Physical Resilience Research Articles

Multidimensional resilience - flood recovery on private land

Flood damages are increasing and thus flood resilience is gaining importance. Various definitions of resilience and the identification of different resilience dimensions have been the focus of past research, but there is a lack of understanding how these dimensions systemically interrelate. Using an exploratory research design, this study examines multidimensional resilience in the context of flood recovery on private land. The results show that physical, social and financial resilience dimensions are part of the recovery process. The dimensions can have conflicting impacts on each other, meaning that a trade-off has to take place between two dimensions. Further, dependencies have been detected, the increase of one resilience dimension depends on others. In the case study there are also projects being implemented that create synergies between different resilience dimensions. This requires coordination between the involved stakeholders. Only limited attention has been put on the interrelations between different resilience dimensions, increased coordination is therefore necessary. Applying a multidimensional resilience understanding allows the inclusion of different perspectives, which helps to reach an understanding on flood resilience of a whole system.

The psychometric properties of the Physical Resilience Instrument for Older Adults (PRIFOR): a Rasch analysis.

Prior psychometric evidence of the Physical Resilience Instrument for Older Adults (PRIFOR) showed good criterion-related validity, concurrent validity, known-group validity, predictive validity, and internal consistency. However, it is unclear whether older patients with different treatment diagnoses interpret the PRIFOR similarly. This study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the PRIFOR scores among different treatment diagnoses of older patients. We recruited 413 hospitalized older patients with a medical diagnosis and 207 with a surgical diagnosis in a 1343-bed tertiary-care medical center in Taiwan. Data analyses included Rasch models, Principal Components Analysis (PCA), and Pearson correlations. The Rasch analyses showed that all PRIFOR items were embedded within their belonged constructs, reflecting good construct validity and unidimensionality. Person and item separation reliability support the internal consistency of the studied samples and PRIFOR items. However, six PRIFOR items were found to have meaningful differential item functioning (DIF) problems among treatment diagnoses. The PRIFOR is a solid measurement and can be used for monitoring the status of older adults' physical resilience. However, because six items were found to have meaningful DIF among treatment diagnosis groups, future studies should consider designing specific items for different patient populations to assess their needs in physical resilience.

The relationship between physical activity, stress, and resilience in sexual and gender minority college students

Objective To assess the role of sexual orientation and gender identity in the relationship between physical activity (PA), stress and resilience. Participants A nationally-representative sample of students (n = 91,718) from United States postsecondary institutions. Methods Students reported aerobic and strength training (ST) behaviors, stress, resilience, gender identity and sexual orientation. Moderated regressions examined the influence of gender identity and sexual orientation on the relationship between PA and stress or resilience. Results Men and heterosexual students reported higher PA and resilience and lower stress than did women, gender minorities, and sexual minorities. Significant moderation was found for women, queer students, bisexual students, trans women and lesbians in the various models. Conclusions Gender minority and sexual minority students display poorer levels of PA and mental health than cisgender and heterosexual counterparts, but this relationship varies by identity group.

The pH-responsiveness carrier of sanxan gel beads crosslinked with CaCl2 to control drug release

Natural polysaccharide-based gel carriers have been widely studied for their potential to provide slow and controlled release. Sanxan is an edible polysaccharide produced by Sphingomonas sanxanigenens. In this study, gel beads were prepared using the extrusion dripping method with sanxan as the carrier material and HCl and CaCl2 as the fixing solution. The molecular structure, texture profile, and microstructure of the bead were analyzed. And the swelling characterization and in vitro release of beads were evaluated. The results of Fourier-transform infrared analysis indicate that Ca2+ was used to create an ionically crosslinked structure of sanxan. Texture analyzer and scanning electron microscope studies showed that the acid‑calcium gel exhibited physical resistance and resilience, as well as a distinct gel pore structure. The swelling, dissolution, and drug release of the beads decreased as the amount of CaCl2 increased. Compared to the control (without CaCl2), the release of sanxan beads when 0.5 CaCl2 was added (sanxan carboxyl/Ca2+, by the number of moles M/M) in the stomach and small intestine release decreased by 40.9 % and 49.5 %, respectively. This study indicates that the fabrication of sanxan-Ca2+ crosslinked gel had sustained release characteristics, indicating that sanxan carriers have great potential for gradual and regulated medication delivery.

