Latent Threats Research Articles

Quantum-Inspired Cryptography Protocols for Enhancing Security in Cloud Computing Infrastructures

As we know, cloud computing plays a vital role in our lives. It also plays a pivotal role in modern business and information technology landscapes. But with this, there is a rise in concerns regarding the security and privacy of all data which is stored in the cloud. To tackle these concerns some effective and traditional cryptographic methods are present but they face potential vulnerabilities due to advent of quantum computing. It also threatens the basis of widely used encryption algorithms and models. This research focuses on the usage of quantum mechanics inspired cryptographic protocols, which will help to strengthen the security of cloud computing models and infrastructures. The research begins with a detailed overview of the current situation and state of security of cloud computing. There is identification of all challenges and vulnerabilities faced due to current, classical and traditional cryptographic techniques and algorithms. As we know that there is a very close arrival of quantum computing, we are surrounded by mighty and latent threats because of quantum computing algorithms that can easily overcome the widely accepted and used encryption standards and models. So, there is a dire need to develop and implement some alternative cryptographic strategies and measures. To overcome these challenges, this research proposes the creation and usage of quantum-inspired cryptographic protocols which are designed to resist attacks from both traditional and quantum vulnerabilities. These protocols are inspired from quantum mechanics, like superposition and entanglement. These protocols will help to design and create cryptographic systems and models that offer enhanced security. The research focuses on the theoretical foundations of these quantum mechanics inspired protocols and assesses their practical feasibility within cloud computing infrastructures and environment.This research contains information regarding the challenges associated with integration and deployment of quantum inspired cryptographic solutions in cloud computing. It evaluates the scalability, efficiency, performance and computational overhead of these quantum inspired protocols to ensure their practical feasibility and capability in existing cloud computing environment and infrastructures. This research also includes comparison performed with quantum cryptographic protocols and traditional cryptographic methods. The results aim to provide evidence that quantum cryptographic techniques are better, feasible and secure options to protect data over cloud. In Conclusion, the research aims to provide an insight that development and usage of advanced security measures can withstand and handle evolving threats, ensuring the continued security and protection of data in cloud computing environment by providing theoretical insights, analysis and evolution.

Seguridad del paciente, ¿qué aportan la simulación clínica y la innovación docente?

Clinical simulation in Intensive Care Medicine is a crucial tool to strengthen patient safety. It focuses on the complexity of the Intensive Care Unit, where challenging clinical situations require rapid decision making and the use of invasive techniques that can increase the risk of errors and compromise safety. Clinical simulation, by mimicking clinical contexts, is presented as essential for developing technical and non-technical skills and enhancing teamwork in a safe environment, without harm to the patient. In situ simulation is a valuable approach to practice in realistic environments and to address latent security threats. Other simulation methods as virtual reality and tele-simulation are gaining more and more acceptance. Herein, we provide current data on the clinical utility of clinical simulation related to improved safety in the practice of techniques and procedures, as well as improvements of teamwork performance and outcomes. Finally, we propose the needs for future research.

Confinement tonicity on epidemic spreading

Emerging and re-emerging pathogens are latent threats in our society with the risk of killing millions of people worldwide, without forgetting the severe economic and educational backlogs. From COVID-19, we learned that self isolation and quarantine restrictions (confinement) were the main way of protection till availability of vaccines. However, abrupt lifting of social confinement would result in new waves of new infection cases and high death tolls. Here, inspired by how an extracellular solution can make water move into or out of a cell through osmosis, we define confinement tonicity. This can serve as a standalone measurement for the net direction and magnitude of flows between the confined and deconfined susceptible compartments. Numerical results offer insights on the effects of easing quarantine restrictions.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Single-atoms (N, P, S) encapsulation of Ni-doped graphene/PEDOT hybrid materials as sensors for H2S gas applications: intuition from computational study

