Contingency theory, with regard to risk of homeland security incidents and homeland security preparedness, has received considerable empirical support. In past research, risk has been measured subjectively as agency executives' perceived risk of specific homeland security incidents occurring within their jurisdictions. This study examines actual risk, using the objective risk factors of experience with past natural hazards, social vulnerability, and urbanization. These risk factors, used in combination, have been significantly associated with terrorism-related homeland security incidents in the United States, and are used in risk assessment models of natural hazards. Contrary to expectations, the results of this study indicate that objective risk factors were not associated with either perceived risk or preparedness. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.

This thesis deals with issue of preparedness of EMS Central Bohemia on multiple victims' emergencies. In addition to preparedness of EMS Central Bohemia the thesis also analyses the system of training and education of employees in the management of mass casualty. The theoretical part discusses the legislation on EMS, files from Catalogue of model activities related to this issue, coordination of parts of Integrated Rescue System (IRS) on site of event and role of EMS on-site emergencies. Further, the specifics of EMS Central Bohemia are described, the development of EMS Central Bohemia since its establishment (inception) to the present, organizational structure, mass casualty's emergencies preparedness, EMS dispatch (medical operations center), system of emergency calls management and finally Traumatology plan of EMS Central Bohemia. Aim of the thesis was based on analysis of the current status to propose optimal system of deployment and activation of forces and resources, and to propose system of employees' education and system of testing exercises. Based on research, SWOT analysis was developed (composed) and the results were compared with pre-established hypotheses. From obtained findings the comprehensive overview of forces and resources of EMS Central Bohemia region for mass casualty management was prepared. In particular, the number of available resources on duty, system of backups, modules and containers for mass casualties and their deployment. When evaluating resources for mass casualty management also an economic aspect was taken into consideration, as well as ambulance crews' knowledge on possible use of these resources. Based on this review, it was found that in terms of securing forces and resources, the readiness of EMS Central Bohemia is appropriate. Hereby the hypothesis nr.1, which presumed that EMS Central Bohemia has sufficient number of forces and resources to deal with emergencies with multiple victims has been confirmed. The hypothesis nr.2, which presumed that forces and resources deployment is not ideal, on the contrary has not been confirmed. In this thesis the current status of employees' preparation for mass casualty was also discussed. It was found that the base of this preparation is Course for leading employee of rescue service, organized by Department of crisis preparedness. At the same time the conception is set that after first four pilot courses this education system will be applied to particular areas, thereby should be secured sufficient education of crews of EMS Central Bohemia region in this issue. Other education options were also defined, which are now already available in the organization. The hypothesis nr.3, which presumed that system of preparation and training focused on mass casualty is not appropriate, have thus managed to disprove. However it was found that although a clear conception and education options in this field exist, it's not well known to ordinary employees. One of the conclusions is therefore also a recommendation to managers of EMS Central Bohemia to more inform their employees about these options. One of the goals of this thesis was to suggest a system of learning and testing exercises. This proposal is described in the conclusion the proposed number of testing exercises is at least 4 times a year. The total number of employees of the organization and the number of those who may have the capacity and operational reasons to participate on similar exercises has been taken into consideration here. The education system was found appropriate, only with above mentioned objection regarding to awareness of ordinary employees about it.