Physical resilience of riverside cities against floods

Human societies today pay attention to natural disaster control more than ever, yet floods are still among destructive hazards. Researchers are constantly seeking solutions to mitigate the damages associated with floods and increase urban resilience against them. This study explored the assessment of urban physical resilience to floods, rapid recovery from flood shocks, and enhancement of urban functioning over time. This was an applied study using a descriptive-analytical method. The research population consisted of experts in urban affairs. First, the research variables and indices were extracted through the theoretical foundations, and then, validity testing was used to identify the most effective indicators. A review of the research literature showed a lack of consensus on a coherent model for flood damage assessment across different urban zones and the identification of effective indices. Therefore, HEC-GeoRAS (a program for inundation mapping) was used for flood Vulnerability zoning of the Cheshmeh Kileh River Region, Based on this, three zones Vulnerable to floods were determined. The proposed model and its algorithms are structured based on GIS statistical modeling, which accurately zones the urban fabric around the river based on Vulnerability severity and accurately identifies vulnerabilities. This model did not follow the current methods that limit river buffer zones to two categories inside and outside the river's buffer zone; rather investigated the zones based on the Vulnerability severity of urban cover classes (e.g., roads and buildings). The research findings suggest that the conditions of the existing buffer zone deviate from those recommended by the modeling results. Meanwhile, a historical analysis of floods shows that the affected areas match those identified by the software. In all studied zones, the primary cause of the Vulnerability is the absence of surface water drainage networks, non-standard constructions, and road network-related restrictions, which exacerbate the crisis conditions. The existence of large area (coarse-grained) plots can be considered a point of strength in all zones, which presents an opportunity to modify the urban fabric in the future.

Conceptualising principal resilience: Development and validation of the Principal Resilience Inventory

Leading a school during the uncertainties of challenges, changes, and crises requires school principals to respond and react effectively, cohesively and proactively using resilience. Rather than using discrete contracts or dimensions to measure principal resilience, this paper tended to develop and validate a multidimensional instrument of principal resilience. Derived from the existing literature and three empirical studies, a 20-item Principal Resilience Inventory has been established by using a rational-theoretical approach of test construction with various samples of school principals from Hong Kong and Mainland China. The Principal Resilience Inventory encompasses five dimensions that capture the most salient resilience experience of school principals including physical, emotional, psychological, cognitive, and social resilience. Given a robust validation procedure, this instrument offers solid proof of the psychometric properties. It is expected that this validated measure can serve as a more robust means for gauging comprehensive investigations of principal resilience. Indeed, principal resilience is not just a buzzword, but an important quality that supports principals to infuse themselves into their professional lives in pursuit of the collective good.

