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Background and Objective: Nursing is one of the most stressful occupations and one of the common stress-induced syndromes among nurses is low resilient. Raising resilience is one of the effective factors in dealing with tensions. This study was done to determine the relationship between optimism and humor with resilience in female nurses. Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was carried out on 230 female nurses who worked in Isfahan, Iran during 2016. The number of nurses in different departments in these hospitals was 600; finally, 235 people were randomly selected using the Morgan table. In order to collecting data, sense of humor questionnaire by Lefcourt & Martin (SHQ), life orientation optimism questionnaire Carver & Scheier (LOT-R), and Conner and Davidson resilience questionnaires were used. Results: There was a significant negative relationship between optimism and resilience (P

Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises to deliver secure keys, which can be applied for security demands in optical networks by using cost-efficient and scalable lightpaths. To achieve such secure communication, the QKD integrated with optical networks has become a promising scenario to provide key provisioning services in optical networks. As an inevitable problem, the occurrence of failures becomes a challenge for the resiliency of the network. In that context, this paper studies the resilient QKD-integrated optical networks against single link failure. By analyzing and quantifying the key provisioning services, we constructed the secret-key flow model (SKFM) for the failure-affected and failure-unaffected cases. Based on the SKFM, a secret-key recovery strategy (SKRS) including three algorithms (i.e., one-path recovery method (OPRM), multi-path recovery method (MPRM), and time window-based recovery method (TWRM)) is designed to recover failure-affected key provisioning services in the network. The simulation work has been conducted to evaluate the performance of OPRM, MPRM, and TWRM in terms of key-service recovery ratio, secret-key recovery ratio, wavelength consumption ratio, and secret-key consumption ratio. Numerical results show that the three algorithms can recover failure-affected key provisioning services effectively, i.e., the MPRM outperforms the OPRM and the TWRM outperforms the MPRM. Better recovery can be realized by sacrificing more wavelength and secret-key resources, which are also required for the delivery of the QKD in the network. Thus, a trade-off can be achieved between the recovery of key provisioning services and the delivery of the QKD on wavelength resources and secret-key resources.

Aerospace vehicle navigation systems are equipped with multi-source redundant navigation sensors. According to the characteristics of the above navigation system configuration, building a resilient navigation framework to improve the accuracy and robustness of the navigation system has become an urgent problem to be solved. In the existing integrated navigation methods, redundant information is only used for backup. So, it cannot use the redundant navigation information to improve the accuracy of the navigation system. In this paper, a resilient multi-source fusion integrated navigation method based on comprehensive information evaluation has been proposed by combining of qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis in information theory. Firstly, this paper proposes a multi-layer evaluation framework of redundant information and carries out quantitative analysis of redundant information with the information disorder analysis theory to improve the reliability of the navigation system. Secondly, a navigation output effectiveness evaluation system has been established to analyze the output of heterogeneous navigation subsystems qualitatively to improve the fusion accuracy. Finally, through the mutual correction of multi-level information evaluation results, the error decoupling between the output parameters of heterogeneous navigation sensors has been realized to improve the robustness of the system. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can adaptively allocate and adjust the weight of navigation information at all levels, realize the “non-stop” work of the navigation system and enhance the resilient of the navigation architecture. The navigation accuracy is improved compared with the existing multi-source fusion algorithm, which reflects the reliability and robustness of this algorithm.

Most LIASE-sponsored programs incorporate some type of fieldwork in Asia as a primary element. Sustaining these field sites over the long term is vulnerable to varying levels of faculty commitment, personal relationships with overseas partner institutions, and the vicissitudes of student interest, especially given the small student pools at liberal arts colleges. Eckerd College has met this challenge by using a joint on-campus program to feed into multiple field research locations, which broadens the opportunities for faculty and student engagement. It has also allowed us to let some field sites lapse when they were not working out, without undermining the integrity and continuity of the overall program.

The availability of water has shaped civilizations for millennia. Water crosses international and interstate boundaries, while man tries to control it for economic and social gains. Other than benefiting directly by fulfilling basic needs and building the city’s economies, people are associated with water through a system of beliefs, culture, and traditions, to form a dependency that creates a sense of ownership, defence, and security. This dependency leads to stewardship, developing customs to represent gratitude and respect towards the natural assets, through a system of faith and rituals. These rituals change according to Ritus (seasons) in India.

