Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / In the aftermath of a disaster, relief agencies rush to assist the affected population. However, lack of coordination between these agencies often results in poor resource management, which undermines efficacy and efficiency. This report facilitates inter-agency collaboration, particularly between military and non-military entities, by conducting a case study of one non-government organization involved in disaster relief. With the second-highest revenue among major non-government organizations in the United States, the Salvation Army in America—and, by extension, its international arm, the Salvation Army World Service Office (SAWSO)—is an ideal candidate for evaluation. This report evaluates SAWSO's disaster response capabilities by analyzing its organizational history, operational competencies, and financial resources. The results of this report offer a foundation for military and other humanitarian relief agencies to pursue collaborative efforts and increase the overall efficiency and efficacy of future disaster response operations. This report's findings indicate that SAWSO is a highly efficient organization from a financial standpoint, and that it offers a variety of relief capabilities that vary by region, with the provision of shelter, settlement, and non-food items among its strongest and most consistent competencies. / Outstanding Thesis / Captain, United States Marine Corps

An experiment was conducted to investigate the relative effectiveness of a combined behavior rehearsal anxiety relief conditioning paradigm with a more conventional behavioral rehearsal program in the treatment of deficient assertive behavior.

Bakgrund: Antalet förstföderskor som använder sig av EDA har ökat och idag använder dryga hälften EDA under förlossning. Det är den mest effektiva smärtlindringsmetoden som förlossningsvården har att tillgå. EDA vid förlossning är dock förknippat med biverkningar och risker. Barnmorskor har en viktig roll att ge information och undervisning om smärtlindring till gravida kvinnor. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka förstföderskors kunskaper och behov av information om EDA inför förlossning. Metod: Studien genomfördes och analyserades med metoden kvalitativ innehållsanalys med induktiv ansats. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med åtta förstföderskor. Resultat: De analyserade intervjuerna utmynnade i två huvudkategorier; EDA är en metod med fördelar och nackdelar och Förstföderskor har behov av olika information på olika sätt, med tre, respektive två, tillhörande underkategorier. Konklusion: Kvinnornas kunskaper varierade, och många var osäkra. De hade behov av olika information om EDA på flera olika sätt. De upplevde att det varken fanns tid eller möjlighet för diskussion om EDA med barnmorskor, vilket kunde bidra till en känsla av att inte ha fått tillräckligt med information. Barnmorskor behöver därför blir bättre på att erbjuda förstföderskor information om EDA, men även annan smärtlindring som används under förlossning, förslagsvis genom uttökad tid på MHV. / Background: The number of primparas who use EDA has increased, and today more than half of them use EDA during childbirth. It is the most effective method of pain relief that is available in maternity care. EDA during childbirth is, however, associated with side effects and risks. Midwives have an important role to provide information and education about pain relief to pregnant women. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate primiparas knowledge and need of information about EDA during childbirth. Method: The study was conducted and analyzed by qualitative content analysis method with inductive approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight primiparas. Results: The analyzed interviews resulted in two main categories; EDA is a method with advantages and disadvantages and Primiparas need different information in different ways, with three and two associated subcategories. Conclusion: The women's knowledges varied, and many were unsure. They needed different information about EDA in several different ways. They felt that there was neither time nor opportunity for discussion about EDA with midwives, which could contribute to a feeling of not having received sufficient information. Midwives must therefore improve in offering primiparas information about EDA, but also other forms pain relief used during childbirth, suggested by extended time at maternal health care.

This thesis is focused on finding the optimal tools for modelling of the overland flow and verification of its reliability and limits in an extreme relief of the Bohemian Switzerland. This paper focuses on the Open Source tools for modelling of the overland flow implemented in the geographic information system GRASS GIS. The region of the Bohemian Switzerland, especially of the same name national park, was chosen for two main reasons. The first is the fact that the range of reliefs' shapes of local sandstone rock areas is exceptionally varied. Extreme vertical segmentation, relief edges, changes of convex and concave shapes of relief, significant changes of profile, planar and tangential curvature and often extremely narrow and deep valleys are extremely difficult from the point of view of overland flow modelling. The second reason for the focus on the above mentioned field is the fact that for the given area there is available an exceptional quality digital elevation model (DEM) from the GeNeSis project - "Geoinformationsnetzwerke für die grenzüberschreitende Nationalparkregion Sächsisch - Böhmische Schweiz". This DEM financed from the operational program EU Interreg IIIA Cross-Border Cooperation was carried out by the Technical University Dresden and is characterized by high density of scanning...