JAMES BUTTLE REVIEW: A resilience framework for physical hydrology

AbstractHydrological systems across the globe are increasingly subjected to pressures from a warming climate and anthropogenic disturbance. Responses to stress can be nonlinear and variable; therefore, it is imperative to improve understanding of resilience and tipping points of these systems. Previous applications of resilience concepts to physical hydrology have been disconnected, and an increasing range of definitions and approaches has often led to improper applications. Here, upon synthesizing relevant literature, we define physical hydrological resilience as the ability of a watershed to maintain hydrological function while exposed to a stressor or perturbation, thus remaining within the same regime. From this definition a new framework for physical hydrological resilience is forwarded which includes four key traits that must be part of a robust application of resilience for physical hydrology. Any evaluation of resilience should (1) identify and justify a baseline regime; (2) evaluate hydrological function, one or more of collection, storage and release; (3); assess physical hydrological systems for both resistance and latitude and (4) evaluate important perturbations and processes and how they interact to manifest into resistance, latitude, and tipping points. The framework is applied to the example of the Elbow River in Alberta, Canada, using baseline (1979–2015) and future (2050–2080) conditions. Two key hydrological processes, snow accumulation and streamflow, are found to have low resistance to winter duration and late spring precipitation, respectively. The collection function is resilient to a warmer, wetter climate due to a large latitude in relation to air temperatures, while the release function is not resilient, shifting from a streamflow‐ towards an evapotranspiration‐dominated regime in the future. The successful application of the concepts of resilience to this complex catchment demonstrates how the framework could be applied across a diversity of catchments. Results of resilience studies can improve environmental monitoring and evaluation programs and complement social‐ecological resilience frameworks and water management strategies.

Factors Associated With Function-Focused Care Among Hospitalized Older Adults With Dementia.

Function-focused care is an approach used to increase physical activity in hospitalized older adults with dementia. To explore factors associated with participation in function-focused care in this patient population. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study using baseline data from the first 294 participants in an ongoing study on testing function-focused care for acute care using the evidence integration triangle. Structural equation modeling was used for model testing. The mean (SD) age of the study participants was 83.2 (8.0) years, and the majority were women (64%) and White (69%). Sixteen of the 29 hypothesized paths were significant and explained 25% of the variance in participation in function-focused care. Cognition, quality of care interactions, behavioral and psychological symptoms associated with dementia, physical resilience, comorbidities, tethers, and pain were all indirectly associated with function-focused care through function and/or pain. Tethers, function, and quality of care interactions were all directly associated with function-focused care. The χ2/df was 47.7/7, the normed fit index was 0.88, and the root mean square error of approximation was 0.14. For hospitalized patients with dementia, the focus of care should be on treating pain and behavioral symptoms, reducing the use of tethers, and improving the quality of care interactions in order to optimize physical resilience, function, and participation in function-focused care.

A Study of Physical Resilience and Aging (SPRING): Conceptual framework, rationale, and study design.

Understanding the physiological basis of physical resilience to clinical stressors is crucial for the well-being of older adults. This article presents a novel framework to discover the biological underpinnings of physical resilience in older adults as part of the "Characterizing Resiliencies to Physical Stressors in Older Adults: A Dynamical Physiological Systems Approach" study, also known as The Study of Physical Resilience and Aging (SPRING). Physical resilience, defined as the capacity of a person to withstand clinical stressors and quickly recover or improve upon a baseline functional level, is examined in adults aged 55 years and older by studying the dynamics of stress response systems. The hypothesis is that well-regulated stress response systems promote physical resilience. The study employs dynamic stimulation tests to assess energy metabolism, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the autonomic nervous system, and the innate immune system. Baseline characteristics influencing resilience outcomes are identified through deep phenotyping of physical and cognitive function, as well as of biological, environmental, and psychosocial characteristics. SPRING aims to study participants undergoing knee replacement surgery (n = 100), bone and marrow transplantation (n = 100), or anticipating dialysis initiation (n = 60). Phenotypic and functional measures are collected pre-stressor and at multiple times after stressor for up to 12 months to examine resilience trajectories. By improving our understanding of physical resilience in older adults, SPRING has the potential to enhance resilient outcomes to major clinical stressors. The article provides an overview of the study's background, rationale, design, pilot phase, implementation, and implications for improving the health and well-being of older adults.

