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This study aims to compare the humanitarian supply chains and logistics of two countries in earthquake preparedness by modifying and using a previously established preparedness evaluation framework.

A European flood emergency management system (FEMS) is a seven-dimensional framework to assess a country’s preparedness for flood emergencies. The FEMS framework was modified to apply to earthquakes. Leveraging a multiple explanatory case study approach with data analysis, the authors reconstructed the events of the earthquakes in Pakistan (2005) and Japan (2011) with an applied grading (1–5). Findings were evaluated within the adopted FEMS framework. From a practitioner’s perspective, the framework is applicable and can accelerate support in the field.

Pakistan lacked emergency plans before the 2005 earthquake. In contrast, Japan possessed emergency plans before the disaster, helping minimise casualties. Overall, Japan demonstrated considerably better emergency management effectiveness. However, both countries significantly lacked the distribution of responsibilities among actors.

Practical factors in the humanitarian supply chain are well understood. However, synthesising individual factors into a comprehensive framework is difficult, which the study solves by applying and adopting the FEMS framework to earthquakes. The developed framework allows practitioners a structured baseline for prioritising measures in the field. Furthermore, this study exemplifies the usefulness of cross-hazard research within emergency management and preparedness in a real-world scenario.

The purpose of the study is to quickly identify significant heterogeneity of surrounding rock of tunnel face that generally occurs during the construction of large-section rock tunnels of high-speed railways.

Relying on the support vector machine (SVM)-based classification model, the nominal classification of blastholes and nominal zoning and classification terms were used to demonstrate the heterogeneity identification method for the surrounding rock of tunnel face, and the identification calculation was carried out for the five test tunnels. Then, the suggestions for local optimization of the support structures of large-section rock tunnels were put forward.

The results show that compared with the two classification models based on neural networks, the SVM-based classification model has a higher classification accuracy when the sample size is small, and the average accuracy can reach 87.9%. After the samples are replaced, the SVM-based classification model can still reach the same accuracy, whose generalization ability is stronger.

By applying the identification method described in this paper, the significant heterogeneity characteristics of the surrounding rock in the process of two times of blasting were identified, and the identification results are basically consistent with the actual situation of the tunnel face at the end of blasting, and can provide a basis for local optimization of support parameters.

Chiang Rai being an earthquake-prone city, it is essential to raise awareness about earthquake safety and readiness, especially amongst the elderly population who spend most of their time at home. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the earthquake preparedness of elders in relation to knowledge, attitude and practice.

This was an analytic cross-sectional study. Research data were collected from 480 elders of 60 years old and above. The research instruments were questionnaires about knowledge, attitude and self-assessment of practices in earthquake situations. Data were analyzed by number, percentage and a χ² test.

Of participants interviewed, 39.4 percent were aged between 60 and 66 years old. Overall, 94.0 percent of them had already experienced an earthquake, with 79.4 percent having experienced it in 2014. Participants had a good level of knowledge and attitude toward earthquake safety. Their practices toward earthquake readiness, however, were insufficient due to the lower practice scores (<12), especially found in the high seismic zone. The score level of knowledge, attitude and self-assessment of practice in earthquake situations showed that there is a difference in statistical significance (p<0.05).

This study focuses attention on the need to increase levels of preparedness. Safety instructions and earthquake drills should be promoted and supported in order to prepare elders for an earthquake in the study area. Research findings identified in this study will help to address the specific needs of the elderly when implementing an earthquake disaster risk reduction plan.

Unconventional machining processes, particularly ultrasonic vibration cutting (UVC), can overcome such technical bottlenecks. However, the precise mechanism through which UVC affects the in-service functional performance of advanced aerospace materials remains obscure. This limits their industrial application and requires a deeper understanding.

