Categorization of tweets for damages: infrastructure and human damage assessment using fine-tuned BERT model.

Identification of infrastructure and human damage assessment tweets is beneficial to disaster management organizations as well as victims during a disaster. Most of the prior works focused on the detection of informative/situational tweets, and infrastructure damage, only one focused on human damage. This study presents a novel approach for detecting damage assessment tweets involving infrastructure and human damages. We investigated the potential of the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformer (BERT) model to learn universal contextualized representations targeting to demonstrate its effectiveness for binary and multi-class classification of disaster damage assessment tweets. The objective is to exploit a pre-trained BERT as a transfer learning mechanism after fine-tuning important hyper-parameters on the CrisisMMD dataset containing seven disasters. The effectiveness of fine-tuned BERT is compared with five benchmarks and nine comparable models by conducting exhaustive experiments. The findings show that the fine-tuned BERT outperformed all benchmarks and comparable models and achieved state-of-the-art performance by demonstrating up to 95.12% macro-f1-score, and 88% macro-f1-score for binary and multi-class classification. Specifically, the improvement in the classification of human damage is promising.

A novel approach to assessing natural resource injury with Bayesian networks.

Quantifying the effects of environmental stressors on natural resources is problematic because of complex interactions among environmental factors that influence endpoints of interest. This complexity, coupled with data limitations, propagates uncertainty that can make it difficult to causally associate specific environmental stressors with injury endpoints. The Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) regulations under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and Oil Pollution Act aim to restore natural resources injured by oil spills and hazardous substances released into the environment; exploration of alternative statistical methods to evaluate effects could help address NRDAR legal claims. Bayesian networks (BNs) are statistical tools that can be used to estimate the influence and interrelatedness of abiotic and biotic environmental variables on environmental endpoints of interest. We investigated the application of a BN for injury assessment using a hypothetical case study by simulating data of acid mine drainage (AMD) affecting a fictional stream-dwelling bird species. We compared the BN-generated probability estimates for injury with a more traditional approach using toxicity thresholds for water and sediment chemistry. Bayesian networks offered several distinct advantages over traditional approaches, including formalizing the use of expert knowledge, probabilistic estimates of injury using intermediate direct and indirect effects, and the incorporation of a more nuanced and ecologically relevant representation of effects. Given the potential that BNs have for natural resource injury assessment, more research and field-based application are needed to determine their efficacy in NRDAR. We expect the resulting methods will be of interest to many US federal, state, and tribal programs devoted to the evaluation, mitigation, remediation, and/or restoration of natural resources injured by releases or spills of contaminants. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:562-573. Published 2023. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Considering pollinators' ecosystem services in the remediation and restoration of contaminated lands: Overview of research and its gaps.

The concept of ecosystem services provides a useful framework for understanding how people are affected by changes to the natural environment, such as when a contaminant is introduced (e.g., oil spills, hazardous substance releases) or, conversely, when contaminated lands are remediated and restored. Pollination is one example of an important ecosystem service; pollinators play a critical role in any functioning terrestrial ecosystem. Other studies have suggested that consideration of pollinators' ecosystem services could lead to better remediation and restoration outcomes. However, the associated relationships can be complex, and evaluation requires synthesis from numerous disciplines. In this article, we discuss the possibilities for considering pollinators and their ecosystem services when planning remediation and restoration of contaminated lands. To inform the discussion, we introduce a general conceptual model of how pollinators and the ecosystem services associated with them could be affected by contamination in the environment. We review the literature on the conceptual model components, including contaminant effects on pollinators and the direct and indirect ecosystem services provided by pollinators, and identify information gaps. Though increased public interest in pollinators likely reflects increasing recognition of their role in providing many important ecosystem services, our review indicates that many gaps in understanding-about relevant natural and social systems-currently impede the rigorous quantification and evaluation of pollinators' ecosystem services required for many applications, such as in the context of natural resource damage assessment. Notable gaps include information on non-honeybee pollinators and on ecosystem services beyond those benefitting the agricultural sector. We then discuss potential research priorities and implications for practitioners. Focused research attention on the areas highlighted in this review holds promise for increasing the possibilities for considering pollinators' ecosystem services in the remediation and restoration of contaminated lands. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:322-336. © 2023 SETAC.