This comprehensive study was dedicated to augmenting the sensing capabilities of Ni@GP_PEDOT@H2S through the strategic functionalization with nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur heteroatoms. Governed by density functional theory (DFT) computations at the gd3bj-B3LYP/def2svp level of theory, the investigation meticulously assessed the performance efficacy of electronically tailored nanocomposites in detecting H2S gas—a corrosive byproduct generated by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB), bearing latent threats to infrastructure integrity especially in the oil and gas industry. Impressively, the analysed systems, comprising Ni@GP_PEDOT@H2S, N_Ni@GP_PEDOT@H2S, P_Ni@GP_PEDOT@H2S, and S_Ni@GP_PEDOT@H2S, unveiled both structural and electronic properties of noteworthy distinction, thereby substantiating their heightened reactivity. Results of adsorption studies revealed distinct adsorption energies (− 13.0887, − 10.1771, − 16.8166, and − 14.0955 eV) associated respectively with N_Ni@GP_PEDOT@H2S, P_Ni@GP_PEDOT@H2S, S_Ni@GP_PEDOT@H2S, and Ni@GP_PEDOT systems. These disparities vividly underscored the diverse strengths of the adsorbed H2S on the surfaces, significantly accentuating the robustness of S_Ni@GP_PEDOT@H2S as a premier adsorbent, fuelled by the notably strong sulfur-surface interactions. Fascinatingly, the sensor descriptor findings unveiled multifaceted facets pivotal for H2S detection. Ultimately, molecular dynamic simulations corroborated the cumulative findings, collectively underscoring the pivotal significance of this study in propelling the domain of H2S gas detection and sensor device innovation.

An occlusion- and interaction-aware safe control strategy for autonomous vehicles

We consider the problem of safe autonomous driving in the presence of occlusions. Dealing with latent risks arising from occlusions is challenging because there does not exist direct mapping from sensor input to visible threats; attempts to ensure safety for all worst-case latent threats can be infeasible or overly conservative, and accounting for a multitude of latent risks for sufficient future horizon may require prohibitive computation in real-time. To address these issues, in this paper, we propose to use a probability-based predictive controller to make safe decisions for autonomous vehicles. We prove that the proposed safety controller can generate vehicle control profiles that yield the desired safety probability. Numerical and onboard experiments on a visual occluded pedestrian crossing scenario verifies the efficacy of the proposed method in real-time. The merits of the proposed control strategy include being able to guarantee long-term safety under occlusions without being over-conservative, handling latent risks caused by on-road interactions in real-time, and ease of design with transparency to the exposed risks.

Immersive, cross-departmental simulation – mapping emergency obstetric care from admission to delivery

‘Translational’ simulation activities are effective at improving patient safety when directed towards a specific patient journey [1]. North Bristol NHS Trust cares for around 6,000 obstetric patients per annum, with around 1,000 infants delivered by unplanned caesarean section each year. The in-situ simulation presented here facilitated an in-depth exploration of our cross-departmental response to a hypertensive pregnant patient presenting to the Emergency Department (ED). Severe pre-eclampsia in a preterm patient is a complex clinical scenario which, akin to previous successes seen with trauma care, may benefit from simulation focused on teamwork behaviours. The potential for benefit was optimised by application of the ASPiH Standards for Simulation-Based Education [2]. The aim of the simulation was to prospectively identify latent safety threats to emergency obstetric care in patients presenting to the Emergency Department at Southmead Hospital. An in-situ simulation was conducted to simulate a pre-term woman presenting with pre-eclampsia and reduced conscious level. The high-fidelity scenario involved collaboration from 28 staff in emergency medicine, radiology, obstetrics, neonatal medicine, anaesthetics, and theatres as the patient journey evolved, ending in emergency caesarean section in the non-obstetric emergency theatre complex. Members of the expert panel acted as passive observers to record an accurate log of events during the scenario. A formal debriefing was conducted at the conclusion of the simulation where participants were invited to discuss potential hazards arising from the scenario. Failure modes and effects analysis was employed to assess the identified latent risks [3]. Ten latent safety threats were identified from the simulation. These were stratified according to severity and action plans were agreed to address them. Cross-departmental changes are being instigated and tested. These include amendments to emergency grab-bags, implementation of site-wide tools for location mapping in clinical emergencies, wider availability of the obstetric WHO checklist in emergency theatres, and clarification on the availability of blood for neonatal transfusion in non-obstetric theatres. This immersive scenario engaged clinical teams from a number of specialities and clinical areas across the hospital. Reflecting a real-life patient journey allowed for a rich and nuanced understanding of the response to an evolving emergency scenario. Cross-departmental collaboration in simulation-based training can be effective in assessing latent safety threats, particularly where staff operate in unfamiliar environments. Through carefully conducted debriefing, task allocation and follow-up, it is possible to diagnose and treat a broad range of latent threats to workflow, systems and processes. 1. Brazil V. Translational simulation: not ‘where?’ but ‘why?’ A functional view of in-situ simulation. Advances in Simulation. 2017; 2(1):1–5. 2. Association for Simulated Practice in Healthcare. Simulation-based education in healthcare: standards framework and guidance (2016). 3. Davis S, Riley W, Gurses AP, Miller K, Hansen H. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis Based on In-Situ Simulations: A Methodology to Improve Understanding of Risks and Failures. In: Henriksen K, Battles JB, Keyes MA, Grady ML (Eds). Advances in Patient safety: New Directions and Alternative Approaches (Vol. 3: Performance and Tools). Rockville(MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2008.

