Responsible Agencies Research Articles

The Use of Augmented Reality in Tabletop Exercise for Disaster Preparedness Training: A Descriptive Abstract

Abstract Introduction Augmented reality (AR) is a valuable tool in disaster preparedness training such as tabletop exercises that enhances the exercise by overlaying digital information and virtual objects. Objective This study intends to develop an application using AR to be used during the exercise. Methods The data is collected through interviews on the opinions and views of the experts from five main agencies in a disaster response; the National Disaster Management Agency, the Royal Malaysia Police, the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia, the Ministry of Health, and the Malaysia Civil Defence Department, discussing their duties during a flood scenario. The consensus achieved after series of interviews with the experts, including document reviews guided by National Security Council Directive 20. Results The AR approach is created through ‘marker-based’ which use an image recognition to build up an engaging ‘storyline’ of flood scenario. It includes the updates on the changing plot during the exercise using an ‘inject’ meant to progress the plot and provide fresh data to evaluate and react to. Discussion Integrating virtual objects and entities into the tabletop exercise is made possible by AR, where it revolutionises how disaster responders being trained using an approach that more engaging and effective.

Дезинтермедиация международных расчетов в условиях становления многополярного мира

In the context of general globalization, the information society in digital realities faced the problem of ensuring national sovereignty. On the one hand, the threat to the banking system is the expanding ecosystem of alternative finance on the sidelines of the metaverse. On the other hand, the problem is aggravated by the forced localization and segmentation of the settlement and payment space: there are negative consequences of the payment systems dependence on the political beliefs of their administrators. As a result, the focus on the world multipolarity required the response of government agencies in the vector of searching for a digital channel for cross-border movement of monetary value. The attractiveness of the digital trusted environment is embodied in the “ideology+technology” complex. There are two approaches to integrating high-tech innovations into the global financial system: a) conformist, when only the technological component with the predominant preservation of the traditional economic structure is taken into account, and b) eccentric, combining fourth-generation web technologies and classical elements of centralization in the focus of the inextricable link between technology and innovation ideology. The authors conclude that the centralization characteristic of the first approach transforms high-tech innovation with its loss of specific features. This makes the solution (legitimate settlement stablecoin) unpromising. This implementation of the “digital” settlement format not only does not facilitate the design by disintermediation and providing users with the opportunity to directly participate in the movement of value, but, on the contrary, complicates it by entering additional participants. The search for selfsufficient conservative tools for cross-border transfers is archaism: the global digitalization race suggests that in the foreseeable future, no leading country will cede its leading position in the segment of supranational digital settlements, recognizing and accepting a competitor’s digital (crypto) asset as a potential impetus to currency hegemony. A nontrivial solution to the second approach is a digital service like a data container that officially translates the key values of the digital world into a trusted web 4.0 environment. It will provide participants in the international “digital” union with information exchange with a guarantee of independence through financial decisions at the national level. At the same time, the number of transfer stages using smart contracts is reduced, and the applying of artificial intelligence and smart analysis tools has a high potential to improve the quality of control and monitoring. Thus, during the period of expanding the opportunities of the virtual world, the role of metaverse as a new format of interaction is growing, capable of uniting participants at a new level of the settlement and payment space organization. It is advisable not to localize the new formation, but to segment it according to national characteristics with a guarantee of its international interactivity.

МОДЕЛИ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ПРОЦЕССА УПРАВЛЕНИЯ СФЕРОЙ ТУРИЗМА: ОПЫТ СИРИИ

The article is devoted to the study and analysis of the existing models of the organization of management of the tourism sector in Syria. The paper identifies the main tasks, including the analysis of the current models of management of the tourism industry in the country, the identification of the main approaches and principles on which the current management models depend, the assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of these models, the identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the existing management systems, as well as the provision of recommendations and proposals for the development of an effective management model. The results of the study can be used to prepare and provide recommendations to tourism organizations and responsible government agencies for improving the management of the industry, as well as for the training of tourism personnel based on the analysis of existing management models, and thereby increasing the competitiveness of Syrian tourism.

