The study focused on the risks and effects climate change posed in Karamoja Sub region in North Eastern Uganda with attention on adaptation and mitigation strategies used in combating the effects and risks of climate change. Climate change policies, innovations aimed at decreasing the consequences and risks of climate change, climate risk assessment, and the effects of Uganda's climate change responses were all presented as study questions. A qualitative research design was used in the study, which included assessment of documentary sources as well as interviews. It was revealed that Uganda has implemented many policies related to climate change, according to a thorough analysis and presentation; however, a closer examination pointed that a number of policies were ineffective and did not directly address the issues of climate change. Several innovations for mitigating the consequences and hazards of climate change were also used though were insufficient. The report acknowledged that climate risk assessments were being conducted with little success and the responses had achieved some level of success in mitigating climate change's effects. Uganda government, as well as other non-governmental working groups on climate change, should step up the efforts in terms of tangible responses in the fight against global warming if the struggle against climate change is to be won.

Background: FDA black box warning, Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS), and CMS national coverage determination (NCD) aim to reduce inappropriate use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) that are widely used in anemic patients. Previous studies have not linked specific safety interventions to changes in ESA utilization patterns in the inpatient settings nor assessed such interventions on off-label use of the drugs. Ineffectiveness of the intervention and lag time between such interventions and the observed change in clinical practice could lead to serious clinical outcomes. In addition, such interventions may unintentionally reduce on-label and some off-label use of ESAs considered “appropriate” in patients who could otherwise benefit. Objectives: The primary aim of the study is to quantify the impacts of the (1) addition of black box warning, (2) implementation of NCD, and (3) institution of REMS on ESA on-label and off-label utilization patterns of adult inpatients. Demographic, clinical condition, physician, and hospital characteristics of ESAs users by their use category are also described in detail. Methods: Electronic health records in Cerner Database from January 1, 2005 to June 30, 2011 were used. The use of the two erythropoietic drugs: epoetin alfa and darbepoetin alfa were categorized into three groups using ICD-9-CM diagnoses and procedures codes and patients’ medication information. The three categories were (1) on-label use (approved by the FDA); (2) off-label use supported (use for the indications not approved by the FDA, but there is strong clinical evidence to support its use); and (3) off-label use unsupported (use for the indications not approved by the FDA and lacking clinical evidence). The immediate and trend impacts of the interventions on the proportion of ESAs prescribed for each usage category between 2005 and 2011 were assessed using an interrupted time series technique. The likelihood of receiving ESAs among patients with on-label, off-label supported, off-label unsupported indications was assessed using a generalized estimating equation approach with binary logistic regression technique, clustering for hospitals and controlling for potential confounders such as patient characteristics, patient clinical conditions, physician specialty, and hospital characteristics. Results: During the study period, there were 111,363 encounters of ESA use. These encounters represented 86,763 patients admitted to Cerner health system between January 1, 2005 and June 30, 2011. Of these patients, 66,121 were prescribed epoetin alfa only (76.2%); 20,088 darbepoetin alfa only (23.2%); and 554 were prescribed both epoetin alfa and darbepoetin alfa (0.6%). Forty-nine percent of the patients used ESAs for the on-label indications, 8.6% for off-label supported indications, and 42.7% for the off-label unsupported indications. The main uses of ESAs in our sample were for CKD (ONS, 41.1%) and chronic anemia (OFU, 31.8%). From 2005 to 2010, the proportion of visits with ESA ONS and OFS use decreased 53.2% and 81.9%, while ESA OFU increased 112.6%. Results from binary logistic regression using GEE model showed overall decreasing trends in ESA use for the on-label and off-label supported indications, but not off-label unsupported indications. REMS had no impact on the odds of receiving ESAs among patients with on-label and off-label conditions. Black box warning reduced the odds of being prescribed with epoetin alfa in patients with off-label unsupported conditions by 40%. It was also associated with 4% and 15% per month reduction in the odds of using darbepoetin alfa in patients with off-label supported and unsupported conditions. Lastly, there was a significant decline in all categories of ESA use the month after Medicare national coverage determination was implemented. The impact of NCD ranged from a 20% reduction in the odds of off-label supported use to a 37% reduction in on-label use. Age, gender, race, source of payment, admission type, clinical complexity, discharge disposition, and hospital size were significant associated with ESA use on-label and off-label. Conclusion: This study was the first to determine the impact of safety interventions on ESA on-label and off-label utilization patterns in the inpatient settings using the Cerner database. We demonstrated lag between the interventions and observed change in clinical practice, and the relative impacts of three types of safety interventions on on-label and off-label ESA use in the hospital settings. The indirect impact of the reimbursement change was the potential unintended consequence of reducing the likelihood of receiving ESAs for a patient with indicated conditions who could have otherwise benefited from the drugs.

