Efficient Rescue Research Articles

Identification of Damaged Building Regions From High- Resolution Images Using Superpixel-Based Gradient and Autocorrelation Analysis

An efficient and accurate identification of damaged buildings after earthquakes is critical for ensuring a quick response and efficient rescue operations. Considering the time pressure during disaster emergency response and the convenience of practical application, a new approach for identifying areas with damaged buildings is proposed in this study. The approach is validated on high–resolution images from areas impacted by the Haiti earthquake. The approach consists of the following steps. (i), the simple linear iterative clustering method is improved to segment the images into high-quality superpixels by combining both color and texture information; (ii) the characteristics of the damage in the area within the cluster and the difference between pre- and post-earthquake images are obtained at superpixel level using the Sobel gradient; and (iii) local indicators from the spatial association analysis are used to extract the result of the gradient clustering using the synthetic- damage index calculated by an improved relief algorithm; and (iv) vegetation and shadows are masked out to identify the damaged buildings. This framework achieved an overall accuracy of ∼90% in terms of visual interpretation, with precision and recall of ∼85% and ∼90%, respectively. Inaccuracies mainly occur around the boundaries of the damaged building regions. It is evaluated that the proposed framework is more convenient compared to other supervised and unsupervised methods. The successful application in different scenes demonstrates that the proposed framework has the ability to rapidly and accurately identify regions with damaged buildings, which is beneficial for post-disaster emergency assessment.

Dux-Mediated Corrections of Aberrant H3K9ac during 2-Cell Genome Activation Optimize Efficiency of Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer.

Differentiated somatic cells can be reprogrammed to totipotent embryos through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) with low efficiency. The histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) has been found to improve SCNT efficiency, but the underlying mechanism remains undetermined. Here, we examined genome-wide H3K9ac during SCNT embryo development and found that aberrant H3K9ac regions resulted in reduced 2-cell genome activation. TSA treatment largely corrects aberrant acetylation in SCNT embryos with an efficiency that is dictated by the native epigenetic environment. We further identified that the overexpression of Dux greatly improves SCNT efficiency by correcting the aberrant H3K9ac signal at its target sites, ensuring appropriate 2-cell genome activation. Intriguingly, the improvement in development mediated by TSA and Kdm4b is impeded by Dux knockout in SCNT embryos. Together, our study reveals that reprogramming of H3K9ac is important for optimal SCNT efficiency and identifies Dux as a crucial transcription factor in this process.

Indicators for Post-Disaster Search and Rescue Efficiency Developed Using Progressive Death Tolls

Search and rescue (SAR) is often the focus during the post-disaster response phase. It is operated under the principle of the “golden 72 h”; however, the actual efficiency of each operation lacks a standard for review. On the basis of continuously updated death toll data during the SAR cases of 51 earthquakes and 10 rainfall-induced disasters, this study developed indicators corresponding to various death tolls for reviewing the time costs and the progress of different stages of SAR. Through analysis of the established indicators, the results showed that said indicators are capable of evaluating the efficiency of SAR. These indicators also revealed that earthquake cases, with or without serious secondary disasters (e.g., tsunamis), significantly affected SAR efficiency. The regression results showed that the SAR efficiency of rainfall-induced disasters is much lower than that of earthquake disasters. Additionally, it was shown that the first casualty reports are typically late and that SAR works last a long time, highlighting the difficulty and possible delay of SAR works during rainfall-induced disasters. Previous studies and analyses might have been able to make subjective descriptions of each SAR operation; however, this study quantitatively indicates the difference between actual and expected efficiency under specific death tolls.