The main focus of this study is to conduct a systematic literature review to integrate lean, agile, resilient, green and sustainable (LARGS) paradigms in the supply chain (SC) domain. To achieve this aim, several research questions were designed: First, how to locate LARGS research in context of SC domain? For this, it is important to understand which types of research articles should be selected for the study? Further, where such studies were conducted (geographical location)? Second, what is the focus of research in LARGS paradigm in SCs? For this, it is important to study, which types of industries or sectors have been targeted in literature? In addition, which tools and techniques have been used mostly? Third, what are the current trends in the relationships of LARGS paradigms, among themselves, and with SC performance measures? Fourth, what are the emerging issues, unexplored areas in this field, based on these what could be future research avenues in this subject domain have been proposed? A total of 160 relevant articles published during 1999–2019 were used for analysis. Based on analysis, findings are summarised, and main research issues and possible future research directions in LARGS paradigms in SCs are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetorheological (MR) dampers have the ability to mitigate natural hazards for structures due to their high energy dissipation features with low power demand. This feature has made the MR damper one of the most popular semiactive damping devices. The present work validates the performance of a single-story reinforced concrete (RC) frame using a reduced scale 10 kN capacity multiple coil MR damper that has recently been developed by the authors. To conduct this test, MR fluid is synthesized and the proposed multicoil MR damper was designed and fabricated. Three RC frames were cast and tested using a loading frame with a capacity of 50 kN. This frame was subjected to earthquake excitation with MR damper placed diagonally at 0 A current, 3 A current, and without MR damper for a better comparison. The comparative performance indicated the reductions in displacements, increase of forces, and changes in crack patterns. The proposed semiactive damper can, therefore, be used effectively as a seismic resilient device in reducing the structural responses in the regions of moderate to high seismicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2005, Guillot published a method for the construction of Boolean functions using linear codes through the Maiorana–McFarland construction of Boolean functions. In this work, we present a construction using Hermitian codes, starting from the classic Maiorana–McFarland construction. This new construction describes how the set of variables is divided into two complementary subspaces, one of these subspaces being a Hermitian Code. The ideal theoretical parameters of the Hermitian code are proposed to reach desirable values of the cryptographic properties of the constructed Boolean functions such as nonlinearity, resiliency order, and order of propagation. An extension of Guillot’s work is also made regarding parameters selection using algebraic geometric tools, including explicit examples.

Within and beyond academia, debates around equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) have been gathering pace. We focus on EDI and geomorphology and address four main questions: (1) why does EDI matter for geomorphology?; (2) what are the barriers to greater EDI in geomorphology?; (3) how can we address these EDI barriers?; (4) can we ensure a resilient future for geomorphology by addressing EDI? At a time of critical environmental, social and economic transition, we contend that addressing EDI is essential for ensuring a resilient geomorphology, defined here as a discipline that is seen to be adapting to these changing external circumstances so that it remains relevant, vibrant and accessible to a wide cross‐section of society. Not doing so will limit the intellectual development of geomorphology, incur reputational risk for geomorphological groups and organizations like the British Society for Geomorphology, and ensure that the many potential benefits of geomorphology for science and society remain underutilized at best. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, National Maize Research Program (NMRP) aimed a paradigm shift from open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) towards hybrid maize to achieve self-sufficiency in maize for food, feed, and hybrid seed within the country. In this mission, it is necessary to identify and deploy high-yielding stress-resilient maize hybrids that can cope with climate change effects, including heat stress. Under the project "Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA)", NMRP introduced the hybrids that performed better in previous years in different environments from International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Hyderabad for multilocation on-farm testing. Fifteen genotypes were evaluated at two locations, two sites in Madi, Chitwan, and one in Ghorahi, Dang, along with Rampur Hybrid-8 as a heat-tolerant check, and RML-86/RML-96 and RML-95/RML-96 as normal checks. Randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used with three replicates during the spring of 2016/17. Likewise, another 20 and 18 promising hybrids were demonstrated during the winter of 2016/17 and 2017/18, respectively, in different hybrid growing pockets considering a site - a replication. Grain yield and yield attributing traits at all locations were recorded. From the across-site data analysis, selected heat-tolerant hybrids from the experiment were CAH1432, ZH15405, ZH141592, and CAH1715 which were statistically at par with promising normal hybrid RML-86/RML-96 and superior to already released heat-tolerant Rampur Hybrid-8. In 2016/17, ZH138098, ZH1620, and VH121062 were farmers' preferred heat-tolerant hybrids. In 2017/18, Rampur Hybrid-10, ZH141592, CAH1715, and ZH15440 were preferred by farmers. The selected bestbet are taken forward for official release/registration followed by commercialization through a public-private partnership with Nepali seed companies/cooperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For artificial materials, desired properties often conflict. For example, engineering materials often achieve high energy dissipation by sacrificing resilience and vice versa, or desired auxeticity by losing their isotropy, which limits their performance and applications. To solve these conflicts, a strategy is proposed to create novel mechanical metamaterial via 3D space filling tiles with engaging key-channel pairs, exemplified via auxetic 3D keyed-octahedron-cuboctahedron metamaterials. This metamaterial shows high resilience while achieving large mechanical hysteresis synergistically under large compressive strain. Especially, this metamaterial exhibits ideal isotropy approaching the theoretical limit of isotropic Poisson's ratio, -1, as rarely seen in existing 3D mechanical metamaterials. In addition, the new class of metamaterials provides wide tunability on mechanical properties and behaviors, including an unusual coupled auxeticity and twisting behavior under normal compression. The designing methodology is illustrated by the integral of numerical modeling, theoretical analysis, and experimental characterization. The new mechanical metamaterials have broad applications in actuators and dampers, soft robotics, biomedical materials, and engineering materials/systems for energy dissipation., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