Optimal Physical Activity Is Associated with the Reduction of Depressive Symptoms via Neuroticism and Resilience

Background: Personality traits, such as neuroticism, that results in vulnerability to stress, and resilience, a measure of stress coping, are closely associated with the onset of depressive symptoms, whereas regular physical activity habits have been shown to reduce depressive symptoms. In this study, the mediating effects of neuroticism and resilience between physical activity duration and depressive symptoms were investigated by a covariance structure analysis. Methods: Between April 2017 and April 2018, 526 adult volunteers were surveyed using self-administered questionnaires. Demographic information, habitual physical activity duration (PAD), neuroticism, and resilience were investigated. The effects of these factors on depressive symptoms were analyzed by a covariance structure analysis. This study was conducted with the approval of the Medical Ethics Committee of Tokyo Medical University. Results: The dose–response curves of physical activity duration and depression scores were U-shaped: the optimal physical activity duration for the lowest depression score was 25.7 h/week. We found that the greater the difference from the optimal PAD, the higher the neuroticism and the lower the resilience, and the more severe the depressive symptoms. Covariance structure analysis demonstrated that neuroticism and resilience significantly and completely mediated the effects of the difference from the optimal PAD on depressive symptoms (coefficient of determination R2 = 0.349). Conclusion: Our study suggests that there is an optimal PAD that reduces depressive symptoms, and that a greater difference from the optimal PAD increases depressive symptoms through neuroticism and resilience.

Evaluation and Analysis of Physical Resilience of Comprehensive Health Service Centers against Earthquakes: A Case Study of Comprehensive Health Service Centers in Babol City in 2021

Evaluation and Analysis of Physical Resilience of Comprehensive Health Service Centers against Earthquakes: A Case Study of Comprehensive Health Service Centers in Babol City in 2021

Kampung Beting: Family Resilience Against Religious Radicalism

The work cuptures the rise of terrorist movements involving families. The studies of family involvement in acts of terrorism in Indonesia have not much been done. The work is based on research conducted in Kampung Beting of Pontianak City, which is stigmatized as a drug trafficking village. It explores family parenting patterns and family responses to live problems especially on community literacy about religious radicalism. The findings include, first, the pattern of instilling religious values in families is relatively vulnerable. Family parentings have shown physical resilience, social resilience and psychological resilience. The work finds the important roles of parents in instilling religious values and building communication with their children and the ability of families to solve problems they face. Education has been found very important within the community. Second, with regard to the existing conditions, people choose to “make peace” with the reality. The attitude of the people is split from pessimistic, pragmatic and optimistic. Third, public literacy about religious radicalism is quite good among ordinary people and religious and community leaders. Being radical in society’s point of view is an act of violence, while adhering to religious principles is considered not being radical. Defending the honor of religion is a matter of principle, thus encouraging them to fight. Fourth, four factors fortifying the community include the open and straightforward attitude of the community, the community involvement into the city security network, the high community mechanical solidarity and the effective role of religious leaders in fostering society.

Molecular underpinnings of physical activity and resilience: A brief overview of the state-of-science and research design needs.

Molecular underpinnings of physical activity and resilience: A brief overview of the state-of-science and research design needs.

Multimodal prehabilitation service for patients with colorectal cancer: the challenges of implementation

Prehabilitation has been shown to improve outcomes for patients undergoing major surgery; benefits include reductions in length of hospital stay and postoperative complications. Multimodal prehabilitation programmes lead to improved patient...

Resilience Evaluation of Ports along the Maritime Silk Road from the Perspective of Investment and Construction

Since the establishment of the “Belt and Road” initiative, the investment and construction of ports along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road have received extensive attention from the international community. The evaluation of ports is of great significance to investors’ investments and construction of ports around the world, so it is very necessary to establish a reasonable port evaluation system. At present, there are few studies on defining and evaluating port resilience, and the existing port evaluation index system has defects. Therefore, according to the similarity between cities and ports, this paper introduces the concept of “three-dimensional space” and the “system of systems” theory of cities and divides the resilience of ports along the Maritime Silk Road into three-dimensional spaces of “physical-society-information.” The CRITIC-entropy method and the TOPSIS method constructed a port resilience evaluation model along the Maritime Silk Road and quantitatively evaluated and analyzed the comprehensive resilience and subspatial resilience of 28 ports along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The results show that the route network port degree, the annual throughput of the port container, and the number of fixed broadband subscribers per 100 people are the key indicators that affect the port’s physical space resilience, social space resilience, and information space resilience. Also, coordinated physical, social, and information spatial resilience development plays a catalytic role in improving overall resilience. Therefore, the investment of ports along the Maritime Silk Road should adopt corresponding and more targeted investment plans according to the actual resilience of each port. The research provides new ideas and directions for investors to invest in port construction and has certain practical guiding significance for the increase of investors’ income and the sound development of the national economy.