The process of embryo abortion of stenospermocarpic grape and it develops into plantlet in vitro using embryo rescue

Using stenospermocarpic grapes as female parents could improve the seedless ratio of offspring via embryo rescue techniques, so they are widely used for breeding seedless grapes. Here, we report the variation in phenotype, endogenous hormones, and internal cellular structure of ovules during embryo abortion in ‘Thompson Seedless’. Moreover, we used the stenospermocarpic grapes as female parents to breed new seedless grapes. Our result indicated that the seed coat of abnormal ovules turned brown from 38 to 42 days after flowering (DAF). In hormones level, two ratios of endogenous hormones’ content [gibberellic acid (GA3) + indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)]/abscisic acid (ABA) and zeatin riboside (ZR) /abscisic acid (ABA) had decreased by 36 DAF. In paraffin sections of embryo sac, indicated that there were few or no embryos in ovules were observed from 37 to 42 DAF. Importantly, the globular embryos in ‘Thompson Seedless’ were significantly smaller than those in ‘Ruby Seedless’ at 40 DAF, indicating the former had a lower embryo rescue efficiency as a female parent; accordingly, the most suitable time for embryo cultured in vitro was 39 DAF for ‘Thompson Seedless’. Result from embryo rescue, demonstrated that 5 mg/L exogenous brassinolide (BR) promoted embryo recovery, embryo germination, and polyembryony formation of ‘Flame Seedless’. Concurrently, WPM medium containing 1 µM of 6-BA helped embryos germinate into normal plantlets and reduced the abnormal plantlet development percentage. A total of 3573 hybrid ovules and 402 new progeny plants were obtained using the stenospermocarpic grapes as female parents crossed with disease-resistant Chinese wild grapes, among which 212 progeny with seedless trait and 23 with disease-resistant were detected by molecular markers, respectively. By studying phenotype, hormone, and anatomy, the optimal time for embryo rescue in Vitis vinifera cv. ‘Thompson Seedless’ was found. In all, 402 new seedless and disease-resistant hybrids were obtained via embryo rescue when using stenospermocarpic grapevine cultivars as female parents.

Numerical simulation of fire smoke control methods in subway stations and collaborative control system for emergency rescue

As subway fires can easily cause numerous casualties, this paper proposes the idea of active disaster relief, which involves ventilation, exhaust, smoke blocking and exhaust, and other facilities coordinating centralised control to assist passenger evacuation and firefighting. The ventilation and smoke exhaust method used in multilayer crossing complex subways is analysed, and a typical interchange transfer station is selected to build a numerical model. The combined control of fire smoke is analysed based on six ventilation modes, and fire dynamics simulator software is used to perform several numerical simulations. According to the simulation results, ventilation and smoke control is used in the cases of fire on the second and third floor in the underground, the airflow speed of the stairway reached 2 m/s, which can completely restrain the smoke on the fire floor. According to the characteristics of different fire sources and smoke control scenarios, a remote monitoring model of multielement information fusion, such as ventilation path, fan characteristics, smoke exhaust channel, and smoke blocking facilities, is established, and a multielement disaster information-fusion-based collaborative centralised emergency rescue platform for subway fire disaster relief is developed. Real-time disaster analysis is performed, and intelligent control of airflow and smoke exhaust in the complex form of subway-controlled smoke turbulence field is developed to facilitate safe escape and efficient firefighting and rescue of people during emergencies.

In vitro efficiency of embryo rescue of intra- and interspecific hybrid crosses of sweet cherry and Chinese cherry cultivars

Hybrid cherry seedlings are very hard to obtain as the embryos easily abort during development and loose germination ability, especially some interspecific hybrids. An in vitro technique of embryo rescue has been developed for intra- and interspecific hybrids with the embryos by crossing 4 sweet cherry genotypes as maternal, and these have been planted in South China where the climate is not ideal for planting sweet cherry due to its hot and humid climate in summer and warm climate in winter. The success of embryo rescue approach is affected by several factors, in which the genotypes are one of the main factors for embryo germination and significant differences were found with the same genotypes that were used differently either as maternal or paternal in cross breeding. ‘Chaoyang-1’ (‘CY-1’) as mother performed the best, and ‘Zijing’ (‘ZJ-1’) and ‘CY-1’ were the best parents as fathers in cross breeding. The embryo development stage, breaking dormancy method and in vitro culture condition significantly affected the efficiency of seedlings production. When the development of their embryos reached to 0.5 to 0.7, then the young fruit was harvested and stored at 4 °C for 35 days were found to be the best initiating materials for culturing, and the embryo germination rates after removal of the embryo coat reached up to 69.84 ± 2.75 %, and their shoots were robustly and fastly grown. The medium when combined with different concentrations of plant growth regulators (PGRs) were tested, the optimal medium for immature embryo culturing was found to be 1/2 MS supplemented with 2 mg L−1 BA and 1.8 mg L−1 IAA, the multiplication of shoots culture media was MS +0.3 mg L−1 BA +0.4 mg L−1 IAA or MS +0.7 mg L−1 BA +0.1 mg L−1 IAA, the 1/2 MS medium supplemented with 0.3 mg L−1 IBA and 1.1 mg L−1 IAA showed the best for the rooting of shoots. Taken together, this system by integrating the genotypes, embryo development and in vitro culture condition with pre-treatments together significantly improved the rates of production of hybrid cherry seedlings. This is the first study to systematically explore all these factors on cherry embryo rescue in order to produce hybrid seedlings to breed new cultivars for the subtropical monsoon climatic areas like South China and provide new insights to keep the micropropagation of hybrid shoots with different PGRs.