• Repeated social defeat stress (RSDS) reproducibly produces peripheral inflammation. • Peripheral inflammation is not coupled to social interaction (SI) testing parameters. • SI-defined susceptible and resilient categorization does not reflect peripheral inflammation. • Anxiety-like behavioral parameters are linked to peripheral inflammation in RSDS. • Peripheral inflammation is more predictive of anxiety-like than social behavior in RSDS. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric illness that results in an increased risk for a variety of inflammatory diseases. The exact etiology of this increased risk is unknown, and thus several animal models have been developed to investigate the neuroimmune interactions of PTSD. Repeated social defeat stress (RSDS) is an established preclinical model of psychological trauma that recapitulates certain behavioral and inflammatory aspects of human PTSD. Furthermore, RSDS has been utilized to subgroup animals into susceptible and resilient populations based on one specific behavioral phenotype (i.e. , social interaction). Herein, we conducted an extensive investigation of circulating inflammatory proteins after RSDS and found significant elevations in various cytokines and chemokines after exposure to RSDS. When categorizing animals into either susceptible or resilient populations based on social interaction, we found no inflammatory or other behavioral differences between these subgroups. Furthermore, correlative analyses found no significant correlation between social interaction parameters and inflammation. In contrast, parameters from the elevated zero maze (EZM) demonstrated significant associations and clustering to five circulating cytokines. When animals were subdivided into susceptible and resilient populations solely based upon combined EZM performance, significant inflammatory differences were evident between these groups. Strikingly, these circulating inflammatory proteins displayed a stronger predictive ability of EZM performance compared to social interaction test performance. These findings provide new insights into inflammatory markers associated with RSDS, and the utility of EZM to effectively group RSDS-exposed mice into populations with differential levels of peripheral inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is considered a strategic factor for the better attainment of organizational goals such as enhanced competitiveness, improved product quality and increased profitability in cement industry. This research aims at competitive positioning of LARG supply chain in Iranian cement industry and its strategic requirements (Strenghts, Weaknesses, Oportunities and Threats) Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA). A survey-descriptive research method was applied and an available sample which includes 11 Iranian cement companies were selected. First, using literature review and Delphi Method (DM), strategic requirements of LARG supply chain in the cement industry were identified. In the next step, the importance of strategic requirements was determined using SWARA method. Then, the results of applying Internal/External Factors Evaluation (IFE/EFE) matrix showed that the suitable position for LARG supply chain in Iranian cement industry would be an aggressive strategy. In the final step, applying Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) matrix showed all requirements for the aggressive strategy, except exporting opportunities and cooperation culture in supply chain, were evaluated in quadrant II (keep up the good work). Finally some suggestions are presented toward improving LARG supply chain performance in Iranian cement industry. Introductıon: Supply Chain Management (SCM) is considered a strategic factor for the better attainment of organizational goals such as enhanced competitiveness, improved product quality and increased profitability. SCM is a value chain management from the supplier of a supplier to the customer of a customer of a company with the aim of attaining an overall value. Lean, Agile, Resilient and Green are now at the forefront in management methods and SCM (Espadinha–Cruz et al., 2011). The trade-offs between these managerial paradigms (LARG) are actual issues and may help supply chains to become more efficient, streamlined and sustainable. The supply chain as a network is expected to provide the right products and services on time with the required specifications at the right place to the customer. The main purpose of this research is a competitive positioning of LARG supply chain in Iranian cement industry and its strategic requirements (Strenghts, Weaknesses, Oportunities and Threats) Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA). Materıals and Methods: A survey-descriptive research method was applied and an available sample which includes 11 Iranian cement companies were selected. First, using literature review and Delphi Method (DM), strategic requirements of LARG supply chain in the cement industry were identified. In the next step, the importance of strategic requirements was determined using SWARA method. Then we used the Strategic Position and Action Evaluation Matrix (SPACE MATRIX) to select an appropriate strategy for LARG supply chain in Iranian cement industry. In the SPACE matrix, we assessed Iranian cement industries across four dimensions including: Industry Attractiveness (IA), Environmental Stability (ES), Competitive Advantage (CA) and Financial Strength (FS). The SPACE diagram showed favourable positions in all four dimensions. In the final step, an Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) matrix was applied. Results And Dıscussıon: The results (as shown in Fig. 1) of applying SPACE matrix revealed that the suitable position for LARG supply chain in Iranian cement industry would be an aggressive strategy as it leverages its strengths into the opportunities. In other words, Strengths-Opportunities (SO) strategies are based on using a firm’s internal strengths to take advantage of external opportunities and threats. Fig. 1- SPACE Matrix for positioning of LARG supply chain in Iranian cement industries In order to determine the performance level, mean values of strategic requirements were calculated via 1 to 5 lykert continum questionnaire completed by cement experts. Also, we used SWARA method to determine the importance of strategic requirements. Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) matrix showed all requirements for the aggressive strategy, except exporting opportunities and cooperation culture in supply chain, were evaluated in quadrant II (keep up the good work). Conclusıons:This study proposes a competitive positioning for LARG supply chain in the Iranian cement industry and its strategic requirements importance-performance analysis. In the SPACE matrix we assessed Iranian cement industries across four dimensions including: industry attractiveness, environmental stability, competitive advantage and financial strength. The SPACE diagram showed that Iranian cement industries can pursue an aggressive strategy as it has a strong competitive position in the market with rapid growth. The two big concerns in this competitive positioning are: 1) Avoid complacency – it seems that business is too easy but threats may come from new markets or as technology makes different sectors to converge; and 2) Avoid running foul of anticompetition policies. A business that is too strong may be able to attract the attention of regulators and especially if it uses predatory pricing aimed at driving competitors out of business. Applying Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) matrix clarified that all strenghts and opportunities were important. While there are gaps between performance level and strategic requirements importance, the improvement process will be continued. This study showed that integration of LARG supply chain competitive positioning in the Iranian cement industry and IPA model, can help Iranian decision makers in strategic planning for the SCM performance improvement. Iranian cement industries are also blessed because it has a good competitive advantage in an industry which is considered to be attractive. So, among the strategic choices, develop new local markets strategy has the first priority, followed by the; Increase production capacity, Export markets development and Product diversification. References Azevedo, S. G., Carvalho, H., & Cruz-Machado, V. (2016). LARG index: a benchmarking tool for improving the leanness, agility, resilience and greenness of the automotive supply chain. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 23(6), 1472-1499. Espadinha-Cruz, P., Grilo, A., Puga-Leal, R., & Cruz-Machado, V. (2011). A Model for Evaluating Lean, Agile, Resilient and Green Practices Interoperability in Supply Chains. Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE IEEM (978-1-4577-0739-1/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE). 1209-1231. Jamali, G., Karimi Asl, E., Zolfani, S. H., & Šaparauskas, J. (2017). Analysing LARG supply chain management competitive strategies in Iranian cement industries. Ekonomika a Management, XX(3),70-83.

