MyMedR

Displaying publications 21 - 28 of 28 in total

Abstract:

Sort:

Fulltext Effect of having a subsequent child on the mental health of women who lost a child in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake: a cross-sectional study

Xu Y, Herrman H, Bentley R, Tsutsumi A, Fisher J

Bull World Health Organ, 2014 May 01;92(5):348-55.
PMID: 24839324 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.13.124677

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether having a subsequent child had an effect on the mental health of Chinese mothers who lost a child during an earthquake.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of bereaved mothers was conducted 30 to 34 months after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake using individual structured interviews to assess sociodemographic characteristics, post-disaster experiences and mental health. The interviews incorporated standardized psychometric measures of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complicated grief (CG). Social support was also assessed. An adjusted model taking potential confounders into account was used to explore any association between psychological symptoms and the birth of a subsequent child.
FINDINGS: The prevalence of psychological symptoms was higher in mothers who did not have a child after losing the first one. In an adjusted model, symptoms of anxiety (odds ratio, OR: 3.37; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.51-7.50), depression (OR: 9.47; 95% CI: 2.58-34.80), PTSD (OR: 5.11; 95% CI: 2.31-11.34) and CG (OR: 10.73; 95% CI: 1.88-61.39) were significantly higher among the 116 women without a subsequent child than among the 110 mothers who had another child after bereavement. More than two thirds of the mothers with new infants had clinically important psychological symptoms.
CONCLUSION: Women who have lost an only child in a natural disaster are especially vulnerable to long-term psychological problems, especially if they have reached an age when conception is difficult. Research should focus on developing and evaluating interventions designed to provide women with psychosocial support and reproductive services.

Matched MeSH terms: Earthquakes
Fulltext Earthquake and tsunami research in USM: the role of disaster research nexus

Hock, Lye Koh, Su, Yean Teh, Taksiah A. Majid, Tze, Liang Lau, Fauziah Ahmad

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2012;20(1):151-163.
MyJurnal

The 2004 Banda Aceh earthquake and ensuing Andaman mega tsunami that killed a quarter million people worldwide is a wake-up call to many. Active research was initiated in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) immediately after the infamous event with the aims to help develop human capacity and resources, and to mitigate any future earthquake and tsunami. The Disaster Research Nexus (DRN) was formed recently within the School of Civil Engineering, USM, to facilitate active collaborative research on earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as on other natural disasters, such as landslides. This paper begins with an introduction to DRN. This is followed by a description of some research achievements undertaken by DRN staff. A concise exposition on the tsunami simulation model TUNA developed by the authors and its application to the 2004 Andaman tsunami are given to illustrate the capability of TUNA. The role of mangrove in reducing the impact of tsunami is then modelled. Tsunami may inundate coastal plain with large quantity of saline water, changing the salinity regimes in the soil and inducing vegetative succession changes. A model called MANHAM was developed to simulate the salinity changes and its associated vegetative evolution to assist in the rehabilitation of vegetation destroyed by tsunami. Meanwhile, an earthquake risk analysis for the Upper Pandas Dam in Sabah is then presented, and this is followed by a model estimation of tsunami forces on the coastal structures. The main objective of this paper is to reach out to research scientists and onsite risk reduction professionals to collaborate towards the development of a vibrant research culture to face future natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. It is hoped that DRN will move forward to further enhance active collaborations with other research and operational institutions worldwide towards developing earthquake and tsunami resilient communities.

Matched MeSH terms: Earthquakes
Fulltext Medical relief to 2008 Sichuan earthquake, China

Chew BH

Malays Fam Physician, 2008;3(3):170-172.
MyJurnal

The massive 2008 Sichuan earthquake brought unprecedented international humanitarian aid to China. The monstrous damages and casualties aroused all human's sympathy. I took the opportunity to join a Malaysian voluntary medical relief team to Sichuan in June 2008. This essay recounts the immediate events post-earthquake and reports on my experience during the mission.