Painful cutaneous ulcers are a clinical challenge as the pain can be difficult to control, frequently requiring a combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological measures. There is evidence suggesting topical opioid application might be efficacious in the management of painful cutaneous ulcers, however this is largely based on case reports. Methods A series of clinical and laboratory studies were undertaken to determine the utility of opioids applied topically to painful cutaneous ulcers, these included surveys of hospice admissions to determine the prevalence of painful ulcers and the effective dose of topical opioid; a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial design to assess the utility of morphine/IntraSite gel mixture, HPLC analysis to determine the mixture’s bioavailability and physical stability, and microbiological studies to determine its microbiological stability. Results A survey of 323 hospice admissions over a two-year period identified 125 patients with 221 ulcers, mostly caused by either pressure (183 ulcers) or trauma (25); 147 (67%) of all ulcers were painful. Compared to placebo, morphine/IntraSite mixture was more efficacious; it was safe and well tolerated in this population. Morphine applied topically appears to have an analgesic effect even at low doses of morphine irrespective of background analgesic medication. HPLC analyses suggested morphine and its metabolites might be detectable in the plasma of patients with large ulcers, but only at low concentrations. In addition morphine/IntraSite gel mixture was physically and, under certain storage conditions, microbiologically stable for 28 days allowing the mixture to be prepared and stored before use. Conclusions The studies confirmed that painful cutaneous ulcers are a significant clinical problem in hospice patients and that morphine/IntraSite mixture can be used safely and effectively in this patient group. Bioavailability studies support the possibility that the opioid analgesic effect is local rather than systemic, and stability studies show the morphine/IntraSite combination, once mixed, can be stored for up to 28 days, allowing the mixture to be prepared and stored before use. Given that ulcers can vary in aetiology, size, severity and temporal characteristics of pain, an individualised titration protocol is recommended. Further research is required to confirm and extend these findings to other ulcers and clinical settings.

Titled Foreign Things No Longer Foreign: How South Koreans Ate U.S. Food, my research investigates the ways in which surplus American food were familiarized in daily Korean life. When food such as wheat flour and powdered milk was largely alien to their diet before 1945, many Koreans encountered the new American food in free feeding stations, in school lunch programs, and as wages-in-kind by working in public construction programs, ran by varying actors such as the U.S. Operations Missions in Korea, South Korean central and provincial governments, and foreign voluntary agencies. By exploring different channels through which surplus American food was distributed, I argue that political factors were more crucial than economic and cultural aspects in making wheat flour and powdered milk popular in South Korea. The two main political factors were the changing purposes of U.S. foreign food assistance and the South Korean state’s use of the surplus food. The distribution channels of surplus American food tells us about a process of globalization that did not begin with market expansion, and also about the cultural and social transformations born out of these distributions. In addition to feeding the hungry, U.S. food programs funded the joint U.S.-South Korean military build-up against North Korea, and Food for Peace programs also helped building rural villages, reclaiming upland for farming, and establishing oyster and seaweed culture-fields in coastal areas. Instead of opting for development, requiring large capital investment, technological expertise, and machineries, these surplus food programs only used surplus American grains and unskilled Korean labor.

Esta pesquisa consistiu na análise geomorfológica e em um conjunto de levantamentos dos aspectos físicos da bacia hidrográfica do Ribeirão Balainho. O trabalho baseou-se no mapeamento morfométrico e morfográfico, além de observações de campo para o levantamento das características morfológicas da referida bacia. Os dados coletados visaram também estabelecer as características morfoestruturais e morfoesculturais, a fim de indicar áreas com maior potencialidade a processos denudativos. Para tal, optou-se pela utilização de cartografia geomorfológica de detalhe (1: 25.000) por meio da fotointerpretação de fotografias aéreas e de técnicas de mapeamento (morfografia) apresentadas por Tricart (1965) e Verstappen e Zuidam (1975). Quanto às técnicas na confecção das cartas morfométricas, estas se basearam nos apontamentos de Spiridonov (1981), Cunha, Mendes e Sanches (2003). As modificações morfológicas observadas, sobretudo os processos lineares de erosão foram associados a causas distintas em cada setor compartimentado da bacia (alta, média e baixa bacia), devido a características geológicas, morfológicas, pedológicas, de cobertura superficial e de usos distintos do solo. / This research is consisted of a set of data about the physical aspects of the Ribeirão Balainhos drainage basin. The study is based on morphometric and morphografic mapping and on field observations for the attainment of morphological characterization of the drainage basin. The data collected aimed to determine the morphostructural and morphosculpture characteristics, with the goal of point the areas with higher risks to suffer denudation process. For this, it was chosen the detailed geomorphological cartography (1:25.000), by the photointerpretation of aerial photographs and mapping technics (morphography), given by Tricart (1965) and Verstappen and Zuidam (1975). By the technics used in creation of the morphometrics charts, they were based on Spirodonov (1981), Cunha, Mendes and Sanches (2003) notes. The morphological changes viewed, especially the linear erosions processes, were associated to different reasons in each sector compartmented of the basin (upper, middle and lower), due the geological, morphological, pedological, surface coverage soil and land uses characteristics.