The Most Vulnerable Children Faced Unique Risks During COVID-19: How Agencies Communicated with Communities on Parenting in Low Resource and Humanitarian Settings

Evidence suggests that children in low resource and humanitarian settings experienced added mental health burdens and violence in the home during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, which may have affected their health and development. For humanitarian response agencies, conducting child protection services during this pandemic had been constrained by safety concerns related to the risk of COVID-19 transmission, and logistical issues aligned with social and public health measures. This paper describes how agencies responded to the identified risks children face, integrating remote risk communication and community engagement approaches and safe in-person dialogues with parents and caregivers into child protection interventions to educate about the disease and prevention, encourage a positive parenting environment and mitigate negative effects on children. United Nations (UN) agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) must reflect on these different approaches and share lessons learned and best practices internally and at an inter-agency level to support evidence-based responses for future epidemics and pandemics.

Impacts of pandemic service adaptations on job accessibility: A case study of the Bay Area Rapid Transit

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted transit's crucial role as a social service, ensuring access to essential destinations. Despite this, unprecedented ridership lows forced agencies to implement service cuts, disproportionately affecting essential workers and vulnerable populations. However, the full extent of these impacts remains underexplored. While existing literature examines transit agency responses during the pandemic, much of the focus has been on public health and safety measures, overlooking the specifics of service adjustment strategies implemented. This study contributes to our understanding of transit agency pandemic responses throughout the pre-, peak-, and post-pandemic phases by 1) characterizing patterns in transit service adjustments and 2) extending pandemic accessibility literature by examining job-specific impacts. The framework integrates time series clustering, qualitative review of agency press releases, and transit accessibility analysis, using only publicly available data. Through a case study of Bay Area Rapid Transit, we find distinct clusters of stations characterized by patterns in weekday morning peak service restoration and station area demographics. While impacts to accessibility varied by time of day, the relative ordering of accessibility levels across income and race/ethnicity remained consistent throughout the pandemic. These findings contribute to our understanding of service adaptation impacts and inform equitable response strategies for future service planning and disruptions.

Problematic issues of machine learning technology in law enforcement

Law enforcement agencies increasingly use predictive and automation technologies where the core technology is often a machine learning (ML) model. The article considers the problem of accountability and responsibility of law enforcement agencies and officials connected with using of ML models. The authors point out that accountability is a key element of democratic law enforcement, but using of the predictive software can create challenges in ensuring that accountability. The article discusses how the application of ML can lead to obfuscation of responsibility and complicating accountability in «multi-agent structures» that combine humans and computational tools. Special attention is paid to the opacity of predictive algorithms and automated decision-making systems. It becomes a source of misunderstandings and caution regarding their use. The authors raise questions about how effective oversight and full reporting can be ensured when key components of the decision-making systems remain unknown to the general public, officials, and even developers of the models. The paper argues that important questions related to ML decision models can be solved without detailed knowledge of the machine learning algorithms, allowing non-ML law enforcement experts to study them in a form of intelligent control. Non-ML experts can and should review trained ML models. The authors provide a «toolkit» in the form of questions about three elements of the ML-based decision models that can be qualitatively explored by non-machine learning experts: training data, training goal, and anticipatory outcome evaluation. This approach expands the capabilities of these experts in the form of an objective assessment of the use of ML models in law enforcement tasks. This will allow them to evaluate effectiveness of the models through the prism of their own experience. The basic idea is that even without deep technical knowledge, law enforcement experts can analyze and review ML models. This approach promotes understanding of the use of machine learning technologies in law enforcement, expanding the potential of non-ML law enforcement experts.