Understanding the spatio-temporal pattern of natural vegetation helps decoding the responses to climate change and interpretation on forest resilience. Satellite remote sensing based data products, by virtue of their synoptic and repetitive coverage, offer to study the correlation and lag effects of rainfall on forest growth in a relatively longer time scale. We selected central India as the study site. It accommodates tropical natural vegetation of varied forest types such as moist and dry deciduous and evergreen and semi-evergreen forests that largely depend on the southwest monsoon. We used the MODIS derived NDVI and CHIRPS based rainfall datasets from 2001 to 2018 in order to analyze NDVI and rainfall trend by using Sen’s slope and standard anomalies. The study observed a decreasing rainfall trend over 41% of the forests, while the rest of the forest area (59%) demonstrated an increase in rainfall. Furthermore, the study estimated drought conditions during 2002, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2015 for 98.2%, 92.8%, 89.6%, 90.1% and 95.8% of the forest area, respectively; and surplus rainfall during 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2016 for 69.5%, 63.9%, 71.97%, 70.35%, 94.79% and 69.86% of the forest area, respectively. Hence, in the extreme dry year (2002), 93% of the forest area showed a negative anomaly, while in the extreme wet year (2013), 89% of forest cover demonstrated a positive anomaly in central India. The long-term vegetation trend analysis revealed that most of the forested area (>80%) has a greening trend in central India. When we considered annual mean NDVI, the greening and browning trends were observed over at 88.65% and 11.35% of the forested area at 250 m resolution and over 93.01% and 6.99% of the area at 5 km resolution. When we considered the peak-growth period mean NDVI, the greening and browning trends were as follows: 81.97% and 18.03% at 250 m and 88.90% and 11.10% at 5 km, respectively. The relative variability in rainfall and vegetation growth at five yearly epochs revealed that the first epoch (2001–2005) was the driest, while the third epoch (2011–2015) was the wettest, corresponding to the lowest vegetation vigour in the first epoch and the highest in the third epoch during the past two decades. The study reaffirms that rainfall is the key climate variable in the tropics regulating the growth of natural vegetation, and the central Indian forests are dominantly resilient to rainfall variation.

Resilience is a phenomenon discussed by scholars in many disciplines; it holds similar definitions across the human, social, and physical sciences. It is important to understand the phenomenon from a variety of disciplines. Therefore, the author of this article reviews the existing literature on resilience from the disciplines of psychology, sociology, philosophy, education, and nursing. The three themes that emerged from a thorough review of the existing literature were (a) hardiness strengthens the ability to harness resources, (b) regulatory flexibility fosters positive functioning, and (c) challenges enhance the ability to rebound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood-induced moisture damage of flexible pavements is a serious concern for many road authorities. Reports from several studies confirm the significant structural damage that is caused by flooding on pavements. In general, there is a consensus to design and construct roads that are resistant to flooding. Simultaneously, the concept of resilience has gained popularity – frameworks and specifics are being developed to make civil infrastructure components resilient to natural and manmade disasters. This study provides a framework for quantitatively assessing the resilience of flexible pavements to flooding. The different interlinked steps consist of utilising unsaturated flow through the different layers to estimate drainage, interpretation of the results in terms of stiffness of the relevant layers, estimation of the impact of the change in stiffness on the overall structural condition of the pavement and then translating that change to a resilience index. The paper provides an illustrative example of such an estimation of resilience for a pavement. The results demonstrate the need for providing base course materials with appropriate gradation to ensure adequate hydraulic conductivity, and/or thicker surface layer, to avoid a reduction in service quality and loss of resilience for an extended period of time, in flood-prone areas. Abbreviations: CBR: California bearing ratio; D60: diameter corresponding to 60% passing in results of sieve analysis; FE: finite element; FWD: falling weight deflectometer; HMA: hot-mix asphalt; keff: effective hydraulic conductivity; ksat: saturated hydraulic conductivity; MEPDG: mechanistic empirical pavement design guide; MR: resilient modulus; MRopt: optimum resilient modulus; Q (t); Q: quality; RL: loss of resilience; R: Resilience; S Saturation; SNCratiof: post and pre-flood modified structural numbers (SNCs); SWCC: soil–water characteristic curve; wPI: percentage passing No. 200 sieve × plasticity index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been more than a decade after 5.9 SR earthquakes hit one of the most destructed area Tembi Hamlet, Bantu! District, Yogyakarta Province. Amidst the wreaking havoc, the area gained its resilient in no time. This research, aimed to I) explore what are the factors influential towards local resilient, especially micro-small-medium enterprises; and 2) analyze strategies to tackle disaster. It employed mix method, while the key questions were developed using "Sustainable Livelihood Approach" by DFID, geared with "Pentagram Assef' mapping for each spatial and temporal unit. The research impetus is to explore urban resilient of Tembi, Bantu! using three important variables such as access, asset and activities. The research sample was taken through purposive sampling for Small-Medium Scale Enterprises in the research area. The data collection employed questionnaires and in-depth interviews and observed through ancillary data. There are 3 important variables measured within the research, such as access, asset and activity of SMSE. Hereafter, the research classified the observed data into scales, which later on expanded into the pentagram scale. The model to formulate research findings developed using "Sustainable Livelihood Approach" by