Dietary Exposure to Environmentally Relevant Levels of Chemical Contaminants Reduces Growth and Survival in Juvenile Chinook Salmon.

Chemical pollution can degrade aquatic ecosystems. Chinook salmon in contaminated habitats are vulnerable to health impacts from toxic exposures. Few studies have been conducted on adverse health outcomes associated with current levels and mixtures of contaminants. Fewer still address effects specific to the juvenile life-stage of salmonids. The present study evaluated contaminant-related effects from dietary exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations and mixture profiles in juvenile Chinook salmon from industrialized waterways in the U.S. Pacific Northwest using two end points: growth assessment and disease susceptibility. The dose and chemical proportions were reconstituted based on environmental sampling and analysis using the stomach contents of juvenile Chinook salmon recently collected from contaminated, industrialized waterways. Groups of fish were fed a mixture with fixed proportions of 10 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 3 dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs), and 13 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at five concentrations for 35 days. These contaminant compounds were selected because of elevated concentrations and the widespread presence in sediments throughout industrialized waterways. Fork length and otolith microstructural growth indicators were significantly reduced in fish fed environmentally relevant concentrations of these contaminants. In addition, contaminant-exposed Chinook salmon were more susceptible to disease during controlled challenges with the pathogen Aeromonas salmonicida. Our results indicate that dietary exposure to contaminants impairs growth and immune function in juvenile Chinook salmon, thereby highlighting that current environmental exposure to chemicals of potential management concern threatens the viability of exposed salmon.

Composites in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.

An important step towards improving performance while reducing weight and maintenance needs is the integration of composite materials into mechanical and aerospace engineering. This subject explores the many aspects of composite application, from basic material characterization to state-of-the-art advances in manufacturing and design processes. The major goal is to present the most recent developments in composite science and technology while highlighting their critical significance in the industrial sector-most notably in the wind energy, automotive, aerospace, and marine domains. The foundation of this investigation is material characterization, which offers insights into the mechanical, chemical, and physical characteristics that determine composite performance. The papers in this collection discuss the difficulties of gaining an in-depth understanding of composites, which is necessary to maximize their overall performance and design. The collection of articles within this topic addresses the challenges of achieving a profound understanding of composites, which is essential for optimizing design and overall functionality. This includes the application of complicated material modeling together with cutting-edge simulation tools that integrate multiscale methods and multiphysics, the creation of novel characterization techniques, and the integration of nanotechnology and additive manufacturing. This topic offers a detailed overview of the current state and future directions of composite research, covering experimental studies, theoretical evaluations, and numerical simulations. This subject provides a platform for interdisciplinary cooperation and creativity in everything from the processing and testing of innovative composite structures to the inspection and repair procedures. In order to support the development of more effective, durable, and sustainable materials for the mechanical and aerospace engineering industries, we seek to promote a greater understanding of composites.

Posthurricane damage assessment using satellite imagery and geolocation features.

Gaining timely and reliable situation awareness after hazard events such as a hurricane is crucial to emergency managers and first responders. One effective way to achieve that goal is through damage assessment. Recently, disaster researchers have been utilizing imagery captured through satellites or drones to quantify the number of flooded/damaged buildings. In this paper, we propose a mixed-data approach, which leverages publicly available satellite imagery and geolocation features of the affected area to identify damaged buildings after a hurricane. The method demonstrated significant improvement from performing a similar task using only imagery features, based on a case study of Hurricane Harvey affecting Greater Houston area in 2017. This result opens door to a wide range of possibilities to unify the advancement in computer vision algorithms such as convolutional neural networks and traditional methods in damage assessment, for example, using flood depth or bare-earth topology. In this work, a creative choice of the geolocation features was made to provide extra information to the imagery features, but it is up to the users to decide which other features can be included to model the physical behavior of the events, depending on their domain knowledge and the type of disaster. The data set curated in this work is made openly available (DOI: 10.17603/ds2-3cca-f398).

