Global policies on disaster risk reduction have highlighted individual and community responsibilities and roles in reducing risk and promoting coping capacity. Strengthening local preparedness is viewed as an essential element in effective response and recovery. This paper presents a synthesis of available literature on household preparedness published over the past 15 years. It emphasizes the complexity of preparedness, involving personal and contextual factors such as health status, self-efficacy, community support, and the nature of the emergency. In addition, people require sufficient knowledge, motivation and resources to engage in preparedness activities. Social networks have been identified as one such resource which contributes to resilience. A predominant gap in the literature is the need for evidence-informed strategies to overcome the identified challenges to household preparedness. In particular, the construct of social capital and how it can be used to foster individual and community capacity in emergency situations requires further study.

We performed fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to investigate the numeric change of chromosomes 7, 17, and Y and loss of chromosome 3p in "papillary renal cell carcinomas (RCC) with extensive clear cell changes (CCC)." Consecutive cases of RCC over a 12-year period were reviewed to identify "papillary RCC with extensive CCC." Immunostaining for cytokeratin 7 and alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) and FISH for chromosomes 7, 17, Y, and 3p were applied. Of the total of 521 RCC retrieved, there were 49 RCC with papillary architecture and clear cell areas that could be divided into: Group 1 (12 cases), typical clear cell RCC with focal areas of papillary formation; Group 2 (28 cases), focal typical papillary RCC having papillary architecture with extensive CCC; and Group 3 (nine cases), RCC with an admixture of eosinophilic/clear cytoplasm and solid/papillary architecture. Group 1 showed negative immunoreactivity for CK7 and AMACR and absence of numeric chromosomal gain or loss of chromosomes 7/17 and Y. Groups 2 and 3 showed variable reactivity for CK7 and AMACR. Tumors in group 2 and five in group 3 showed trisomies of chromosomes 7 and/or 17 with or without loss of chromosome Y. Loss of small arm 3p was observed in groups 1 and 3 but not in group 2 tumors. In conclusion, papillary RCC may show phenotypical CCC mimicking clear cell RCC. In a small number of cases with mixed histopathological features, FISH is helpful in subtyping RCC.

With panaromic and 3-dimensional visualization, individual tumors/satellite or random nodules of multifocal PTC were readily identified in serial coronal sections of thyroidectomy specimens. Bilaterality was frequently observed in tumors associated with random PTC foci, whereas, the EN group tended to be unilateral and was not associated with random foci.

In this uncommon variant of RCC, FISH for chromosomes 7, 17, and Y lend more support for the role of immunostaining in distinguishing RO and chromophobe RCC from the nonchromophobe RCC. FISH for chromosomes 7, 17, Y, and loci 3p25 and 3p14, and not immunostaining for α-methylacyl-CoA racemase and CK7 is helpful in distinguishing CRCC from PRCC.

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