DFID. The data processing technique used software SPSS, Microsoft Excel and ArcGIS were geared with "Pentagram Asset" mapping for each spatial and temporal unit. The result revealed that I) the micro-small-medium enterprises in urban area are resilient towards earthquake due to fair physical, natural and financial assets management and abundant social, human and political assets. These assets have created enabling environment towards behavioral change of urban society; 2) Despite various livelihood strategies existed in urban areas, the research highlighted three types of livelihood strategies within disaster risk management perspective, i.e. survival (disaster), consolidation by no-change plan mechanism and accumulation strategies by change plan mechanism (post disaster). Critically, pentagram assessment is able to identify feasible local assets and activities, however it left the policy, institution, interaction and multi sector aspects from the spotlight. Herewith, the research proposes evaluation scan to rethinking sustainable livelihood approach wiithin disaster risk management by adding these aspects into the observation. Tt also revealed that local autonomous initiatives to extend urban based economic activities and supported by abundant political interest play pivotal role in disaster management at developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stress exacerbates many chronic pain syndromes including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Among these patient populations, many suffer from comorbid or chronic overlapping pain conditions and are predominantly female. Nevertheless, basic studies investigating chronic psychological stress‐induced changes in pain sensitivity have been mostly carried out in male rodents. Our laboratory developed a model of comorbid pain hypersensitivity (CPH) (stress in the presence of preexisting orofacial pain inducing chronic visceral pain hypersensitivity that significantly outlasts transient stress‐induced pain hypersensitivity (SIH)) facilitating the study of pain associated with IBS. Since CPH and SIH are phenotypically similar until SIH resolves and CPH persists, it is unclear if underlying mechanisms are similar. Methods: In the present study, the visceromotor response (VMR) to colorectal distention was recorded in the SIH and CPH models in intact females and ovariectomized rats plus estradiol replacement (OVx + E2). Over several months, rats were determined to be susceptible or resilient to stress and the role of peripheral corticotrophin‐releasing factor (CRF) underlying in the pain hypersensitivity was examined. Key Results: Stress alone induced transient (3‐4 weeks) visceral hypersensitivity, though some rats were resilient. Comorbid conditions increased susceptibility to stress prolonging hypersensitivity beyond 13 weeks. Both models had robust peripheral components; hypersensitivity was attenuated by the CRF receptor antagonist astressin and the mast cell stabilizer disodium cromoglycate (DSCG). However, DSCG was less effective in the CPH model compared to the SIH model. Conclusions and Inferences: The data indicate many similarities but some differences in mechanisms contributing to comorbid pain conditions compared to transient stress‐induced pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at identifying the key agile, lean, resilient and green practices that influence capability of cold supply chain (CSC) using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) technique. Various measures of lean, green, resilient, and agile practices in CSC were identified from previous studies and experts' opinions. Contextual relationships between practice measures were established via brainstorming session. Measures were then classified based on their driving and dependence powers. The results showed that measures of lean, green, resilient, and agile practices in CSC can be organized in a six-level structural model. Moreover, highly dependent measures at top level in CSC model are operational costs and customer satisfaction, whereas the highly driving at most bottom level of this model are ISO 14001 implementation and government support system for green cold supply chain. Validity of CSC model was assessed in three CSC firms; food, pharmaceutical, and Third Party logistics firms. In conclusion, measures emerging with higher driving power and those with high dependence in ISM hierarchy contribute significantly to enhancing capability of CSC. The proposed ISM may support decision makers in prioritization improvement efforts and achieving effective CSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was carried out in Batiaghata upazila of Khulna district to identify different climate resilient cropping patterns that had been practiced over the past three decades as well as the farmers' perception about the causes of adopting climate resilient cropping patterns. Information was collected through personal interview, focus group discussion, systematic study of available records and browsing internet. A slight change was observed regarding climate resilient cropping pattern over the last 30 years in the study area. About 30 years ago, five cropping patterns were practiced, only one pattern (Fallow-Fallow-T. Aman) was found climate resilient. About 20 years ago, 11 cropping patterns were practiced, 5 patterns (Fallow-Fallow-T. Aman, Boro-Fallow-T. Aman, Boro-Gher (vegetables)-T. Aman, Boro-Gher (vegetables)-Fallow and Fallow-Gher (vegetables)-T. Aman) were found climate resilient. About 10 years ago, 11 cropping patterns were practiced, 7 patterns (Sesame-Fallow-T. Aman, Boro-Fallow-T. Aman, Boro-Gher (vegetables)-Fallow, Fallow-Fallow-T.Aman, Boro-Jute-T. Aman, Boro-Gher (vegetables)-T. Aman and Fallow-Gher (vegetables)-T. Aman) were found climate resilient. At present, 14 cropping patterns are being practiced. Out of which, six patterns are climate resilient. Respondents justified nine causes for adopting climate resilient cropping patterns, while increase in cropping intensity was the most significant, while lower input cost was least significant. Most of the respondents (93.80%) had highly clear perception and the rest (6.20%) had moderately clear perception. A positive relationship of education and mass media exposure was observed with their perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars and policy makers argue that communities that increase their resilience are better