Principles of legal policy in the field of domestic violence

The article analyzes the essence of the principles of legal policy in the field of prevention and countermeasures against domestic violence and distinguishes their groups.
 It is posited that the principles of legal policy in the field of domestic violence are the main normative principles and strategies that determine approaches to the creation, implementation and improvement of legal and political instruments for the prevention and counteraction of violence that occurs in the family, family environment, within the limits of the place of residence or between other persons living together as a family.
 It is indicated that the study of the principles of legal policy allows for the development of effective strategies for preventing and countering this phenomenon, in particular, the development of basic principles and norms that should be the basis of legal regulation in the field of domestic violence, the rights and obligations of all parties, a system for detecting illegal phenomena, and as well as victim protection mechanisms. General and special groups of principles are distinguished.
 The general principles reflect the universal policy of countering manifestations of any violence or aggression against persons in a democratic state, in particular the rule of law; the principle of inevitability of punishment; the principle of prevention and prevention of violence; the principle of effective response of law enforcement agencies.
 Special principles include the following: the principle of zero tolerance for domestic violence, which consists in the inadmissibility of any form of violence, ensures the categorical non­admission of any manifestations of aggression, physical, psychological or economic pressure on family m.embers and persons equated to them; the principle of forming a gender-equal society, since the victims of violence are usually women and girls; the principle of systemic interaction of special bodies and institutions; the principle of involving civil society in preventing and countering domestic violence, in particular in the form of public condemnation; the principle of recognizing the social danger of domestic violence; the principle of a balanced approach in protecting the privacy and security of the family space; the principle of cultural sensitivity

Political public relations and crisis communication of the government: The case study of the earthquake of 6 February 2023 in Türkiye

On February 6, 2023, a massive 7.8 earthquake struck southeast Türkiye and caused killing thousands of people and leaving devastation across a wide swath of the country. In this context, this paper examines the government communications and crisis communication in the context of the disaster responses of the emergency management agencies during the earthquake of February 2023 in Türkiye in terms of image repair strategy and aims to reveal how the government responds to the opposing political circles' claims. It was concluded that the ruling party used communication channels intensively to refute the opposition's arguments and presented its own efforts and actions through visual and numerical proof and the main character of the government's crisis communication was based on highlighting what they made well.

Convince with facts: Information effects on attitudes to the sickness insurance in Sweden

AbstractDoes factual information matter for policy evaluations and attitudes? Previous research has provided different, and partly contradictive, replies to this question. To test the effect of concrete facts on attitudes, we provide findings from a survey web‐experiment concerning satisfaction with the universal sickness insurance. The treatments in the experiment are short facts from official reports on how the insurance actually work and is used. Our dependent variables are general satisfaction with how the insurance works, as well as trust for the responsible agency administering the insurance and more specified perceptions on capacity, precision, and fairness of the insurance. The results show that under certain circumstances, policy‐specific information does have an effect – even though the effects are not consistent. Effects of the information were mainly found on general evaluations of the sickness insurance rather than on specific attitudes. Furthermore, we conclude that, contrary to expectations, the effects were not conditional on left–right position, subjective knowledge, political interest, or proximity.

Birds are not the only ones impacted by guidance to cease bird feeding

Abstract Humans have a particularly strong connection with birds, driving the enormous popularity of residential bird feeding in much of the world. We conducted a web search to document US state wildlife management agency responses to two recent avian disease outbreaks, finding that 23 agencies made recommendations to cease feeding wild birds in 2021–2022. The psychological benefits of bird feeding for humans are well‐documented but often overlooked in management decisions in response to avian disease outbreaks. Likewise, ecological evidence does not necessarily support ceasing bird feeding to reduce the spread of every avian disease. Ecological and social science need to be applied in tandem to ensure that well‐intended guidance to cease feeding of birds does not have unintended consequences.

“He took her by the hand and told her to stand”

AbstractThis reflection highlights the importance of women's agency in response to crises and challenges today. The inclusion and participation of women improves the well‐being of all, be it in education, health care, the economy, or the government. There is a need to challenge interreligious dialogue settings that exclude or sideline women. Another critical area relates to the “freedom of religion or belief” agenda that sometimes concedes to misogynist perspectives in religious traditions. The text pleads strongly for full inclusion of women in the dialogue and human rights agenda.