Study on fire smoke flow characteristics in the ventilation network and linkage control system in coal mines

SummaryIn coal mining, smoke flow from tunnel fires can easily cause a large number of deaths in the ventilation network. But the optimal smoke flow path control methods and automatic control system were lacked. In order to improve the efficiency of fire emergency rescue, the control mechanism and regional linkage control system for fire induced smoke flow in ventilation network was studied. Based on a ventilation system in coal mines, different fire scenarios for smoke flow were analysed using ventilation simulation software (VSS). Smoke flow control methods were simulated under different ventilation modes, a contrastive analysis was conducted for the respective effects and the optimal smoke flow path control methods were confirmed in different fire scenarios. A new type of ventilation facility, regional monitoring sub‐stations and remote linkage control platforms were developed for smoke control. A reliability evaluation model for the control system was established by Bayesian network. The failure of the linkage control is 98.9%, the monitoring sub‐station is 64.4%, the sub‐station communication is 43.9%; thus, a double insurance of the control process must be realised. Since its application, the proposed regional linkage control system has been repeatedly tested through fire drills, and good results have been obtained.

A Gas-Powered, Patient-Responsive Automatic Resuscitator for Use in Acute Respiratory Failure: A Bench and Experimental Study.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a need for innovative, inexpensive, and simple ventilator devices for mass use has emerged. The Oxylator (CPR Medical Devices, Markham, Ontario, Canada) is an FDA-approved, fist-size, portable ventilation device developed for out-of-hospital emergency ventilation. It has not been tested in conditions of severe lung injury or with added PEEP. We aimed to assess the performance and reliability of the device in simulated and experimental conditions of severe lung injury, and to derive monitoring methods to allow the delivery of safe, individualized ventilation during situations of surge. We bench-tested the functioning of the device with an added PEEP valve extensively, mimicking adult patients with various respiratory mechanics during controlled ventilation, spontaneous breathing, and prolonged unstable conditions where mechanics or breathing effort was changed at every breath. The device was further tested on a porcine model (4 animals) after inducing lung injury, and these results were compared with conventional ventilation modes. The device was stable and predictable, delivering a constant flow (30 L/min) and cycling automatically at the inspiratory pressure set (minimum of 20 cm H2O) above auto-PEEP. Changes in respiratory mechanics manifested as changes in respiratory timing, allowing prediction of tidal volumes from breathing frequency. Simulating lung injury resulted in relatively low tidal volumes (330 mL with compliance of 20 mL/cm H2O). In the porcine model, arterial oxygenation, CO2, and pH were comparable to conventional modes of ventilation. The Oxylator is a simple device that delivered stable ventilation with tidal volumes within a clinically acceptable range in bench and porcine lung models with low compliance. External monitoring of respiratory timing is advisable, allowing tidal volume estimation and recognition of changes in respiratory mechanics. The device can be an efficient, low-cost, and practical rescue solution for providing short-term ventilatory support as a temporary bridge, but it requires a caregiver at the bedside.