positioned to protect themselves from disruptive events. The popularity of the resilience concept has created challenges for scholars and public policy makers. The most substantial challenge relates to whether there exists sufficient common understanding of resilience to enable the concept to be applied in research and public policy contexts. This article presents the findings of an analysis of resilience discussions in the homeland security literature. The analysis included the 56 articles that reference resilience terminology and are published in the journals: Homeland Security Affairs and the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Our findings indicate that resilience discussions in the homeland security literature seem to be converging towards a hybrid conceptualization of resilience, which suggests that a resilient system would have the capacity to both resist a disturbance and to quickly restore services if a disturbance could not be prevented. Despite this possible movement towards conceptual convergence, additional steps must be taken if resilience is to become a concept that can be used to guide the development and implementation of homeland security policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic design of buildings in New Zealand follows the principles of ductility and capacity design, targeted at life safety as well as avoidance of building collapse in large earthquake events. The inevitable result of ductility is damage to the primary structure, which absorbs the seismic energy during an earthquake. In smaller, more frequent earthquake events, the New Zealand standards recommend limits to building drifts to avoid structural and non-structural damage to building elements. The Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 provided the impetus to construct buildings with more focus on resilience as it became clear that traditional forms of building construction do not always provide the best solution for easy repair and continued operation, with many buildings having to be demolished, causing widespread disruption. An increasing number of new buildings have been constructed in New Zealand utilising different forms of seismically resilient building technologies. This paper presents case studies demonstrating some of the techniques used to provide the building structures with more resilience. Resilient technologies used in the presented case studies include triple friction pendulum bearings, innovative dissipative steel plate connectors, sliding hinge joints, Ringfeder® hold-down springs, U-shaped flexural plates, post-tensioning, and compression- and tension-yielding plug-and-play dissipaters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This brief investigates resilient consensus problems of hybrid multi-agent systems containing both continuous-time dynamical agents and discrete-time dynamical agents. A hybrid censoring strategy is developed to reach resilient consensus for cooperative agents in the directed networks in which some Byzantine agents are present. The number, location, and dynamics of Byzantine agents are assumed to be unavailable to the cooperative agents. Sufficient conditions based on network robustness are established when the number of Byzantine agents is locally bounded. They are further extended to cope with resilient scaled hybrid consensus where dictated ratios instead of a common value can be reached. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional design philosophy of bridges allows damage in the pier through yielding. A fuse-like action is achieved if the bridge piers are designed to develop substantial inelastic deformations when subjected to earthquake excitations. Such a design can avoid collapse of the bridge but not damage. The damage is the plastic hinge formation formed at location of maximum moments and stresses that can lead to permanent lateral displacement which can impair traffic flow and cause time consuming repairs. Rocking can act as a form of isolation by means of foundation uplifting which act as a mechanical fuse, limiting the forces transferred to the base of the structure. In this context, this paper proposes a novel resilient controlled rocking bridge pier foundation, which uses elastomeric pads incorporated beneath the footing of the bridge piers and external restrainer in the form of shape memory alloy bar (SMA). The rocking mechanism is achieved by restricting the horizontal movement of footing by providing stoppers at all sides of footing. The pads are designed to remain elastic without allowing their shearing. The pier, the footing and the elastomeric pads are assumed to be supported on firm rigid concrete sub base resting on hard rock. By performing nonlinear dynamic time history analysis in the traffic direction of the bridge, the proposed pier with the novel resilient foundation is compared against a fixed-based pier and classical rocking pier (CC). The proposed pier rocking on elastomeric pads and external restrainer (CP+SMA) has good re-centering capability during earthquakes with negligible residual drift and footing uplift. In this new rocking isolation technique, the forces in the piers are also reduced and thus leading to reduced construction cost with enhanced post-earthquake serviceability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the technology-based industries, such as pharmaceutical industry, the success of the companies depends on their ability to provide new and continuous innovations to the market. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of information technology capabilities on the performance of organizations in the pharmaceutical industry in Iran. The research method in this study is survey type and a random sampling method has been used. According to the statistics provided by the Ministry of Health of Iran, there are over 170 active pharmaceutical and chemical companies (chemical and plant) in the country. The population of the study includes all the internal, production, human resources, marketing and sales managers in these 170 companies. They were estimated to be around 746, from which 254 were selected as the sample. The main findings of this research are: 1- The technological capabilities are proved effective on three supply chain approaches of purity, resilience, and agility. 2- Those three supply chain approaches (purity, resilience, and agility) have a positive effect on organizational performance.

