This paper presents the results of research carried out to improve emergency response activities in earthquake-prone areas of Iran. The research concentrated on emergency response operations, emergency medical care, emergency transportation, and evacuation-the most important issues after an earthquake with regard to saving the lives of victims. For each topic, some guidelines and criteria are p...

a Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Italy b NanoFacility Piemonte, Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRIM), 10135, Torino. c Optics & Photonics Technology Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), rue de la Maladière 71b, Neuchâtel CH-2002, Switzerland. d Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engine...

We investigate existence and permanence properties of invariant measures for abstract stochastic Cauchy problems of the form dU(t) = (AU(t) + f) dt+B dWH(t), t > 0, governed by the generator A of an asymptotically unstable C0-semigroup on a Banach space E. Here f ∈ E is fixed, WH is a cylindrical Brownian motion over a separable real Hilbert space H, and B : H → E is a bounded operator. We show...

In view of an enhancement of our implementation on the computer, we explore the possibility of an algorithmic optimization of the various proof-theoretic techniques employed by Kohlenbach for the synthesis of new (and better) effective uniform bounds out of established qualitative proofs in Numerical Functional Analysis. Concretely, we prove that the method (developed by the author in his thesi...

Development of the sugar beet cyst nematode, Heterodera schachtii, was studied in growth chambers at 20, 25, 29, 32 and 35 ± 1 oC on Beta vulgaris cv. Saccharifera. The optimum temperature for reproduction appeared to be 32 oC, at which the life cycle, from second-stage juvenile (J2) to J2, was completed in 16-19 days; at 35 oC, 20-21 days were required. Juveniles emerged from eggs within 29 da...

Numerous molecular studies have identified morphologically cryptic, freshwater invertebrate species, but have not suggested possible mechanisms for their phenotypic stasis. The amphipod crustacean genus Hyalella contains numerous morphologically cryptic species in the H. azteca complex, as well as a small number of morphologically very divergent, narrowly endemic taxa. One such taxon, Hyalella ...

The mature visual system possesses mechanisms that enable invariant perception of the contrast of an object and its features as the object undergoes changes in distance. This phenomenon, which has been called contrast constancy, obtains at suprathreshold contrasts only. Some models of contrast constancy assume the presence of narrowband spatial-frequency channels. An implication of M.S. Banks, ...