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More than 226 million people are affected by some type of disaster every year in various dimensions of human life, both in the short and long term. In this context, housing provision plays a leading role when it comes to basic needs and the choice of construction technologies and materials are determinant for a well-succeeded housing provision process. This work aims to analyze the viability of reinforced masonry technology with cement-stabilized compressed earth blocks as an alternative for the (re)construction process in situations that involve disaster risk reduction (DRR). To address this issue, a discussion from the literature and the main results obtained during the investigations carried out within the scope of the Simple Housing Solution (SHS) Project are presented. In the sequence, analyses are performed under United Nations Development Program/International Recovery Platform sustainability recommendations: environmental, technical, financial and socio-organizational aspects. It is concluded that the technology of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) reinforced structural masonry has a high potential to be successfully applied in DRR situations, especially when associated with the community construction system in a joint effort.

This study compares physical and behavioral characteristics of currently used cuffed tracheal tubes. Variability in physical and behavioral characteristics between size 8 tracheal tubes and cuffs exists: radius of tube curvature varies from 12.1 to 15.8 cm, bevel angle 39 to 56 degrees, bevel direction 73 to 107 degrees, distance from proximal end of bevel to cuff 15.4 to 24.4 mm, internal tube diameter 7.5 to 8.8 mm, wall thickness 1.14 to 2.37 mm, force to collapse 1020 to 3103 g, angle to kink 52 to 96 degrees, and indentation hardness 65.4 to 83.1. Cuff lengths vary from 29.7 to 45.3 mm, thickness 0.03 to 0.54 mm, diameter 14.5 to 32 mm, and cuff resting volume 0.15 to 19.9 ml. We recommend use of a soft, thermolabile, kink- and collapse-resistant tracheal tube fitted with a soft, thin-walled, tough, compliant, moderately long cuff, with a moderately large resting volume and diameter larger than tracheal diameter. Argyle, National Catheter, Ohio, Portex, Rusch "safety," and Shiley tracheal tubes resist collapse and kinking. Argyle, Lanz, National Catheter "hi-lo," National Catheter "intermediate hi-lo," Ohio, and Portex "profile" cuffs are thin and have diameters larger than the average male tracheal diameter.