 3 countries varied significantly with their proposed validation items. Our findings suggest that broad constructs of economic vulnerability cannot be readily captured using simple scales to classify households and individuals in a way that accounts for a substantial amount of variance at locally defined vulnerability levels. We

  17. Analysis of Zero-Day Vulnerabilities in Java

    OpenAIRE

    Marius Popa

    2013-01-01

    The zero-day vulnerability is a security lack of the computer system that is unknown to software vendor. This kind of vulnerability permits building attack strategies for gaining the access to the resources and data of a computer system. The main issue of the topic is how a computer system can be protected by zero-day vulnerabilities using the actual security procedures and tools for identifying the potential attacks that exploit the vulnerabilities unknown to computer users and software prov...

  18. Assessing environmental vulnerability in EIA-The content and context of the vulnerability concept in an alternative approach to standard EIA procedure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kvaerner, Jens; Swensen, Grete; Erikstad, Lars

    2006-01-01

    In the traditional EIA procedure environmental vulnerability is only considered to a minor extent in the early stages when project alternatives are worked out. In Norway, an alternative approach to EIA, an integrated vulnerability model (IVM), emphasising environmental vulnerability and alternatives development in the early stages of EIA, has been tried out in a few pilot cases. This paper examines the content and use of the vulnerability concept in the IVM approach, and discusses the concept in an EIA context. The vulnerability concept is best suited to overview analyses and large scale spatial considerations. The concept is particularly useful in the early stages of EIA when alternatives are designed and screened. By introducing analyses of environmental vulnerability at the start of the EIA process, the environment can be a more decisive issue for the creation of project alternatives as well as improving the basis for scoping. Vulnerability and value aspects should be considered as separate dimensions. There is a need to operate with a specification between general and specific vulnerability. The concept of environmental vulnerability has proven useful in a wide range of disciplines. Different disciplines have different lengths of experience regarding vulnerability. In disciplines such as landscape planning and hydrogeology we find elements suitable as cornerstones in the further development of an interdisciplinary methodology. Further development of vulnerability criteria in different disciplines and increased public involvement in the early stages of EIA are recommended

  19. Helping Children with Visual Impairment Develop Humour: A Review of the Literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pagliano, Paul J.; Zambone, Alana M.; Kelley, Pat

    2007-01-01

    Humor is a highly regarded attribute and often forms the basis of childhood friendships. As much humor is visual, children with visual impairment are particularly vulnerable to missing out on this type of development. Recent research indicates that children can be taught to develop their sense of humor. Therefore, children with visual impairment…

  20. No Pet or Their Person Left Behind: Increasing the Disaster Resilience of Vulnerable Groups through Animal Attachment, Activities and Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Kirrilly; Every, Danielle; Rainbird, Sophia; Cornell, Victoria; Smith, Bradley; Trigg, Joshua

    2014-01-01

    Simple Summary The potential for reconfiguring pet ownership from a risk factor to a protective factor for natural disaster survival has been recently proposed. But how might this resilience-building proposition apply to members of the community who are already considered vulnerable? This article addresses this important question by synthesizing information about what makes seven particular groups vulnerable, the challenges to increasing their resilience and how animals figure in their lives. It concludes that animal attachment could provide a novel conduit for accessing, communicating with and motivating vulnerable people to engage in resilience building behaviors that promote survival and facilitate recovery. Abstract Increased vulnerability to natural disasters has been associated with particular groups in the community. This includes those who are considered de facto vulnerable (children, older people, those with disabilities etc.) and those who own pets (not to mention pets themselves). The potential for reconfiguring pet ownership from a risk factor to a protective factor for natural disaster survival has been recently proposed. But how might this resilience-building proposition apply to vulnerable members of the community who own pets or other animals? This article addresses this important question by synthesizing information about what makes particular groups vulnerable, the challenges to increasing their resilience and how animals figure in their lives. Despite different vulnerabilities, animals were found to be important to the disaster resilience of seven vulnerable groups in Australia. Animal attachment and animal-related activities and networks are identified as underexplored devices for disseminating or ‘piggybacking’ disaster-related information and engaging vulnerable people in resilience building behaviors (in addition to including animals in disaster planning initiatives in general). Animals may provide the kind of innovative approach required

  1. Social vulnerability indicators as a sustainable planning tool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Yung-Jaan

    2014-01-01

    In the face of global warming and environmental change, the conventional strategy of resource centralization will not be able to cope with a future of increasingly extreme climate events and related disasters. It may even contribute to inter-regional disparities as a result of these events. To promote sustainable development, this study offers a case study of developmental planning in Chiayi, Taiwan and a review of the relevant literature to propose a framework of social vulnerability indicators at the township level. The proposed framework can not only be used to measure the social vulnerability of individual townships in Chiayi, but also be used to capture the spatial developmental of Chiayi. Seventeen social vulnerability indicators provide information in five dimensions. Owing to limited access to relevant data, the values of only 13 indicators were calculated. By simply summarizing indicators without using weightings and by using zero-mean normalization to standardize the indicators, this study calculates social vulnerability scores for each township. To make social vulnerability indicators more useful, this study performs an overlay analysis of social vulnerability and patterns of risk associated with national disasters. The social vulnerability analysis draws on secondary data for 2012 from Taiwan's National Geographic Information System. The second layer of analysis consists of the flood potential ratings of the Taiwan Water Resources Agency as an index of biophysical vulnerability. The third layer consists of township-level administrative boundaries. Analytical results reveal that four out of the 18 townships in Chiayi not only are vulnerable to large-scale flooding during serious flood events, but also have the highest degree of social vulnerability. Administrative boundaries, on which social vulnerability is based, do not correspond precisely to “cross-administrative boundaries,” which are characteristics of the natural environment. This study adopts

  2. Social vulnerability indicators as a sustainable planning tool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Yung-Jaan, E-mail: yungjaanlee@gmail.com

    2014-01-15

    In the face of global warming and environmental change, the conventional strategy of resource centralization will not be able to cope with a future of increasingly extreme climate events and related disasters. It may even contribute to inter-regional disparities as a result of these events. To promote sustainable development, this study offers a case study of developmental planning in Chiayi, Taiwan and a review of the relevant literature to propose a framework of social vulnerability indicators at the township level. The proposed framework can not only be used to measure the social vulnerability of individual townships in Chiayi, but also be used to capture the spatial developmental of Chiayi. Seventeen social vulnerability indicators provide information in five dimensions. Owing to limited access to relevant data, the values of only 13 indicators were calculated. By simply summarizing indicators without using weightings and by using zero-mean normalization to standardize the indicators, this study calculates social vulnerability scores for each township. To make social vulnerability indicators more useful, this study performs an overlay analysis of social vulnerability and patterns of risk associated with national disasters. The social vulnerability analysis draws on secondary data for 2012 from Taiwan's National Geographic Information System. The second layer of analysis consists of the flood potential ratings of the Taiwan Water Resources Agency as an index of biophysical vulnerability. The third layer consists of township-level administrative boundaries. Analytical results reveal that four out of the 18 townships in Chiayi not only are vulnerable to large-scale flooding during serious flood events, but also have the highest degree of social vulnerability. Administrative boundaries, on which social vulnerability is based, do not correspond precisely to “cross-administrative boundaries,” which are characteristics of the natural environment. This study

  3. Developmental dynamics of radial vulnerability in the cerebral compartments in preterm infants and neonates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivica eKostović

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The developmental vulnerability of different classes of axonal pathways in preterm white matter is not known. We propose that laminar compartments of the developing cerebral wall serve as spatial framework for axonal growth and evaluate potential of anatomical landmarks for understanding reorganization of the cerebral wall after perinatal lesions. The 3T MRI (in vivo and histological analysis were performed in a series of cases ranging from 22 PCW to 3 years. For the follow-up scans, three groups of children (control, normotypic and preterms with lesions were examined at the term equivalent age and after the first year of life. MRI and histological abnormalities were analyzed in the following compartments: (a periventricular, with periventricular fibre system; (b intermediate, with periventricular crossroads, sagittal strata and centrum semiovale; (c superficial, composed of gyral white matter, subplate and cortical plate. Vulnerability of thalamo-cortical pathways within the crossroads and sagittal strata seems to be characteristic for early preterms, while vulnerability of long association pathways in the centrum semiovale seems to be predominant feature of late preterms. The structural indicator of the lesion of the long association pathways is the loss of delineation between centrum semiovale and subplate remnant, which is possible substrate of the diffuse periventricular leukomalacia. The enhanced difference in MR signal intensity of centrum semiovale and subplate remnant, observed in damaged children after first year, we interpret as structural plasticity of intact short cortico-cortical fibres, which grow postnatally through U-zones and enter the cortex through the subplate remnant. Our findings indicate that radial distribution of MRI signal abnormalities in the cerebral compartments may be related to lesion of different classes of axonal pathways and have prognostic value for predicting the likely outcome of prenatal and perinatal

  4. Applying Turbulence Models to Hydroturbine Flows: A Sensitivity Analysis Using the GAMM Francis Turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Bryan; Cimbala, John; Wouden, Alex

    2011-11-01

    Turbulence models are generally developed to study common academic geometries, such as flat plates and channels. Creating quality computational grids for such geometries is trivial, and allows stringent requirements to be met for boundary layer grid refinement. However, engineering applications, such as flow through hydroturbines, require the analysis of complex, highly curved geometries. To produce body-fitted grids for such geometries, the mesh quality requirements must be relaxed. Relaxing these requirements, along with the complexity of rotating flows, forces turbulence models to be employed beyond their developed scope. This study explores the solution sensitivity to boundary layer grid quality for various turbulence models and boundary conditions currently implemented in OpenFOAM. The following models are resented: k-omega, k-omega SST, k-epsilon, realizable k-epsilon, and RNG k-epsilon. Standard wall functions, adaptive wall functions, and sub-grid integration are compared using various grid refinements. The chosen geometry is the GAMM Francis Turbine because experimental data and comparison computational results are available for this turbine. This research was supported by a grant from the DoE and a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.