Ghana has experienced an unprecedented failure of microfinance institutions. Within a period of 8 years from 2011 to 2019, the Bank of Ghana has revoked the license of over 489 microfinance institutions. The purpose of the exploratory multiple case study was to explore strategies that microfinance managers apply to mitigate the effects of crisis to remain sustainable. The targeted population was composed of owner-managers from 6 microfinance companies in Ghana and 6 consultants who overcame the microfinance crisis and remained in practice. The situational crisis communication theory and the team leadership model were the conceptual frameworks for this study. Methodological triangulation was used to support the review and analysis of data from structured interviews, focus group discussions, and relevant company documents. Data were analyzed using NVivo to provide alphanumeric coding, and thematic analysis was used to support the identification of themes and subthemes, which were organized and linked to the crisis phenomenon to identify the 5 emerged themes: governance, communication, fundraising, cost reduction, and business model strategies. The study findings may contribute to social change by building confidence in the financial system, making microfinance services available to the lower end market. There may be more historical crisis effect mitigation strategies and evidence available to practitioners, entrepreneurs leading to job creation and sustainable businesses globally. These findings could provide insights for business leaders, owners-managers, the board of directors, practitioners and regulatory bodies to develop strategies to help their institutions survive in crises.

I institutionella samtal såsom närståendesamtal mellan en logoped, en närstående till en person med afasi och personen med afasi råder en asymmetri gällande maktförhållandet. Asymmetrin som uppstår i det institutionella samtalet kan innebära att samtalsdeltagaren med minst makt upplever ansiktshot. I samtal ses förståelse som en dynamisk process och när förståelsen innebär ett problem i konversationen störs den pågående aktiviteten. Mottagaren kan lösa problemet som uppstått genom att ge talaren en candidate understanding. Hur kommunikativa strategier används i närståendesamtal är ett relativt obeforskat område och ett viktigt område då närståendesamtal är en vanligt förekommande för logopeder. Syftet med föreliggande studie var därför att undersöka ett antal kommunikativa strategier för att få en gemensam förståelse och minska ansiktshot  vid delgivning av testresultat och rådgivning i närståendesamtal. Tre närståendesamtal mellan logopeder, närstående och i två fall personer med afasi spelades in, transkriberades och analyserades enligt samtalsanalytiska principer (CA). Två logopeder, tre närstående och två personer med afasi medverkade i studien. Totalt omfattade det inspelade materialet en timma och 37 minuter. Deltagande logopeder fick även fylla i ett frågeformulär. Strategier för avdramatisering och förståelse identifierades. Strategierna delades in i två kategorier; avdramatisering av råd och förmedling av testresultat och candidate understandings för att uppnå förståelse. I studien framkom det att candidate understandings ofta initierades av den närstående. Det framkom även att de positiva testresultaten som förmedlades inte avdramatiserades samt att dessa istället ofta framhävdes och att face threatenings acts vid delgivning av negativa testresultat ofta avdramatiserades med hedging. / In institutional interactions such as conversations between a speech and language therapist, a person closely related to a person with aphasia and the individual with aphasia there is an asymmetry considering the power. The asymmetry arising in institutional interactions may mean that the participant with the least power will experience a face threatening act. Understanding is seen as a dynamic process and when understanding is a problem in the conversation the ongoing activity is disturbed. The receiver can solve the problem by giving the speaker a candidate understanding. How these strategies are used in conversations between a speech and language therapist with a person closely related to a person with aphasia is a relatively unexplored field and an important area which is a common for speech therapists. The aim of the present study was to investigate a number of communication strategies in the conversation with a person closely related to a person with aphasia; how understanding was reached and how face threatening acts were reduced when the speech therapists delivered test results and gave counseling. Three conversations between speech and language therapists, persons closely related to a person with aphasia and in two of the recordings the person with aphasia were recorded, transcribed and analyzed according to principles of Conversation Analysis (CA). Two speech and language therapists, three persons closely related to a person with aphasia and two persons with aphasia participated in the study. In total, the recorded material is one hour and 37 minutes. Participating speech and language therapists also filled in a questionnaire. Strategies for mitigation and understanding were identified. The strategies were divided into two categories; strategies to mitigate FTA:s when delivering the test results and counseling, the other categorie was the use of candidate understandings for gaining an mutual understanding. The study revealed that candidate understandings were often initiated by the person closely related to a person with aphasia. The study also revealed that the test results with positive outcome where not mitigated and often emphasized and test results that could be perceived as negative were mitigated with hedging.

Global Software Development (GSD) is an emerging trend in today's software world in which teams are geographically dispersed, either in close proximity or globally. GSD provides certain advantages to development companies like low development cost, access to cheap and skilled labour etc. This type of development is noted as a more risky and challenging as compared to projects developed with teams under same roof. Inherently the nature of GSD projects are cooperative in which many software developers work on a common project, share information and coordinate activities. Coordination is a fundamental part of software development. GSD comprises different types of development systems i.e. insourcing, outsourcing, nearshoring, or farshoring, whatever the types of development systems selected by a company there exist the challenges to coordination. Therefore the knowledge of potential challenges, associated threats to coordination and practices to mitigate them plays a vital role for running a successful global project.