Rapid cycle deliberate practice model: cardiac arrest simulation for ward-based staff

The Simulation Centre, in a largest district general hospital, provides a large portfolio of scenario-based courses, for all staffing groups, including the development of modified rapid cycle deliberate practice (RCDP) simulation. Modified RCDP is a model of simulation where learners repeat a scenario, with micro-debriefings, allowing for improvement upon each cycle, in a dynamic learning experience [1]. The centre developed a hybrid style of RCDP and simulation to create a model called Die, Debrief, and Develop, with a focus on the initial response during a cardiac arrest, based upon safety learning events and staff confidence during these emergency events. The aim of the sessions was to improve learner confidence, focusing on technical and non-technical skills in a safe learning environment. The simulation approach was delivered within the clinical environment, utilizing a manikin and equipment on the ward, including the cardiac arrest trolley. A clear pre-briefing was provided to ensure transparency around the expectations within the scenario, for example, the patient will be in cardiac arrest. Due to the repetitive nature of the simulation, there was also the freedom to fail [2]. Each cycle was 5 minutes and repeated 3 times, with a micro-debriefing between each cycle. The improvement between each cycle included patient assessment, ergonomics, human factors, critical thinking, communication, clinical skills and latent threats using elements of gamification. The micro-debriefing between each cycle allowed candidates to reflect on the experience to allow for improvement during each cycle. As well as learning personal safety in the pre-briefing, patients and relatives in the clinical area were informed that the session would be taking place. The feedback from learning following the simulation sessions included: ‘I enjoyed cardiac arrest practice it made much more sense and more relatable than talking through what you would do!’ ‘Was valuable learning and very relevant to our ward’ ‘Has helped me understand cardiac arrest’ ‘I feel empowered!’ ‘Now I know where things are on the crash trolley’ As a result of the RCDP model of training, this has been replicated in simulation sessions for Preceptorship and Internationally Educated Nurses. The outcome from this training has demonstrated the impact of RCDP in learner confidence and in technical and non-technical skills, that can be replicated in other forms of scenario-based training. 1. Peng CR, Schertzer, K. Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice in Medical Simulation. Treasure Island, Florida: StatPearls Publishing; 2022. 2. Erickson A, Lundell J, Michela E, Pfleger PI. Gamification. In: Kimmons R, Caskurlu S (eds.) The Students’ Guide to Learning Design and Research. EdTech Books; 2020.