효율적 구조에 대한 소방기관의 법체계 개선방안

In the 21st century, the society we live in is facing threats to its safety from natural and social disasters. In the event of a disaster, each country has a firefighting agency to minimize damage and provide relief. Our country also has a firefighting agency to protect people's lives and property by rescuing people from fires, disasters, and disasters and minimizing property damage. In relation to firefighting, 「THE FRAMEWORK ACT ON THE MANAGEMENT OF DISASTERS AND SAFETY」 stipulates emergency rescue and first aid among rescue operations for public safety. The current law places firefighting duties under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The organization that carries out rapid rescue and first-aid activities at the fire site is the fire department.
 However, firefighting agencies are external agencies of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and are under the direction of the Minister of Public Administration and Security. 「THE FRAMEWORK ACT ON THE MANAGEMENT OF DISASTERS AND SAFETY」 stipulates that in the event of a disaster such as a natural disaster or social disaster, the responsible agency shall be the Minister of the Interior and Safety. Accordingly, firefighting agencies are secondary responsible agencies due to their legal status as emergency rescue control groups for emergency rescue, and are required to carry out their work under the direction of the Minister of the Interior and Safety.
 In addition, in the case of fires, disasters, and disasters, the primary responsible agency for fire suppression and prevention, life rescue, and first aid is the head of the local government, and firefighting agencies perform tasks within a limited scope of performing necessary activities within the scope of fire suppression, rescue, and first aid. is carrying out. Since the laws regarding this limited scope and structure of work are scattered, a unified legal system is needed to ensure work efficiency. Therefore, firefighting agencies need an efficient rescue system in order to effectively protect the lives, bodies, and property of citizens from disasters. In this regard, problems with the current law need to be improved. Therefore, in this study, we analyze the problems in the legal system for rescue that firefighting agencies have and suggest ways to improve a unified law on rescue in the sense of securing the public's right to safety through efficient firefighting duties.

Uses and opportunities of emergency calls as a resource for flood risk management

Floods pose significant risks to both human lives and property, necessitating effective flood risk management strategies. One promising approach for enhancing flood risk management is the utilization of emergency calls as a valuable data source. This paper proposes two primary applications of these calls: 1) enhancing the cartography of flood risk areas and 2) improving risk communication systems. The disastrous flood event that took place in the Vega Baja region (Spain) in September 2019 is taken as a case study for this research. On the one hand, by analysing and geolocating emergency calls related to this flood event, we identify additional affected zones that are not represented in the existing cartography, leading to more comprehensive and accurate mapping. On the other hand, the analysis of the 112 calls is used to create a context-based catalogue of warning messages, tailored to address the unique requirements and challenges faced by the local population during the flood event under study. Thus, emergency calls serve as a direct link between the needs of affected population during a flood event and emergency response agencies. Overall, the outputs of this research underscore the importance of integrating emergency call data into flood management frameworks to enhance preparedness, response, and resilience in flood-prone regions in the framework of climate change.

CLEANING PRODUCTS REGULATION IN THREE WORLD MARKETS

The cleansers technological sophistication accompanied scientific, technological and market developments to meet the criteria for cleaning the environments. In addition to specific safety criteria for users, such products need to be safe for the environment, which requires appropriate regulations for society effective protection. This work aimed to identify the strengths and improvement points of the Brazilian regulatory procedures regarding household cleaning products compared to those applied in the US and Europe, based on the regulations imposed on such products and the administrative organization of the responsible agencies in each location. It was raised the Brazilian legislation referring to cleaning products and producers and their regulatory agency. It was searched the regulations for items similar to cleansers, which are pesticides and hazardous substances for the US and chemical substances for Europe. The collected information was analyzed through the comparative law method. The Brazilian regulatory procedures have the same technical and scientific rigor and regulatory practices to the USA and the European Union, in aspects such as the regulations curating and the issuing operation authorizations for companies. The lack of translation of the standards and an environment labeling program are improvement points.

