Research on human behaviour during earthquake shaking has identified three main influences of behaviour: the environment the individual is located immediately before and during the earthquake, in terms of where the individual is and who the individual is with at the time of the earthquake; individual characteristics, such as age, gender, previous earthquake experience, and the intensity and duration of earthquake shaking. However, little research to date has systematically analysed the immediate observable human responses to earthquake shaking, mostly due to data constraints and/or ethical considerations. Research on human behaviour during earthquakes has relied on simulations or post-event, reflective interviews and questionnaire studies, often performed weeks to months or even years following the event. Such studies are therefore subject to limitations such as the quality of the participant's memory or (perceived) realism of a simulation. The aim of this research was to develop a robust coding scheme to analyse human behaviour during earthquake shaking using video footage captured during an earthquake event. This will allow systematic analysis of individuals during real earthquakes using a previously unutilized data source, thus help develop guidance on appropriate protective actions. The coding scheme was developed in a two-part process, combining a deductive and inductive approach. Previous research studies of human behavioral response during earthquake shaking provided the basis for the coding scheme. This was then iteratively refined by applying the coding scheme to a broad range of video footage of people exposed to strong shaking during the Canterbury earthquake sequence. The aim of this was to optimise coding scheme content and application across a broad range of scenarios, and to increase inter-coder reliability. The methodology to code data will enhance objective observation of video footage to allow cross-event analysis and explore (among others): reaction time, patterns of behaviour, and social, environmental and situational influences of behaviour. This can provide guidance for building configuration and design, and evidence-based recommendations for public education about injury-preventing behavioural responses during earthquake shaking.

The military conflicts of the early 21st century have seen the introduction and rise of a new military technology: the armed drone. With the United States acting as the driving force behind this technological advancement, the U.S Air Force and intelligence agency CIA have madedrones their weapon of choice for pursuing suspected terrorists and insurgents in various remotelocations. American military leaders and policy makers assert that the armed drone’s high levelof accuracy make it the best available weapons platform for this task. However, new researchshows that the use of drones may result in more civilian casualties than previously thought, andmay in fact be more fallible than conventional aircraft in this respect. This paper examines this discrepancy between rhetoric and practice, and attempts to find potential causes for this in the development and early use of the first armed drone, the MQ-1 Predator. The paper cites statements from President Barack Obama and CIA director John Brennan and contrasts them with a recent research report on drone-caused civilian casualties, as well as examples of drone strikes where the wrong targets were struck. The analysis of the development and early use of the Predator Drone draws comparisons to Donald Mackenzie’s account of the development of accuracy for cold-war-era intercontinental ballistic missiles, applying the science and technology-concepts he uses to the case of the armed drone. The paper concludes with the argument that the accuracy of the early armed drones is fundamentally misunderstood or overestimated by U.S leaders, and that there are circumstances in the development-history of the system that may have contributed to this inconsistency.

CHDS State/Local / This thesis addresses the role of the emergency department in planning for mass casualties during an emergency. The demand on hospital emergency departments has stretched the capacity for normal operations beyond their original design. Hospital surge capacity is not only complex, but affects every hospital emergency department in the country. Factors, such as hospital bed capacity, surge levels, staffing and the use of volunteers in time of emergency, all play a critical role in the ability and accessibility of the hospital to react during times of need. The recommendations provided are based on the analysis of county, state and federal plans along with case studies that provide a varied approach to emergency preparedness and the role of the hospital, focus on some of the facets of preparedness and the immediate need for emergency planning, training/exercising and communication in hospitals across America, and specifically, in hospitals in South Carolina.

Following the failed Jacobite Rebellion of 1745-46 many Highlanders fought for the British Army in the Seven Years War and American Revolutionary War. Although these soldiers were primarily motivated by economic considerations, their experiences were romanticized after Waterloo and helped to create a new, unified Scottish martial identity. This militaristic narrative, reinforced throughout the nineteenth century, explains why Scots fought and died in disproportionately large numbers during the First World War.

Most people’s perceptions of the Second World War leave little room for static, attritional fighting; instead, free-flowing manoeuvre warfare, such as Blitzkrieg, is seen as the norm. In reality, however, much of the terrain fought over in 1939-45 was unsuitable for such a war and, as a result, bloody attritional battles and trench fighting were common. Thus ordinary infantrymen spent the majority of their time at the front burrowing underground for protection. Although these trenches were never as fixed or elaborate as those on the Western Front a generation earlier, the men who served in Italy, Normandy, Holland and Germany, nonetheless shared an experience remarkably similar to that of their predecessors in Flanders, Picardy, Champagne and Artois. This is an area which has been largely neglected by scholars. While the first war produced a mountain of books on the experience of trench warfare, the same cannot be said of the second war. This thesis will attempt to fill that gap by providing a comprehensive analysis of static warfare in the Second World War from the point of view of British infantry morale. It draws widely on contemporary letters and diaries, psychiatric and medical reports and official documentation – not to mention personal narratives and accounts published after the war – and will attempt to interpret these sources in light of modern research and organise them into a logical framework. Ultimately it is hoped that this will provide fresh insight into a relatively under-researched area of twentieth century history.

