DNA Profiling from Dentine and It’s Role in Signifying Individuality

Forensic dentistry is the field which is a combination of forensic and dentistry. In this we go for principles used in dentistry or dentistry forthe use in judiciary. It is one field inwhich we collectthe evidence related to dentistry and analyze them for the purpose of investigation. In a crime scene or a disaster situation a lot of destruction occurs. It becomes important to determine the identity of an individual and we can say it is the identity of the deceased. This study is being conducted based on previous research and literature presented by various research scholars. When it comes to a crime scene where we do not get the victim or culprit but we find the dentalevidence and also in cases of mass disasters, catastrophic events, industrial disasters where identification is necessary if we found the dental evidence, they can help a lot in determining age, gender partial identity can be known through this evidence. Many methods are there to determine identity through dental evidence and also apart from dental evidence we have orthometric methods but dental evidence is found to be more cheap, easy, fast methods. In this we have discussed how DNA is extracted from the teeth and it's further processing so that it will help in establishing someone's identity. Keywords: Dentistry, Forensic Dentistry, Dental Evidence, Extraction, DNA Profiling etc

Hydro-Meteorological Incident and Disaster Response in Sri Lanka. Case Study: 2016 May Rain Events

This paper investigates hydro-meteorological hazards faced by Sri Lanka, a lower-middle-income island country in Asia. It provides a case study of a major hydro-meteorological disaster incident that resulted in one of the largest landslides in the history of the country, the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) process, and the national disaster response. Rainfall and flood inundation data are provided for the whole country. The fact that data are held by several government agencies (namely Department of Meteorology, Department of Irrigation, and NBRO), somewhat coordinated by the Disaster Management Center (DMC) is shown. The need for more streamlined coordination of hydro-met data with online access of data for researchers is emphasized. The flood disaster situation and disaster declaration of the Western Province (which contributes nearly 40% of the GDP) is looked at, and evidence is presented to recommend a smaller governance unit for future disaster declarations, in order to bring aid to the places where it is needed and leaving other areas of the province to carry on with the normal economic activity. An example of the use of climate change scenarios in rainfall prediction is provided from a developed island nation (New Zealand). The need for Sri Lanka to increase its spending for hydro-met services (both infrastructure and skills) is highlighted (the global norm being 0.02 of GDP), as the return on such investment is tenfold.

Research on application of ecohydrology to disaster prevention and mitigation in China: a review

In this paper, the ecohydrology measures including water management and interaction of ecological hydrology were considered to take a holistic view on the impact of climate, ecology, environment, and topography on different types of disasters. In the first step, the contents of the grim disaster situation and the information framework of ecohydrology with disasters were evaluated. Nest, the creation of ecohydrology and its work with related disasters were summarized. Three disasters including flood, drought, and geohazard were evaluated and three examples (Dujiangyan Irrigation Project, Karez, and Ecological slope) have been separately discussed for considering the concept of the problem. Depending on the characteristics and potential for an effect in different disasters, there needed to be some challenges and opportunities for ecohydrology facing related disasters in various fields, such as National Space Planning, Sponge City and the ‘One Belt And One Road’ Initiative. Finally, some valuable conclusions were drawn on the application of ecohydrology to disaster prevention and mitigation. Furthermore, the key systemic settings between water management, hydrology, and ecology were described which is of the main importance for social disaster reduction, emergency management, and protection accident prevention.

Factors affecting nurses’ ability to provide effective care in a disaster response: a review

Disasters cause death, trauma, and psychological distress. Comprising the largest number of healthcare workers, nurses play a crucial role in reducing the impact of a disaster. The objective of this review is to identify the factors that influence nurses’ ability during a disaster emergency response to provide adequate care. This research was conducted by doing a literature search from the Pro-Quest and Science-Direct databases using the PRISMA-ScR to screen the articles. The final results included 13 articles. An analysis was performed to identify themes in line with the purpose of the review. All factors affecting nurses’ ability to respond to a disaster situation were classified into three themes: 1) factors increasing nurses’ ability, 2) barriers to delivering effective nursing care, and 3) support needed to maintain the nurses’ ability. During an emergency situation due to a disaster, adequate knowledge and skill to save lives, treat injuries, manage stress and coordinate between teams are the basic competencies needed for optimal care. Nurses’ clinical experience or previous disaster experience and training could increase nurses’ adaptability in disaster conditions. Support from nurses’ workplace and proper implementation of disaster management policy enhance nurses’ services and prevent barrier under disaster condition. The results emphasize that future training should aim for improving nurses’ knowledge and skills, including the knowledge of nurses’ family to protect themselves and deal with disasters. Such knowledge increased family preparedness, which is an important factor to enhance nurses’ willingness to work following a disaster.

