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Vulnerability Index (vulnerability + index)
Selected AbstractsThe phantom of liberty?: economic growth and the vulnerability of small statesJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2002Harvey W. Armstrong This paper is concerned with the relationship between economic growth in small states and their vulnerability. A critical argument in much of the literature on small states, particularly small island states, is that their growth performance is greatly constrained by their vulnerability to exogenous shocks because of their size. These shocks include economic, political and environmental factors, which together dampen the long-run growth rate of these economies. The paper makes use of a global small state data set and appropriate quantitative techniques to test the relationship between growth and vulnerability using the results of Briguglio's Vulnerability Index. The results highlight some of the conceptual shortcomings in the analytical literature on small states, particularly islands, as well as suggesting that the Vulnerability Index is mis-specified. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Resource Accessibility and Vulnerability in Andhra Pradesh: Caste and Non-Caste InfluencesDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2007Lee Bosher ABSTRACT Coastal Andhra Pradesh in southern India is prone to tropical cyclones. Access to key resources can reduce the vulnerability of the local population to both large-scale disasters, such as cyclones, and to the sort of small-scale crises that affect their everyday lives. This article uses primary fieldwork to present a resource accessibility vulnerability index for over 300 respondents. The index indicates that caste is the key factor in determining who has assets, who can access public facilities, who has political connections and who has supportive social networks. The ,lower' castes (which tend to be the poorest) are marginalized to the extent that they lack access to assets, public facilities and opportunities to improve their plight. However, the research also indicates that the poor and powerless lower castes are able to utilize informal social networks to bolster their resilience, typically by women's participation with CBOs and NGOs. Nevertheless it is doubtful whether this extra social capital counterbalances the overall results which show that , despite decades of counteractions by government , caste remains a dominant variable affecting the vulnerability of the people of coastal Andhra Pradesh to the hazards that they face. [source] Probability distributions, vulnerability and sensitivity in Fagus crenata forests following predicted climate changes in JapanJOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 5 2004Tetsuya Matsui Question: How much is the probability distribution of Fagus crenata forests predicted to change under a climate change scenario by the 2090s, and what are the potential impacts on these forests? What are the main factors inducing such changes? Location: The major islands of Japan. Methods: A predictive distribution model was developed with four climatic factors (summer precipitation, PRS; winter precipitation, PRW; minimum temperature of the coldest month, TMC; and warmth index, WI) and five non-climatic factors (topography, surface geology, soil, slope aspect and inclination). A climate change scenario was applied to the model. Results: Areas with high probability (> 0.5) were predicted to decrease by 91%, retreating from the southwest, shrinking in central regions, and expanding northeastwards beyond their current northern limits. A vulnerability index (the reciprocal of the predicted probability) suggests that Kyushu, Shikoku, the Pacific Ocean side of Honshu and southwest Hokkaido will have high numbers of many vulnerable F. crenata forests. The forests with high negative sensitivity indices (the difference between simulated probabilities of occurrence under current and predicted climates) mainly occur in southwest Hokkaido and the Sea of Japan side of northern Honshu. Conclusion: F. crenata forest distributions may retreat from some islands due to a high WI. The predicted northeastward shift in northern Hokkaido is associated with increased TMC and PRS. High vulnerability and negative sensitivity of the forests in southern Hokkaido are due to increased WI. [source] Electrophysiologicai Characteristics of the Atrium in Sinus Node Dysfunction With and Without Postpacing Atrial FihriliationPACING AND CLINICAL ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2000ANTONIO DE SISTI DE SISTI, A., ET AL.: Electrophysiologicai Characteristics of the Atrium in Sinus Node Dysfunction With and Without Postpacing Atrial Fibrillation . In patients with sinus node dysfunction (SND) with or without associated paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), the effectiveness of atrial pacing in reducing the incidence of AF is not definitive. In addition, despite several studies involving large populations of implanted patients, little attention has been paid to the electrophysioiogicai (EP) atrial substrate and the effect of permanent atrial pacing. The aim of this study is to correlate EP data and the risk of AF after DDD device implantation. We reviewed FP data of 38 consecutive patients with SND. mean age 70 ± 8 years, who were investigated free of antiarrhythmic treatment, for the evaluation of the atrial substrate. We also considered as control group 25 subjects, mean age 63 ± 14 years, referred