Vulnerability Assessment of Mining Subsidence Hazards

Between 1996 and 1999, five mining subsidence events occurred in the iron-ore field in Lorraine, France, and damaged several hundred buildings. Because of the thousand hectares of undermined areas, an assessment of the vulnerability of buildings and land is necessary for risk management. Risk assessment methods changed from initial risk management decisions that took place immediately after the mining subsidence to the risk assessment studies that are currently under consideration. These changes reveal much about the complexity of the vulnerability concept and about difficulties in developing simple and relevant methods for its assessment. The objective of this article is to present this process, suggest improvements on the basis of theoretical definitions of the vulnerability, and give an operational example of vulnerability assessment in the seismic field. The vulnerability is divided into three components: weakness, stakes value, and resilience. Final improvements take into account these three components and constitute an original method of assessing the vulnerability of a city to subsidence.     

Circadian rhythm of hot flashes and activity levels among prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy

Abstract

Background: Modifiable risk factors contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and erectile dysfunction (ED). We aimed to compare the knowledge about the contribution of modifiable risk factors to the pathogenesis of CVD and ED. The impact of patients’ having modifiable risk factors on the awareness of their negative influence on the development of CVD and ED was examined.

Methods: To this multicenter cohort study, we included 417 patients with CHD who had been hospitalized in the cardiology or cardiac surgery department during the previous six weeks and underwent cardiac rehabilitation in one of the five centers. Knowledge about modifiable risk factors was collected. ED was assessed by an abridged IIEF-5 questionnaire. Comparisons between groups were conducted using the Student’s t-test, Mann–Whitney U test, and Kruskal–Wallis test. Relationships were analyzed with Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.

Results: The mean number of correctly identified risk factors for CVD was significantly higher than those for ED (3.71?±?1.87 vs. 2.00?±?1.94; p?<?.0001). Smoking was the most recognized risk factor both for CVD and ED. Dyslipidemia was least frequently identified as a risk factor for CVD. Sedentary lifestyle was the only risk factor whose incidence did not affect the level of patient knowledge.

Conclusions: Cardiac patients with ED know more about risk factors for CVD than ED. It is necessary to include information about the negative impact of modifiable risk factors on sexual health into education programs promoting healthy lifestyles in men with cardiovascular diseases.     

Meta-Analysis Software: A Comparative Review

DSTAT, Version 1.10: Available from Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 10 Industrial Ave., Mahwah, NJ 07430-2262; phone: 800-926-6579

TRUE EPISTAT, Version 4.0: Available from Epistat Services, 2011 Cap Rock Circle, Richardson, TX 75080; phone: 214-680-1376; fax: 214-680-1303.

FAST*PRO, Version 1.0: Available from Academic Press, Inc., 955 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139; phone: 800-321-5068; fax: 800-336-7377.

Meta-analysts conduct studies in which the responses are analytic summary measurements, such as risk differences, effect sizes, p values, or z statistics, obtained from a series of independent studies. The motivation for conducting a meta-analysis is to integrate research findings over studies in order to summarize the evidence about treatment efficacy or risk factors. This article presents a comparative review of three meta-analytic software packages: DSTAT, TRUE EPISTAT, and FAST*PRO.     

Effects of Friends' Characteristics on Children's Social Cognitions

Based on the notion that friends play a fundamental role in children's social cognitive development, the study investigates the relation between friends' characteristics (i.e., aggressiveness and prosociality) and children's interpretation of social cues and generation of responses in hypothetical provocation situations. The study was conducted with a sample of 322 children (155 boys, 167 girls) from first through sixth grade. The results showed that, for older children only, friends' aggressiveness predicted an increase of the frequency of aggressive solutions, whereas friends' prosociality predicted an increase of the frequency of pacifistic/prosocial solutions. The latter effect was only true for non-aggressive children, though. The results are discussed in terms of the possible mechanisms underlying the differential effects of friends' characteristics on children's social cognition.     

Dialogue on Private Events

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - In the fall of 2003, the authors corresponded on the topic of private events on the listserv of the Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group. Extracts from that...     

How to support families of children with disabilities? An exploratory study of social support services

Support services to families of children with disabilities have previously been documented. While the effectiveness and consequences of some support strategies have been defined, their comparison remains problematic primarily because of the diversified existing definitions. The present study aimed to elaborate and validate a typology to describe different types of support that can be offered to families of children with disabilities. A review of literature highlighted a variety of support services and allowed a categorical grouping. Content analysis ensured that each category was defined distinctively. Afterwards, a panel of experts and representatives of organizations from seven developed countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Sweden and Switzerland) validated the typology. A database of services offered in these countries was created. The resulting typology was divided into four categories related to the family needs: support, respite, child minding and emergency support. Each type of support can be illustrated within organizations in the database. As such, social workers can use the defined typology to identify the needs of families of children with disabilities and suggest alternatives when services are not available. Overall, the described typology should facilitate discussion between stakeholders and families by providing a common communication system.     

Does the transtheoretical model predict attrition in domestic violence treatment programs?

Attrition in intervention programs for domestically violent men is considered to be a serious and enduring problem. Researchers have found a number of sociodemographic variables that partially explain this phenomenon; however, models based on these variables have a limited predictive power. Scott (2004) argues that a firm theoretical base is needed in future investigations of the problem and suggests the use of the transtheoretical model of behavior change (TTM), which was found to predict dropout with accuracy in other areas of behavioral change. This study investigated the relationship between four TTM constructs (Stages of Change, Decisional Balance, Self-Efficacy, and Processes of Change) and premature termination with a sample of Canadian French-speaking men (N = 302) in five domestic violence treatment programs. Contrary to the initial hypotheses, the TTM constructs did not predict dropout. Discussion investigates how social desirability bias affects results being obtained by current TTM measures and whether more motivation to change at intake necessarily relates to involvement in treatment for longer periods of time.