The surface integrity and in-service functional performance of advanced aerospace materials are important guarantees for safety and stability in the aerospace industry. For advanced aerospace materials, which are difficult-to-machine, conventional machining processes cannot meet the requirements of high in-service functional performance owing to rapid tool wear, low processing efficiency and high cutting forces and temperatures in the cutting area during machining.

To address this literature gap, this study is focused on the quantitative evaluation of the in-service functional performance (fatigue performance, wear resistance and corrosion resistance) of advanced aerospace materials. First, the characteristics and usage background of advanced aerospace materials are elaborated in detail. Second, the improved effect of UVC on in-service functional performance is summarized. We have also explored the unique advantages of UVC during the processing of advanced aerospace materials. Finally, in response to some of the limitations of UVC, future development directions are proposed, including improvements in ultrasound systems, upgrades in ultrasound processing objects and theoretical breakthroughs in in-service functional performance.

This study provides insights into the optimization of machining processes to improve the in-service functional performance of advanced aviation materials, particularly the use of UVC and its unique process advantages.

Aircraft structures are mainly connected by riveting joints, whose quality and mechanical performance are directly determined by vertical accuracy of riveting holes. This paper proposed a combined vertical accuracy compensation method for drilling and riveting of aircraft panels with great variable curvatures.

The vertical accuracy compensation method combines online and offline compensation categories in a robot riveting and drilling system. The former category based on laser ranging is aimed to correct the vertical error between actual and theoretical riveting positions, and the latter based on model curvature is used to correct the vertical error caused by the approximate plane fitting in variable-curvature panels.

The vertical accuracy compensation method is applied in an automatic robot drilling and riveting system. The result reveals that the vertical accuracy error of drilling and riveting is within 0.4°, which meets the requirements of the vertical accuracy in aircraft assembly.

The proposed method is suitable for improving the vertical accuracy of drilling and riveting on panels or skins of aerospace products with great variable curvatures without introducing extra measuring sensors.

The current fire protection measures in buildings do not account for all contemporary fire hazard issues, which has made fire safety a growing concern. Therefore, this paper aims to present a critical review of current fire protection measures and their applicability to address current challenges relating to fire hazards in buildings.

To overcome fire hazards in buildings, impact of fire hazards is also reviewed to set the context for fire protection measures. Based on the review, an integrated framework for mitigation of fire hazards is proposed. The proposed framework involves enhancement of fire safety in four key areas: fire protection features in buildings, regulation and enforcement, consumer awareness and technology and resources advancement. Detailed strategies on improving fire safety in buildings in these four key areas are presented, and future research and training needs are identified.

Current fire protection measures lead to an unquantified level of fire safety in buildings, provide minimal strategies to mitigate fire hazard and do not account for contemporary fire hazard issues. Implementing key measures that include reliable fire protection systems, proper regulation and enforcement of building code provisions, enhancement of public awareness and proper use of technology and resources is key to mitigating fire hazard in buildings. Major research and training required to improve fire safety in buildings include developing cost-effective fire suppression systems and rational fire design approaches, characterizing new materials and developing performance-based codes.

The proposed framework encompasses both prevention and management of fire hazard. To demonstrate the applicability of this framework in improving fire safety in buildings, major limitations of current fire protection measures are identified, and detailed strategies are provided to address these limitations using proposed fire safety framework.

Fire represents a severe hazard in both developing and developed countries and poses significant threat to life, structure, property and environment. The proposed framework has social implications as it addresses some of the current challenges relating to fire hazard in buildings and will enhance overall fire safety.

The novelty of proposed framework lies in encompassing both prevention and management of fire hazard. This is unlike current fire safety improvement strategies, which focus only on improving fire protection features in buildings (i.e. managing impact of fire hazard) using performance-based codes. To demonstrate the applicability of this framework in improving fire safety in buildings, major limitations of current fire protection measures are identified and detailed strategies are provided to address these limitations using proposed fire safety framework. Special emphasis is given to cost-effectiveness of proposed strategies, and research and training needs for further enhancing building fire safety are identified.