  5. What do we know about children living with HIV-infected or AIDS-ill adults in Sub-Saharan Africa? A systematic review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldberg, Rachel E; Short, Susan E

    2016-03-01

    Millions of children in Sub-Saharan Africa live with adults, often parents, who are HIV-infected or ill due to AIDS. These children experience social, emotional, and health vulnerabilities that overlap with, but are not necessarily the same as, those of orphans or other vulnerable children. Despite their distinctive vulnerabilities, research aimed at understanding the situation of these children has been limited until very recently. This review summarizes the state of knowledge based on a systematic search of PubMed and Web of Science that identified 47 empirical research articles that examined either the population prevalence of children living with HIV-infected or AIDS-sick adults, or the consequences of adult HIV infection or AIDS illness for child well-being. This review confirms that this population of children is substantial in size, and that the vulnerabilities they experience are multi-faceted, spanning physical and emotional health and schooling. Mechanisms were examined empirically in only a small number of studies, but encompass poverty, transmission of opportunistic infections, care for unwell adults, adult distress, AIDS stigma, lack of social support, maternal breastfeeding issues, and vertical HIV transmission. Some evidence is provided that infants, adolescents, children with infected or ill mothers, and children living with severely ill adults are particularly vulnerable. Future research would benefit from more attention to causal inference and further characterization of processes and circumstances related to vulnerability and resilience. It would also benefit from further study of variation in observed associations between adult HIV/AIDS and child well-being based on characteristics such as age, sex, kinship, severity of illness, TB co-infection, disclosure, and serostatus awareness. Almost one-quarter of the studies reviewed did not investigate variation based on any of these factors. More nuanced understanding of the short- and long

  6. Is early detection of abused children possible?: a systematic review of the diagnostic accuracy of the identification of abused children

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background Early detection of abused children could help decrease mortality and morbidity related to this major public health problem. Several authors have proposed tools to screen for child maltreatment. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the evidence on accuracy of tools proposed to identify abused children before their death and assess if any were adapted to screening. Methods We searched in PUBMED, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, FRANCIS and PASCAL for studies estimating diagnostic accuracy of tools identifying neglect, or physical, psychological or sexual abuse of children, published in English or French from 1961 to April 2012. We extracted selected information about study design, patient populations, assessment methods, and the accuracy parameters. Study quality was assessed using QUADAS criteria. Results A total of 2 280 articles were identified. Thirteen studies were selected, of which seven dealt with physical abuse, four with sexual abuse, one with emotional abuse, and one with any abuse and physical neglect. Study quality was low, even when not considering the lack of gold standard for detection of abused children. In 11 studies, instruments identified abused children only when they had clinical symptoms. Sensitivity of tests varied between 0.26 (95% confidence interval [0.17-0.36]) and 0.97 [0.84-1], and specificity between 0.51 [0.39-0.63] and 1 [0.95-1]. The sensitivity was greater than 90% only for three tests: the absence of scalp swelling to identify children victims of inflicted head injury; a decision tool to identify physically-abused children among those hospitalized in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit; and a parental interview integrating twelve child symptoms to identify sexually-abused children. When the sensitivity was high, the specificity was always smaller than 90%. Conclusions In 2012, there is low-quality evidence on the accuracy of instruments for identifying abused children. Identified tools were not adapted to screening because of

  7. Communication problems in children with autism and intellectual disability : depicting the phenotype

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Maljaars, Janne Pieternella Wilhelmina

    2012-01-01

    Children with autism and intellectual disability form a particularly vulnerable group, as both disorders have a significant impact on the way and level of information processing and communication. However, children with autism and co-occurring intellectual disability are often excluded from

  8. Global analysis of urban surface water supply vulnerability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Padowski, Julie C; Gorelick, Steven M

    2014-01-01

    This study presents a global analysis of urban water supply vulnerability in 71 surface-water supplied cities, with populations exceeding 750 000 and lacking source water diversity. Vulnerability represents the failure of an urban supply-basin to simultaneously meet demands from human, environmental and agricultural users. We assess a baseline (2010) condition and a future scenario (2040) that considers increased demand from urban population growth and projected agricultural demand. We do not account for climate change, which can potentially exacerbate or reduce urban supply vulnerability. In 2010, 35% of large cities are vulnerable as they compete with agricultural users. By 2040, without additional measures 45% of cities are vulnerable due to increased agricultural and urban demands. Of the vulnerable cities in 2040, the majority are river-supplied with mean flows so low (1200 liters per person per day, l/p/d) that the cities experience ‘chronic water scarcity’ (1370 l/p/d). Reservoirs supply the majority of cities facing individual future threats, revealing that constructed storage potentially provides tenuous water security. In 2040, of the 32 vulnerable cities, 14 would reduce their vulnerability via reallocating water by reducing environmental flows, and 16 would similarly benefit by transferring water from irrigated agriculture. Approximately half remain vulnerable under either potential remedy. (letter)

  9. Groundwater vulnerability map for South Africa

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Chiedza Musekiwa

    Coastal vulnerability is the degree to which a coastal system is susceptible to, ... methods, indicator-based approaches, GIS-based decision support systems and ..... E 2005, 'Coastal Vulnerability and Risk Parameters', European Water, vol.

  10. “If both my sons were on the gallows, i would sing": oppression of children in Beaumont‘s the knight of the burning pestle.” “If both my sons were on the gallows, i would sing": oppression of children in Beaumont‘s the knight of the burning pestle.”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda Andreson

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Critics have described various objects of satire in Francis Beaumont‘s The Knight of the Burning Pestle, cluding “boorish behaviour and the demand that the playhouse serve private preference”(with a “class bias”against the citizens, George and Nell; “chivalric romance;” “citizen success-stories;” “misunderstandings about art;” the “gallants”of the period; prodigal plays; and “a mercenary society.” Much less attention has been paid to another possible object of Beaumont‘s satire: the oppression of children and young adults by their elders, particulary their own parents. This oppression takes various forms throughout the play, including economic oppression, both bribery and deprivation of money. Although Philip J. Finkelpearl notes that “George‘s threats are the kind a burly would use on a helpless child” (25, it does not seem to have been noted that children are the object of most of the threats of violence, as well as actual violence, in the play. Critics have described various objects of satire in Francis Beaumont‘s The Knight of the Burning Pestle, cluding “boorish behaviour and the demand that the playhouse serve private preference”(with a “class bias”against the citizens, George and Nell; “chivalric romance;” “citizen success-stories;” “misunderstandings about art;” the “gallants”of the period; prodigal plays; and “a mercenary society.” Much less attention has been paid to another possible object of Beaumont‘s satire: the oppression of children and young adults by their elders, particulary their own parents. This oppression takes various forms throughout the play, including economic oppression, both bribery and deprivation of money. Although Philip J. Finkelpearl notes that “George‘s threats are the kind a burly would use on a helpless child” (25, it does not seem to have been noted that children are the object of most of the threats of violence, as well as

  11. Crianças órfãs e vulneráveis pelo HIV no Brasil: onde estamos e para onde vamos? Orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS in Brazil: where do we stand and where are we heading?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan França-Junior

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available O objetivo do artigo foi identificar a magnitude e a situação de alguns direitos humanos, conforme expressos na United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, de crianças e adolescentes portadores de HIV/Aids, afetados não-órfãos e órfãos por Aids, com base em pesquisa sobre o tema na literatura científica nacional e internacional. Os principais achados não permitiram indicar com segurança quantos seriam as crianças e os adolescentes portadores do HIV e afetados não-órfãos. Há informações sobre o número de portadores de Aids e de órfãos. Estas estimativas, sejam elas oriundas do sistema de vigilância, modelos matemáticos ou inquéritos, são discutidas em suas limitações e possibilidades. Apesar da literatura ainda ser relativamente pequena, há indícios de comprometimento de vários direitos como saúde, educação, moradia, alimentação, não discriminação, integridade física e mental. Verificou-se que o Brasil ainda precisa avançar para responder às necessidades adicionais dos órfãos e outras crianças vulneráveis. A resposta brasileira, até o momento, é limitada à assistência médica para crianças e adolescentes portadores do HIV/Aids, ao combate à transmissão vertical do HIV e ao financiamento da instalação e manutenção de casas de apoio (abrigos pelo Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente para infectados afetados, órfãos ou não. Essas medidas são insuficientes para garantir um ambiente de apoio para órfãos, crianças e adolescentes infectados ou afetados pelo HIV/Aids. Propõem-se formas do Brasil criar e aprimorar bases de dados para responder a esses desafios.This study aimed at identifying human rights' status and situation, as expressed in the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, of children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS, non-orphans and orphans affected by AIDS, based on local and international literature review. The main study findings did

  12. [Basic health care. AIDS and children].

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Pasch, T

    1994-02-17

    The total number of children in Africa who died of AIDS is estimated at 700,000. Based on a 30% rate of maternal transmission of HIV infection to children and an annual birth rate of 40/1000, in urban areas about 120,000 children are born with HIV infection. In rural areas the figure is 240,000. In addition, another 120,000 die because of diminished care, thus it is estimated that a total of 480,000 children die of AIDS per year, 30-40% of child mortality of the continent. In the AIDS-affected areas, 30% of children have become orphans. In Katete, Zambia, with a population of 157,000, there are 20,000 orphans, half of whom lost one or both parents because of AIDS, and 2400 of whom lost both parents. A project was designed with the objective of helping orphans. First they had to be counted, using an interview team of 39 persons who visited 450 households in five villages. There were a total of 311 orphans of whom 148 were AIDS orphans. 62% of the 20,000 orphans in the district of Katete do not go to school. In Lusaka in 1990, orphans made up 10% of all children, but 3 years later in Katete, 23% of all children were orphans. The girls are often kept away from school in order to take of their sick mothers. When the father is also sick, there is no more money for school uniforms or fees. In the plans of the St. Francis Hospital AIDS project for 1994-98, a great deal of attention was given to the care of orphans. This will be carried out by local health workers who have taken a course in the hospital and have solid work experience. They will deliver a package containing the most essential necessities for the orphans: school uniform, books, pens, soap, flour, milk powder, and dried beans. There are more projects in the program, including a women's group that wants to sew school uniforms and a health education plan.