The thesis analyses municipality with a delegated local authority's preparedness for critical situations which results from the critical scheme of a municipality with extended powers. The results of this work are Crisis Preparedness Plan for the particular municipality which may be applied in practice. Processing of this part of the work is based on data gathering and solving when I mainly used factual and analytical method. Consultation with experts was also important since some sources were not always topical due to frequent legal decrees changes. The data gathering was done in a qualitative way when I worked with particular valid laws, government regulations, public notices and other legal norms and with available literature data, expert publications including website information, especially from official website of individual Integrated Rescue System units and the Home Office. In the research part itself, the city of Březnice is characterized and for which the Crisis Preparedness Plan is being made. General administrative characteristics of the city and municipalities which arise under are stated here as well as demography, infrastructure, geographical and climatic characterization. Important facilities from the point of view of population protection, such as schools, school and social facilities are graphically shown here; followed by characteristics of Integrated Rescue System units in the city together with instruments which are available to them. Another important part of the thesis is the hazard analysis which I had been given by the Czech Republic Fire Brigade from the Crisis Plan of Příbram's Area with Extended Powers and it has become the crucial source while writing this work. The hazard analysis identifies 14 threats which may occur in the Příbram Area. The most important part of this thesis is, in my opinion, the hazard analysis of the city of Březnice. Not all of the hazards may appear in the administrative area of the city Březnice, however, there may occur certain threats in this administrative area which are not underpinned in the Crisis Plan of the Příbram Area. Here I have come to the key findings crisis plans of the areas with extended powers are rather general and insufficient for preparing solutions of critical situations development in administrative areas with a delegated authority. I have come to those findings after having made a SWAT analysis and thanks to this I have discovered threats which were not dealt with in the crisis plan.There are several findings as a result of this thesis and the suggestion of the Plan of Crisis Preparedness of a municipality with delegated authority of Březnice. The first finding answers the research question of "Which are the hazards threatening performance of the tasks of a municipality with delegated authority of Březnice resulting from the Crisis Plan of Příbram's Area with Extended Powers and whether the municipality is ready to deal with these threats?" The city of Březnice is not quite prepared for upcoming hazards since there are not analyzed all threats which may occur, because these plans are too general to analyze well the setting of lower administrative districts and this has become the next finding. Further, I may claim that the city of Březnice is, in many ways, independent while dealing with certain crisis situations due to sources which the city provides. This is another aim of the work. The created suggestion of the Plan of Crisis Preparedness should contribute to effective solutions during crisis situations in a municipality with delegated authority of Březnice and thanks to created cards; the solution of crisis situations should become better-arranged with the plans. The created suggestion of the mentioned plan may become a model for processing crisis documentation in other municipalities.

abstract: Levels of heavy episodic drinking peak during emerging adulthood and contribute to the experience of negative consequences. Previous research has identified a number of trait-like personality characteristics that are associated with drinking. Studies of the Acquired Preparedness Model have supported positive expectancies, and to a lesser extent negative expectancies, as mediators of the relation between trait-like characteristics and alcohol outcomes. However, expectancies measured via self-report may reflect differences in learned expectancies in spite of similar alcohol-related responses, or they may reflect true individual differences in subjective responses to alcohol. The current study addressed this gap in the literature by assessing the relative roles of expectancies and subjective response as mediators within the APM in a sample of 236 emerging adults (74.7% male) participating in a placebo-controlled alcohol challenge study. The study tested four mediation models collapsed across beverage condition as well as eight separate mediation models with four models (2 beverage by 2 expectancy/subjective response) for each outcome (alcohol use and alcohol-related problems). Consistent with previous studies, SS was positively associated with alcohol outcomes in models collapsed across beverage condition. SS was also associated with positive subjective response in collapsed models and in the alcohol models. The hypothesized negative relation between SS and sedation was not significant. In contrast to previous studies, neither stimulation nor sedation predicted either weekly drinking or alcohol-related problems. While stimulation and alcohol use appeared to have a positive and significant association, this relation did not hold when controlling for SS, suggesting that SS and stimulation account for shared variability in drinking behavior. Failure to find this association in the placebo group suggests that, while explicit positive expectancies are related to alcohol use after controlling for levels of sensation seeking, implicit expectancies (at least as assessed by a placebo manipulation) are not. That the relation between SS and stimulation held only in the alcohol condition in analyses separate by beverage condition indicates that sensation seeking is a significant predictor of positive subjective response to alcohol (stimulation), potentially above and beyond expectancies. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2012