Matched MeSH terms: Earthquakes
Real-Time Impact Analysis and Response using a New Disaster Metrics: 2018 Sulawesi (Indonesia) Earthquake and Tsunami

Yew Y, Arcos González P, Castro Delgado R

Prehosp Disaster Med, 2020 Feb;35(1):76-82.
PMID: 31928556 DOI: 10.1017/S1049023X19005247

INTRODUCTION: The Richter Scale measures the magnitude of the seismic activity for an earthquake; however, it does not quantify the humanitarian need at the point of impact. This poses a challenge for humanitarian stakeholders in decision and policy making, especially in risk reduction, response, recovery, and reconstruction. The new disaster metrics tool titled "The YEW Disaster Severity Index" (DSI) was developed and presented at the 2017 World Congress of Disaster and Emergency Medicine, May 2017, Toronto, Canada. It uses a median score of three for vulnerability and exposure indicators, a median score percentage of 100%, and medium YEW DSI scoring of four to five as baseline, indicating the ability to cope within local capacity. Therefore, scoring more than baseline coping capacity indicates that external assistance is needed. This special real-time report was presented at the 2nd National Pre-Hospital Care Conference and Championship, October 2018, Malaysia.
REPORT: The aim of this analysis is to present the real-time humanitarian impact and response to the 2018 earthquake and tsunami at Donggala and Palu, Sulawesi in Indonesia using the new disaster metrics YEW DSI. Based on the earthquake (measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale) and tsunami at Donggala, the humanitarian impact calculated on September 29, 2018 scored 7.4 High in the YEW DSI with 11 of the total 17 indicators scoring more than the baseline coping capacity. The same YEW DSI score of 7.4 was scored on the earthquake and tsunami at Palu, with 13 of the total 17 indicators scoring more than baseline ability to cope within local capacity. Impact analysis reports were sent to relevant authorities on September 30, 2018.
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION: A State of Emergency was declared for a national response, which indicated an inability to cope within the local capacity, shown by the YEW DSI. The strong correlation between the earthquake magnitude, intensities, and the humanitarian impact at Donggala and Palu reported could be added into the science of knowledge in prehospital care and disaster medicine research and practice. As a conclusion, the real-time disaster response was found to be almost an exact fit with the YEW DSI indicators, demonstrating the inability to cope within the local capacity.

Matched MeSH terms: Earthquakes*
Fulltext Seismic isolation retrofitting solution for an existing steel cable-stayed bridge

Javanmardi A, Ibrahim Z, Ghaedi K, Khan NB, Benisi Ghadim H

PLoS One, 2018;13(7):e0200482.
PMID: 30059506 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200482

This paper investigated the seismic retrofitting of an existing cable-stayed bridge through the use of a seismic isolation system. The bridge is situated in a high seismic zone. During the Saguenay earthquake 1988, one of the anchorage plates of the bridge supports failed. Herein, several configurations of seismic isolation system were considered to identify an appropriate solution for the seismic retrofitting of the bridge in both the longitudinal and transverse directions. A three-dimensional model of the bridge was created, and its seismic behavior studied through nonlinear dynamic time-history analysis. The comparative performance study among the five retrofitting configurations showed that the partial seismic isolation of the bridge led to an enhancement of the seismic response of the bridge in one direction only. However, the overall seismic response of the cable-stayed bridge substantially improved in the longitudinal and transverse directions in cases where the isolation systems were utilized between the supports and the deck-tower connection of the bridge.

Matched MeSH terms: Earthquakes*
Fulltext Climate change and its impact on public health – a review of the global environment

Ambu, Stephen

International e-Journal of Science, Medicine & Education, 2012;6(10):0-0.
MyJurnal

Climate change is a product of human actions. The extreme events such as flash floods, droughts, heat waves, earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis seen in the world today are the result of indiscriminate human intrusion into the environment. Vulnerable countries and populations are the most affected by these climatic events. This places a burden on the resources of these countries. The Kyoto Protocol is a milestone in environmental management and the impetus created by it must be maintained by carrying out the much needed research into appropriate mitigating measures that will alleviate the climate
change impact globally. A paradigm shift is needed in addressing the associated risks on human health to assess socioeconomic determinants and the related impacts on disease burden. Some wealthy nations emphasize economic benefits and downplay sustainability goals, health and equality. However the rising cost of energy is beginning to influence their outlook towards this issue. The implications on economics, human health and wellbeing are implicit. In order to strike a balance between disadvantaged and privileged nations, many
international agencies are spearheading various research agenda to improve adaptation programmes on effects of changing climatic conditions on health. Malaysia too has such programmes initiated under its 5-year development plans.