  13. The Women, Infants, and Children food package and 100% fruit juice

    Science.gov (United States)

    For those of us who are professionally concerned with infant and childhood nutrition, the nutritional support of our most vulnerable infants, children, and their families is a very high priority. Therefore, it is most important to continue to examine and improve the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC...

  14. Human radiation studies: Remembering the early years: Oral history of cell biologist Don Francis Petersen, Ph.D., conducted November 29, 1994

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-08-01

    This report is a transcript of an interview of Dr. Don Francis Petersen by representatives of the US DOE Office of Human Radiation Experiments. Dr. Petersen was selected for this interview because of his long research career at Los Alamos and his knowledge of the Atomic Energy Commission's biomedical program. Dr. Petersen did not personally conduct research on human subjects. After a brief biographical sketch Dr. Petersen discusses his remembrances of the early use of radionuclides as biological tracers, aspects of nuclear weapons testing in the 1940's and 1950's including fallout studies, the means by which research projects were approved, use of humans in the whole-body counter, and the Health Division Biomedical responsibilities

  15. Human radiation studies: Remembering the early years: Oral history of cell biologist Don Francis Petersen, Ph.D., conducted November 29, 1994

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-08-01

    This report is a transcript of an interview of Dr. Don Francis Petersen by representatives of the US DOE Office of Human Radiation Experiments. Dr. Petersen was selected for this interview because of his long research career at Los Alamos and his knowledge of the Atomic Energy Commission`s biomedical program. Dr. Petersen did not personally conduct research on human subjects. After a brief biographical sketch Dr. Petersen discusses his remembrances of the early use of radionuclides as biological tracers, aspects of nuclear weapons testing in the 1940`s and 1950`s including fallout studies, the means by which research projects were approved, use of humans in the whole-body counter, and the Health Division Biomedical responsibilities.

  16. The effect of early life stress on the cognitive phenotype of children with an extra X chromosome (47,XXY/47,XXX).

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Rijn, Sophie; Barneveld, Petra; Descheemaeker, Mie-Jef; Giltay, Jacques; Swaab, Hanna

    2018-02-01

    Studies on gene-environment interactions suggest that some individuals may be more susceptible to life adversities than others due to their genetic profile. This study assesses whether or not children with an extra X chromosome are more vulnerable to the negative impact of early life stress on cognitive functioning than typically-developing children. A total of 50 children with an extra X chromosome and 103 non-clinical controls aged 9 to 18 years participated in the study. Cognitive functioning in domains of language, social cognition and executive functioning were assessed. Early life stress was measured with the Questionnaire of Life Events. High levels of early life stress were found to be associated with compromised executive functioning in the areas of mental flexibility and inhibitory control, irrespective of group membership. In contrast, the children with an extra X chromosome were found to be disproportionally vulnerable to deficits in social cognition on top of executive dysfunction, as compared to typically-developing children. Within the extra X group the number of negative life events is significantly correlated with more problems in inhibition, mental flexibility and social cognition. It is concluded that children with an extra X chromosome are vulnerable to adverse life events, with social cognition being particularly impacted in addition to the negative effects on executive functioning. The findings that developmental outcome is codependent on early environmental factors in genetically vulnerable children also underscores opportunities for training and support to positively influence the course of development.

  17. Detecting C Program Vulnerabilities

    OpenAIRE

    Anton, Ermakov; Natalia, Kushik

    2011-01-01

    C/C++ language is widely used for developing tools in various applications, in particular, software tools for critical systems are often written in C language. Therefore, the security of such software should be thoroughly tested, i.e., the absence of vulnerabilities has to be confirmed. When detecting C program vulnerabilities static source code analysis can be used. In this paper, we present a short survey of existing software tools for such analysis and show that for some kinds of C code vu...

  18. Bilingual Children with Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip and/or Palate: Language and Memory Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Selena Ee-Li; Purcell, Alison Anne; Ballard, Kirrie Jane; Liow, Susan Jane Rickard; Ramos, Sara Da Silva; Heard, Robert

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: Research shows that monolingual children with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) have a higher incidence of cognitive-linguistic deficits, but it is not clear whether bilingual preschool children with CLP are especially vulnerable because they need to acquire 2 languages. We tested the hypothesis that bilingual children with CLP score lower…

  19. Parenting stress and affective symptoms in parents of autistic children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Yun; Du, YaSong; Li, HuiLin; Zhang, XiYan; An, Yu; Wu, Bai-Lin

    2015-10-01

    We examined parenting stress and mental health status in parents of autistic children and assessed factors associated with such stress. Participants were parents of 188 autistic children diagnosed with DSM-IV criteria and parents of 144 normally developing children. Parents of autistic children reported higher levels of stress, depression, and anxiety than parents of normally developing children. Mothers of autistic children had a higher risk of depression and anxiety than that did parents of normally developing children. Mothers compared to fathers of autistic children were more vulnerable to depression. Age, behavior problems of autistic children, and mothers' anxiety were significantly associated with parenting stress.

  20. The contribution of schools to supporting the well being of children affected by HIV in eastern Zimbabwe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pufall, Erica L.; Gregson, Simon; Eaton, Jeffrey W.

    2014-01-01

    Objectives:Schools are often cited as a source of support for orphans and children affected by HIV/AIDS in populations experiencing generalized HIV epidemics and severe poverty. Here we investigate the success of schools at including and supporting the well being of vulnerable children in rural Z...... quality may enhance the well being of primary school-age children in eastern Zimbabwe. Local community context also plays an important role in child well being....... measures of school quality (one general and one HIV-specific) and use multivariable regression to test whether these were associated with improved educational outcomes and well being for vulnerable children. Results:School quality was not associated with primary or secondary school attendance...

  1. Mental vulnerability as a risk factor for depression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Østergaard, Ditte; Dalton, Susanne Oksbjerg; Bidstrup, Pernille Envold

    2012-01-01

    Mental vulnerability (i.e. a tendency to experience psychosomatic symptoms, mental symptoms or interpersonal problems) is associated with various diseases. This study investigated whether mental vulnerability is associated with hospitalization for depression.......Mental vulnerability (i.e. a tendency to experience psychosomatic symptoms, mental symptoms or interpersonal problems) is associated with various diseases. This study investigated whether mental vulnerability is associated with hospitalization for depression....

  2. Hypothesis: Impregnated school uniforms reduce the incidence of dengue infections in school children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilder-Smith, A; Lover, A; Kittayapong, P; Burnham, G

    2011-06-01

    Dengue infection causes a significant economic, social and medical burden in affected populations in over 100 countries in the tropics and sub-tropics. Current dengue control efforts have generally focused on vector control but have not shown major impact. School-aged children are especially vulnerable to infection, due to sustained human-vector-human transmission in the close proximity environments of schools. Infection in children has a higher rate of complications, including dengue hemorrhagic fever and shock syndromes, than infections in adults. There is an urgent need for integrated and complementary population-based strategies to protect vulnerable children. We hypothesize that insecticide-treated school uniforms will reduce the incidence of dengue in school-aged children. The hypothesis would need to be tested in a community based randomized trial. If proven to be true, insecticide-treated school uniforms would be a cost-effective and scalable community based strategy to reduce the burden of dengue in children. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Educational interventions targeted at minors in situations of grave social vulnerability and their families

    Science.gov (United States)

    de La Caba Collado, Mariangeles; Bartau Rojas, Isabel

    2010-10-01

    The aim of this article is to outline and assess an educational intervention programme targeted at improving the skills of families and the personal and social development of children living in situations of grave social vulnerability. The sample comprised 10 families during the first phase of the intervention and six during the second. The design, intervention and assessment process of this study was carried out in two phases over a period of a year and a half. For both phases, three different groups—of men/fathers, women/mothers and children—were established. Study variables (parenting skills and children's personal and social development) were evaluated before and after the intervention in every group, as well as during the entire process. The results, taking into account the improvements reported by all the participants (social workers, group monitors, fathers, mothers, children) show that inter-professional involvement and coordination at all phases of the intervention is vital in order to achieve small but significant improvements.

  4. What do we know about children living with HIV-infected or AIDS-ill adults in Sub-Saharan Africa? A systematic review of the literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldberg, Rachel E.; Short, Susan E.

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT Millions of children in Sub-Saharan Africa live with adults, often parents, who are HIV-infected or ill due to AIDS. These children experience social, emotional, and health vulnerabilities that overlap with, but are not necessarily the same as, those of orphans or other vulnerable children. Despite their distinctive vulnerabilities, research aimed at understanding the situation of these children has been limited until very recently. This review summarizes the state of knowledge based on a systematic search of PubMed and Web of Science that identified 47 empirical research articles that examined either the population prevalence of children living with HIV-infected or AIDS-sick adults, or the consequences of adult HIV infection or AIDS illness for child well-being. This review confirms that this population of children is substantial in size, and that the vulnerabilities they experience are multi-faceted, spanning physical and emotional health and schooling. Mechanisms were examined empirically in only a small number of studies, but encompass poverty, transmission of opportunistic infections, care for unwell adults, adult distress, AIDS stigma, lack of social support, maternal breastfeeding issues, and vertical HIV transmission. Some evidence is provided that infants, adolescents, children with infected or ill mothers, and children living with severely ill adults are particularly vulnerable. Future research would benefit from more attention to causal inference and further characterization of processes and circumstances related to vulnerability and resilience. It would also benefit from further study of variation in observed associations between adult HIV/AIDS and child well-being based on characteristics such as age, sex, kinship, severity of illness, TB co-infection, disclosure, and serostatus awareness. Almost one-quarter of the studies reviewed did not investigate variation based on any of these factors. More nuanced understanding of the short- and long

  5. Fuzzy vulnerability matrix

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baron, Jorge H.; Rivera, S.S.