M.Ed. / A review of the literature reveals that there is sufficient proof that Russia and its satellite states are involved in various regional conflicts throughout the world. The literature provides proof of Russia's involvement and support of several terrorist groups in various parts of the world. The Republic of South Africa is such a territory where communism endeavors to establish a communistic orientated govermseat , The total onslaught against the Republic of South Africa resulted from nUlllerous factors such as strategic-geographical factors and mineral wealth. A godless revolution of Communism is directed against the Christian ethics and convictions of the inhabitants of the Republic of South Africa. This revolution is ailed towards the total demolition of all ethical norms, Christian values of life, religion, culture and the life style of this nation. The youth of South Africa does not escape this pernicious onslaught and must therefore be prepared orally and physically to oppose this attack against the Republic of South Africa. One of the objectives of cadet training i8 to inform and prepare the youth in regard to the nature and extent of the onslaught against the Republic of South Africa. By means of the imposed task regarding cadet training the deputy superintendent (Cadets) can contribute a great deal towards IIl()tivating and preparing the youth of the Republic of South Africa. Present tidies necessitate the physical and oral preparation of the youth as an integral part of the aims of education. Youth preparedness can be realized in an effective and practical manner by means of cadet training in schools. The focus of cadet training is rightfully aimed at youth preparedness. A further aim of cadet training is providing the cadet with an opportunity to accept joint responsibility for the safety of his own community. The components of the cadet training program are devised in such a way that ample opportunities are created to facilitate and promote physical and moral preparedness. It seems evident that in the event of the correct implementation of the cadet training program of the Transvaal Education Department it should be beneficial to youth preparedness. To achieve this goal it is necessary that both teaching staff and pupils be motivated and activated to become positively involved in the cadet training program. As a professional educationist the deputy superintendent (Cadets) shares the responsibility to motivate the teaching staff and the pupils towards positive participation in the cadet training program. Through positive participation it is possible to prepare the pupils physically and morally against the pernicious commutation against the Republic of South Africa. A valuable contribution in motivating and preparing the youth is thus made possible by the deputy superintendent (Cadets). By applying appropriate guiding lines with regard to cadet training to all parties involved, the deputy superintendent (Cadets) can make a valuable contribution towards motivating the cadet to become an able-bodied and defensible citizen of the Republic of South Africa.

This thesis describes a tool for data mining used to optimize ambulance preparedness. The goal with the tool was that it should be able to retract the information necessary to be able to analyze and calibrate the preparedness model used in the software ResQMap. ResQMap is used by SOS Alarm, who are responsible for the Swedish emergency number 112, as a decision support tool for ambulance operators. It is developed by Carmenta AB, who are the supervisors of the thesis work. Also, a minor study of the preparedness models variables has been performed in order to be able to evaluate the function of the tool. Since the study was carried out with sufficient results, the goals with the tool are seen as accomplished. The thesis concludes with a discussion about future uses and development of the tool. / Denna uppsats behandlar utvecklingen av ett verktyg för informationshämtning föroptimering av ambulansberedskap. Målet med verktyget var att det skulle kunnaanvändas för att hämta ut den information som ansågs nödvändig för att kunna analyseraoch kalibrera den beredskapsmodell som används i programmet ResQMap. Programmetanvänds som ambulansdirigeringsstöd av SOS Alarm och är utvecklat av Carmenta AB,vilka stått för handledningen av detta examensarbete. För att utvärdera verktygetsfunktion har också en förstudie genomförts, vars resultat presenteras i uppsatsen. Dådenna studie genomfördes med goda resultat anses målet med verktyget uppfyllt.Uppsatsen avslutas med en diskussion kring framtida användningsområden ochutveckling av verktyget.

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第15001号 / 工博第3175号 / 新制||工||1477(附属図書館) / 27451 / UT51-2009-R725 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科都市社会工学専攻 / (主査)教授 岡田 憲夫, 教授 小林 潔司, 教授 多々納 裕一 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology / Stephen L. Benton; Adrienne Leslie-Toogood / There is growing concern over the academic performance of student athletes in today’s institutions of higher education. Across all media, the public is constantly reminded that the success rate of student athletes is not what it should be. One hypothesis for this poor performance is that athletes are not as well prepared to go to college as their non-athletic counterparts. This could be attributed to low high school academic standards, or high school teachers allowing athletes to underperform due to their status as an athlete, or a lack of time for studying due to sport participation. The NCAA mandates certain academic standards for entrance into college, yet athletes still struggle to maintain passing grades, with some failing to graduate. Most college students are admitted to college based on their potential to benefit from an institution’s programs and educational opportunities. In many institutions, especially at the Division I level, student athletes are admitted for their potential to provide benefits for the institutions. This study compared the college graduating GPA of athletes and nonathletes relative to ACT score to determine if athletes were underperforming in college. Additionally the effect of gender, ethnicity and type of sport was examined. This study used hierarchical regression equations to examine these effects. When looking at athletes only, type of sport, gender, and ethnicity had very little influence on graduating GPA. When examining all students, ACT test scores were significantly related to college graduating GPA.