<p>As of 2013, the damage caused by corrosion on highway bridges has been estimated to cost approximately 14 billion dollars annually, and this cost has been increasing over the years. Corrosion is one of the natural phenomena that has been slowly deteriorating infrastructure systems across the United States. One of the most problematic types of corrosion is crevice corrosion, which is defined as the formation of rust between overlapping surfaces such as the case of a splice connection where flanges are attached by splice plates. A significant number of steel bridges in Indiana have developed crevice corrosion in splice connections. Therefore, this research focuses on the crevice corrosion, or “pack rust”, occurring in these structural elements. The application of coatings alone has not been enough to stop pack rust at these connections. In an attempt to look for approaches that can effectively mitigate this problem and maintain the designed service life of bridges, different strategies have been studied and tested. The first objective of this study is to determine the strength reduction as a function of the time of exposure to salt misting. To do this, specimens that simulate the bottom flange splice connection have been exposed to a corrosive environment for different periods of time and later tested under tension to assess the reduction in strength. The second objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of the mitigation strategies under different conditions. First, the mitigating products were initially applied before exposure to salt misting. Second, the mitigating products were applied as a repair, and in this case, the specimens corroded for a given period of time and were then repaired to evaluate any further deterioration. The assessment of the strategies’ effectiveness is based on the strength reduction and visual inspection of the specimens. The ultimate outcome of this study is a series of general guidelines to slow down crevice corrosion based on the results of the laboratory testing. </p>

Context and Background: Global Software Development involves teams located in different geographical locations, time zones, and cultural contexts working together to accomplish a shared goal or complete a software project. These projects, which are conducted by teams in different locations, have been found to be more risky and challenging than those with teams in the same location. Therefore, it is important to have knowledge of the potential challenges of task allocation in global software development and strategies for addressing them to manage a GSD project successfully. Objective: This thesis aims to identify and tabulate all the Task allocation challenges in Global Software Development and synthesize the mitigation strategies for the challenges identified in task allocation in GSD. To evaluate the challenges that influence the task allocation process in GSD and perform an assessment to find the mitigation strategies for these challenges. Research Method: This is a systematic literature review of studies on empirical research on GSD, covering publications from 1999 to 2022. The focus of this research is specifically on challenges associated with task allocation in GSD projects. A survey was conducted to validate the identified challenges and gather suggestive mitigation strategies. This research aimed to identify task allocation challenges in GSD and suggest mitigation strategies in GSD projects. Results: This research has identified a total of 20 challenges related to task allocation in Global software development based on a review of publications from 1999 to 2022. Additionally, the mitigation strategies for the 20 identified challenges were found in a survey conducted as part of the research. The challenges and mitigation strategies are discussed in the paper.

Over the past few decades, environmental changes have led to more frequent occurrences and greater intensities of natural disasters worldwide. In terms of globally connected supply chains, this has resulted in an enormous economical loss for corporations. Therefore, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) planning and management has become essential for businesses in order to protect their critical business flow. Yet there is a lack of systematic and transparent methodologies for companies to handle this problem. Hence, this thesis introduces a novel approach to combine consecutive steps of the Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) process within one application. The multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) tool called the Analytic Network Process (ANP) is employed to identify critical products of a business and match them with optimal disruption mitigation strategies based on an evaluation of benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks (BOCR). To validate the method developed in this thesis, a case study using historical data of a U.S. company (Company XYZ) is introduced. The results of the ANP mathematical modeling demonstrate that the developed methodology provides a valuable approach to analyze and confirm BC/DR planning decisions. Moreover, an expert of Company XYZ confirmed that the suggested solution established through this case study is in agreement with the preferable choice based on his expertise and professional decision-making. Further research could extend the proposed methodology to other fields of BC/DR planning, such as IT Disaster Recovery Planning or Human Disaster Relief.

In this work, various topics regarding (urban) boundary simulations for a city situated in the alps will be discussed. First of all, we will present novel parameterization adopted to take into account the effect of mitigation strategies, such as rooftop Photovoltaic Panels and Green Roofs, on the urban environment, and their effect on average temperature and energy consumption by buildings. Secondly, a new turbulence closure, that adopts a diagnostic equation for dissipation rate, and then independent on mixing length scales, will be introduced. The new turbulence closure, implemented into the WRF model, has been coupled with multi-layer urban parameterization schemes and compared with high-resolution CFD and LES simulations.

This study addresses flood risk assessment in the Catalpa Creek watershed, located in northeast Mississippi, USA. Employing the Hydrological Modeling System (HEC-HMS) and the River Analysis System (HEC-RAS), integrated models were developed and calibrated, to predict flood behavior within the watershed. The study conducted flood frequency analyses for return periods ranging from 2 to 100 years and generated flood inundation maps, pinpointing flood-prone areas. Mitigation measures for flood risk management were recommended. The results underscore the effectiveness of the integrated modeling approach for simulating and understanding the complex dynamics of flood events. The research identified critical flood-prone zones, emphasizing the importance of proactive flood risk management. The calibrated hydrological model serves as a valuable tool for stormwater management, water resource planning, and watershed assessment. The study provides insights into flood risk in the Catalpa Creek watershed, offering valuable guidance to regional decision-makers. This study lays the foundation for future investigations in floodplain encroachment, sediment transport, stream restoration, and flood inundation hazard mapping.