No description available.

Relief organizations and governments strive to provide safe drinking water to natural disaster survivors as quickly as possible. However, drinking water is typically provided either as bottled water or via mobile water treatment equipment, both of which can be difficult or expensive to transport rapidly into disaster zones. An alternative is the waterbag point-of-use treatment device developed at Cal Poly that allows survivors to produce safe drinking water from contaminated local sources. The waterbag is a 10-L bladder designed for use with Procter & Gamble Purifier of Water (PŪR®) sachets, which contain coagulant and chlorine compounds. Following treatment with PŪR®, treated water in the waterbag is flowed through an outlet port to a filter, primarily for parasitic cyst removal. Currently, the commercial version of the waterbag uses an effective but expensive hollow-fiber membrane microfilter (>$10 each). This cost will likely decrease the use of the waterbag by relief organizations responding to large disasters. The goal of the present thesis research was to develop a novel, low cost (~$5), effective, low-profile filter to be used with the waterbag in large-scale disaster relief. This new filter is referred to as an envelope filter due to its geometry and size. Various prototype envelope filters were constructed using layers of nonwoven polypropylene filter cloth. Two types of cloth were used: a nominally-rated 1-µm pore size cloth and an absolute-rated 1-µm cloth. The filters tested were both internal and external to the waterbag and of various geometries. Filters were attached to the waterbag and used to filter defined test water after it had been treated with a PŪR® sachet. Test water for design experiments consisted of tap water with addition of standard dust (to increase turbidity) and seasalts (to increase salinity). In addition to this basic test water, mock U.S. EPA Challenge Water #2 with added bacteria and cyst surrogates (fluorescent microspheres) was used to evaluate the filter prototype designs prior to testing according to U.S. EPA Guide Standard and Protocol for Testing Microbiological Water Purifiers in a commercial laboratory. The filter design and mock challenge experiment results indicated that a 2-ply filter with one nominal and one absolute layer was the optimal filter design. In the mock U.S. EPA challenge tests, a flowrate of 20 mL/min allowed this filter met the turbidity, bacteria, and microsphere removal requirements determined by the WHO and The Sphere Project for emergency drinking water treatment as well as the U.S. EPA Guide Standard and Protocol for Testing Microbiological Water Purifiers.. This filter design was further tested using the U.S. EPA Challenge Water #2 with triplicate waterbags at the U.S. EPA-certified BioVir Laboratories in Benicia, Calif. All three waterbags with envelope filters met the recommendations for turbidity (<5 >NTU) and for virus removal (>4-log removal). Two of the three waterbags met the bacteria and microsphere removal requirements (>6- and >3-log removal, respectively). The failure of one of the prototypes to meet the requirements could have been due to improper setting of valve that throttled the flowrate through the filter or due to a slightly leaking hose pinch valve. Future work should include incorporating more reliable valves and improving the envelope filter design and materials to achieve higher allowable flowrates.

<p>This thesis seeks to provide an extensive theoretical framework for the potential incentive</p><p>effects from debt relief. The objective is achieved by integrating the positive incentive</p><p>model by Krugman with a negative incentive framework developed by drawing on the</p><p>theories of a soft budget constraint. The analysis shows that the existence of bailouts</p><p>offers the possibility that debt relief can produce negative incentives for the debtor</p><p>instead of positive incentives for improved performance. Taking on a game theoretical</p><p>perspective suggests that strategic behavior in the interaction between the debtor and the</p><p>creditor can increase the likelihood of a specific incentive effect to prevail. Such an</p><p>interactive game also highlights the importance for the creditor to obtain reliable</p><p>information about the behavior of the debtor.</p>