[The cost of social consequences of narcotic substances using in Russian and European studies: publications review].

The article analyzes the practice of estimating social economic losses of society from drug consumption implemented in Russia and European countries from 2002 to the present time. Purpose of the study is to identify objective indicators and advantages of various calculation methods applied to analyze of foreign and national practice of estimating social and economic losses of society from drug consumption. The analytical method was applied to analyze various approaches to estimating social economic losses of society because of drug consumption in various countries. The sampling of articles was implemented in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines in the PubMed, Google Scholar and eLibrary databases. It is established that in various studies assessing value of social cost of drug consumption, different methodological approaches are applied, which affects the results of assessment. The magnitude of social cost of drug addiction in the studies ranged from 0.00023% to 4.7% of the Gross Domestic (National) Product (GNP). The large part of social cost of drug abuse in GNP is mostly conditioned by estimating number of hidden drug users during the study, as well as by optimal approach in calculating expenditure categories. The assessment of amount of economic losses of society because of drug traffic is needed to make correct management decisions within the framework of implementation of state drug policy at various levels. This approach can help to better use of the public financial resources.

Spectral Features Differentiate Aging-Induced Changes in Parchment-A Combined Approach of UV/VIS, µ-ATR/FTIR and µ-Raman Spectroscopy with Multivariate Data Analysis.

From the moment of production, artworks are constantly exposed to changing environmental factors potentially inducing degradation. Therefore, detailed knowledge of natural degradation phenomena is essential for proper damage assessment and preservation. With special focus on written cultural heritage, we present a study on the degradation of sheep parchment employing accelerated aging with light (295-3000 nm) for one month, 30/50/80% relative humidity (RH) and 50 ppm sulfur dioxide with 30/50/80%RH for one week. UV/VIS spectroscopy detected changes in the sample surface appearance, showing browning after light-aging and increased brightness after SO2-aging. Band deconvolution of ATR/FTIR and Raman spectra and factor analysis of mixed data (FAMD) revealed characteristic changes of the main parchment components. Spectral features for degradation-induced structural changes of collagen and lipids turned out to be different for the employed aging parameters. All aging conditions induced denaturation (of different degrees) indicated by changes in the secondary structure of collagen. Light treatment resulted in the most pronounced changes for collagen fibrils in addition to backbone cleavage and side chain oxidations. Additional increased disorder for lipids was observed. Despite shorter exposure times, SO2-aging led to a weakening of protein structures induced by transitions of stabilizing disulfide bonds and side chain oxidations.

Compartmentalized Quantitative Analysis of Concrete Sulfate-Damaged Area Based on Ultrasonic Velocity.

The corrosion of concrete in sulfate environments is a difficult problem in the durability of civil engineering structures. To investigate the variability of deterioration damage to concrete structures by sulfate erosion under non-destructive testing and quantify the protective effect of silane coatings on concrete under the action of sulfate erosion, an accelerated erosion experiment was carried out using field sampling in a tunnel project under a sulfate erosion environment. By means of ultrasonic velocity measurement and CT scanning, the samples protected by a silane coating under the sulfate attack environment were compared with those not protected. The deterioration characteristics of concrete under the sulfate attack environment and the protective effect of silane coating on the concrete structure were analyzed. In addition, a method for evaluating the sulfate damage to concrete based on CT images and ultrasonic velocity analysis was proposed. The results show that the samples prepared in the field show a significant difference in ultrasonic velocity in the process of erosion and deterioration according to the material difference at the measuring point interface. Through the overall damage evaluation analysis of the sample, it is concluded that the damage degree of the protected group sample is light and the heterogeneity is weak, whereas the local damage to the exposed group is serious. Combined with the CT image analysis of concrete before and after loading, the distribution characteristics of the damaged area divided by the concrete sulfate damage evaluation method proposed in this paper are highly similar to the real situation. The results of the study can provide a reference for similar projects for the detection, analysis, protection and evaluation of sulfate-attacked concrete.

Efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi, nematodes and spinetoram combinations for integrated management of Thrips tabaci.

BACKGROUND: Two consecutive field trials using a blend of entomopathogens in combination with a new chemistry insecticide were conducted to determine treatment effects on onion thrips (Thrips tabaci Lindeman) populations, crop damage, plant development, crop yield and impact on natural enemies. Products were tested in an onion cropping system and included the insect pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (isolate WG-11), an entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (strain VS) and the new-chemistry chemical insecticide spinetoram. RESULTS: In all treatments, a significant decrease in thrips per plant population was detected in both trials. Overall, dual application of entomopathogens and insecticide was more effective than singly applied treatments. The lowest number of thrips larvae (1.96 and 3.85) and adults (0.00 and 0.00) were recorded when treated with dual application of B. bassiana and spinetoram at 7 days post application (DPA) after the second spray application in 2017and 2018, respectively. Damage on onion plants was considerably decreased in all treatments relative to the control. The lowest damage was observed on onion plants treated with B. bassiana + spinetoram at 7 DPA after the second spray application during both years. A significant decrease in the number of natural enemies (beetles, spiders, mites, lacewings, ants and bugs) on onion plants was recorded during both years. Insect pathogens when applied alone and in combination with each other considerably protected arthropod natural enemies compared to insecticide application applied alone. Significant increase in plant agronomic traits was observed compared to the control. Among all the treatments, B. bassiana + spinetoram produced maximum leaf length, leaf weight, total leaves, neck diameter, bulb diameter, number of rings per bulb, bulb weight, dry matter and plant yield following the 2017and 2018 applications, respectively. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study reveal the potential of using insect pathogens and insecticide for control of T. tabaci. However, combinations containing spinetoram are harmful to nontarget organisms, whereas biological control agents help in protecting biodiversity in onion agroecosystems. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Are There Any Differences in Road Traffic Injury Outcomes between Older and Younger Adults? Setting the Grounds for Posttraumatic Senior Personal Injury Assessment Guidelines.

Injury outcomes seem to be more severe in older than younger persons. This may make personal injury assessment (PIA) particularly difficult, mainly because of seniors' previous health frailties. To set the grounds for seniors' PIA guidelines, we compared an older with a younger adult population of trauma victims and, secondarily, identified differences between the groups regarding three-dimensional and medico-legal damage parameters assessment. Using a retrospective study of victims of road traffic accidents, we compared the groups (n = 239 each), assuring similar acute injury severity (ISS standardised difference = 0.01): G1 (older adults); G2 (younger adults). Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio. G1 revealed higher negative consequences when considering the three-dimensional damage assessment, with more frequent and severe outcomes, being a cause of further difficulties in daily living activities, with a loss of independence and autonomy. Nevertheless, regarding the medico-legal damage parameters, permanent functional disability did not show significant differences. This study generates evidence that reveals the need to rethink the traditional methodology of PIA in older persons, giving more relevance to the real-life contexts of each person. It is essential to: obtain complete information about previous physiologic and health states, begin the medico-legal assessment as early as possible, make regular follow-ups, and perform a multidisciplinary evaluation.

Ecological Harm and Economic Damages of Chemical Contamination to Linked Aquatic-Terrestrial Food Webs: A Study-Design Tool for Practitioners.