Disturbed serotonergic signaling in the hippocampus observed in many individuals vulnerable to stress has been suggested as one of the primary factors contributing to the development of depression. However, little is known about the physiology of the brain in the resilient phenotype. Resilient subjects maintain a positive mood and psychological balance despite being under the stress influence. In our study, we generated stress-vulnerable and resilient rats by using a chronic mild stress (CMS) paradigm. Using different molecular approaches, we revealed that resilient animals exhibited a significantly decreased expression level of miR-18a-5p and, in the same time, an elevated level of 5-HT1AR in dorsal, but not ventral, part of the hippocampus. Described biochemical changes were not observed in animals behaviorally vulnerable to stress. Further, in vitro analysis showed that miR-18a-5p may be a negative epigenetic regulator of 5-HT1AR since the treatment of adult hippocampal neurons with miR-18a-5p mimic significantly lowered the expression level of mRNA encoding 5-HT1AR. Moreover, bioinformatic analysis of potential target genes expressed in the hippocampus and being regulated by miR-18a-5p showed that this microRNA may regulate biological processes, such as axonogenesis, which are important in the functioning of the hippocampus in both rats and humans. All these molecular features may contribute to serotonergic homeostatic balance at the level of serotonin turnover observed in hippocampi of resilient but not stress-vulnerable rats. Delineation of further molecular and biochemical markers underlying resilience to stress may contribute to the development of new antidepressant strategies which will restore resilient phenotype in depressed patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern business environments, an effective supply chain management (SCM) is crucial to business continuity. Competition between supply chains (SC) has replaced the traditional competition between companies. Lean, Agile, Resilient and Green (LARG) paradigms are advocated as the foundation of a competitive SCM. To make a supply chain more competitive, capable of responding to the demands of customers with agility and capable of responding effectively to unexpected disturbance, in conjugation with environmental responsibilities and the necessity to eliminate processes that add no value, companies must implement a set of LARG SCM practices and key performance indicators (KPI) to measure their influence on the SC performance. However, the selection of the best LARG SCM practices and KPIs is a complex problem, involving dependencies and feedbacks. This paper proposes an integrated LARG analytic network process (ANP) model to support decision-making in choosing the most appropriate practices and KPIs to be implemented by companies in an SC. To validate the model in an exploratory approach, a case study in an automaker supply chain is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although Six Sigma has been in business lexicon for more than 20 years, research has shown the need of practical implementation framework for successful deployment of Six Sigma, especially in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This article proposes a Six Sigma implementation framework customised to the needs of SMEs by performing a critique of quality management frameworks/models for SMEs and drawing conclusion from the empirical research conducted over 3 years. If Six Sigma is poorly launched, it will be very difficult to reorganise and regain momentum. Though the framework was tested in three SMEs and revised, still its robustness needs to be checked and refined based on suggestions and comments from industry, practitioners and academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing a dynamic and complex urban system according to the single concept of city development is insufficient. The study's aim is to present the main concepts of cities development, formulate a new hybrid concept of city, and propose a related index to support strategy implementation and monitoring. The research methods include literature scoping, literature content analysis, and linear ordering as a multivariate method of analysis. The research conclusion identifies a new hybrid concept of a "resilient smart sustainable city" and explains a distinction between weak and strong perception of the concept. The practical part of the research develops synthetic measure "Fundamental Power of the City Index" which allows to select variables representing individual cities' priorities and apply them in every city analysis, development strategy building, and monitoring. The Index is tested for 18 voivodship cities in Poland for the period 2014–2020. The results of this study can support city stakeholders in their efforts in developing "resilient smart sustainable city". • Sustainable, smart, and resilient city are the three main concepts of city development. • A resilient smart sustainable city is a new hybrid concept of city development that determines its development. • The proposed new index is a tool to support strategic diagnosis, strategy implementation, and monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

to facilitate and measure the benefits of integrating digital technologies, robotics and AI, in the healthcare system. HosmartAI main goal is to boost a strong, efficient, sustainable and resilient European healthcare system. The Consortium gathers 24 partners – large enterprises, SMEs, hospitals, universities, research centers and proffesional associations - from 12 European countries, has a 10 mil euro funding and its duration is 2021-2024. HosmartAI will use the co-construction with stakeholders and citizens for the best real world solution. 8 Large-Scale Pilots will implement and evaluate improvements in medical diagnosis, surgical interventions, prevention and treatment of diseases, and support for rehabilitation and long-term care in several Hospital and care settings involving 3000 patients, 300 healthcare professionals, 600 steakholders from 5 EU regions. The objectives view 3 areas: business – focusing on the pre-comercial solution evaluation and validation, technical – targeting the delivery and deployment in the real environment of the HosmartAI platform, and scientific and innovation - focusing on the research to deliver a rigorous and self-standing methodology to drive the implementation and define its operational principles.