Appraising flood resilience technologies role in developing cities: how prepared is the professional stakeholder?

Past research revealed that advanced technologies via flood resilience technologies (FReT) play an essential role in flood-resilience cities. How equipped is Nigeria’s flood practitioners in embracing FReT to reduce flood damage is yet to receive in-depth studies. Thus, this study examines the role of FReT, investigates the perceived issues facing FReT application, and proffers measures to mitigate the issues to develop better cities that can cope with flooding. To evaluate the flood resilience stakeholders, the study conducted a virtual interview in six geo-political zones of Nigeria. The interviewees were asked the main questions to address the three research questions. Thirty selected stakeholders participated. The study adopted a thematic approach to analyse collected data. Besides categorised barriers (18 issues grouped into six main barriers - technical, socio-economic, institutional, financial, infrastructure, and other barriers) and measures (14 measures grouped into two measures – structural and non-structural measures), findings agree that physical flood resilience infrastructure and funding are critical for inclusive digital transformation in flood resilience technologies and government should lead in this direction. Thus, this study thus contributes to flooding risk management (FRM) in Nigeria by understanding the perceived issues facing professional flood-resilience stakeholders and promoting more resilient places in developing cities.

The association of perceived mattering and emotions with physical educator teacher resilience

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among teachers’ perceived mattering, their identified emotional experiences while teaching, and their self-reported teacher resilience. Perceptions of teacher mattering and teacher emotions were examined as characteristics that may directly and indirectly be associated with teacher resilience. Physical educators ( N = 379; M age = 42.44; 54% male; 46% female) participated in a cross-sectional survey. The participants had been teaching physical education (PE) for an average of 16 years, with approximately 68% holding an advanced degree. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to explore hypothesized relationships among the following variables: perceived mattering (i.e. physical education mattering, teacher mattering), teacher emotions (i.e. enjoyment, anger, anxiety), and teacher resilience. Results showed that perceptions of physical education mattering were related to perceived teacher mattering. Subsequently, teacher mattering was associated with teacher enjoyment and anxiety, which were then linked positively and negatively to resilience, respectively. No direct relationship was identified between mattering and resilience, but indirect relations via emotions were found. Thus, emotions appeared to mediate the perceived mattering-resilience relationship. Both environmental and personal variables should be considered when studying teachers’ psychosocial skills in navigating workplace contexts. Enjoyment may buffer marginality beliefs and enhance resilience in day-to-day teaching. The characteristics of having or developing resilience appear to be founded somewhat in emotional experiences which, in turn, have shown strong links with actions, beliefs, and behaviors among teachers.

Hybrid optimized RF model of seismic resilience of buildings in mountainous region based on hyperparameter tuning and SMOTE

This study aims to develop hybrid-optimized random forest (RF) model of seismic physical resilience evaluation of buildings in mountainous region. Based on the earthquake-damaged building inventory by field survey in Shuanghe Town, the epicenter of Changning Ms 6.0 earthquake on June 17, 2019, 19 factors including seismic, geological, topography, environmental and building attributes were selected as the conditioning factors of seismic physical resilience evaluation of buildings to establish a database. The dataset was randomly divided into training and test dataset by 6:4. Based on training dataset, after hyperparameters tuning and unbalanced data processing, RF was used to develop evaluation models for buildings seismic performance. Finally, the confusion matrix, accuracy, precision and recall of the test dataset-based prediction evaluated the model's performance. The results shown that: The accuracy of model prediction were 0.88 and 0.83 for the training and test dataset, respectively. Hyperparameters tuning decreased the model's overfitting. Unbalanced data oversampling increased the accuracy, precision and recall obviously. The proposed hybrid optimized-RF model shows considerable stability and excellent performance in the seismic physical resilience evaluation of buildings in the study case. This could provide a novel reference method framework for improving the evaluation efficiency of earthquake-damaged buildings in mountainous regions in the future.