Contamination of aquatic ecosystems can have cascading effects on terrestrial consumers by altering the availability and quality of aquatic insect prey. Comprehensive assessment of these indirect food-web effects of contaminants on natural resources and their associated services necessitates using both ecological and economic tools. In the present study we present an aquatic-terrestrial assessment tool (AT2), including ecological and economic decision trees, to aid practitioners and researchers in designing contaminant effect studies for linked aquatic-terrestrial insect-based food webs. The tool is tailored to address the development of legal claims by the US Department of the Interior's Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program, which aims to restore natural resources injured by oil spills and hazardous substance releases into the environment. Such cases require establishing, through scientific inquiry, the existence of natural resource injury as well as the determination of the monetary or in-kind project-based damages required to restore this injury. However, this tool is also useful to researchers interested in questions involving the effects of contaminants on linked aquatic-terrestrial food webs. Stylized cases exemplify how application of AT2 can help practitioners and researchers design studies when the contaminants present at a site are likely to lead to injury of terrestrial aerial insectivores through loss of aquatic insect prey and/or dietary contaminant exposure. Designing such studies with ecological endpoints and economic modeling inputs in mind will increase the relevance and cost-effectiveness of studies, which can in turn improve the outcomes of cases and studies involving the ecological effects of contaminants on food webs. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:2029-2039. Published 2023. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Low temperature response index for monitoring freezing injury of tea plant.

Freezing damage has been a common natural disaster for tea plantations. Quantitative detection of low temperature stress is significant for evaluating the degree of freezing injury to tea plants. Traditionally, the determination of physicochemical parameters of tea leaves and the investigation of freezing damage phenotype are the main approaches to detect the low temperature stress. However, these methods are time-consuming and laborious. In this study, different low temperature treatments were carried out on tea plants. The low temperature response index (LTRI) was established by measuring seven low temperature-induced components of tea leaves. The hyperspectral data of tea leaves was obtained by hyperspectral imaging and the feature bands were screened by successive projections algorithm (SPA), competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and uninformative variable elimination (UVE). The LTRI and seven indexes of tea plant were modeled by partial least squares (PLS), support vector machine (SVM), random forests (RF), back propagation (BP) machine learning methods and convolutional neural networks (CNN), long short-term memory (LSTM) deep learning methods. The results indicated that: (1) the best prediction model for the seven indicators was LTRI-UVE-CNN (R2 = 0.890, RMSEP=0.325, RPD=2.904); (2) the feature bands screened by UVE algorithm were more abundant, and the later modeling effect was better than CARS and SPA algorithm; (3) comparing the effects of the six modeling algorithms, the overall modeling effect of the CNN model was better than other models. It can be concluded that out of all the combined models in this paper, the LTRI-UVE-CNN was a promising model for predicting the degree of low temperature stress in tea plants.

Study on Shear Behaviors and Damage Assessment of Circular Concrete Short Columns Reinforced with GFRP Bars and Spiral Stirrups.

This study investigated the shear resistance and damage evolution of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP)-reinforced concrete short columns. Five circular concrete short columns reinforced with GFRP bars and spiral stirrups were fabricated and tested under lateral thrust in the laboratory. The test variables involved the stirrup reinforcement ratio, the longitudinal reinforcement ratio and the type of stirrups. The failure modes, load-displacement curves, strain responses and crack characteristics of these columns were documented and discussed. The accuracy of shear design equations in predicting shear capacity of such columns was evaluated. In addition, the digital image correlation (DIC) instrument was used to identify the full-field strain and damage zones of circular concrete short columns. Several smart aggregate (SA) transducers coupled to the surface of these columns were used to monitor its damage status. The energy ratio index (ERI) and the damage index based on smart aggregate were established to characterize damage level of such columns. The test results indicate that the shear capacity is improved 5.6% and 31.1% and the lateral ultimate displacement is increased 67.7% and 400% as the stirrup reinforcement ratio of the concrete short column is increased from 0 to 0.19% and 0.47%, respectively. The shear capacity equation proposed by Ali and his co-workers, considering a strain limit of 0.004Efv, gives accurate predictions of the shear capacity of circular concrete short columns reinforced with GFRP bars and spiral stirrups. The variation in ERI values is explained by the development of damage zones of the column obtained with DIC technology and with the proposed damage index based on the smart aggregate it is feasible to evaluate the damage level of circular short concrete columns.