    2000-01-01

    The so-called vulnerability matrix is used in the evaluation part of the probabilistic safety assessment for a nuclear power plant, during the containment event trees calculations. This matrix is established from what is knows as Numerical Categories for Engineering Judgement. This matrix is usually established with numerical values obtained with traditional arithmetic using the set theory. The representation of this matrix with fuzzy numbers is much more adequate, due to the fact that the Numerical Categories for Engineering Judgement are better represented with linguistic variables, such as 'highly probable', 'probable', 'impossible', etc. In the present paper a methodology to obtain a Fuzzy Vulnerability Matrix is presented, starting from the recommendations on the Numerical Categories for Engineering Judgement. (author)

  6. Vulnerability, Health Agency and Capability to Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Straehle, Christine

    2016-01-01

    One of the defining features of the capability approach (CA) to health, as developed in Venkatapuram's book Health Justice, is its aim to enable individual health agency. Furthermore, the CA to health hopes to provide a strong guideline for assessing the health-enabling content of social and political conditions. In this article, I employ the recent literature on the liberal concept of vulnerability to assess the CA. I distinguish two kinds of vulnerability. Considering circumstantial vulnerability, I argue that liberal accounts of vulnerability concerned with individual autonomy, align with the CA to health. Individuals should, as far as possible, be able to make health-enabling decisions about their lives, and their capability to do so should certainly not be hindered by public policy. The CA to health and a vulnerability-based analysis then work alongside to define moral responsibilities and designate those who hold them. Both approaches demand social policy to address circumstances that hinder individuals from taking health-enabling decisions. A background condition of vulnerability, on the other hand, even though it hampers the capability for health, does not warrant the strong moral claim proposed by the CA to health to define health as a meta-capability that should guide social policy. Nothing in our designing social policy could change the challenge to health agency when we deal with background conditions of vulnerability. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. Sexual violence against children and vulnerability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trindade, Luciana C; Linhares, Silvana M G M; Vanrell, Jorge; Godoy, Danilo; Martins, José C A; Barbas, Stela M A N

    2014-01-01

    To analyze the demographic and epidemiological profile of children and adolescents victims of sexual violence treated in a Unit of Forensic Medicine and the relationship between victims and perpetrators. A descriptive study, with data collection from information gathered from sex abuse reports performed in 2009 on victims of sexual violence aged less than 18 years. The data collection tool was a form filled out with demographic information about the victim - gender and age - and information regarding the sexual violence -, location of the occurrence, time elapsed between abuse and expert report, complaints reported, sexological examination findings, description of lesions outside the genital region, and aggressor's relationship to victim. In 2009, 421 individuals victim of sexual violence were assisted. Of those, 379 (90%) were younger than 18 years, and 66 cases were excluded from these reports. Most were female (81.2%). The most affected age group was 10 to 13 years old (36.7%), followed by 5 to 9 year-olds (30.7%). In most cases (86.3%), there were family or friendship ties between victims and perpetrators, being most frequently accused an acquaintance or friend of the family (42.3%), followed by the stepfather (16.6%) and the father (10.9%). The results are similar to other studies conducted in the country. This work aims at filling a gap caused by the lack of research on this topic in the State, hoping to collaborate to improve public policies against child sexual abuse.

  8. WOMEN AND CHILDRENS, THE MAIN VICTIMS OF FORCED DISPLACEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Alonso Andrade Salazar

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to shows the particular manner as in Colombia, women and children areparticularly vulnerable by armed groups that attack their dignity and privacy affect their family, ideological and sexual. The preparation of the article involved an extensive literature review. In Colombia and adolescent girls constitute 53% of the displaced population, of which at least 17% were mobilized as a result of harassment, assault and sexual violence. The vital risk factors and vulnerability are directly proportional to the armed conflict, therefore the war dissociates the family unit, and alters the elements of group cohesion. Often children carry their emotional state through aggressive or playful - in conflicting attitudes, and recharges in women full weight of family reconstitution, which hinders its adaptation process.

  9. Better theory-of-mind skills in children hearing voices mitigate the risk of secondary delusion formation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bartels-Velthuis, A. A.; Blijd-Hoogewys, E. M. A.; van Os, J.

    Objective: To examine the social cognitive vulnerabilities mediating delusion formation in children presenting with hallucinatory experiences. Method: A sample of 259 12- and 13-year-old children, from a baseline case-control sample of children with and without auditory hallucinations (AH), were

  10. Anxiety in Non‐Clinical Children: Developmental Course and Vulnerability Factors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    S.M.L. Broeren (Suzanne)

    2011-01-01

    textabstractSome children are afraid of the dark, spiders, ghosts, or imaginary creatures, others are apprehensive of something bad happening to their parents or themselves, or worry about doing something stupid in front of others. Nevertheless, fear and anxiety are a normal part of childhood

  11. Vulnerability of Forests in India: A National Scale Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Jagmohan; Upgupta, Sujata; Jayaraman, Mathangi; Chaturvedi, Rajiv Kumar; Bala, Govindswamy; Ravindranath, N H

    2017-09-01

    Forests are subjected to stress from climatic and non-climatic sources. In this study, we have reported the results of inherent, as well as climate change driven vulnerability assessments for Indian forests. To assess inherent vulnerability of forests under current climate, we have used four indicators, namely biological richness, disturbance index, canopy cover, and slope. The assessment is presented as spatial profile of inherent vulnerability in low, medium, high and very high vulnerability classes. Fourty percent forest grid points in India show high or very high inherent vulnerability. Plantation forests show higher inherent vulnerability than natural forests. We assess the climate change driven vulnerability by combining the results of inherent vulnerability assessment with the climate change impact projections simulated by the Integrated Biosphere Simulator dynamic global vegetation model. While 46% forest grid points show high, very high, or extremely high vulnerability under future climate in the short term (2030s) under both representative concentration pathways 4.5 and 8.5, such grid points are 49 and 54%, respectively, in the long term (2080s). Generally, forests in the higher rainfall zones show lower vulnerability as compared to drier forests under future climate. Minimizing anthropogenic disturbance and conserving biodiversity can potentially reduce forest vulnerability under climate change. For disturbed forests and plantations, adaptive management aimed at forest restoration is necessary to build long-term resilience.

  12. From medicine to natural philosophy: Francis Hauksbee's way to the air-pump.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brundtland, Terje

    2008-06-01

    Francis Hauksbee (1660-1713) is well known for his double-barrelled air-pump. However, the origin of this pump, and Hauksbee's background, are often described as a mystery. This text seeks to dispel the riddle. It is argued that Hauksbee's competence as an exceptional maker of air-pumps was developed between 1699 and 1703 as a result of his experiences with the construction, manufacturing and sale of cupping-glasses. His cupping utensils embodied a new design, where syringes were used to evacuate the glasses, instead of the traditional way by fire or mouth suction. These syringes, which in fact were small air-pumps, were perfected between 1699 and 1701. A larger syringe, introduced in 1701, served as a transition from the cupping-syringe to his first air-pump for use in natural philosophy. This syringe was described as a 'combined engine', which could serve as an air-pump, a condensing engine and a syringe for injecting air, wax or mercury into pathological specimens. Hauksbee's first air-pump was a single-barrelled model introduced in 1702, based on the combined engine. Its various features, such as easy and convenient leak-tightening, exact pressure measurements by an in-built barometer and an air-inlet function for readmission of air into the receiver, are discussed. Finally, it is shown that these activities gave Hauksbee the reputation of being an outstanding instrument-maker, years before the double-barrelled air-pump was in sight.

  13. Children's Environmental Health: Beyond National Boundaries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Mark D; Marty, Melanie A; Landrigan, Philip J

    2016-02-01

    Children are especially vulnerable to environmental pollution, a major cause of disease, death, and disability in countries at every level of development. This article reviews threats to children, including air and water pollution, toxic industrial chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals, and hazardous wastes. Global climate change is expected to exacerbate many of these issues. Examples of innovative nongovernmental organizations and governmental programs that address the impacts of environmental hazards on children are included. International travel, adoption, migration, and movement of goods and pollutants worldwide make these conditions concerns for all pediatricians. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Legislation affecting governmental assistance for children of parents with substance use: a policy analysis of social justice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raynor, Phyllis; Williams, Pamela Holtzclaw

    2012-11-01

    There is legislation that withdraws governmental assistance where parents are using drugs. Social justice is an important consideration in any policy that modifies governmental assistance that benefits vulnerable children. The purpose of this policy analysis is to analyze identified legislation that effect governmental assistance for children in response to parents' substance misuse. A selective review of data-driven studies examined findings describing actual or potential effects on children of legislation targeting parental substance misuse. Challenges in design, processes, and implementation contribute to poor child outcomes. Identifiable constructs of social justice were missing in the reviewed legislation. Social injustice is a potential outcome for children when legislative intent focuses solely on addressing parental drug behaviors. Legislative alternatives to withdrawing support can address substance abuse while maintaining health promotion for these vulnerable children.

  15. Climate Change Vulnerability Analysis of Baluran National Park

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beny Harjadi

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Every ecosystem has a different level of susceptibility to environmental disturbances it receives, both from natural factors or anthropogenic disturbance. National Park (NP Baluran is one national park that has a representation of a complete ecosystem that includes upland forest ecosystems, lowland forests, coastal forests, mangroves, savanna and evergreen forest. The objective of this study is to get a formula calculation of vulnerability analysis of constant and dynamic factors. Baluran NP vulnerability assessment to climate change done by looking at the dynamic and fixed factors. Vulnerability remains a vulnerability factor to the condition of the original (control, whereas vulnerability is the vulnerability of the dynamic change factors which affected the condition from the outside. Constant Vulnerability (CV in  Baluran NP dominated resistant conditions (61%, meaning that the geomorphology and other fixed factors (slope and slope direction/aspect, then the condition in Baluran NP sufficiently resilient to climate change. Dynamic Vulnerability (DV is the vulnerability of an area or areas that change because of pressure from external factors. DV is influenced by climatic factors (WI = Wetness Index, soil (SBI = Soil Brightness Index, and vegetation (GI = Greenness Index. DV in  Baluran NP from 1999 to 2010 shifted from the original category of being (84.76% and shifted to the susceptible (59.88%.  The role of remote sensing for the analysis of raster digital system, while the geographic information system to display the results of cartographic maps.