The article focuses on research on the functioning of liquid fuel supply chains, supplying troops carrying out peacekeeping and stabilisation operations in a foreign territory. Timely and complete supplies of fuels in war conditions determine the achievement of the assumed goals of a military operation. They often determine the health and life of soldiers. For this reason, the role of building the resilience of supply chains to disruptions, the type and frequency of which is entirely different from the undesirable events occurring in civil goods flows, is increasing. Therefore, the critical concept supporting building the resilience of fuel supply chains is risk management in these chains. The authors have developed a risk analysis method that integrates the Kaplan and Garrick approach and the fuzzy theory. The analysis identifies the existing disturbances and assigns them to the individual phases of the supply process. To illustrate the applicability of the proposed method, the authors analyse nine scenarios for the three most important stages of the procurement process in terms of building the resilience of the entire chain: Planning, delivery and storage. The fuzzy theory estimates the risk level for the analysed scenarios of adverse events. The proposed method is universal. It can be implemented to analyse the resistance of supply chains of other materials. It can also support the decision-making process for those responsible for planning, organisation and proper functioning of supply systems in all high-risk conditions, not only in the zone of war and stabilisation operations.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) currently has no FDA-approved treatments that reduce symptoms in the majority of patients. The ability to extinguish fear memory associations is impaired in PTSD individuals. As such, the development of extinction-enhancing pharmacological agents to be used in combination with exposure therapies may benefit the treatment of PTSD. Both mGlu5 and CB1 receptors have been implicated in contextual fear extinction. Thus, here we tested the ability of the mGlu5 positive allosteric modulator 3-Cyano-N-(1,3-diphenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yl)benzamide (CDPPB) and cannabidiol (CBD) to reduce both conditioned and unconditioned fear. We used a predator-threat animal model of PTSD which we and others have previously shown to capture the heterogeneity of anxiety responses observed in humans exposed to trauma. Here, 1 week following a 10-min exposure to predator scent stress, rats were classified into stress-Susceptible and stress-Resilient phenotypes using behavioral criteria for elevated plus maze and acoustic startle response performance. Two weeks after classification, rats underwent 3 days of contextual fear extinction and were treated with vehicle, CDPPB or CBD prior to each session. Finally, the light-dark box test was employed to assess phenotypic differences and the effects of CDPPB and CBD on unconditioned anxiety. CDPBB but not CBD, reduced freezing in Susceptible rats relative to vehicle. In the light-dark box test for unconditioned anxiety, CBD, but not CDPPB, reduced anxiety in Susceptible rats. Resilient rats displayed reduced anxiety in the light-dark box relative to Susceptible rats. Taken together, the present data indicate that enhancement of mGlu5 receptor signaling in populations vulnerable to stress may serve to offset a resistance to fear memory extinction without producing anxiogenic effects. Furthermore, in a susceptible population, CBD attenuates unconditioned but not conditioned fear. Taken together, these findings support the use of predator-threat stress exposure in combination with stress-susceptibility phenotype classification as a model for examining the unique drug response profiles and altered neuronal function that emerge as a consequence of the heterogeneity of psychophysiological response to stress.

Some English language learners (ELLs) do well in school despite coming from school and home environments that present many obstacles for learning. It is important to know why these students, who are at risk of academic failure, are resilient and successful in school while other ELLs from equally stressful environments are unsuccessful or non-resilient. This educational resiliency perspective is meaningful because it focuses on the predictors of academic success rather than on academic failure. It enables us to specifically identify those "alterable" factors that distinguish successful and less successful students. The thrust in this area of research is to extend previous studies that merely identified and categorized students at risk of failure and shift to studies that focus on identifying potential individual and school processes that lead to and foster success (Wang, Haertel, & Walberg, 1994; Winfield, 1991).During the past 4 years of the CREDE project, "Improving Classroom Instruction and Student Learning for Resilient and Non-Resilient English Language Learners," we conducted research with approximately 1,000 fourth and fifth-grade students from 21 classrooms in three elementary schools identified as having large proportions of ELLs (i.e., more than 80%) as well as having students from high-poverty families (about 90% received free or reduced-cost lunches). Classroom teachers were asked to identify their population of students at risk (e.g., students from families of low socioeconomic status, living with a single parent, relative, or guardian). Students identified as "gifted or talented" or "special education" were excluded from the population in order to avoid potential effects related to ability differences. From the final pool of students at risk of failure, teachers selected up to three "resilient" and three "non-resilient" students in their class. "Resilient" students were high achieving on both standardized achievement tests and daily school work, were very motivated, and had excellent attendance. "Non-resilient" students were low achieving on both standardized achievement tests and daily school work, were not motivated, and had poor attendance. The following sections briefly summarize some of the key findings from our work as we focused on the concept of resiliency. 10% of the time. Both resilient and non-resilient students were observed interacting with their teacher only about 10% of the time and with other students only about 8% of the time. Resilient students were observed being "on-task" about 83% of the time, whereas non-resilient students were observed being "on-task" only 63% of the time.

Stress-related sleep disturbances are distressing clinical symptoms in posttraumatic stress disorder patients. Intensely stressful events and their memories change rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in animal models. REM sleep varies with individual differences of stress resilience or vulnerability. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) is a primary mediator of the effects of stress and fear memories on sleep. However, the molecular mechanisms in BLA regulating the effects of fear conditioning, shock training (ST) and context re-exposure (CTX) on REM sleep are not well known. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs and posttranscriptional gene regulators of diverse biological processes. The aim of this study is to investigate ST- and CTX-altered miRNAs in the BLA of resilience and vulnerable animals and on REM sleep regulation. MiRNAs expression profiles in BLA were generated following ST and CTX using the Taqman Low Density rodent microRNA array. The altered BLA miRNAs expression and REM sleep reduction observed in ST and CTX vulnerable animals. AntagomiR-221 microinjection into BLA for one of the upregulated miRNAs, miR-221 in BLA, attenuated the REM sleep reduction. This study suggests that miRNAs in the BLA may play a significant role in mediating the effects of stress and fear memories on REM sleep.