Using US Natural Resource Damage Assessment to understand the environmental consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Military conflict has led to large-scale environmental changes throughout recorded human history. Pollution from war contaminates surface water and soil, releases large volumes of greenhouse gases into the air, and directly harms wildlife and biodiversity. Although much is understood about the human toll of war, numerous examples of postwar reconstruction suggest that underestimating the severity of wartime damages to ecosystems and natural resources results in prolonged or incomplete recovery of the environment. A data-driven scientific approach closely aligned with the evidentiary rules standard in western legal systems is needed to quantify the injury, destruction, or loss of natural resources and inform the estimation of the reparations necessary to restore the environment fully. The US Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process and the European Union environmental liability directive are well-suited for a systematic and science-based analysis of the ecological injuries incurred during armed conflicts. Both approaches include a preliminary damage assessment process, which could be initiated during wartime to document and predict the likely severity of the injuries and prioritize, in advance, rehabilitation activities after the cessation of hostilities. In this article, we refer to news reporting of Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine as an example of how a preliminary damage assessment could be conducted remotely and later modified by in-country inspections and analysis to verify and refine the scale of injuries and to develop reparation proposals. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:366-375. © 2022 SETAC.

Health damage assessment of commuters and staff in the metro system based on field monitoring-A case study of Nanjing.

Introduction: The metro has emerged as a major mode of transportation. A significant number of commuters and staff in the metro system are exposed to air pollutants because of its shielded environment, and substantial health damage requires quantitative assessment. Previous studies have focused on comparing the health impacts among different transportation modes, overlooking the specific population characteristics and pollutant distribution in metro systems. Methods: To make improvements, this study implements field monitoring of the metro's air environment utilizing specialized instruments and develops a health damage assessment model. The model quantifies health damage of two main groups (commuters and staff) in metro systems at three different areas (station halls, platforms, and metro cabins) due to particulate matter 10 and benzene series pollution. Conclusion: A case study of Nanjing Metro Line 3 was conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the model. Health damage at different metro stations was analyzed, and the health damage of commuters and staff was assessed and compared. This study contributes to enhancing research on health damage in the metro systems by providing a reference for mitigation measures and guiding health subsidy policies.

Children's outcomes in road traffic accidents: challenges for personal injury assessment.

Children represent a specific group of road traffic accident (RTA) victims. Performing a personal injury assessment (PIA) on a child presents a significant challenge, especially when assessing permanent disabilities and needs. However, medico-legal recommendations for PIA in such cases are lacking. The main objective of this study was to analyse the differences between children and a young- and middle-aged adult population of RTA victims to contribute to the development of relevant guidelines. Secondary objectives were to identify and characterize specifics of children's posttraumatic damages regarding: (i) temporary and permanent outcomes; and (ii) medico-legal damage parameters in the Portuguese context. We performed a retrospective study of RTA victims by comparing two groups (n = 114 each) matched for acute injury severity (SD = 0.01): G1 (children) and G2 (young- and middle-aged adults). Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios. G1 presented a greater chance of evolving without or with less severe body, functional and situational outcomes (three-dimensional assessment methodology), and with lower permanent functional disability values than G2. Our findings suggest that childhood trauma generally has a better prognosis than trauma in young- and middle-aged adults. This study generated evidence on the subject and highlighted the most significant difficulties encountered by medico-legal experts when performing PIA in children. Key points: This retrospective study of PIA in child victims of RTA in Portugal considered outcomes in victims' real-life situations.Several significant differences between children and young- and middle-aged adults were observed.Children's cases presented better results in terms of the severity of body, functional and situational outcomes, and permanent damage parameters.The average time between the RTA and final PIA date and the consolidation time were longer for children because of the need to wait for the Children's next growth phase or final pubertal period (as applicable), which increased the time for PIA conclusion.There were several difficulties in the medical-legal evaluation of children's cases, which was a complex process because the trauma affected them in their growth phase.