The aim of the master thesis is to emphasize the importance of process alignment in The Fourth Industrial Revolution. By mapping of current descriptive maturity models and their application within digitalization, the thesis offers a new process maturity model for the phenomenon referred to as Industry 4.0 (i4.0). The model is based on the theoretical form of previous models, as well as on implementation of newly introduced trends. The contribution of the thesis rests upon the specific solution. The suggested Process Improvement Scheme presents applicable way for improvement of digital process preparedness in project-oriented service organizations and determines main value factors which lead to higher quality of employee processes. In the same time, the master thesis suggest a new utilization of i4.0 principles focused predominantly on manufacturing processes, and therefore includes areas which will need to be addressed in the near future for smooth process transition into i4.0 era.

Bakgrund Barn finns ofta bland de drabbade i samband med allvarliga händelser och har utifrån ålder och mognadsgrad behov som skiljer dem från vuxna i dessa situationer. Sjukvårdspersonal anger att det är svårare och mer påfrestande att hantera situationer där flera barn drabbats, men sjukvårdens förmåga kan optimeras om barnaspekter uppmärksammas rutinmässigt vid utformning av katastrofmedicinsk beredskap. Internationella rapporter anger att barnaspekter ofta förbises vid utformning av katastrofmedicinsk beredskap, men ämnet är bristfälligt kartlagt i Sverige. Syfte: Att undersöka om barnperspektivet uppmärksammas vid utformning av katastrofmedicinsk beredskap på regional nivå. Metod: Enkätstudie där populationen utgjordes av Sveriges 21 beredskapssamordnare på regional nivå. Resultat: I studien deltog samtliga beredskapssamordnare på regional nivå i Sverige (n=21). 16 av 20 deltagare angav att katastrofmedicinsk beredskap kan utformas efter barnets särskilda behov i hög grad. 19 av 21 deltagare uppgav dock att katastrofmedicinsk beredskap endast i liten grad är anpassad för barn. Medverkan av barnsjukvården ses som en viktig faktor för att säkerställa sjukvårdens katastrofmedicinska förmåga inför allvarliga händelser som drabbar barn. 20 av 21 deltagare angav dock att barnsjukvården är representerad endast i liten grad vid planering av katastrofmedicinsk beredskap på regional nivå. Vid risk- och sårbarhetsanalyser och systematisk kvalitetssäkring uppgav 18 av 21 respektive 17 av 18 deltagare att barnaspekter uppmärksammas i liten grad. Sex av 21 landsting/regioner synliggör barnaspekter i regional katastrofmedicinsk plan. Slutsats: Barnperspektivet uppmärksammas endast i begränsad omfattning vid utformning av regional katastrofmedicinsk beredskap. Studien påvisar nödvändigheten av att uppmärksamma och utveckla sjukvårdens katastrofmedicinska förmåga med fokus på barnets särskilda behov. / Introduction: Children are often among the victims in major incidents and have specific needs that separate them from adults in these situations. Healthcare personnel often find events including children more demanding than events only affecting adults. The health care, thus, has to integrate child aspects in all phases of disaster planning. International reports suggest that planning for disaster medical preparedness often fails to consider the special needs of children, but there is a lack of Swedish research in this field. Objective: To investigate if the child perspective is considered in regional disaster medical planning in Sweden. Method: A questionnaire was sent to the 21 regional disaster planning officers in Sweden. Results: All of the regional disaster planning officers in Sweden participated in the study (n=21). 16 of 20 participants claimed that child aspects can be integrated in disaster preparedness to a large extent. However, 19 of 21 planners indicated that disaster preparedness is adjusted to the needs of children only to a small extent. Participation of pediatric personnel in disaster medical planning was seen as an important step to ensure optimal preparedness for events including children. 20 of 21 planners stated that this is the case only to a small extent. Participants claimed that risk and vulnerability analysis (18 of 21) and quality assurance (17 of 18) reflects the needs of children to a small extent. Six of 21 participants claimed that pediatric aspects were integrated in regional disaster medical plans. Conclusion: The child perspective is considered only to a small extent in regional disaster medical planning in Sweden. This study indicates the need to highlight and develop the disaster medical capability with focus on the special needs of the pediatric population.