Improved social force model for rescue action during evacuation

There often exist behaviors of moving against the main direction of evacuation in order to rescue or find the important missing people in real situations. However, the traditional social force model (SFM) often lacks consideration of such “counter flow”. Motivated by this, we improve the traditional SFM to study the counter flow and its influence on evacuation out of multi-exit rooms. We call the person to be rescued “superior” and the rescuers “subordinate”. Two different rescue situations are proposed: superior waiting in place (case 1) and superior moving towards the exit (case 2). The results show that the counter flow will always reduce the evacuation efficiency to a certain extent, and the evacuation efficiency of case 1 is lower than that of case 2. At the same time, for these two cases, increasing the number of rescuers increases the evacuation time. We also find that the existence of counter flow can enlarge the effect of “faster-is-slower”, while increasing the number of exports can significantly improve the rescue efficiency. We hope that this result can help to improve the efficiency of emergency evacuation with rescue.

Drone transports medical supplies to Puerto Rico based on shortest path

Puerto Rico suffered the worst hurricane which caused devastating damage in 2017. In order to deliver medical supplies in time and patrol the lines, NGOs try to improve the response capabilities of its by designing a portable disaster response system called DroneGo.DroneGo needs to find the optimal delivery path and the optimal equipment utilization rate for delivery according to the disaster relief conditions and schedule. In this paper, the integration of integer programming algorithm and Dijkstra algorithm is used to construct the shortest distribution path model for medical supplies transported by rescue drones in disaster areas. Using integer programming method, 7 kinds of drones and 3 kinds of medical packages are distributed, and then the DIjkstra algorithm is used to obtain the optimal distribution plan: San Juan Port is equipped with medical kits and three C-type drones, Arecibo Port allocates B-type drone patrol lines and medical kits for rescue, and Guayama Port only allocates drones for patrol lines. Using this distribution scheme greatly improves the efficiency of rescue, and distributes rescue materials reasonably and effectively, achieving the goals of optimal delivery path and optimal equipment utilization.

Societal Protection and Population Vulnerability: Key Factors in Explaining Community-Level Variation in Fatal Fires Involving Older Adults in Sweden

Based on evidence from previous studies, fire mortality rates among older adults on a local level seem to be related two dimensions; population vulnerability and societal protection. In this paper, we investigate the magnitude of the impacts of variation along these two dimensions on the rate of fatal fires involving at least one older adult (65 + years) in Swedish municipalities. Our empirical strategy involves using principal components analysis to estimate the two dimensions based on data on the health of the older population, factors related to municipal rescue service efficiency, as well as other factors that may indirectly effect efficiency (such as urbanization rates and economic conditions). We then use Poisson regression models to study how mortality rates vary with changes along each dimension while keeping the other constant. The results support previous evidence suggesting that an efficient rescue service is important for low fire mortality rates. However, we also find evidence that variations in the vulnerability of the older population may play an equally important role. As such, the results indicate while improved societal protection is important in order to reduce fire-related mortality rates, merely focusing on these aspects will not eliminate the risk-increasing aspect of population vulnerability. In turn, this implies a need for a multifaceted approach to local fire mortality prevention that targets both rescue service efficiency and population vulnerability.

Działania Rzecznika Praw Obywatelskich w zakresie problematyki osób zaginionych

Based on the motions submitted for the attention of the Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as on the inspected cases, this article discusses the system of searching for missing persons. The Police implemented and continuously improve the system of searching for missing persons. However, the procedures are often imperfect. Some-times it results in a situation that search procedures are too late, especially in cases in which time is a crucial factor. Hence the question arises as to whether the legal and logistic aspects of searching for missing persons in Poland is well organized. Another question is whether the rules governing search operations are clear and understandable for all the services. To ensure efficient rescue operations undertaken by the services responsible for the maintenance of order and safety in the search for missing persons, the Commissioner for Human Rights asked the Minister of the Interior to take the need for an introduction of some legislative changes into consideration.