to our EP laboratory for unexplained syncope or various atrioventricular disturbances. Following pharmacological washout and at a drive cycle length of 600 ms. effective and functional refractory periods (ERP, FRP), Sl-Al and S2-A2 latency, Al and A2 conduction duration, and latent vulnerability index (EHP/A2) were measured. AF induction was tested with up to three extrastimuli at paced cycle lengths of 600 and 400 ms in 20 patients. Induction of sustained AF (> 30 seconds) was considered as the endpoint. P wave duration on the surface ECG in lead II/Vl was also measured. DDD pacing mode was chosen in all patients with the minimal atrial rate programmed between 60 and 75 beats/min (mean 64 ± 4 beats/min). After implantation, the patients were followed-up for 29 ± 17 months and clinically documented occurrence of AF was determined. When comparing patients with SND and subjects of the control group, we did not find any significant statistical differences in terms of ERP (237 ± 33 vs 250 ± 29 ms), FRP (276 ± 30 vs 280 ± 32 ms) and Sl-Al (39 ± 16 vs 33 ± 11 ms) and S2-A2 latency (69 ± 24 vs 63 ± 25 ms). In contrast, we observed significant differences regarding Al (55 ± 19 vs 39 ± 13 ms; P < 0.001), A2 (95 ± 34 vs 57 ± 18 ms; P < 0.001) and P wave duration (104 ± 18 vs 94 ± 15 ms; P < 0.05), and ERP/A2 (2.8 ± 1.2 vs 4.8 ± 1.6; P < 0.001). When comparing patients with (n = 11) or without (n =27) postpacing AF occurrence, we did not find any difference with reference to ERP, FRP. Sl-Al, S2-A2, Al duration, or follow-up duration. In patients with postpacing AF occurrence, A2 was longer (116 ± 41 vs 87 ± 27 ms; P < 0.01), FRP/A2 lower (2.1 ± 0.4 vs 3.1 ± 1.4; P < 0.05), P wave more prolonged (116 ± 22 vs 99 ± 14 ms; P < 0.01), and preexisting AF history predominant (6/11 vs 5/27 patients; P < 0.05). No difference was observed between patients with (n = 8) and without (n = 12) AF induction during the EP study. In patients with SND, the atrial refractoriness appears normal and the most important abnormality concerns conduction slowing disturbances. Persistence of AF despite pacing stresses the importance of mechanisms responsible for AF not entirely brady-dependent. In this setting, more prolonged atrial conduction disturbances, responsible for a low vulnerability index, and a preexisting history of AF enable us to identify a high risk patient group for AF in the follow-up. sinus node dysfunction, atrial fibrillation, electrophysiologicai study, atrial pacing [source] Design Vulnerability Analysis and Design Improvement by Using Warranty DataQUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2004Kai Yang Abstract Continuous improvement in reliability is one of the key factors to success in the world automobile market. Good reliability can only be achieved through good design and manufacturing practice. Manufacturers want to allocate their limited resources to improvement in such a way that they can get the highest benefits. The warranty claims database contains more information than any other test for the reliability of products in actual use. Assisted by a design vulnerability index derived from the axiomatic design principle, warranty data can be used to identify the areas of the product such that the improvement of these areas will maximize the gain in reliability improvement. In this paper, we provide a methodology of utilizing warranty data to prioritize design improvement efforts based on design vulnerability and the feedback from warranty data. The methodology is illustrated with an example case. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Life-history traits associated with fragmentation vulnerability of lizards in the Thousand Island Lake, ChinaANIMAL CONSERVATION, Issue 4 2009Y. Wang Abstract Following habitat fragmentation, the remnant faunal community will undergo a period of species loss or ,relaxation.' Theory predicts that species with particular life-history traits, such as a small population size, small geographical range, low fecundity and large body size, should be more vulnerable to fragmentation. In this study, we investigated the relationships between the above life-history traits and the fragmentation vulnerability index (the number of islands occupied) of five lizard species inhabiting recently isolated land-bridge islands in the Thousand Island Lake, China. Data on life-history traits were collected from field surveys (population density) and from the literature (body size, clutch size and geographical range size). The species,area relationships for lizards sampled from the mainland versus on the islands differed significantly (i.e. the number of species inhabiting islands was decreased relative to similar-sized areas on the mainland), indicating that species extinction has occurred on all of the study islands following isolation. For the fragmentation vulnerability index, model selection based on Akaike's information criterion identified natural density at mainland sites as the best correlate of vulnerability to fragmentation, supporting the hypothesis that rare species are most vulnerable to local extinction and will be lost first from fragmented landscapes. In contrast, there was little evidence for an effect of lizards' snout,vent length, clutch size or geographical range size on fragmentation vulnerability. Identification of species traits that render some species more vulnerable to fragmentation than others has important implications for conservation and can be used to aid direct management efforts. [source] | ||||||||||