Establishing a comprehensive management framework to manage the risk from natural hazards is challenging because of the extensive affected areas, uncertainty in predictions of natural disasters, and the involvement of various stakeholders. Applying risk management practices proven in the industrial sector can assist systematic hazard identification and quantitative risk assessment for natural hazards, thereby promoting interactive risk communication to the public. The objective of this study is to introduce methods of studying risk commonly used in the process industry, and to suggest how such methods can be applied to manage natural disasters. In particular, the application of Hazard and Operability (HAZOP), Safety Integrated Level (SIL), and Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA) was investigated, as these methods are used to conduct key studies in industry. We present case studies of the application of HAZOP to identify climate-related natural hazards, and of SIL and QRA studies that were performed to provide quantitative risk indices for landslide risk management. The analyses presented in this study can provide a useful framework for improving the risk management of natural hazards through establishing a more systematic context and facilitating risk communication.

We investigated the anticancer effect of the aptamer‐conjugated gemcitabine‐loaded atelocollagen patch in a pancreatic cancer patient–derived xenograft (PDX) model to propose a future potential adjuvant surgical strategy during curative pancreatic resection for pancreatic cancer. A pancreatic cancer PDX model was established. Animals were grouped randomly into a no‐treatment control group; treatment group treated with intraperitoneal gemcitabine injection (IP‐GEM) or aptamer‐conjugated gemcitabine (APT:GEM); and transplant with three kinds of patches: atelocollagen‐aptamer‐gemcitabine (patch I), atelocollagen‐inactive aptamer‐gemcitabine (patch II), and atelocollagen‐gemcitabine (patch III). Tumor volumes and response were evaluated based on histological analysis by H&E staining and Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed. Anticancer therapy–related toxicity was evaluated by hematologic findings. The patch I group showed the most significant reduction of tumor growth rate, compared with the no‐treatment group (p < 0.05). However, other treatment groups were not found to show significant reduction in tumor growth rate (0.05 < p < 0.1). There was no microscopic evidence suggesting potential toxicity, such as inflammation, nor necrotic changes in liver, lung, kidney, and spleen tissue. In addition, no leukopenia, anemia, or neutropenia was observed in the patch I group. This implantable aptamer‐drug conjugate system is thought to be a new surgical strategy to augment the oncologic significance of margin‐negative resection in treating pancreatic cancer in near future.

Abstract.Landslide is one of the most dangerous disasters in terms of occurrence frequency and damage severity that result in loss of human life and social infrastructure. Monitoring methods based on low temporal resolution instruments such as an inclinometer or piezometer can be an effective and cost-efficient solution. The objective of this research is to analyse monitoring time 15 intervals for low temporal resolution methods based on a risk study and to propose a plan for periodic landslide monitoring along with the different landslide hazard areas by considering the risk reduction effect. For this purpose, an equation for the probability of landslide occurrence was denoted by the concept of reliability, and the monitoring time interval was analysed quantitatively by calculating the average probability of landslide occurrence. To identity the frequency of landslide occurrence, a unit of relative temporal frequencies was adopted, and it was estimated by establishing rainfall threshold. As a case study 20 site, Pyeongchang County was selected, where landslide inventory data are available and an increase in population and infrastructure has been observed since Pyeongchang became the host city of the 2018 winter Olympic games. The result demonstrates that the appropriate monitoring intervals can be determined by calculating the average probability of landslide occurrence, and resources can then be allocated efficiently for landslide prevention.

No abstract

Numerous rockfall incidents involving infrastructure damage and loss of life have been reported along roads in mountainous terrain. Previous studies have used quantitative risk assessment approaches to identify the level of rockfall risk. However, appropriate quantitative indicators that are able to describe time-varying risk have not yet been developed. This study aims to develop a rockfall risk mitigation method based on reliability concepts, to classify rockfall data, to model the probability of rockfall occurrence, and to estimate the magnitude of risk reduction through mitigation measures. A synthetic measure of rockfall risk is proposed, which allows to compare directly and quantitatively the rockfall risk for different cut slopes under unmitigated and mitigated conditions. The proposed methodology can estimate the risk reduction obtained by using mitigation measures, such as introducing protections barriers, their periodic maintenance, and horizontal coverage ratio. This methodology was applied to 20 years of rockfall data collected by the Korea Expressway Corporation from 1215 artificial cut slopes along the highway network in South Korea. The rockfall frequency was analyzed based on the inventory data, and a rockfall hazard mitigation strategy was demonstrated by using the suggested methodology for the case study. It was shown that appropriate mitigation strategies, based on number of protection barriers, interval of periodic maintenance, and horizontal coverage ratio, can be devised to reduce the risk of different artificial slopes below a target failure probability. The approach shown in this study can provide insights into ways of improving overall risk management to prevent losses by rockfall.