  16. The SAVI vulnerability assessment model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winblad, A.E.

    1987-01-01

    The assessment model ''Systematic Analysis of Vulnerability to Intrusion'' (SAVI) presented in this report is a PC-based path analysis model. It can provide estimates of protection system effectiveness (or vulnerability) against a spectrum of outsider threats including collusion with an insider adversary. It calculates one measure of system effectiveness, the probability of interruption P(I), for all potential adversary paths. SAVI can perform both theft and sabotage vulnerability analyses. For theft, the analysis is based on the assumption that adversaries should be interrupted either before they can accomplish removal of the target material from its normal location or removal from the site boundary. For sabotage, the analysis is based on the assumption that adversaries should be interrupted before completion of their sabotage task

  17. Europe's vulnerability to energy crises

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2008-01-15

    The growing dependency of Europe as a whole on energy imports and anticipated further increases in energy prices reinforce the concerns about meeting the energy demand in the future. The objective of the Study is to identify the threats leading to potential energy crises and suggest solutions for facing, in an appropriate way, the related key challenges. In addition, the Study intends to develop a number of indicators effective enough to assess the level of different types of vulnerability, as well the overall vulnerability of a country or region, including threats to physical disruption, higher energy prices etc. The use of vulnerability indicators is highly recommended for all WEC-European countries, as well as to policy makers and market players.

  18. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and Vulnerable Consumers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Trzaskowski, Jan

    the economic behaviour of consumers ‘below 1 average’ even though the practice does not meet the requirements of professional diligence. The Directive’s adoption of the European Court of Justice’s ‘average consumer’ entails that protection is generally provided only for those who are far from vulnerable......Consumer protection is deeply anchored in EU law, including the Treaty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. This article discusses the concept of consumer vulnerability and how vulnerable consumers are protected in the context of commercial practices which is fully harmonised by the Unfair....... The Directive’s Article 5(3) concerning vulnerable consumers protects only—and to a limited extent—groups who are vulnerable due to mental or physical infirmity, age or credulity. Even though consumers make many good choices, all consumers are vulnerable in certain situations—often due to time constraints...

  19. Poverty and vulnerability: risk factors in the education of the borough

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liilian Inés Castro Durán

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we analyze the negative impact that poverty and vulnerability have on families and, therefore, in the educational process of students in the Municipality VIII region of Biobío (Chile. At the same time, we are interested to know and appreciate more deeply the most influential social institution in the development of human beings - the family as the primary social group and of greater importance and significance. Then we stop at the concept of poverty with the intent to treat it as a present reality and specific to Latin America, from this stage, go into the province of Punjab, and reflect on the most influential factors. Finally, we mention that we have applied the methodology for the development of this research from a quantitative perspective and cutting descriptive survey, and also the results obtained, through which we will realize how a series of social conditions including poverty and vulnerability, severely damaging to families living in this environment, socially deprived by unemployment, shortages of inputs, inadequate minimum wage, etc. This context, absolutely unfavourable significantly impairs the teaching that it is necessary to carry out education of children of this Commune.

  20. Energy Vulnerability and EU-Russia Energy Relations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edward Hunter Christie

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available The concept of energy vulnerability is reviewed and discussed with a focus on Russia’s foreign energy relations, in particular those with European countries. A definition and a conceptual framework for quantifying energy vulnerability are proposed in the context of a review of recent research on energy vulnerability indices. In particular it is suggested that source country diversification should be reflected using the expected shortfall measure used in financial economics, rather than the Herfindahl-Hirschman or Shannon-Wiener indices, and that the former should then enter a calibrated function in order to yield expected economic loss. The issues of asymmetric failure probabilities and accidental versus intentional supply disruptions are then discussed with examples of recent Russian actions. Energy vulnerability measurement and modelling should ultimately inform policy. In particular, member states should legislate that no energy infrastructure project by one or more member states may increase the energy vulnerability of another member state. Additionally, European environmental policies, notably the EU ETS, should be amended so as to account for induced changes in energy vulnerability. Finally, member states should increase the level of transparency and disclosure with respect to gas import statistics and gas supply contracts.

  1. Ethics in Community-Based Research with Vulnerable Children: Perspectives from Rwanda.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Theresa Betancourt

    Full Text Available A "risk of harm" protocol to identify youth in need of immediate emergency assistance in a study on mental health and HIV in Rwanda among 680 youth ages 10-17 is described. Cases are presented that describe the experience in using this protocol to ensure safety of participants, with ethical and logistical challenges considered. Among the population of the study, 3.2% were deemed "risk of harm." The most prevalent presenting problem was non-fatal suicidal behavior (91% of risk of harm cases, with 36% having a history of a reported previous attempt. Challenges included: acute food insecurity/significant poverty; lack of support/adequate supervision from family members; family violence; alcohol abuse; and HIV-related stigma. Development of a "risk of harm" protocol and collaboration between study staff, community leadership, health authorities, and health workers are critical to ensuring participants' safety in research among vulnerable populations.

  2. Vulnerability maps for Druzba crude oil pipeline

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hladik, P.; Hosnedl, P.; Buresova, H.; Corbet, J.

    2012-01-01

    Maps of risk for individual environmental aspects within the protection zone of the Czech part of the Druzba crude oil pipeline (505.7 km) were developed based on a modified 'H and V index' method. Risk data were added into a GIS of the Druzba pipeline so that the system could be used as conceptual material in the field of environmental protection (a base for the new SCADA system). Considered environmental aspects were assessed in terms of their vulnerability. The criteria were defined as the vulnerability of the aquatic environment (surface waters and ground waters), the vulnerability of soil environment and the vulnerability of biotic components of the environment. (authors)

  3. The Rights of Children and Young People in State Care

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashton, Sarah

    2014-01-01

    This article highlights the lack of human rights recognition for arguably one of the most vulnerable groups in our society, children and young people in the care of the state. Currently under New Zealand legislation and policy frameworks these children do not have their rights upheld, as per New Zealand's obligations under the United Nations…

  4. Perceived social support disparities among children affected by HIV/AIDS in Ghana: a cross-sectional survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doku, Paul Narh; Dotse, John Enoch; Mensah, Kofi Akohene

    2015-06-06

    The study investigated whether perceived social support varied among children who have lost their parents to AIDS, those who have lost their parents to other causes, those who are living with HIV/AIDS-infected caregivers and children from intact families (comparison group). This study employed cross-sectional, quantitative survey that involved 291 children aged 10-18 years in the Lower Manya Krobo District of Ghana and examined their social support disparities. Multivariate linear regressions indicate that children living with HIV/AIDS-infected caregivers reported significantly lower levels of social support compared with AIDS-orphaned children, other-orphaned children and non-orphaned children independent of socio-demographic covariates. Children who have lost their parents to other causes and other-orphaned children reported similar levels of social support. In terms of sources of support, all children orphans and vulnerable children were more likely to draw support from friends and significant others rather than from the family. The findings indicate a need to develop interventions that can increase levels of social support for orphaned and vulnerable children within the context of HIV/AIDS in Ghana, particularly networks that include the family.

  5. Challenges in linking health research to policy: a commentary on developing a multi-stakeholder response to orphans and vulnerable children in Ghana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anakwah Kwadwo

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The Research and Development Division (RDD of the Ghana Health Service (GHS has a remit to build research capacity and conduct policy relevant research. By being situated within the GHS, RDD has good access to directors and programme managers, within and beyond the Ministry of Health. This structure has been facilitating collaboration through research cycles for 20 years, from agenda setting to discussions on policy relevance. This approach has been applied to research activities within the Addressing the Balance of Burden in AIDS (ABBA Research Programme Consortium to tackle the challenges facing HIV affected orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs. The government strategy on OVCs recommends they should be encouraged to live in their home communities rather than in institutions. We present lessons here on efforts to use research to build a response across different agencies to address the problems that communities and families face in caring for these children in their communities. This approach to building consensus on research priorities points to the value of collaboration and dialogue with multiple stakeholders as a means of fostering ownership of a research process and supporting the relevance of research to different groups. Our experience has shown that if the context within which researchers, policy makers and stakeholders work were better understood, the links between them were improved and research were communicated more effectively, then better policy making which links across different sectors may follow. At the same time, collaboration among these different stakeholders to ensure that research meets social needs, must also satisfy the requirements of scientific rigour.

  6. The politics of vulnerability and resilience

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Frerks, G.E.; Warner, J.F.; Weijs, B.

    2011-01-01

    Much conceptual confusion exists over the concepts of vulnerability and (social) resilience, reinforced by the different paradigms (the article identifies four) and disciplinary traditions underlying their use. While since the 1980s the social construction of "vulnerability" as a driver for disaster

  7. Are Language and Social Communication Intact in Children with Congenital Visual Impairment at School Age?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tadic, Valerie; Pring, Linda; Dale, Naomi

    2010-01-01

    Background: Development of children with congenital visual impairment (VI) has been associated with vulnerable socio-communicative outcomes often bearing striking similarities to those of sighted children with autism. To date, very little is known about language and social communication in children with VI of normal intelligence. Methods: We…

  8. Issuing the antibiotics for children in pharmacies in Republic of Macedonia

    OpenAIRE

    Angelovska, Bistra; Drakalska, Elena; Atanasova, Marija; Kostik, Vesna; Trajkoska, Jasmina

    2015-01-01

    The use of medicines for infants and children is presenting one unique set of challenges, because children are the most vulnerable population in any society. In contrast to adults, absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs in infants and children can be very different. The aim of this study is to present the characteristics and classification of antibiotics recommended for children, according to WHO, EMA and MWD, pediatric dosage forms registered in Republic of Macedonia and...