Biofunctionalization of hydrogel-based scaffolds for vascular tissue regeneration

Congenital and acquired tissular losses due to disease or trauma are a major world health problem. Regenerative therapy aims to fix damaged tissues by directing the natural capacity of a host organism to use biofunctionalized artificial tissue scaffolds. These three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds can be customized with cells and/or bioactive molecules to induce cellular homing and angiogenesis, essential to ensure successful tissue regeneration. Hydrogels (HGs) scaffolds are networks of hydrophilic homopolymers, copolymers, and/or macromers with chemical and biological activities that enhance their cell colonization. The use of HGs in regenerative medicine has shown to be advantageous since HGs can be prepared under clinical-grade conditions and tailored to the specific needs of the replaced tissue. They can be made to emulate native extracellular matrices (ECMs) including physical, mechanical, and chemical cues and resilience properties. These customized HGs can reproduce the natural hygroscopic capacity of the original tissue which improves cellular anchoring, nutrition, and waste disposal. They can enable host molecular and cellular modification conducive to a natural cellular microenvironment, modifying the properties of the scaffold, and improving chemotaxis, cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, differentiation, and angiogenesis; HGs can be created and biofunctionalized with linked growth factors and synthetic peptides tailored to positively influence scaffold colonization and functional biocompatibility. This review aims to collect the most relevant information regarding biofunctionalization of HGs used for vascular tissue regeneration, their biological effects, and their clinical implications. While most biofunctionalized HGs are still under investigation, some of them have been studied in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo with promising results. In this regard, in vivo studies have shown that biofunctionalized scaffolds with peptides such as chitosan hydrogel with LL-37 promotes angiogenesis and healing of pressure ulcers. Also, the GHK tripeptide is widely used in trials focused on guided tissue remodeling.

A smartphone-based serious game for depressive symptoms: Protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial

BackgroundDepression is the most prevalent mental disorder, with detrimental effects on the patient's well-being, high disability, and a huge associated societal and economic cost. There are evidence-based treatments, but it is difficult to reach all people in need. Internet-based interventions, and more recently smartphone-based interventions, were explored to overcome barriers to access. Evidence shows them to be effective alternatives to traditional treatments. This paper presents the protocol of a pilot study whose primary aim is to investigate the efficacy of a smartphone-based serious game intervention for patients with mild to moderate depressive symptoms. MethodsThis randomized controlled pilot trial protocol foresees two arms design: 1/ smartphone- based serious game intervention (based on Cognitive Behavior Therapy with particular emphasis on Behavioral Activation and Physical Activity), 2/ waiting list control group. The study is expected to recruit 40 participants (18+), which will be randomly assigned to one of the experimental conditions. The duration of the intervention is two months. The primary outcome measure will be depressive symptomatology. Secondary outcomes will include other variables such as physical activity, resilience, anxiety, depression impairment, and positive and negative affect. Treatment expectation, satisfaction, usability, and game playability will also be measured. The data will be analyzed based on the intention-to-treat and per protocol analyses. DiscussionThe study aims to establish initial evidence for the efficacy of a smartphone-based serious game intervention, to serve as input for a larger-scale randomized control trial. The intervention exploits advanced smartphone capabilities, such as the use of a serious game as delivery mode, with the potential benefit of engagement and treatment adherence, and motion sensors to monitor and stimulate physical activity. As a secondary objective, the study aims to gather initial evidence on the user's expectations, satisfaction, usability and playability of the serious game as a treatment.