Just-in-time in-situ simulation for high stakes success in viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF)

Success of just-in-time in-situ simulation to find new ways of working, test processes, and uncover latent error to promote patient and staff safety is well documented from the COVID-19 pandemic [1,2]. We used just-in-time simulation in a unique situation where imminent transfer of a critically unwell patient with VHF was required to our high-level isolation unit (HLIU). The Trexler isolator tent is custom made for treating high consequence infectious diseases (HCID), requires specific training. Staff provide care by ‘stepping’ into ‘suits’ in the plastic walls. Transfers into the tent are time-critical to reduce potential exposure risk to staff. This was the first time ever an intubated, ventilated patient was to be transferred into the tent. Simulation, Infectious Diseases, and Intensive Care teams collaborated within a few hours’ notice to simulate in-situ the mechanism of transferring a patient (using a Laerdal SimMan 3G) intubated and ventilated with multiple drug infusions running, headfirst from a transport trolley into the foot end of the isolator tent. This was repeated subsequently in several Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to refine the process and reduce transfer time taken. There were multiple pauses as problems, latent threats, and potential failure points were identified, and time outs to discuss solutions. Transfer teams informally reported increased confidence being able to troubleshoot and rehearse the transfer process before patient arrival. Key learning related to leadership, communication, highlighting safety steps, and sharing mental models between teams such as airway management, significance during transfer and ergonomics of airway-trained personnel positioning in the tent. This was written up as a visual aid for the transfer team. Environmental latent threats found included safe ventilator mounting, IV pump management, emergency drug preparation, and allowed for enhanced consideration of the practicalities of caring for an intensive care patient in the HLIU tent. The actual transfer of the patient went smoothly and without incident. Further simulations were run during the patient care episode to rehearse and potential anticipate airway and ventilation management issues. Just-in-time in-situ simulation provided a valuable opportunity to rehearse a high-stakes, never done before activity, and facilitated identification of environmental latent threats before patient arrival. It created a shared mental model between different specialities of patient needs contributing towards an increased situational awareness and ability to forward plan and project, ultimately increasing patient and staff safety. 1. Guris RJ, Doshi A, Boyer DL, Good G, Gurnaney HG, Rosenblatt S, McGowan N, Widmeier K, Kishida M, Nadkarni V, Nishisaki A. Just-in-time simulation to guide workflow design for coronavirus disease 2019 difficult airway management. Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. 2020;21(8):e485. 2. Zucco L, Chen MJ, Levy N, Obeidat SS, Needham MJ, Hyatt A, Keane JR, Pollard RJ, Mitchell JD, Ramachandran SK. Just-in-Time In Situ Simulation Training as a Preparedness Measure for the Perioperative Care of COVID-19 Patients. Simulation in Healthcare: Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. 2022 Feb 10; Published Ahead of Print. doi: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000635 We acknowledge the hard work and expertise of the Infectious diseases and Intensive care medical and nursing leads and team who supported the delivery of this simulation, and the clinical and support staff who maintain and run the HLIU, and the NHS England Contact High Consequence Infectious Diseases Network.

Phytoextraction of anthropogenic heavy metal contamination of the Blesbokspruit wetland: Potential of wetland macrophytes

Blesbokspruit wetland is one of the least conserved ecosystems in the Southern Africa region with active and latent threats of anthropogenic contamination stretching over decades of mining wastewater discharge, agricultural run-off, and a consistent influx of untreated sewage. This study provides an insight into the present-day spatial distribution of heavy metal contamination and the role of localised macrophytes in their phytoremediation. With exception of the first sampling point, the concentration of heavy metals in water samples throughout the wetland was within limits however findings from sediment samples were the inverse. The concentrations of Chromium and Nickel significantly exceeded both effect range low (ERL) and effect range medium (ERM) limits (250-430 mg/Kg and 73-151 mg/Kg respectively) as set out by international sediment quality guidelines. Emergent- Phragmites australis, Typha capensis, and free-flowing-Eichhornia crassipes macrophytes, which are naturally localised to the wetland were found to have varying bioaccumulation potential for different heavy metals; Bioconcentration of heavy metals in emergent macrophytes was relatively low especially for Nickel and Chromium compared to free-flowing macrophytes. E. crassipes accumulated significant amounts of the heavy metals with root concentrations of up to 17.23, 116.6, 330.5, and 342.9 mg/Kg for Arsenic, Lead, Nickel, and Chromium respectively. The emergent macrophytes were however found to bioconcentrate Arsenic up to 1.15 L/Kg (T. capensis) and 9.9 L/Kg (P. Australis) at sites 4 and 5 respectively. Findings with regards to bioconcentration especially of the E. crassipes, validate recommendations for the utilization of hyperaccumulating macrophytes for the natural recovery of these heavy metals towards alleviating the anthropogenic stress on this valuable ecosystem.