Using New Media and Social Media in Disaster Communication

New media and social media have changed the frame of communication that appears quickly, is interactive, and has no geographical boundaries. The media plays an essential role in disseminating accurate and responsible information in a disaster situation. The strategy of using communication media will reduce the impacts arising from disasters in the mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery phases. Through a literature review, the author presents disaster communication, strategies, and using media in disasters. The research use case studies are the natural disaster of Mount Merapi and the Covid-19 pandemic to represent non-natural disasters. The results of the analysis show that sensitivity to the situation is an adequate response in a disaster. Furthermore, new media and social media tend to be sufficient as the primary source of information for the public, coordination, and fundraising. The effectiveness of media use in the Merapi disaster is the beginning of new media and social media in disaster communication in Indonesia. This media is also used in disaster management during the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of media in both case studies is considered adequate to reduce the negative impacts arising from the disaster. It is hoped this idea will contribute to disaster communication studies.

Preference Evaluation of Realistic Fire Management Services: Difference in Preferences between Workers in Low- and High-Rise Buildings

This study entailed an evaluation of preferences of workers for aspects of realistic fire management services aimed at providing effective fire prevention and real-time response using conjoint techniques. The analysis of the responses indicated that a combination of real-time disaster-situation dissemination and real-time 3D indoor status information displays was preferred. For workers in both low and high-rise buildings, real-time disaster-situation dissemination within the building received the highest evaluation. Workers in low-rise buildings also showed a preference for the 3D indoor status information displays that provide optimal dynamic evacuation routes. Future studies will include demonstrations of such techniques through local governments to put realistic fire management services into practical use, promoting safe living environments from fire.

Urban Food Security of the Colombo Metropolitan Region (CMR) in Covid times

Colombo Municipality Region (CMR) consists of a highly complex food system that relies on the supply from distant outstations which literally collapsed during the pandemic situation. A requirement exists for empirical research to derive guidelines and recommendations to increase the sustainability and security in the food supply in CMR during a disaster situation.

Relieving Bottlenecks during Evacuations Using IoT Devices and Agent-Based Simulation

Most of the existing studies on relieving bottlenecks have aimed to develop route-finding algorithms that consider structural factors such as passages and stairs, as well as human factors such as density and speed. However, the methods in providing evacuation routes are as important as the route-making algorithms because a secondary bottleneck could occur continuously during evacuations. Even if an evacuation system provides the same routes to all evacuees regardless of their locations, secondary bottlenecks could happen following the initial bottlenecks due to people rushing toward uncrowded exits all together. To address this issue, we developed a location-based service (LBS) evacuation system prototype that provides optimized-alternative routes to evacuees in real time considering their locations in indoor space. The system was designed to relieve continuous bottlenecks, which relies on installed IoT sensors and beacon machines which detect bottlenecks and provide updated routes, separately. Next, we conducted agent-based simulations to measure the system’s effectiveness (evacuation time reduction and dispersion of evacuees) by changing the system parameters. Simulation results show the evacuation time decreased from 100 to 65 s, and the number of people who took a detour to avoid bottlenecks increased by 28.66% out of the total evacuees with this system. Since this system provides the theoretical solution for distributing evacuees, it can be flexibly employed to a disaster situation in a large and complex indoor environment by applying to other evacuation systems. Moreover, by adjusting parameters, we can derive maximum evacuation effectiveness in other indoor spaces. Future work will consider demographic features of population and multilayer building structure to draw a more accurate pedestrian flow.

Audibility of emergency broadcasting sound in a mechanical room in an office building

Fire alarm and emergency broadcasting sound are important in fire and disaster situations. For the clear presentation of the fire alarm and emergency broadcasting sound to occupants of buildings, some guidelines and requirements were established. In NFPA 72 and BS standard, a specific alarm sound level for alarm sound of residential facilities was proposed and Speech Transmission Index(STI) was regulated for the emergency broadcasting system. In the fire and disaster situation, one of the important facility is a mechanical and electrical system to maintain water and electricity supply. To maintain this function in the buildings, clear presentation of emergency broadcasting sound to the workers in the mechanical and electrical room is crucial for the emergency operation of the system. In this study, the noise level in the mechanical rooms and electricity facilities of more than 40 years old office building were measured. Also, audibility and room acoustic properties such as reverberation time and STIwas simulated using Odeon 12. In order to deliver emergency broadcasting sound more clearly, sound absorption material and a soundproof chamber for noisy devices are needed. Also, the emergency broadcasting system in noisy facilities should be improved to produce the broadcasting sound louder and clearer.