Facing Hazards and Disasters

Facing Hazards and Disasters

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2006-08-10

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 0309164621

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Social science research conducted since the late 1970's has contributed greatly to society's ability to mitigate and adapt to natural, technological, and willful disasters. However, as evidenced by Hurricane Katrina, the Indian Ocean tsunami, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, and other recent events, hazards and disaster research and its application could be improved greatly. In particular, more studies should be pursued that compare how the characteristics of different types of events-including predictability, forewarning, magnitude, and duration of impact-affect societal vulnerability and response. This book includes more than thirty recommendations for the hazards and disaster community.


Post-Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction

Post-Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction

Author: F.Y. Cheng

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 1996-10-14

Total Pages: 507

ISBN-13: 0080539300

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Damage assessment, rehabilitation, decision-making, social consequences, repair and reconstruction; these are all critical factors for considerations following natural disasters such as earthquakes. In order to address these issues, the United States of America and the Peoples Republic of China regularly organize bilateral symposia/workshops to investigate multiple hazard mitigation, particularly with respect to earthquake engineering. This book contains state-of-the-art reports presented by world-renowned researchers at the US/PRC Sympsosium Workshop on Post-Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction held in Kunming, Yunnan, China, May 1995. The following key areas are addressed: damage assessment of structures after earthquakes; lessons of post-earthquake recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction, including public policy, land use options, urban planning, and design; issues in and examples of decision-making, and implementation of rehabilitation and reconstruction plans and policies; repair, strengthening, retrofit and control of structures and lifeline systems, post-earthquake socio-economic problems covering issues of relief and recovery; human and organizational behavior during emergency response, and strategies for improvement; real-time monitoring of earthquake response and damage.


Urban Disaster Mitigation: The Role of Engineering and Technology

Urban Disaster Mitigation: The Role of Engineering and Technology

Author: F.Y. Cheng

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 1995-07-21

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 0080543464

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Great loss of human life, structural damage, and social and economic upheaval occur repeatedly due to such natural hazards as earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes, landslides, floods and tsunamis. Both the US and Taiwan, along with many other countries, have a history of such occurrences and a common need to reduce their effects.This volume includes papers from the fourth symposium workshop, held jointly between the US and Taiwan to discuss research and its application to multiple hazard mitigation. The workshop, Urban Disaster Mitigation, The Role of Engineering and Technology, discussed lessons learned from recent natural disasters; assessed results of Taiwan's multiple hazards research program and potential application to the US; and proposed further studies on subjects of mutual concern.Topics include recent scientific findings obtained in various natural hazard areas and assessment of actual and potential damage from earthquakes, floods and landslides. Of particular importance are measures that can be taken to mitigate these hazards ranging from use of new algorithms for structural engineering to warning systems for a given region. At a time when natural disasters are widespread, engineers play a key role. Construction methods and building codes are changing; current knowledge shapes the direction of these changes. The research results presented in these proceedings will benefit both the academic and practicing communities around the world, strengthening the relationship between these two important parties.


Successes, Limitations, and Frontiers in Ecosystem Science

Successes, Limitations, and Frontiers in Ecosystem Science

Author: Michael L. Pace

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-12-01

Total Pages: 515

ISBN-13: 1461217245

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Ecosystem research has emerged in recent decades as a vital, successful, and sometimes controversial approach to environmental science. This book emphasizes the idea that much of the progress in ecosystem research has been driven by the emergence of new environmental problems that could not be addressed by existing approaches. By focusing on successes and limitations of ecosystems studies, the book explores avenues for future ecosystem-level research.


Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology: Theory and method

Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology: Theory and method

Author: John W. Berry

Publisher: John Berry

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 9780205160747

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Part of a set containing the contributions of authors from a variety of nations, cultures, traditions and perspectives, this volume offers an up-to-date assessment of theoretical developments and methodological issues in the rapidly-evolving area of cross-cultural psychology.


Contexts of Learning Mathematics and Science

Contexts of Learning Mathematics and Science

Author: Sarah J. Howie

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-04-18

Total Pages: 513

ISBN-13: 1134232152

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This book is the result of research from over fifteen countries, asking which background and environmental factors influence achievement in mathematics and science. This research is based on data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which was conducted under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in 1995 and 1998. In many countries researchers have started secondary analysis of the data in search for relationships between contextual factors and achievement. In these analyses two different approaches can be distinguished, which can be characterised by the metaphors of ‘fishing’ and ‘hunting’. In the ‘fishing’ approach, researchers begin with an open mind, considering all possible context variables as potentially influential. Applying analysis techniques such as regression analysis, Lisrel, PLS, HLM, and MLN, they then identify important factors within their countries or across a number of countries. In the ‘hunting’ approach, researchers hypothesise certain context variables and trace the effect of these variables on mathematics and/or science achievement.