Damage Assessment in Rural Environments Following Natural Disasters Using Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing Data.

The damage caused by natural disasters in rural areas differs in nature extent, landscape, and structure, from the damage caused in urban environments. Previous and current studies have focused mainly on mapping damaged structures in urban areas after catastrophic events such as earthquakes or tsunamis. However, research focusing on the level of damage or its distribution in rural areas is lacking. This study presents a methodology for mapping, characterizing, and assessing the damage in rural environments following natural disasters, both in built-up and vegetation areas, by combining synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) and optical remote sensing data. As a case study, we applied the methodology to characterize the rural areas affected by the Sulawesi earthquake and the subsequent tsunami event in Indonesia that occurred on 28 September 2018. High-resolution COSMO-SkyMed images obtained pre- and post-event, alongside Sentinel-2 images, were used as inputs. This study's results emphasize that remote sensing data from rural areas must be treated differently from that of urban areas following a disaster. Additionally, the analysis must include the surrounding features, not only the damaged structures. Furthermore, the results highlight the applicability of the methodology for a variety of disaster events, as well as multiple hazards, and can be adapted using a combination of different optical and SAR sensors.

An Efficient and Uncertainty-Aware Decision Support System for Disaster Response Using Aerial Imagery.

Efficient and robust search and rescue actions are always required when natural or technical disasters occur. Empowered by remote sensing techniques, building damage assessment can be achieved by fusing aerial images of pre- and post-disaster environments through computational models. Existing methods pay over-attention to assessment accuracy without considering model efficiency and uncertainty quantification in such a life-critical application. Thus, this article proposes an efficient and uncertain-aware decision support system (EUDSS) that evolves the recent computational models into an efficient decision support system, realizing the uncertainty during building damage assessment (BDA). Specifically, a new efficient and uncertain-aware BDA integrates the recent advances in computational models such as Fourier attention and Monte Carlo Dropout for uncertainty quantification efficiently. Meanwhile, a robust operation (RO) procedure is designed to invite experts for manual reviews if the uncertainty is high due to external factors such as cloud clutter and poor illumination. This procedure can prevent rescue teams from missing damaged houses during operations. The effectiveness of the proposed system is demonstrated on a public dataset from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The solution won the first place award in International Overhead Imagery Hackathon.

Analysis and comparison of electron radiation damage assessments in Cryo-EM by single particle analysis and micro-crystal electron diffraction.

Electron radiation damage to macromolecules is an inevitable resolution limit factor in all major structural determination applications using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Single particle analysis (SPA) and micro-crystal electron diffraction (MicroED) have been employed to assess radiation damage with a variety of protein complexes. Although radiation induced sidechain density loss and resolution decay were observed by both methods, the minimum dose of electron irradiation reducing high-resolution limit reported by SPA is more than ten folds higher than measured by MicroED using the conventional dose concept, and there is a gap between the attained resolutions assessed by these two methods. We compared and analyzed these two approaches side-by-side in detail from several aspects to identify some crucial determinants and to explain this discrepancy. Probability of a high energy electron being inelastically scattered by a macromolecule is proportional to number of layers of the molecules in its transmission path. As a result, the same electron dose could induce much more site-specific damage to macromolecules in 3D protein crystal than single particle samples. Major differences in data collection and processing scheme are the key factors to different levels of sensitivity to radiation damage at high resolution between the two methods. High resolution electron diffraction in MicroED dataset is very sensitive to global damage to 3D protein crystals with low dose accumulation, and its intensity attenuation rates at atomic resolution shell could be applied for estimating ratio of damaged and total selected single particles for SPA. More in-depth systematically radiation damage assessments using SPA and MicroED will benefit all applications of cryo-EM, especially cellular structure analysis by tomography.