Advanced Meteorological Hazard Defense Capability Assessment: Addressing Sample Imbalance with Deep Learning Approaches

With the rise in meteorological disasters, improving evaluation strategies for disaster response agencies is critical. This shift from expert scoring to data-driven approaches is challenged by sample imbalance in the data, affecting accurate capability assessments. This study proposes a solution integrating adaptive focal loss into the cross-entropy loss function to address sample distribution imbalances, facilitating nuanced evaluations. A key aspect of this solution is the Encoder-Adaptive-Focal deep learning model coupled with a custom training algorithm, adept at handling the data complexities of meteorological disaster response agencies. The model proficiently extracts and optimizes capability features from time series data, directing the evaluative focus toward more complex samples, thus mitigating sample imbalance issues. Comparative analysis with existing methods like UAE-NaiveBayes, UAE-SVM, and UAE-RandomForest illustrates the superior performance of our model in ability evaluation, positioning it as a robust tool for dynamic capability evaluation. This work aims to enhance disaster management strategies, contributing to mitigating the impacts of meteorological disasters.

Fraud prevention subjects in the sphere of electronic commerce

The article analyzes the main approaches to understanding the concept of «crime prevention subjects», defines the system of fraud prevention subjects in the field of electronic commerce in Ukraine, examines the normative basis of the functioning of the Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine with the aim of highlighting the main provisions that characterize the relevant body as fraud prevention entity in the field of electronic commerce. It is noted that the scientific field of modern fraud research needs constant empirical updating and theoretical understanding in the field of criminology and victimology, in particular, in the part of fraud research in the field of electronic commerce and trade.
 The basis of scientific criminological analysis was a complex combination of philosophical (in particular, dialectical), general scientific (synthesis, analysis, induction, deduction and generalization) and special scientific methods.
 The article defines the range of fraud prevention subjects in the field of electronic commerce. The theoretical principles and legislative framework regarding the tasks and responsibilities of authorities and law enforcement agencies in the field of prevention of such a criminal offense have been studied. It was established that due to the lack of special bodies for the prevention of fraud in the field of electronic trade, the lack of established, coordinated, purposeful interaction between existing entities, the system of entities for the prevention of fraud in the field of electronic trade is not perfect.
 It was concluded that fraud prevention subjects in the field of electronic commerce are multidisciplinary. Ways to improve the legislation of Ukraine in the specified area are proposed, the development of which will allow the development of conceptual state policy measures to combat fraud; and create an action program for law enforcement agencies.

Maintenance Culture of Road Infrastructure and Socio Economic Development in Uyo Local Government Area Akwa Ibom State Nigeria

The focus of this study was on the maintenance culture of road infrastructure and the socioeconomic development in Uyo Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The study was guided by the assumptions of Talcott Parsons' Structural Functionalism Theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of this study consisted of critical stakeholders which included eleven (11) Councilors, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and technocrats – Head of Local Government Service, Director of Finance, Director of Works, and Director of Environmental Health as key informants; and key workforce in AKROIMA and FERMA were part of the participants. The sample size for the study was 40 participants who were selected using purposive and snowballing non-probability sampling techniques. The study adopted observation, key informant interview (KII) and in-depth interview guide (IIG) as major instruments. The findings showed, among others, that maintenance culture is minimally felt in Uyo Local Government Area as a result of the slow response of the maintenance agencies to the deplorable roads in the area. Equally, prompt release of funds distorted by bureaucratic processes constituted a major hindrance to quick response which has affected the access to vital socio-economic institutions and marred the pace of socio-economic development in the study area. The study recommended stakeholders' concerted efforts through advocacy, support, and concern geared toward road maintenance for the development of social life and economic well-being.

Abstract 223: What Affects Chest Compression Depth in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest?