Matched MeSH terms: Earthquakes
Fulltext Investigation of Fibers Reinforced Engineered Cementitious Composites Properties Using Quartz Powder

Liew MS, Aswin M, Danyaro KU, Mohammed BS, Al-Yacouby AM

Materials (Basel), 2020 May 26;13(11).
PMID: 32466366 DOI: 10.3390/ma13112428

In relation to the use of retrofit materials on damaged constructions, application on earthquake-resistant buildings, and for the strengthening and rehabilitation on weakened regions, there is a need for a more superior material than concrete. Application sites include beam-column joints, corbels, link-slabs, deep beams, support regions and dapped-end areas. Fiber reinforced engineered cementitious composites (FR-ECC) can address this issue, because FR-ECC is one of the composite materials that has high strength, ductility and durability. In order to develop FR-ECC, this study was done to investigate the effect of adding quartz powder on the compressive strength capacity and properties of FR-ECC through the use of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and steel fibers. The volume fraction of fiber was set to 0%-2%. To support the friendly environment, FR-ECC uses by-product materials such as fly ash and silica fume, with a cement content less than 600 kg/m3. In terms of the experimental investigation on FR-ECC, this work conducted the fresh property tests showing that PVA fibers have quite an influence on ECC workability, due to their hydrophilic behavior. By adjusting the superplasticizer (SP) content, the consistency and high workability of the ECC mixes have been achieved and maintained. The test results indicated that the PVA and steel fibers-based ECC mixes can be classified as self-compacting composites and high early compressive strength composites. Significantly, addition of quartz powder into the ECC mixes increased the compressive strength ratio of the ECC samples up to 1.0747. Furthermore, the steel fiber-based ECC samples exhibited greater compressive strength than the PVA fibers-based ECC samples with the strength ratio of 1.1760. Due to effect of the pozzolanic reaction, the fibers dispersion and orientation in the fresh ECC mixes, so that the cementitious matrices provided the high strength on the FR-ECC samples. During the compression loading, the bulging effect always occurred before the failures of the fibers-based ECC samples. No spalling occurred at the time of rupture and the collapse occurred slowly. Thus, FR-ECC has provided unique characteristics, which will reduce the high cost of maintenance.

Matched MeSH terms: Earthquakes
Fulltext Development of p-y curves of laterally loaded piles in cohesionless soil

Khari M, Kassim KA, Adnan A

ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:917174.
PMID: 24574932 DOI: 10.1155/2014/917174

The research on damages of structures that are supported by deep foundations has been quite intensive in the past decade. Kinematic interaction in soil-pile interaction is evaluated based on the p-y curve approach. Existing p-y curves have considered the effects of relative density on soil-pile interaction in sandy soil. The roughness influence of the surface wall pile on p-y curves has not been emphasized sufficiently. The presented study was performed to develop a series of p-y curves for single piles through comprehensive experimental investigations. Modification factors were studied, namely, the effects of relative density and roughness of the wall surface of pile. The model tests were subjected to lateral load in Johor Bahru sand. The new p-y curves were evaluated based on the experimental data and were compared to the existing p-y curves. The soil-pile reaction for various relative density (from 30% to 75%) was increased in the range of 40-95% for a smooth pile at a small displacement and 90% at a large displacement. For rough pile, the ratio of dense to loose relative density soil-pile reaction was from 2.0 to 3.0 at a small to large displacement. Direct comparison of the developed p-y curve shows significant differences in the magnitude and shapes with the existing load-transfer curves. Good comparison with the experimental and design studies demonstrates the multidisciplinary applications of the present method.

Matched MeSH terms: Earthquakes*