Within critical-infrastructure industries, bow-tie analysis is an established way of eliciting requirements for safety and reliability concerns. Because of the ever-increasing digitalisation and coupling between the cyber and physical world, security has become an additional concern in these industries. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how well bow-tie analysis performs in the context of security, and the study’s hypothesis is that the bow-tie notation has a suitable expressiveness for security and safety.

This study uses a formal, controlled quasi-experiment on two sample populations – security experts and security graduate students – working on the same case. As a basis for comparison, the authors used a similar experiment with misuse case analysis, a well-known technique for graphical security modelling.

The results show that the collective group of graduate students, inexperienced in security modelling, perform similarly as security experts in a well-defined scope and familiar target system/situation. The students showed great creativity, covering most of the same threats and consequences as the experts identified and discovering additional ones. One notable difference was that these naïve professionals tend to focus on preventive barriers, leading to requirements for risk mitigation or avoidance, while experienced professionals seem to balance this more with reactive barriers and requirements for incident management.

Our results are useful in areas where we need to evaluate safety and security concerns together, especially for domains that have experience in health, safety and environmental hazards, but now need to expand this with cybersecurity as well.

Despite the contributions of both the oil and gas and construction industries to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country, both industries are still marred by incessant accidents. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare the health and safety practises of the construction and oil and gas industries in Nigeria in order to suggest the best approach to health and safety practices.

A survey questionnaire was developed and administered to professionals working in the construction and oil and gas industries. Data were analysed using the relative importance index (RII). An independent sample t-test was also conducted to determine whether there was a significant difference in the construction and oil and gas industries.

The study revealed that the rate at which health and safety are practised in the oil and gas industry is comparatively high compared to how they are practised in the construction industry. Proper site layout and planning, provision of a safe working environment, proper health and safety risk assessment were more predominantly practised in the oil and gas industry, while proper site layout and planning, disallowing unauthorised entry into site and the provision of a safe working environment were predominantly practised in the construction industry.

This study is the first to compare the health and safety practises of the construction and oil and gas industries in Nigeria. This study was significant because it would provide insight into construction and oil and gas managers, as well as other decision-makers in both industries, on how to improve health and safety practices.

The Black Sea region has become as an important energy transit route for Caspian and Russian oil and natural gas to western markets. Since 1996 the quantity of oil exported from the Black Sea through the Turkish Straits and the number of transiting tankers has doubled and will continue to expand. However, these are also two waterways where the risk of either an accidental or intentional disaster is significant bringing serious repercussions for energy supply security. This paper will analyze measures taken by Black Sea coastal States to provide for secure ports and shipping against accidental and intentional disasters. The paper will examine the role of technology, such as satellite based VTS providers in the Black Sea, implementation of the ISPS Code, the role of the relatively new BlackSeaFor in providing both port and navigational security. The paper will further make recommendations for further improvements for enhancement of security emergency response planning. In addition, the paper will examine current security measures taken by the Turkish Administration for oil transportation through the Turkish Straits.

Autonomous ports and digital ports are a modern trend of global commercial ports that are established to develop toward smart ports in many ports. Smart port indicators (SPIs) are used as important tools for measuring, encouraging, and indicating smart port performance. These are the main indicators to operate smart port management as the practical direction and port development planning are enclosed. This research aims to identify the SPIs and to develop a conceptual model of smart port performance in a case study of The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) in Thailand. Triangulation data are used in the data collection with three sources: the reviewed literature of five international databases in 2016–2021, participant observations, and in-depth interviews. Content analysis is utilized to analyze these data to develop a conceptual model approach. The findings of this research are shown in three main domains classified as smart port operation, smart port environment/energy, and smart port safety/security. These indicators represent 29 SPIs for developing smart port performance, which can be explained with a conceptual model. This information will exist as the foundation framework guiding Thai smart ports towards international standards of smart port efficiency.