Introduction: Adherence to CPR guidelines for chest compressions depth (CCD) is poor. Compressors tend to converge on an individualized depth for each patient. Aim: Determine the factors affecting CCD in adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Methods: Patient, event, and EMS characteristics extracted from a regional registry (age, sex, estimated weight, witness status, bystander AED use, location, time to reach patient, initial ECG rhythm, number of shocks delivered, advanced airway use, initial EtCO2, number of EMS responders) were linked to depth and stiffness (force/depth) data from CPR monitors of resuscitation efforts for adult OHCA collected by a first response agency in suburban Portland, Oregon during 2018-21. With generalized linear models we examined the relationship of case-wise CCD in relation to stiffness and arrest characteristics, as well as the determinants of stiffness, a dominant predictor of CCD. Significant univariate predictors (p < 0.05) were combined into multivariate models, where we assessed statistical significance with a limit of 0.05/(number of predictors). Results: Case-wise median (IQR) chest compression depth was 50.3 (44.2 - 56.1) mm. Weight and stiffness dominated multivariate predictivity for depth (Table). Age had a modest effect overall and was not predictive in witnessed cases. Depth decreased with increasing stiffness and weight and increased slightly with age. Sex, weight and responder count were predictors of stiffness. Responder count did not predict initial stiffness. Stiffness increased with weight and decreased with number of responders. Conclusions: Depth of chest compressions is best predicted by patient stiffness and weight. Age contributes little, sex is non-significant. Responders do not vary depth in relation to other arrest characteristics. Age, weight and number of responders were the best predictors of stiffness.

Thematic Analysis of Small and Medium Enterprise Profile Opportunities on Constituency Development Fund in Kafue, Zambia

The small businesses in Kafue District take place to provide solutions that answer the overall economic and social development difficulties such as increase in the levels of unemployment, poverty, and inequality. The government’s function has always been to create a favourable environment for business for all SMEs to thrive better. Due to such difficulties encountered by the citizenry, despite existing empowerment policies, the government introduced the Constituency Development Fund to support SMEs within their cooperatives in Zambia; this is to reduce the barriers that obstruct SMEs’ profile opportunities to grow and to be sustainable to fulfil government and society expectations. The drive of this study was to analyze thematically different profile opportunities of SMEs in the manner in which they can access CDF. The study focused on opportunities that lie in each SME’s profile and identified the profiles according to their needs. The method which was used in this study was qualitative and employed purposive sampling to comprehend SMEs’ profile opportunities. The results of this study resolved that SMEs’ profile needs to be helped to core exists as they utilize or struggle to access funding from the existing CDF. The emergent themes reported in this study show that there are significant qualitative profiles to consider as officers in charge of CDF disburse the funds to the beneficiaries. In conclusion, the study recommended policymakers support small businesses to grow in an inclusive, innovative and sustainable way in line with the financial opportunities available. The findings in this study will establish equal distribution, utilization, and management of resources by responsible government agencies in Kafue, Zambia.

Judicial Review of Police Administrative Action in India

The Constitution specifies that police are a matter for the states to handle. As a result, there are police forces in all 29 of the states. In order to aid the states in maintaining order, the federal government is permitted to keep its own police force. Because of this, it has seven primary police forces and various police organisations for specific responsibilities including collecting information, investigating, conducting research and preserving records, as well as police training.... Enforcing laws, conducting investigations, and providing a safe haven for citizens are all important responsibilities of law enforcement agencies. Having a well-equipped police force in a vast and populous nation like India is critical to ensuring the safety and security of its citizens. Even more important is the fact that they must be given the operational independence to carry out their duties competently, while taking responsibility for either unsatisfactory performance or abusing authority. This paper begins by giving an idea about the discretionary powers given to administrative authorities and that these powers needs to be checked via judicial control over these powers. Police being one such administrative agency is subjected to judicial review for their actions in that capacity. The article then goes on to discuss about the supremacy of rule of law in any action performed. The actions of any agency are judged on various factors including their compliance to doctrine of ultra vires and principles of natural justice. The scope of the doctrine is very wide and any action is subjected to judicial review on few grounds highlighted in this article. Lastly the article talks about the relief of judicial review that can be sought through invoking various writs.