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Doctor of Philosophy / Security Studies Interdepartmental Program / Emizet F. Kisangani / Attacks against nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in high-risk conflict zones have increased exponentially over the last two decades. However, the few existing empirical studies on NGO insecurity have tended to focus on external factors influencing attacks, with little attention paid to the actions of aid workers themselves. To fill this gap, this dissertation theorizes that aid workers may have contributed to their own insecurity by engaging in greater political action. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used to assess the impact of political activity by NGOs on the insecurity of aid workers. The quantitative analyses test the theory at two levels. The first is a large-N country-level analysis of 117 nations from 1999 to 2015 using panel corrected standard errors. The second is a subnational-level statistical analysis of four case studies: Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Colombia from 2000 to 2014. Both the country- and provincial- level analyses show that the magnitude of aid tends to be a significant determinant of aid worker security. The qualitative methods of “structured-focused comparison” and “process tracing” are used to analyze the four cases. Results show that aid workers are most likely to be victims of politically-motivated attacks while in-transit. Consistent with the quantitative findings, it is speculated that if workers are engaged in a large-scale project over an extended period of time, attackers will be able to monitor their daily activities and routines closely, making it easier to orchestrate a successful ambush. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that political statements made by NGOs—regardless of their sectors of activity—have increased insecurity for the broader aid community. These results dispel the myth that humanitarian activity has historically been independent, impartial, and neutral. Several NGOs have relied on this false assumption for security, believing that adherence to core principles has contributed to “humanitarian space.” The results also dispel the popular NGO assumption that targeted attacks are not official tactics of organized militants, but rather the result of criminality or mistaken identity. In fact, the overwhelming majority of aid workers attacked in high-risk conflict zones have been targeted by political actors.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T10:55:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Marcelo de Faria Vasconcelos.pdf: 2653494 bytes, checksum: cb5477d7e458b14743e00dd343465387 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-11-30 / Introduction: Biological changes that result from exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) involving the immune system (IS), still need some elucidation. Radiological accidents, like the one in Chernobyl in Ukraine, Three Mile Island in the United States and the accident with 137Cs in Brazil were some experiences that allow us to evaluate the stochastic effects of the exposure to the ionizing radiation, besides understanding important immediate somatic effects, like Radiation Acute Syndrome (RAS). The human body is constituted by about 5x1012 cells, and a number of them are highly specialized in the development of their function in human physiology. Considering the ionizing radiation effects on lymphocytes and their proteins, and the IS capacity to react in the face of such exposures, there has been an investigation into the proportions of cells T, B, NK and NK/T in 13 radio-casualties, coming from groups I and II according to the degree of exposure to 137Cs (SuLeide general protocol), in the September 13th 1987 accident in Goiânia. Objective: The study of lymphocyte cell populations T, B, NK and NK/T gives us the oportunity to investigate possible alterations in the immune system of the people who have been exposed to the IR of 137Cs. Methodology: For an evaluation of cell proportions, individuals exposed to IR were submitted to a vein puncture, after a voluntary agreement, so as to collect 5 ml of peripheral blood. As methodology, the flux cellmeter, triple checking, via use of monoclonal antibodies anti-CD3/PercP, anti- CD4/FITC, anti-CD8/PE, anti-CD19/FITC, anti-CD5/PE and anti-CD56/PE. Results: the numbers that were obtained from the cell populations and sub-populations of the individuals exposed to the IR of 137Cs and normal controls did not show any statistically meaningful difference, although was observed a little decrease of the total NK cell population, which is differently observed in the isolated evaluation of the NK and NK/T sub-populations, that showed statistically equivalent to the numbers found in normal controls. Conclusion: However, the outcome observed in this investigation suggested a possible IR influence upon these individuals cellular proportions. Additional experiments are now in development in order to evaluate the functional activity of cells NK and NK/T of the radio-casualties. / Introdução: As alterações biológicas tardias resultantes da exposição à radiação ionizante (RI) envolvendo o sistema imune (SI), ainda carecem de elucidação. Os acidentes radiológicos, como os de Chernobyl na Ucrânia, Tree Mile Island nos EUA e o acidente com o 137Cs no Brasil, foram experiências que permitiram avaliar os efeitos estocásticos da exposição à radiação ionizante, além da compreensão de efeitos somáticos imediatos importantes como a Síndrome Aguda da Radiação (SAR). O corpo humano é constituído por aproximadamente 5x1012 células, muitas delas altamente especializadas para o desempenho de suas funções na fisiologia humana. Considerando os efeitos da radiação ionizante sobre os linfócitos e suas proteínas e a capacidade do SI de reagir mediante tais exposições, no presente estudo realizou-se a investigação sobre as proporções de células T, B, NK e NK/T, em 13 indivíduos radioacidentados, provenientes dos grupos I e II conforme o grau de exposição ao 137Cs (protocolo geral da SuLeide) no acidente de 13 de Setembro de 1987 em Goiânia. Objetivo: O estudo das populações celulares de linfócitos T, B, NK e NK/T dá-nos oportunidade para investigar possíveis alterações no SI de pessoas expostas à RI de 137Cs. Métodos: Para a avaliação das proporções celulares, os indivíduos expostos à RI foram submetidos, após adesão voluntária ao estudo, a uma punção venosa para a coleta de 5 mL de sangue periférico. Foi utilizado como metodologia a citometria de fluxo, tripla marcação, mediante o uso dos anticorpos monoclonais anti-CD3/PercP, anti-CD4/FITC, anti-CD8/PE, anti-CD19/FITC, anti-CD5/PE e anti-CD56/PE. Resultados: Os valores obtidos a partir da avaliação das populações e sub-populações celulares dos indivíduos expostos à RI de 137Cs e controles normais não apresentaram diferença estatisticamente significante, embora foi observado uma pequena diminuição na população total das células NK, diferentemente do observado na avaliação isolada das subpopulações NK e NK/T, que se apresentaram equivalentes estatisticamente aos valores encontrados nos controles normais. Conclusão: Os resultados observados nesta investigação, no entanto, sugeriram uma possível influência da RI na proporção celular destes indivíduos. Experimentos adicionais encontram-se em desenvolvimento para avaliar a atividade funcional das células NK e NK/T dos radioexpostos.

Thesis (LL. M.)--George Washington University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the Internet.

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