Explore the vast range of titles available.

Recent decades have drawn more attention to the United States' treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Few people realize, however, the extent of the country's relocation, internment, and repatriation of German and Italian Americans, who were interned in greater numbers than Japanese Americans. The United States also assisted other countries, especially in Latin America, in expelling \"dangerous\" aliens, primarily Germans. In Enemies among Us John E. Schmitz examines the causes, conditions, and consequences of America's selective relocation and internment of its own citizens and enemy aliens, as well as the effects of internment on those who experienced it. Looking at German, Italian, and Japanese Americans, Schmitz analyzes the similarities in the U.S. government's procedures for those they perceived to be domestic and hemispheric threats, revealing the consistencies in the government's treatment of these groups, regardless of race. Reframing wartime relocation and internment through a broader chronological perspective and considering policies in the wider Western Hemisphere, Enemies among Us provides new conclusions as to why the United States relocated, interned, and repatriated both aliens and citizens considered enemies.

Every year natural and man-made disasters cause considerable human and economic losses. It is essential to prepare for different relief operations to prevent and reduce these losses. In this paper, we propose an integrated evacuation and distribution logistic system to obtain simultaneous routing and scheduling of vehicles to evacuate people from affected areas to shelters and provide them with necessary relief commodities. We assume that shelters and vehicles have limited capacity and the demand of each affected area and distribution center could be fulfilled by more than one vehicle (split delivery). The proposed problem is formulated as a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming model with the objective of minimization of the sum of arrival times of the vehicles at affected areas, shelters, and distribution centers. We also propose a Memetic Algorithm (MA) to solve this integrated model on large-scale problems efficiently after tuning the MA parameters using the Taguchi method. The proposed model and algorithm are used to solve a case study in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The evaluation of the results shows the effectiveness of the proposed disaster relief logistic system in minimizing the total waiting time of evacuees and delivery time of supplies. The results also show that the number of relief vehicles and capacity of shelters can considerably affect the total relief time in disaster relief operations.

A framework utilizing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in tsunami evacuation training is proposed to counteract the adverse effects of evacuation by car despite the evacuation on foot principle during tsunamis. This approach involves tsunami evacuation simulation technology and Kiken Yochi (hazard prediction) training (KYT). The simulator was validated based on the insights acquired from Ishinomaki City residents who lived through the Great East Japan earthquake. Data were collected on safe evacuations in chaotic traffic situations, to create a quiz-like training application for traffic safety education. Training effectiveness was assessed using the simulator and KYT-based application, focusing on Nishio City, which is a projected tsunami target following a potential Nankai Trough earthquake. Most participants experiencing the simulator understood the drawbacks of using cars and were willing to evacuate on foot if a nearby safe place was accessible. However, some participants still opted for car evacuation despite acknowledging the risks. A comprehensive approach is required to achieve a significant reduction in car usage during evacuations. Application-oriented experiments indicated heightened situational awareness and hazard prediction among participants although no statistically significant differences in gaze duration were found. Further research is required to objectively and quantitatively evaluate the application’s impact on traffic safety.

Subway systems are highly vulnerable to disasters because of their confined underground structures and limited evacuation routes, making accurate evacuation analysis essential for reducing casualties. Most existing studies overlook panic behavior, leading to unrealistic assessments of evacuation efficiency. This study develops a modeling framework that integrates panic behavior into agent-based subway evacuation simulations. The framework incorporates three behavioral factors: reaction delays to emergency cues, hesitation at decision points, and irrational route choices. Simulation experiments were conducted under different occupancy conditions, and results from panic-integrated and non-panic scenarios were compared. Findings show that the inclusion of panic significantly prolongs evacuation time, with delays of up to 30% in full-scale scenarios due to congestion and route errors. These outcomes demonstrate that panic behavior exerts a decisive influence on evacuation dynamics and should not be neglected in simulation studies. Incorporating panic into evacuation modeling provides a more realistic basis for designing safer subway systems and developing effective emergency response strategies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework of applying the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to the intelligent evacuation protocol in libraries at emergency situations. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted field investigations on eight libraries in Wuhan, China, analyzed the characteristics of crowd gathering in libraries and the problems of the libraries’ existing evacuation plans. Therefore, an IoT-based intelligent evacuation protocol in libraries was proposed. Its basic structure consisted of five components: the information base, the protocol base, the IoT sensors, the information fusion system and the intelligent evacuation protocol generation system. In the information fusion system, Dempster–Shafer (D-S) evidence theory was employed as the information fusion algorithm to fuse the multi-sensor information at multiple time points, so as to reduce the uncertainty of disaster prediction. The authors also conducted a case study on the Library L in Wuhan, China. A specific evacuation route was generated for a fire and the crowd evacuation was simulated by the software Patherfind. Findings The proposed IoT-based evacuation protocol has four distinguishing features: scenario corresponding, precise evacuation, dynamic correction and intelligent decision-making. The case study shows that the proposed protocol is feasible in practice, indicating that the IoT technologies have great potential to be successfully applied to the safety management in libraries. Research limitations/implications The software and hardware requirements as well as the Internet network requirements of IoT technologies need to be further discussed. Practical implications The proposed IoT-based intelligent evacuation protocol can be widely used in libraries, which is one of the inspirations for the use of IoT technologies in modern constructers. Originality/value The application of IoT technologies in libraries is a brand-new topic that has drawn much attention in academia recently. The crowd safety management in libraries is of great significance, and there is little professional literature on it. This paper proposes an IoT-based intelligent evacuation protocol, aiming at improving the safety management in libraries at emergency situations.