A better way: training for direct observations in healthcare

Direct observation is valuable for identifying latent threats and elucidating system complexity in clinical environments. This approach facilitates prospective risk assessment and reveals workarounds, near-misses and recurrent safety problems difficult...

Robust governance for the long term and the heat of the moment: Temporal strategies for coping with dual crises

AbstractToday the world is confronted with dual crises: creeping and acute threats unfolding at the same time—for example, the manifestation of extreme weather events such as drought and flooding and the creeping crisis of climate change. To cope with dual crises, this article develops a novel temporal perspective that offers policy actors a repertoire of interrelated strategies for enhancing the robustness of institutional efforts. The repertoire consists of five temporal strategies that policy actors can use to navigate the twin challenges of immediate and latent threats in conjunction: strategic coupling of short‐term shocks and creeping crises, crafting time horizons, molding the pace of public problem‐solving, mobilizing anticipatory capacity through futuring techniques, and adaptive iteration of policy decisions. We illustrate the practical application of these strategies in an exploratory case study of adaptive water management in the Netherlands.SamenvattingDe wereld wordt geconfronteerd met duale crises: sluipende en acute dreigingen op hetzelfde moment, zoals extreme weersgebeurtenissen als droogte of watersnood tegelijkertijd met de sluipende crisis van klimaatverandering. Om te reageren op duale crises, ontwikkelt dit artikel een nieuw repertoire van vijf temporele strategieën voor beleidsmakers om de robuustheid van overheidssystemen te vergroten. Dit repertoire bestaat uit de volgende strategieën: strategische koppeling van onverwachte korte termijn schokken en sluipende crises, tijdshorizonnen creëren, het tempo aanpassen van implementatie, het mobiliseren van anticiperende capaciteit door middel van scenariotechnieken, en de adaptieve iteratie van beleidsbeslissingen. We illustreren de werking van deze vijf strategieën aan de hand van een uitgewerkt voorbeeld van adaptief watermanagement in Nederland: de invoering van het programma Ruimte voor de Rivier.

Inverse optimal control for positive impulsive systems toward personalized therapeutic regimens

AbstractInfectious diseases are latent threats to humankind. Control theoretical approaches can help practitioners to advance the scheduling of drugs. For the case of infectious diseases, it is not possible to keep continuous flow of drug administration over all time‐steps, thus the action of the control input has to be restricted at some of the kth instants. This paper presents the adaptation of inverse optimal control to positive impulsive systems in discrete‐time to schedule therapies. The properties of positive systems are used to simplify the control design. Thus, the problem of scheduling therapies in infectious diseases is illustrated with influenza and COVID‐19. Numerical results show the applicability of the control algorithms.

Intrinsic Security: A Robust Framework for Cloud-Native Network Slicing via a Proactive Defense Paradigm

Opening-up sharing has prompted the multi-tenancy architecture, whereby different vendors (including outsourcees) work together with network operators to form a vibrant service ecosystem, resulting in several advantages as well as risks. In particular, the static nature of existing architectures in network functions virtualization-based (NFV-based) clouds facilitate hacking. Thus, much attention has been focused on determining how to avoid the uncontrollable cloud security induced by complex production relations and non-trustworthy software/hardware sources when the two sets of security risks intersect. In this article, we investigate latent persistent threats against cloud environments and determine a high degree of complementarity and consistency between the NFV-based cloud environment and the dynamic defense concept. More specifically, new NFV-based cloud features provide an effective implementation for dynamic defense, while the generalized robustness of dynamic defense theory allows for high security gains. Intrinsic cloud security (iCS) is then proposed to align NFV-based clouds, mimicking defense and the moving target defense (MTD) paradigm to implement a seamless integration and symbiosis evolution between security and NFV-based clouds. We quantify the impact on system overhead to account for efficiency and cost issues. The simulation analysis demonstrates that the enhanced mode is able to consistently obtain a more beneficial and stable defense compared with the counterparts.