Tricistronic Plasmid Expressing the T7 RNA Polymerase and Measles Virus N and P Proteins for Rescue of Measles Virus AIK-C Strain

: Up to now, several attenuated measles virus vaccine strains derived from the Edmonston B vaccine consisting of Schwarz/Moraten, Zagreb, and AIK-C have been introduced for the rescue of their relative viruses through reverse genetics. In most studies, the measles virus rescue was done by supplying a cell line that expresses T7 RNA polymerase and measles virus N and P proteins as accessory proteins. The present study aimed to evaluate the rescue efficiency of the recombinant measles virus AIK-C vaccine strain by using a tricistronic expression plasmid. In this study, the rescue of the recombinant measles virus AIK-C vaccine strain was performed by co-transfection of three plasmids, including the cloned antigenomic cDNA of measles virus, a tricistronic expression plasmid that contained T7 RNA polymerase and measles virus N and P genes, and measles virus L polymerase expression plasmid. To increase the rescue efficiency, the transfected HEK-293 cells were co-cultured with Vero cells. As a result, the use of tricistronic expression plasmid that concomitantly encoded three necessary genes for the rescue of the measles virus led to the viral cytopathic effect with high efficacy five days post-transfection. Finally, the co-culture of transfected HEK-293 cells with Vero cells showed a relatively fast induction of viral cytopathic effect.

Management practice for critical COVID-19 patients rescue in designated hospitals

December 2019 witnessed the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan and spread of the epidemic across the country. As a provincial designated hospital for critical patients, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University responded rapidly since then by advocating the four-concentration principles, namely concentrating patients, experts, resources and treatment . In its rescue of critical patients, the hospital formulated comprehensive emergency plans, optimized hospital-wide resources, effectively arranged rescue spacing, established medical echelons, and implemented multi-disciplinary strategy. These efforts ensured efficient rescue and treatment, achieving a cure rate up to 98.7% of such patients, with no deaths. Key words: COVID-19; Centralized rescue; Multidisciplinary cooperation mechanism; Medical management

The Organization of Active Site Side Chains of Glycerol-3-phosphate Dehydrogenase Promotes Efficient Enzyme Catalysis and Rescue of Variant Enzymes.

A comparison of the values of kcat/Km for reduction of dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) by NADH catalyzed by wild type and K120A/R269A variant glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from human liver (hlGPDH) shows that the transition state for enzyme-catalyzed hydride transfer is stabilized by 12.0 kcal/mol by interactions with the cationic K120 and R269 side chains. The transition state for the K120A/R269A variant-catalyzed reduction of DHAP is stabilized by 1.0 and 3.8 kcal/mol for reactions in the presence of 1.0 M EtNH3+ and guanidinium cation (Gua+), respectively, and by 7.5 kcal/mol for reactions in the presence of a mixture of each cation at 1.0 M, so that the transition state stabilization by the ternary E·EtNH3+·Gua+ complex is 2.8 kcal/mol greater than the sum of stabilization by the respective binary complexes. This shows that there is cooperativity between the paired activators in transition state stabilization. The effective molarities (EMs) of ∼50 M determined for the K120A and R269A side chains are ≪106 M, the EM for entropically controlled reactions. The unusually efficient rescue of the activity of hlGPDH-catalyzed reactions by the HPi/Gua+ pair and by the Gua+/EtNH3+ activator pair is due to stabilizing interactions between the protein and the activator pieces that organize the K120 and R269 side chains at the active site. This “preorganization” of side chains promotes effective catalysis by hlGPDH and many other enzymes. The role of the highly conserved network of side chains, which include Q295, R269, N270, N205, T264, K204, D260, and K120, in catalysis is discussed.

Optimization Research of Emergency Resource on Rail Transit Allocation Location Considering Multiple Transport Modes

Rapid and effective emergency rescue is the key to reduce the loss of accidents after the occurrence of subway emergencies. Existing studies have not considered the difference between different demand stations and the use of multiple transportation modes for rescue. Reasonable allocation of subway emergency resources and transportation modes for rescue can improve rescue efficiency. In this paper, an emergency resource allocation model is established to minimize the generalized cost. The proposed model has two characteristics: one characteristic is to take passenger flow demand and historical accident data into consideration and quantify the passenger flow and frequency of station accidents to reflect the importance of different demand stations. Another characteristic is that the single rescue transportation mode is expanded into multiple transportation modes. Taking network of Beijing subway as an example, the model is applied and solved by CPLEX. When the actual data from 2013-2015 are substituted into the model, the solution result is compared with that of previous research model. The rescue time of this model considering multiple transport modes is lower than that of model considering single transport mode by 25.86%, and the rescue efficiency is improved. It concludes that the allocation model considering multiple transport mode can effectively reduce the time for rail transit when recovering from accidents.