  9. Sexual violence against children and vulnerability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciana C Trindade

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective To analyze the demographic and epidemiological profile of children and adolescents victims of sexual violence treated in a Unit of Forensic Medicine and the relationship between victims and perpetrators. Methods A descriptive study, with data collection from information gathered from sex abuse reports performed in 2009 on victims of sexual violence aged less than 18 years. The data collection tool was a form filled out with demographic information about the victim – gender and age - and information regarding the sexual violence –, location of the occurrence, time elapsed between abuse and expert report, complaints reported, sexological examination findings, description of lesions outside the genital region, and aggressor’s relationship to victim. Results In 2009, 421 individuals victim of sexual violence were assisted. Of those, 379 (90% were younger than 18 years, and 66 cases were excluded from these reports. Most were female (81.2%. The most affected age group was 10 to 13 years old (36.7%, followed by 5 to 9 year-olds (30.7%. In most cases (86.3%, there were family or friendship ties between victims and perpetrators, being most frequently accused an acquaintance or friend of the family (42.3%, followed by the stepfather (16.6% and the father (10.9%. Conclusion The results are similar to other studies conducted in the country. This work aims at filling a gap caused by the lack of research on this topic in the State, hoping to collaborate to improve public policies against child sexual abuse.

  10. Vulnerability of schools to floods in Nyando River catchment, Kenya.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ochola, Samuel O; Eitel, Bernhard; Olago, Daniel O

    2010-07-01

    This paper assesses the vulnerability of schools to floods in the Nyando River catchment (3,600 km(2)) in western Kenya and identifies measures needed to reduce this vulnerability. It surveys 130 schools in the lower reaches, where flooding is a recurrent phenomenon. Of the primary schools assessed, 40% were vulnerable, 48% were marginally vulnerable and 12% were not vulnerable. Of the secondary schools, 8% were vulnerable, 73% were marginally vulnerable and 19% were not vulnerable. Vulnerability to floods is due to a lack of funds, poor building standards, local topography, soil types and inadequate drainage. The Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), established in 2003, provides financial support to cover school construction and reconstruction costs; CDF Committees are expected to adopt school building standards. In an effort to promote safe and resilient construction and retrofitting to withstand floods, this paper presents vulnerability reduction strategies and recommendations for incorporating minimum standards in the on-going Primary School Infrastructure Programme Design.

  11. Vulnerabilities Classification for Safe Development on Android

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ricardo Luis D. M. Ferreira

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The global sales market is currently led by devices with the Android operating system. In 2015, more than 1 billion smartphones were sold, of which 81.5% were operated by the Android platform. In 2017, it is estimated that 267.78 billion applications will be downloaded from Google Play. According to Qian, 90% of applications are vulnerable, despite the recommendations of rules and standards for the safe software development. This study presents a classification of vulnerabilities, indicating the vulnerability, the safety aspect defined by the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas - ABNT norm NBR ISO/IEC 27002 which will be violated, which lines of code generate the vulnerability and what should be done to avoid it, and the threat agent used by each of them. This classification allows the identification of possible points of vulnerability, allowing the developer to correct the identified gaps.

  12. Oil vulnerability index of oil-importing countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gupta, Eshita

    2008-01-01

    This paper assesses the relative oil vulnerability of 26 net oil-importing countries for the year 2004 on the basis of various indicators - the ratio of value of oil imports to gross domestic product (GDP), oil consumption per unit of GDP, GDP per capita and oil share in total energy supply, ratio of domestic reserves to oil consumption, exposure to geopolitical oil market concentration risks as measured by net oil import dependence, diversification of supply sources, political risk in oil-supplying countries, and market liquidity. The approach using the principal component technique has been adopted to combine these individual indicators into a composite index of oil vulnerability. Such an index captures the relative sensitivity of various economies towards developments of the international oil market, with a higher index indicating higher vulnerability. The results show that there are considerable differences in the values of individual indicators of oil vulnerability and overall oil vulnerability index among the countries (both inter and intraregional). (author)

  13. Oil vulnerability index of oil-importing countries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gupta, Eshita [The Energy and Resources Institute, Darbari Seth Block, Habitat Place, New Delhi 110 003 (India)

    2008-03-15

    This paper assesses the relative oil vulnerability of 26 net oil-importing countries for the year 2004 on the basis of various indicators - the ratio of value of oil imports to gross domestic product (GDP), oil consumption per unit of GDP, GDP per capita and oil share in total energy supply, ratio of domestic reserves to oil consumption, exposure to geopolitical oil market concentration risks as measured by net oil import dependence, diversification of supply sources, political risk in oil-supplying countries, and market liquidity. The approach using the principal component technique has been adopted to combine these individual indicators into a composite index of oil vulnerability. Such an index captures the relative sensitivity of various economies towards developments of the international oil market, with a higher index indicating higher vulnerability. The results show that there are considerable differences in the values of individual indicators of oil vulnerability and overall oil vulnerability index among the countries (both inter and intraregional). (author)

  14. Groundwater Vulnerability Map for South Africa | Musekiwa | South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Vulnerability of groundwater is a relative, non-measurable and dimensionless property which is based on the concept that some land areas are more vulnerable to groundwater contamination than others. Maps showing groundwater vulnerability assist with the identification of areas more susceptible to contamination than ...

  15. 6 CFR 27.400 - Chemical-terrorism vulnerability information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 6 Domestic Security 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Chemical-terrorism vulnerability information. 27... FACILITY ANTI-TERRORISM STANDARDS Other § 27.400 Chemical-terrorism vulnerability information. (a... that constitute Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information (CVI), as defined in § 27.400(b). The...

  16. Predicting the performance of a high head Francis turbine using a fully implicit mixing plane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amstutz, O; Aakti, B; Casartelli, E; Mangani, L; Hanimann, L

    2015-01-01

    In the present paper numerical investigations of a complete high head Francis turbine comprehensive of a spiral casing, stay and guide vanes and draft tube have been performed at three operating conditions, namely at part load (PL), best efficiency point (BEP), and high load (HL). The main target of the investigations is to assess the prediction accuracy of a reduced domain of the complete turbine using a novel mixing-plane formulation. The computational domain is simplified simulating one single passage of the runner, thus assuming rotational periodicity and steady state conditions. The results were compared with experimental data published by the workshop organization. All CFD simulations were performed at model scale with an in-house adapted, 3D, unstructured, object-oriented finite volume code based on the OpenFOAM-V2.2 framework and designed to solve steady-state incompressible RANS-Equations. The pressure-based solver uses a SIMPLE-C like algorithm and is capable of handling multiple references of frame (MRF). The influence of the turbulence has been considered applying the shear-stress transport model (SST). Full second order upwind scheme for advection discretization has been used for all computations

  17. Two-phase simulations of the full load surge in Francis turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wack, J.; Riedelbauch, S.

    2016-11-01

    At off-design conditions, Francis turbines experience cavitation which may reduce the power output and can cause severe damage in the machine. Certain conditions can cause self-excited oscillations of the vortex rope in the draft tube at full load operating point. For the presented work, two-phase simulations are carried out at model scale on a domain ranging from the inlet of the spiral case to the outlet of the draft tube. At different locations, wall pressure measurements are available and compared to the simulation results. Furthermore, the dynamics of the cavity volume in the draft tube cone and at the trailing edge of the runner blades are investigated by comparing with high speed visualization. To account for the selfexcited behaviour, proper boundary conditions need to be set. In this work, the focus lies on the treatment of the boundary condition at the inlet. In the first step, the dynamic behaviour of the cavity regions is investigated using a constant mass flow. Thereafter, oscillations of the total pressure and mass flow rate are prescribed using various frequencies and amplitudes. This methodology enables to examine the response of the cavity dynamics due to different excitations. It can be observed that setting a constant mass flow boundary condition is not suitable to account for the self-excited behaviour. Prescribing the total pressure has the result that the frequency of the vapour volume oscillation is the same as the frequency of the excitation signal. Contrary to that, for an excitation with a mass flow boundary condition, the response of the system is not equal to the excitation.

  18. Nuclear material production cycle vulnerability analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bott, T.F.

    1996-01-01

    This paper discusses a method for rapidly and systematically identifying vulnerable equipment in a nuclear material or similar production process and ranking that equipment according to its attractiveness to a malevolent attacker. A multistep approach was used in the analysis. First, the entire production cycle was modeled as a flow diagram. This flow diagram was analyzed using graph theoretical methods to identify processes in the production cycle and their locations. Models of processes that were judged to be particularly vulnerable based on the cycle analysis then were developed in greater detail to identify equipment in that process that is vulnerable to intentional damage

  19. Relationship between tasks performed, personality traits, and sleep bruxism in Brazilian school children--a population-based cross-sectional study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junia Maria Serra-Negra

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Tasks can be instruments of stress and may affect the health of children. Sleep bruxism is a multifactorial sleep-related movement disorder that affects children and adults. The aim of the present study was to analyze the association between children's tasks, personality traits and sleep bruxism. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A cross-sectional, population-based study of 652 randomly selected Brazilian schoolchildren (52% of whom were female, aged from 7 to 10 years was conducted in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. A questionnaire based on criteria proposed by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM was completed by parents. In addition, the Neuroticism and Responsibility sub-scales of the Big Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C were administered to the children. Psychological tests were administered and evaluated by psychologists. The Social Vulnerability Index from the city council database was used to determine the social classification of the families. Chi-square and Poisson regression statistical tests were used with a 95% confidence interval. The majority of families were classified as having low social vulnerability (61.3%, whereas, 38.7% were classified as having high social vulnerability. Regarding extracurricular activities, the majority of girls performed household work (56.4% and some artistic activity (51.3% while sporting activities were most common among boys (61%. The results of the Poisson regression model indicated that sleep bruxism was most prevalent in children who scored highly in the Neuroticism sub-scale, and who frequently performed household tasks. CONCLUSION: Children whose personality domain has a high level of Neuroticism and who perform household chores imposed by the family are more vulnerable to sleep bruxism.