141 Simulation: a Tool to Optimize the Activation of Novel Hospital and Critical Care Pathway

As part of the national COVID-19 response, an NHS Nightingale Hospital was established for our region. An initial cohort of patients was admitted with resource allocation, demanding that limitation of care be clearly defined, including avoidance of invasive ventilation. Within weeks, an increasing bed capacity need drove preparation to admit patients who might require escalation to mechanical ventilation. This shift in admission criteria demanded significant change to the hospital’s service provision, including the ability to stabilize and transfer critically ill patients from this satellite location to an acute partner trust The aim of this study was to perform a rapid, prospective analysis of the critical care patient pathway and surrounding environment at a novel Nightingale Hospital using high-fidelity simulation.Following a need assessment and discussion with stakeholders, The internal environment and infrastructure were adequate to perform the task. A significant number of latent threats were identified and actioned during the simulation (Latent threats found at the Exeter Nightingale hospital during simulated intubation of a critically unwell COVID-19 patient simulation with a high-fidelity manikin proved to be a useful and reproducible tool in developing and testing the systems involved in managing critical care patients at a novel hospital. In accurately simulating a real-time clinical scenario, the care pathway is experienced and contextualized within the team. It offers an opportunity to expose deficits in the system without causing harm (Kaba and Barnes, 2019). Evidence gathered can be easily and rapidly reported to operational leaders allowing timely decision-making, change implementation and mitigation of preventable risk. This makes simulation a cost- and resource-effective quality improvement method. In addition to patient safety process testing,

Getting everyone to the table: exploring everyday and everynight work to consider \u2018latent social threats\u2019 through interprofessional tabletop simulation

In this methodological intersection article, we describe how we developed a new variation of the established tabletop simulation modality, inspired by institutional ethnography (IE)-informed principles. We aimed to design and conduct pilot implementations of this innovative tabletop simulation modality, which focused uniquely on everyday and everynight work, along with the factors that govern that work. In so doing, we aimed to develop a modality and preliminary findings that researchers and educators can use to simulate healthcare practices across longer episodes of care (i.e., time scales of hours or an entire day) and to detect the ‘latent social threats’ that can emerge during interprofessional clinical care.An interprofessional team designed tabletop simulation scenarios of interprofessional challenges during transfers of care on a labour and delivery (L&D) unit. Within each scenario, participants provided real-time explanations for their work and associated drivers, both independently and as a team. Thus, we combined ‘think-aloud’ and simulation principles to design tabletop simulation scenarios to elicit healthcare professionals’ descriptions of how they collaborate in their work on the L&D unit. We completed a total of five tabletop simulations with eight participants (obstetricians, N = 2; midwives, N = 2; nurses, N = 5).The conversations stimulated by the tabletop simulation scenarios and debriefs allowed us to generate a preliminary understanding of the texts that govern and organize clinicians’ everyday work processes. We generated data about longitudinal, multi-hour work processes in a condensed timeline, with opportunities to pause and probe, and with reduced focus on individual practitioner’s competence.We believe our innovative tabletop simulation approach allowed us to examine clinical work in ways no other simulation permits. Participants described how the scenarios opened a productive dialogue between professional groups and suggested this simulation-based approach might contribute to enhanced interprofessional understanding and cultural change. We suggest that others can adapt our low-resource approach to understand clinicians’ everyday work and to map how this work is governed by documents, like policies, with the end goal of facilitating system change and managing latent social threats.