Construction of Emergency Command and Decision System for Military Civilian Medical Rescue Based on Gis

According to the actual needs of the emergency rescue after the explosion accident in the central city, this paper puts forward the design ideas and functional objectives of the military civilian joint emergency rescue command and decision system, and puts forward the structure, operation mechanism and functional modules of the system, which includes eight modules: comprehensive query, space positioning, path analysis, plan management, decision support, command scheduling, decision evaluation, training and performance practice. The advantages of the system include: flexible data management function, powerful spatial analysis and planning function, dynamic command and decision-making and scheduling function, and comprehensive training and drilling function. Under the condition of information, the system can provide a basis for decision makers to make emergency rescue decisions after the explosion accident in the central city, and can greatly improve the efficiency of emergency rescue.

Some Factors Affecting the Efficiency of Hybrid Embryo Rescue in the ‘Shiranuhi’ Mandarin

Some Factors Affecting the Efficiency of Hybrid Embryo Rescue in the ‘Shiranuhi’ Mandarin

Decision making on post-disaster rescue routing problems from the rescue efficiency perspective

The efficiency of emergency responses is at the heart of post-disaster rescue routing problems. Previous rescue models address the efficiency issue primarily by minimizing the total travel time, while not taking into account other significant factors in the rescue process, such as the number of affected people and the degree of building damage. To overcome these shortcomings, this paper aims to solve the rescue routing problem by maximizing the arc-based rescue efficiency, which is redefined as the ratio between the primary rescue input and output factors to represent the efficiency of the rescue operations. Therefore, a systematic methodology is proposed to decompose the original rescue routing problem into two decision making phases. First, an extended data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is constructed to evaluate the rescue efficiency along each arc. Specifically, a group decision constraint cone, which refers to the combined output of a group decision from experts, is constructed to distinguish the features and rescue focus of each disaster. Second, an efficiency-based routing model is developed to determine a feasible rescue tour for the entire transportation network, thus achieving the goal of maximizing the total rescue efficiency. An empirical example of a real earthquake disaster in Wenchuan, China, is provided to demonstrate the novelty and practical capabilities of the proposed approach in post-disaster emergency rescue operations. Finally, a comparison analysis is conducted with the traditional time-oriented routing method, and the results show that the method proposed in this study can improve the rescue performance by 21.2%.

Critical Role of Transcript Cleavage in Arabidopsis RNA Polymerase II Transcriptional Elongation.

Transcript elongation factors associate with elongating RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) to control the efficiency of mRNA synthesis and consequently modulate plant growth and development. Encountering obstacles during transcription such as nucleosomes or particular DNA sequences may cause backtracking and transcriptional arrest of RNAPII. The elongation factor TFIIS stimulates the intrinsic transcript cleavage activity of the polymerase, which is required for efficient rescue of backtracked/arrested RNAPII. A TFIIS mutant variant (TFIISmut) lacks the stimulatory activity to promote RNA cleavage, but instead efficiently inhibits unstimulated transcript cleavage by RNAPII. We could not recover viable Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) tfIIs plants constitutively expressing TFIISmut. Induced, transient expression of TFIISmut in tfIIs plants provoked severe growth defects, transcriptomic changes and massive, transcription-related redistribution of elongating RNAPII within transcribed regions toward the transcriptional start site. The predominant site of RNAPII accumulation overlapped with the +1 nucleosome, suggesting that upon inhibition of RNA cleavage activity, RNAPII arrest prevalently occurs at this position. In the presence of TFIISmut, the amount of RNAPII was reduced, which could be reverted by inhibiting the proteasome, indicating proteasomal degradation of arrested RNAPII. Our findings suggest that polymerase backtracking/arrest frequently occurs in plant cells, and RNAPII-reactivation is essential for correct transcriptional output and proper growth/development.