  20. Comparative studies of groundwater vulnerability assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maria, Rizka

    2018-02-01

    Pollution of groundwater is a primary issue because aquifers are susceptible to contamination from land use and anthropogenic impacts. Groundwater susceptibility is intrinsic and specific. Intrinsic vulnerability refers to an aquifer that is susceptible to pollution and to the geological and hydrogeological features. Vulnerability assessment is an essential step in assessing groundwater contamination. This approach provides a visual analysis for helping planners and decision makers to achieve the sustainable management of water resources. Comparative studies are applying different methodologies to result in the basic evaluation of the groundwater vulnerability. Based on the comparison of methods, there are several advantages and disadvantages. SI can be overlaid on DRASTIC and Pesticide DRASTIC to extract the divergence in sensitivity. DRASTIC identifies low susceptibility and underestimates the pollution risk while Pesticide DRASTIC and SI represents better risk and is recommended for the future. SINTACS method generates very high vulnerability zones with surface waters and aquifer interactions. GOD method could be adequate for vulnerability mapping in karstified carbonate aquifers at small-moderate scales, and EPIK method can be used for large scale. GOD method is suitable for designing large area such as land management while DRASTIC has good accuracy and more real use in geoenvironmental detailed studies.

  1. An Extreme-Value Approach to Anomaly Vulnerability Identification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Everett, Chris; Maggio, Gaspare; Groen, Frank

    2010-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to present a method for importance analysis in parametric probabilistic modeling where the result of interest is the identification of potential engineering vulnerabilities associated with postulated anomalies in system behavior. In the context of Accident Precursor Analysis (APA), under which this method has been developed, these vulnerabilities, designated as anomaly vulnerabilities, are conditions that produce high risk in the presence of anomalous system behavior. The method defines a parameter-specific Parameter Vulnerability Importance measure (PVI), which identifies anomaly risk-model parameter values that indicate the potential presence of anomaly vulnerabilities, and allows them to be prioritized for further investigation. This entails analyzing each uncertain risk-model parameter over its credible range of values to determine where it produces the maximum risk. A parameter that produces high system risk for a particular range of values suggests that the system is vulnerable to the modeled anomalous conditions, if indeed the true parameter value lies in that range. Thus, PVI analysis provides a means of identifying and prioritizing anomaly-related engineering issues that at the very least warrant improved understanding to reduce uncertainty, such that true vulnerabilities may be identified and proper corrective actions taken.

  2. Assessing vulnerability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hellmuth, M.; Kabat, P.

    2003-01-01

    It is in the shantytowns and rural villages of the Third World that floods and droughts strike hardest and deepest. Vulnerability to the vagaries of climate depends not only on location, but, crucially, on the capacity of the victims to cope with the impacts of extreme weather. So, where are the

  3. Exclusion as a Criterion for Selecting Socially Vulnerable Population Groups

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandra Anatol’evna Shabunova

    2016-05-01

    characterized by the situation and state of exception that is linked to social status and self-perception of human rights and expressed through the senses of inferiority, anger, fear, despair, depression, shame. The status of social exclusion has many criteria: poverty, limited opportunities for employment and education, lack of access to social and community networks and activities, inability to plan one’s own life. The explanatory concept of social exclusion is based on the construction of the attitude toward socially vulnerable layers as the devalued social status. The barrier of social inclusion consists in the formation of a negative image of a representative of this category of the population in the eyes of more secure population groups; and the reason for this phenomenon lies in individual characteristics of an individual: lack of purpose, apathy, laziness, low motivation to labor and training, and bad habits. The prevailing social stereotype contributes to the stratification of entire families, including children, who are in advance deprived of the most important economic, political and cultural resources of society, and have no opportunities for the upward mobility. If no measures are taken to overcome social exclusion, it can lead to the fact that part of the population will fall out of social development and slip into a state of stagnation and complete social dependence. The concept of social inclusion shifts the priorities of state social policy from the allocation of social transfers to actively changing the mindset in society

  4. Reconceptualizing Vulnerability in Personal Narrative Writing with Youths

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Elisabeth

    2014-01-01

    Through a student/teacher classroom conflict, the author explores ways adults produce student writers as vulnerable. Drawing on post-structural concepts of adolescence, identity production, interrogation, and vulnerability, the author details how an English teacher invited students to perform vulnerability in personal narratives about issues like…

  5. Working up a Debt: Students as Vulnerable Consumers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robson, Julie; Farquhar, Jillian Dawes; Hindle, Christopher

    2017-01-01

    Students are recognized as vulnerable consumers where financial matters are concerned, particularly with reference to indebtedness. This study examines student indebtedness in order to initiate wider debate about student vulnerability. We consider vulnerability as dynamic and temporal, linked to an event that renders the consumer susceptible to…

  6. Hydration, morbidity, and mortality in vulnerable populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maughan, Ronald J

    2012-11-01

    Both acute and chronic fluid deficits have been shown to be associated with a number of adverse health outcomes. At the extreme, deprivation of water for more than a few days inevitably leads to death, but even modest fluid deficits may precipitate adverse events, especially in young children, in the frail elderly and in those with poor health. Epidemiological studies have shown an association, although not necessarily a causal one, between a low habitual fluid intake and some chronic diseases, including urolithiasis, constipation, asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetic hyperglycemia, and some cancers. Acute hypohydration may be a precipitating factor in a number of acute medical conditions in elderly persons. Increased mortality, especially in vulnerable populations, is commonly observed during periods of abnormally warm weather, with at least part of this effect due to failure to increase water intake, and this may have some important implications for those responsible for forward planning in healthcare facilities. © 2012 International Life Sciences Institute.

  7. Áreas vulnerables en el centro de Madrid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agustín Hernández Aja

    2007-07-01

    This document shows an vulnerability analysis of the central area of Madrid taken it as the field of APE-00.01. Its objective is to delimit “vulnerable areas” so there can be evaluated the opportunities for interve trough them and then define the best tools in detriment of their vulnerability reasons. To determinate those areas we have developed a sociodemographic analysis where we have found those units of population with vulnerable values. Once determinated, we have synthetize them to define them as easy drafts that makes understandable the work area for later on establish a vulnerable areas catalogue with spatial homogeneity and significant size. The basic nucleus of the análisis has been the sociodemographic fact, based on homogeneus data sources for all the area so they could be referenced to specific spacial areas. In each case has been advised other possible indicators of vulnerability including a signifier selection of thrm on the fifth chapter.

  8. The Relationship between Grandiose and Vulnerable (Hypersensitive Narcissism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emanuel Jauk

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Narcissistic grandiosity is characterized by overt expressions of feelings of superiority and entitlement, while narcissistic vulnerability reflects hypersensitivity and introversive self-absorbedness. Clinical evidence suggests that grandiosity is accompanied by vulnerable aspects, pointing to a common foundation. Subclinical personality research, however, views grandiose and vulnerable narcissism as independent traits. Grandiose narcissism displays substantial correlation with extraversion, while vulnerable narcissism correlates highly with introversion. We investigated if (1 controlling for intro-/extraversion might reveal a “common core” of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, and if (2 the correlation between both aspects might be higher at higher levels of narcissism. Latent variable structural equation modeling and segmented regression analysis confirmed these hypotheses in a large non-clinical sample (N = 1,006. Interindividual differences in intro-/extraversion mask the common core of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. The association between both aspects increases at high levels (upper 10% of grandiose narcissism, which suggests a possible transition to clinically relevant (pathological narcissism.

  9. The Relationship between Grandiose and Vulnerable (Hypersensitive) Narcissism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jauk, Emanuel; Weigle, Elena; Lehmann, Konrad; Benedek, Mathias; Neubauer, Aljoscha C.

    2017-01-01

    Narcissistic grandiosity is characterized by overt expressions of feelings of superiority and entitlement, while narcissistic vulnerability reflects hypersensitivity and introversive self-absorbedness. Clinical evidence suggests that grandiosity is accompanied by vulnerable aspects, pointing to a common foundation. Subclinical personality research, however, views grandiose and vulnerable narcissism as independent traits. Grandiose narcissism displays substantial correlation with extraversion, while vulnerable narcissism correlates highly with introversion. We investigated if (1) controlling for intro-/extraversion might reveal a “common core” of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, and if (2) the correlation between both aspects might be higher at higher levels of narcissism. Latent variable structural equation modeling and segmented regression analysis confirmed these hypotheses in a large non-clinical sample (N = 1,006). Interindividual differences in intro-/extraversion mask the common core of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. The association between both aspects increases at high levels (upper 10%) of grandiose narcissism, which suggests a possible transition to clinically relevant (pathological) narcissism. PMID:28955288

  10. Statistics of software vulnerability detection in certification testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barabanov, A. V.; Markov, A. S.; Tsirlov, V. L.

    2018-05-01

    The paper discusses practical aspects of introduction of the methods to detect software vulnerability in the day-to-day activities of the accredited testing laboratory. It presents the approval results of the vulnerability detection methods as part of the study of the open source software and the software that is a test object of the certification tests under information security requirements, including software for communication networks. Results of the study showing the allocation of identified vulnerabilities by types of attacks, country of origin, programming languages used in the development, methods for detecting vulnerability, etc. are given. The experience of foreign information security certification systems related to the detection of certified software vulnerabilities is analyzed. The main conclusion based on the study is the need to implement practices for developing secure software in the development life cycle processes. The conclusions and recommendations for the testing laboratories on the implementation of the vulnerability analysis methods are laid down.

  11. Children with Disabilities in Disability-Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction: Focussing on School Settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ronoh, Steve; Gaillard, J. C.; Marlowe, Jay

    2017-01-01

    Every year, worldwide, disasters affect approximately seven million children with disabilities, highlighting their potential vulnerability. Although there is a growing move internationally to promote the rights of children with disabilities, they still receive little attention from disaster risk reduction (DRR) researchers and policy makers. They…

  12. Vulnerability, Borderline Personality Disorders. Clinical and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Borderline personality disorder and vulnerability are difficult to assess and are rather elusive to define. A case study material is presented from a cognitive analytical model. An attempt of the dominant features of cognitive analytical therapy and discussion of vulnerability in relation to personality disorder is provided.

