Offshore oil and gas process plants are exposed to hazardous accidents such as explosion and fire, so that the structural components should resist such accidental loads. Given the possibilities of thousands of different scenarios for the occurrence of an accidental hazard, the best way to predict a reasonable size of a specific accidental load would be the employment of a probabilistic approach...

We provide evidence for the proposition that the computational complexity of individual problems, and of whole complexity classes, hinge on the existence of certain solvable polynomial systems that are unlikely to be encountered other than by systematic explorations for them. We consider a minimalist version of Cook’s 3CNF problem, namely that of monotone planar 3CNF formulae where each variabl...

The “reanimations” of profoundly cold victims in prolonged cardiac arrest and the emergence of therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest help explain the contemporary allure of hypothermia. A 29-year-old Norwegian physician was successfully resuscitated from accidental hypothermia at 13.7° C after a 9-hour resuscitation. This included cardiopulmonary resuscitation initiated at the scene and ...

Accidental hypothermia is an acute medical emergency with a high mortality rate. Physiologic derangements include hypoxemia, hypotension, acidosis, and arrhythmias. Management consists of careful monitoring rewarming, vigorous supportive care, and treatment of underlying and complicating disorders. Active core rewarming is recommended for hypothermia with associated cardiovascular insufficiency...

A worsening of the accidental hazards linked to the use of ionizing radiation is currently being observed for four reasons. First, the increasing need for radiation sources in numerous industrial applications (food sterilization, construction, engineering...) leads to an increasing probability of loss of the sources or abnormal/unsuitable use and storage. Second, advances in medicine generate n...