Modern subway systems have increased in size and complexity, and this growth presents significant challenges for planners of emergency evacuations. In this study, the effectiveness of the simplified and advanced evacuation analysis methods recommended by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are evaluated for Guryong Station in Seoul, South Korea. The simplified evacuation analysis method facilitates rapid assessments by using general parameters, while the advanced evacuation analysis entails performing detailed simulations of human behavior and physical interactions. Our findings indicate that the results of the simplified evacuation analysis method are reasonably close to those of the more time-consuming advanced evacuation analysis method, thereby demonstrating the practical applicability of the former method for conducting initial evacuation safety assessments. Specifically, both the simplified and advanced methods showed a 20% reduction in Total Evacuation Time when tunnel evacuation routes were utilized. This finding demonstrates that the simplified method can produce results comparable to the advanced method, making it a reliable tool for initial assessments and for evaluating alternative strategies to reduce evacuation time. By demonstrating that the simplified evacuation analysis method can yield reliable results, we provide valuable insights for developing smart, resilient cities with efficient emergency-response capabilities.

This study employed Virtual Reality (VR) technology to investigate the influence of corridor directional configuration on evacuation wayfinding behavior in underground spaces. The study designed two virtual underground space fire evacuation scenarios with different forms of intersections, and recruited 115 volunteers to participate in the experiment.The results indicated that corridor directional configuration significantly affected participants’ fire evacuation wayfinding behavior. At Y-shaped and T-shaped intersections with left and right turning options, participants showed a preference for choosing the right-side corridor. At ┡-shaped and ┩-shaped intersections with straight and turning options, participants tended to choose the straight path. Individual factors (such as gender, evacuation experience, and professional background) did not demonstrate significant effects on wayfinding choices in this study, though they may produce different evacuation outcomes in various scenarios. In practical evacuation design, corridor directional configuration should be organically integrated with other environmental factors to reinforce directional preferences and more effectively guide evacuation. The findings provide scientific evidence for underground space evacuation route design, which can be used to optimize evacuation signage and path configuration, thereby improving evacuation efficiency and safety. Future research could be conducted in more complex environments, considering additional variables to gain a more comprehensive understanding of evacuation behavior.

This study focused on pre-flood measures to estimate evacuation times impacted by flood depths and identify alternate routes to reduce loss of life and manage evacuation measures during flood disasters. Evacuation measures, including traffic characteristics, were reviewed according to different flood depths. Several scenarios were constructed for different flooding situations and traffic volumes. Evacuation times in the study area were evaluated and compared for all scenarios with reference to dry conditions. Results of network performance indicators compared to the dry situation showed that average speed dropped to 2 km/h, VHT rose above 200%, and VKT rose above 30%. Cumulative evacuee arrival percentage increased when flood levels were higher than 5 cm. Flood levels of 10–15, 15–20, 20–25, and 25–30 cm represented percentages of remaining evacuees at 9%, 19%, 49%, and 83%, respectively. Time taken to evacuate increased according to flood level. For flood depths of 5–30 cm, travel time increased by 40, 90, 260, and 670 min, respectively, suggesting the need for early evacuation before the flood situation becomes serious.

Despite the increase in frequency and intensity of wildfires around the world, little research has examined households’ expectations of evacuation logistics and evacuation time estimate (ETE) components during such rapid-onset disasters. To address this gap, this study analyzes data from 152 household responses affected by the devastating 2018 wildfire in Mati, Greece where the second-deadliest wildfire of the 21st century took place. The questionnaire measured residents’ expectations of how they would respond to a future wildfire. This includes the number of vehicles they would take, their evacuation destination and route choices, and their expected evacuation preparation and travel times. Explanatory variables include risk perceptions, wildfire preparedness, wildfire experience, and demographic characteristics. The univariate results reveal some similarities to, but also some differences from, expected evacuation logistics and ETE components in other natural hazards. Moreover, correlation and regression analyses show that expected evacuation logistics and ETE components are primarily related to wildfire preparedness actions. Comparison of this study’s results with other rapid onset events such as tsunamis and hazardous material incidents, as well as longer onset events such as hurricanes, sheds light on household responses to wildfires. Emergency managers can use the similarities in results across studies to better prepare for wildfire evacuations.

School-aged children are a vulnerable group in emergencies, showing distinct grouping behaviors under ordered and disordered evacuations. This study investigated how these behaviors affect evacuation efficiency and how spatial conditions shape outcomes. Two drills were conducted on 216 children aged 6–12. Indicators including movement speed, crowd density, and grouping type were analyzed from video data. Disordered evacuation featured unstable group structures, variable speeds, and faster but less consistent movement. In contrast, ordered evacuation improved group stability and coordination, with only slight speed reductions (16% in corridors and 12% in stairways). Spatial conditions also affected grouping behavior. Wider corridors encouraged lateral dispersion and required stronger guidance, whereas stairways benefited from reduced control to alleviate congestion. These findings highlight how grouping behavior affects evacuation efficiency across evacuation forms and spatial settings, and underscore the importance of coordinating evacuation management strategies with building circulation design. The results provide empirical evidence for enhancing the safety of school-aged children during evacuations and offer practical guidance for optimizing school evacuation strategies and educational building design.