Individual relocation decisions after tornadoes: a multi-level analysis.

This study examines how multi-level factors affected individuals' relocation decisions after EF4 and EF5 (Enhanced Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale) tornadoes struck the United States in 2013. A telephone survey was conducted with 536 respondents, including oversampled older adults, one year after these two disaster events. Respondents' addresses were used to associate individual information with block group-level variables recorded by the American Community Survey. Logistic regression revealed that residential damage and homeownership are important predictors of relocation. There was also significant interaction between these two variables, indicating less difference between homeowners and renters at higher damage levels. Homeownership diminished the likelihood of relocation among younger respondents. Random effects logistic regression found that the percentage of homeownership and of higher income households in the community buffered the effect of damage on relocation; the percentage of older adults reduced the likelihood of this group relocating. The findings are assessed from the standpoint of age difference, policy implications, and social capital and vulnerability.

Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of chloroplast development by nuclear-localized XAP5 CIRCADIAN TIMEKEEPER.

Chlorophyll biosynthesis and breakdown, important cellular processes for photosynthesis, occur in the chloroplast. As a semi-autonomous organelle, chloroplast development is mainly regulated by nuclear-encoded chloroplast proteins and proteins encoded by itself. However, the knowledge of chloroplast development regulated by other organelles is limited. Here, we report that the nuclear-localized XAP5 CIRCADIAN TIMEKEEPER (XCT) is essential for chloroplast development in Arabidopsis. In this study, significantly decreased chlorophyll content phenotypes of cotyledons and subsequently emerging organs from shoot apical meristem were observed in xct-2. XCT is constitutively expressed in various tissues and localized in the nuclear with speckle patterns. RNA-seq analysis identified 207 differently spliced genes and 1511 differently expressed genes, in which chloroplast development-, chlorophyll metabolism- and photosynthesis-related genes were enriched. Further biochemical assays suggested that XCT was co-purified with the well-known splicing factors and transcription machinery, suggesting dual functions of XCT in gene transcription and splicing. Interestingly, we also found that the chlorophyll contents in xct-2 significantly decreased under high temperature and high light condition, indicating XCT integrates temperature and light signals to fine-tune the chlorophyll metabolism in Arabidopsis. Therefore, our results provide new insights into chloroplast development regulation by XCT, a nuclear-localized protein, at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level.

Which Household Emergency Plans are More Helpful in Tornadoes? Through the Lens of Gerontology.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated how the effectiveness of household emergency plans during tornadoes was associated with family discussions, and the attributes of the plan for different age groups. METHODS: A telephone survey was conducted in 2014, one year after two 2013 Enhanced Fujita 4/5 tornadoes. The working sample included 223 respondents who reported having a household emergency plan before the tornadoes. The latent class analysis was used to identify the patterns of the plans and develop a typology based on their content. Logistic regression was used to examine predictors for plan effectiveness. RESULTS: Two classes of plans were identified: quality plans that were rich in content and limited plans that had lower levels of content richness. Older adults were less likely to have quality plans and less likely to have family discussions. Quality of the plan and discussions with family members increased plan effectiveness among older adults, but not younger adults. CONCLUSIONS: Better emergency planning could be more important for older than for younger adults. The findings were discussed from a gerontological perspective that focuses on older adults' unique needs, vulnerabilities, and resilience factors.

Effectiveness of Household Emergency Plans in Violent Tornadoes.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined factors that were associated with the effectiveness of pre-existing household emergency plans during the 2011 EF5 Joplin and EF4 Tuscaloosa tornadoes. We focused on whether discussing with family members helped increase the plan's effectiveness. METHODS: A telephone survey based on random sampling was conducted in 2012 with 1006 respondents in both cities. Each city experienced huge losses, injuries, and casualties. The working sample included 494 respondents who had a household emergency plan in place before these tornadoes. RESULTS: Multinomial logistic regression showed that discussing with family members increased the helpfulness of the plan in Joplin, where people had not experienced tornadoes frequently and were less prepared for tornadoes relative to residents in Tuscaloosa. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides empirical evidence on the importance of encouraging family involvement when making household emergency plans, especially in places that are less prepared for disasters than those that are better prepared.

Predictors for the Number of Warning Information Sources During Tornadoes.

People may receive tornado warnings from multiple information sources, but little is known about factors that affect the number of warning information sources (WISs). This study examined predictors for the number of WISs with a telephone survey on randomly sampled residents in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Joplin, Missouri, approximately 1 year after both cities were struck by violent tornadoes (EF4 and EF5) in 2011. The survey included 1006 finished interviews and the working sample included 903 respondents. Poisson regression and Zero-Inflated Poisson regression showed that older age and having an emergency plan predicted more WISs in both cities. Education, marital status, and gender affected the possibilities of receiving warnings and the number of WISs either in Joplin or in Tuscaloosa. The findings suggest that social disparity affects the access to warnings not only with respect to the likelihood of receiving any warnings but also with respect to the number of WISs. In addition, historical and social contexts are important for examining predictors for the number of WISs. We recommend that the number of WISs should be regarded as an important measure to evaluate access to warnings in addition to the likelihood of receiving warnings. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:168-172).