  13. [Aged woman's vulnerability related to AIDS].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Carla Marins; Lopes, Fernanda Maria do Valle Martins; Vargens, Octavio Muniz da Costa

    2010-09-01

    This article is a systhematic literature review including the period from 1994 to 2009, whose objective was to discuss the aged woman's vulnerability in relation to Acquired Imunodeficiency Syndrome (Aids). The search for scientific texts was accomplished in the following databases: Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, Scientific Eletronic Library Online (SciELO), Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (LILACS) and Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE). The descriptors used were vulnerability, woman and Aids. Eighteen texts were analyzed, including articles in scientific journals, thesis and dissertations. As a conclusion, it was noted that aged women and vulnerability to Aids are directly related, through gender characteristics including submission and that were built historical and socially. We consider as fundamental the development of studies which may generate publications accessible to women, in order to help them see themselves as persons vulnerable to Aids contagion just for being women.

  14. Extinction vulnerability of coral reef fishes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graham, Nicholas A J; Chabanet, Pascale; Evans, Richard D; Jennings, Simon; Letourneur, Yves; Aaron Macneil, M; McClanahan, Tim R; Ohman, Marcus C; Polunin, Nicholas V C; Wilson, Shaun K

    2011-04-01

    With rapidly increasing rates of contemporary extinction, predicting extinction vulnerability and identifying how multiple stressors drive non-random species loss have become key challenges in ecology. These assessments are crucial for avoiding the loss of key functional groups that sustain ecosystem processes and services. We developed a novel predictive framework of species extinction vulnerability and applied it to coral reef fishes. Although relatively few coral reef fishes are at risk of global extinction from climate disturbances, a negative convex relationship between fish species locally vulnerable to climate change vs. fisheries exploitation indicates that the entire community is vulnerable on the many reefs where both stressors co-occur. Fishes involved in maintaining key ecosystem functions are more at risk from fishing than climate disturbances. This finding is encouraging as local and regional commitment to fisheries management action can maintain reef ecosystem functions pending progress towards the more complex global problem of stabilizing the climate. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

  15. The vulnerability of Australian rural communities to climate variability and change: Part I—Conceptualising and measuring vulnerability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nelson, R.; Kokic, P.; Crimp, S.; Meinke, H.B.; Howden, S.M.

    2010-01-01

    Vulnerability is a term frequently used to describe the potential threat to rural communities posed by climate variability and change. Despite growing use of the term, analytical measures of vulnerability that are useful for prioritising and evaluating policy responses are yet to evolve. Demand for

  16. Cognitive and Behavioral Risk Factors for Unintentional Drowning Among Rural Chinese Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Jiabin; Pang, Shulan; Schwebel, David C

    2016-04-01

    Unintentional drowning is among the top causes of pediatric death worldwide and the leading cause of death for children under age 14 in China. Environmental factors such as abundant bodies of water and psychosocial factors such as lack of parental supervision contribute to heightened risk of pediatric drowning in rural China, but little is known about the role of individual characteristics such as knowledge and perceived vulnerability in the drowning risk of rural Chinese children. The present study aimed to explore the cognitive and behavioral risk factors for unintentional drowning among school-aged rural Chinese children. Two hundred and eighty children (mean age = 10.03 years, range 8-13) enrolled at an elementary school in rural Zhejiang Province, China completed self-report assessments of knowledge about drowning prevention, perceived vulnerability toward drowning, and history of non-fatal drowning experiences, as well as demographic information. A simulation task using a dollhouse assessed children's anticipated behaviors with water. Fifty-two percent of the sample reported exposure to water sources at least once daily, and 21 % of the sample reported at least one non-fatal drowning experience in their lifetime. Regression analysis showed that male gender, better swimming ability, less safety knowledge, and lower levels of perceived vulnerability were associated with more self-reported risky practice in/near water. More safety knowledge also predicted safer behaviors in the dollhouse simulation task. None of the risk factors predicted self-reported history of non-fatal drowning incidents. High exposure to water sources and non-fatal drowning experiences were found among school-aged children in rural China. Drowning risk factors included demographic, cognitive, and behavioral characteristics of children. Results offer evidence for developing interventions in both Zhejiang Province and other regions with similar geographic and population characteristics.

  17. A synthesized biophysical and social vulnerability assessment for Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Yung-Jaan

    2017-11-01

    Taiwan, located in the Western Pacific, is a country that is one of the most vulnerable to disasters that are associated with the changing climate; it is located within the Ring of Fire, which is the most geologically active region in the world. The environmental and geological conditions in Taiwan are sensitive and vulnerable to such disasters. Owing to increasing urbanization in Taiwan, floods and climate-related disasters have taken an increasing toll on human lives. As global warming accelerates the rising of sea levels and increasing of the frequency of extreme weather events, disasters will continue to affect socioeconomic development and human conditions. Under such circumstances, researchers and policymakers alike must recognize the importance of providing useful knowledge concerning vulnerability, disaster recovery and resilience. Strategies for reducing vulnerability and climate-related disaster risks and for increasing resilience involve preparedness, mitigation and adaptation. In the last two decades, extreme climate events have caused severe flash floods, debris flows, landslides, and other disasters and have had negative effects of many sectors, including agriculture, infrastructure and health. Since climate change is expected to have a continued impact on socio-economic development, this work develops a vulnerability assessment framework that integrates both biophysical and social vulnerability and supports synthesized vulnerability analyses to identify vulnerable areas in Taiwan. Owing to its geographical, geological and climatic features, Taiwan is susceptible to earthquakes, typhoons, droughts and various induced disasters. Therefore, Taiwan has the urgent task of establishing a framework for assessing vulnerability as a planning and policy tool that can be used to identify not only the regions that require special attention but also hotspots in which efforts should be made to reduce vulnerability and the risk of climate-related disaster. To

  18. Mental Vulnerability as a Predictor of Early Mortality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eplov, Lene F.; Jørgensen, Torben; Segel, S.

    2005-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Studies have demonstrated that mental vulnerability (ie, a tendency to experience psychosomatic symptoms or inadequate interpersonal interactions) is associated with various diseases. The objective of our study is to evaluate whether mental vulnerability is a risk factor for early...... mortality. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 3 random samples of the population in Copenhagen County, Denmark selected in 1976, 1982-1984, and 1991 (n = 6435). Baseline data collection included measures of mental vulnerability, social factors, comorbidity, biologic risk markers (eg, blood...... of mortality as the result of natural causes. The association between mental vulnerability and survival was examined using Kaplan-Meir plots and Cox proportional-hazard models adjusting for possible confounding factors. RESULTS: With respect to mental vulnerability, 79% of the sample was classified...

  19. Caregiver's depressive symptoms and asthma control in children from an underserved community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rioseco, Andrea; Serrano, Carolina; Celedón, Juan C; Padilla, Oslando; Puschel, Klaus; Castro-Rodriguez, Jose A

    2017-12-01

    Caregiver's or maternal depression has been associated with increased asthma morbidity in children from prosperous nations, but little is known about this link in low and middle-income countries. To examine if caregiver's depressive symptoms are associated with poor asthma control and abnormal immune responses in school-aged children. Case-control study of 87 asthmatic children (aged 4-11 years) attending a primary care clinic in an underserved area of Santiago (Chile). Cases were children with poor asthma control (Child Asthma Control Test [cACT] asthma control (cACT ≥20 points). The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI) and a locally validated family health vulnerability test (SALUFAM) were used to assess caregivers' depression and family health vulnerability. Serum from participating children was assayed for IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-13, TGF-β, cortisol, and total IgE. The mean (SD) age of study participants was 8.23 (2.15 years), and 55.2% were females. Use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), family health vulnerability, and caregiver's depressive symptoms were significantly more common in cases than in controls (65.4% vs. 34.6%, p = 0.003; 41.3% vs. 24.8%, p = 0.07; and 39.1% vs. 19.5%, p = 0.04, respectively). There was no significant difference in the level of any serum biomarkers between groups. In a multivariate analysis, only ICS use was significantly associated with better asthma control (OR = 3.56 [1.34-9.48], p = 0.01). Presence of caregiver's depressive symptoms is associated with poor asthma control among children from an underserved community, but this association was no longer significant after accounting for ICS use.

  20. Profiles of children's social–emotional health at school entry and associated income, gender and language inequalities: a cross-sectional population-based study in British Columbia, Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guhn, Martin; Richardson, Chris G; Ark, Tavinder K; Shoveller, Jean

    2017-01-01

    Objectives Early identification of distinct patterns of child social–emotional strengths and vulnerabilities has the potential to improve our understanding of child mental health and well-being; however, few studies have explored natural groupings of indicators of child vulnerability and strengths at a population level. The purpose of this study was to examine heterogeneity in the patterns of young children's social and emotional health and investigate the extent to which sociodemographic characteristics were associated. Design Cross-sectional study based on a population-level cohort. Setting All kindergarten children attending public schools between 2004 and 2007 in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Participants 35 818 kindergarten children (age of 5 years) with available linked data from the Early Development Instrument (EDI), BC Ministry of Health and BC Ministry of Education. Outcome measure We used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify distinct profiles of social–emotional health according to children's mean scores across eight social–emotional subscales on the EDI, a teacher-rated measure of children's early development. Subscales measured children's overall social competence, responsibility and respect, approaches to learning, readiness to explore, prosocial behaviour, anxiety, aggression and hyperactivity. Results Six social–emotional profiles were identified: (1) overall high social–emotional functioning, (2) inhibited-adaptive (3) uninhibited-adaptive, (4) inhibited-disengaged, (5) uninhibited-aggressive/hyperactive and (6) overall low social–emotional functioning. Boys, children with English as a second language (ESL) status and children with lower household income had higher odds of membership to the lower social–emotional functioning groups; however, this association was less negative among boys with ESL status. Conclusions Over 40% of children exhibited some vulnerability in early social–emotional health, and profiles were