The Effect of Emotional Closeness and Exchanges of Support Among Family Members on Residents' Positive and Negative Psychological Responses After Hurricane Sandy.

INTRODUCTION: This study examines how changes in emotional closeness and exchanges of support among family members after Hurricane Sandy affected residents' psychological outcomes both positively and negatively. METHODS: The working sample included 130 family ties reported by 85 respondents recruited from community and shelter residents on Staten Island after it was seriously damaged by the 2012 Hurricane Sandy. Regression with robust standard errors was used to examine how changes in emotional closeness and exchanges of support with adult family members affected respondents' posttraumatic psychological distress and posttraumatic growth. RESULTS: Results showed psychological distress was significantly increased with higher levels of instrumental support received from family members; whereas posttraumatic growth was significantly increased with greater improved emotional closeness with family members. In addition, having higher levels of education was associated with lower levels of psychological distress and respondents from shelters showed higher levels of posttraumatic growth than those who were from the community. DISCUSSION: It is suggested that after a significant disaster, although a family may be the best to take care of its members' emotional needs, it should not be expected to satisfy the instrumental needs of its members. In addition, posttraumatic psychological distress and growth are not necessarily opposite to each other; the psychological well- being of residents after a disaster needs to be carefully examined from both perspectives.

Number of warning information sources and decision making during tornadoes.

BACKGROUND: Taking proper protective action upon receiving tornado warnings is critical to reducing casualties. With more warning information sources becoming available, how the number of such information sources affects decision making should be quantitatively investigated. PURPOSE: To examine how the number of warning information sources affected individuals' decisions to take protective action during tornadoes. METHODS: A telephone survey using random sampling was conducted in 2012 with residents in Tuscaloosa AL and Joplin MO, resulting in a working sample of 782 respondents. Both cities were struck by violent tornadoes (Enhanced Fujita Scale [EF]4 and EF5) in 2011. The analysis was conducted in 2013. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis showed that relative to having only one warning information source, having two and three or more warning information sources significantly increased the odds of taking protective action in Joplin but not in Tuscaloosa; having three or more sources had a significantly stronger effect on taking protective action in Joplin than in Tuscaloosa. Having an emergency preparation plan in both cities and being white in Tuscaloosa significantly increased the odds of taking protective action, whereas being divorced in Joplin reduced these odds. CONCLUSIONS: Receiving warnings from more warning information sources might be more beneficial in places with less previous exposure to tornadoes and for populations with lower awareness of a potential tornado and higher probability of receiving no warnings. Emergency management agencies and public health officials should give priority to these places and populations when formulating disaster mitigation decisions and policies.

Simulation-based assessment for construction helmets.

In recent years, there has been a concerted effort for greater job safety in all industries. Personnel protective equipment (PPE) has been developed to help mitigate the risk of injury to humans that might be exposed to hazardous situations. The human head is the most vulnerable to impact as a moderate magnitude can cause serious injury or death. That is why industries have required the use of an industrial hard hat or helmet. There have only been a few articles published to date that are focused on the risk of head injury when wearing an industrial helmet. A full understanding of the effectiveness of construction helmets on reducing injury is lacking. This paper presents a simulation-based method to determine the threshold at which a human will sustain injury when wearing a construction helmet and assesses the risk of injury for wearers of construction helmets or hard hats. Advanced finite element, or FE, models were developed to study the impact on construction helmets. The FE model consists of two parts: the helmet and the human models. The human model consists of a brain, enclosed by a skull and an outer layer of skin. The level and probability of injury to the head was determined using both the head injury criterion (HIC) and tolerance limits set by Deck and Willinger. The HIC has been widely used to assess the likelihood of head injury in vehicles. The tolerance levels proposed by Deck and Willinger are more suited for finite element models but lack wide-scale validation. Different cases of impact were studied using LSTC's LS-DYNA.

Family emergency preparedness plans in severe tornadoes.

BACKGROUND: Tornadoes, with warnings usually issued just minutes before their touchdowns, pose great threats to properties and people's physical and mental health. Few studies have empirically investigated the association of family emergency preparedness planning and observed protective behaviors in the context of tornadoes. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine predictors for the action of taking shelter at the time of tornadoes. Specifically, this study investigated whether having a family emergency preparedness plan was associated with higher likelihood of taking shelter upon receiving tornado warnings. This study also examined the effects of socioeconomic status and functional limitations on taking such actions. METHODS: A telephone survey based on random sampling was conducted in 2012 with residents in Tuscaloosa AL and Joplin MO. Each city experienced considerable damages, injuries, and casualties after severe tornadoes (EF-4 and EF-5) in 2011. The working sample included 892 respondents. Analysis was conducted in early 2013. RESULTS: Logistic regression identified emergency preparedness planning as the only shared factor that increased the likelihood of taking shelter in both cities and the only significant factor in Joplin. In Tuscaloosa, being female and white also increased the likelihood of taking shelter. Disability was not found to have an effect. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided empirical evidence on the importance of having a family emergency preparedness plan in mitigating the risk of tornadoes. The findings could be applied to other rapid-onset disasters.