ИНСТРУМЕНТЫ ДИАГНОСТИКИ ФИНАНСОВЫХ РИСКОВ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЙ ОБРАБАТЫВАЮЩИХ ПРОИЗВОДСТВ

The manufacturing industry is an important component of the overall state of the economy of the Russian Federation. This industry is actively developing and producing products, the range of which is estimated at tens of millions of types of products and names of goods. Globally, the output of processing organizations is 16 % of the gross product, in the Russian Federation such output is 25,5% of the production of gross domestic product, and in the Ryazan region 26,7 % of gross regional product. Despite the positive dynamics of most financial and economic indicators of manufacturing enterprises there are risks associated with financial losses, as evidenced by the latent threats of non-return of credit resources, the risk of negative dynamics of cash flows from production due to inefficient use of fixed assets. Such dynamics have spread both on the territory of the Russian Federation and on the territory of the Ryazan region. In this regard, in order to reduce the amount of their own financial losses to manufacturing enterprises, the development of analytical tools for diagnosing financial risks is a priority task to avoid possible negative consequences in general. In the scientific literature a significant number of publications are devoted to assessing the state and development of the processing industry in Russia, both as a whole and in individual regions of the Russian Federation. However, not enough attention is paid to the diagnosis of financial risks in the author's works. In this regard, the purpose of the article is modeling analytical tools for diagnosing financial risks based on their own definition of the category of financial risk, formulated based on the results of a monographic study, identified financial industry threats and traditional classical analytical and evaluative capital measures.

Structural and Financial Aspects of Local Government Reform in Russia. 30 Years of Experience

International practices show that for an effective development of society, it is necessary to find a consensus of the interests of the local community and the country. This is the reason why the low level of autonomy of local self-government in modern Russia is a significant problem, as it does not allow local governments and citizens to become active partici­pants and initiators of transformations carried out at the municipal level. The study, carried out using the historical method of scientific know­ledge, made it possible to analyze the thirty years of Russian experience in the making and reform of local self-government (LSG), to structure the prerequisites and identify five main stages of reform, which differ in the pace and content of reform transformations. In the course of the study, it was revealed that constitutional changes, while remaining formally neutral to local self-government, will require amendments of fe­deral legislation for their implementation, which can give rise to a number of latent threats and undermine the principle of structural isolation and independence of local self-government bodies. In general, over the years of reforms, the legislative strengthening of the powers and rights of local self-government did not find adequate financial support, the real results of the reform are very different from the declared goals. The author substantiated proposals for improving the socio-economic component of the reform in the framework of the evolutionary approach.

Latent territorial threat and democratic regime reversals

Why do some democracies revert to non-democratic forms of governance? We develop an explanation of democratic reversals that emphasizes the influence of states’ external border relations on domestic politics. Latent threats to a state’s territory encourage political centralization of authority in the executive to defend against danger to the homeland. Latent territorial threat also facilitates the construction and maintenance of large land armies to fight threatening neighbors. Combined, latent territorial threat increases leaders’ domestic power, weakens democratic institutions, encourages other conditions threatening democratic survival, and, ultimately, leads to democratic reversals. Synthesizing prior research on territorial conflict, we generate a quantitative, continuous measure of latent territorial threat against all democracies with contiguous neighbors from 1946 to 2016, using Bayesian estimation. Empirical tests accounting for measurement uncertainty and other common determinants of reversals as well as brief reviews of individual cases of reversal provide robust evidence that democracy failed at higher rates in countries facing high levels of threats to their territory from neighbors. Our study implies that a complete account of the development of democratic institutions should emphasize that domestic factors alone fall short of explaining why democracies fail.

A Guide for Medical Educators: How to Design and Implement In Situ Simulation in an Academic Emergency Department to Support Interprofessional Education.

In situ simulation (ISS) put simulation training directly into the clinical practice environment. Although ISS creates opportunities to identify latent system threats, understand culture, and improve team dynamics, there are limited resources for medical educators to guide the development and implementation of ISS at academic (or community-based) emergency departments (EDs). We describe the implementation of ISS in a high-volume urban ED to help educators understand the requirements and limitations of successful program design. During an academic year, 66 individual learners participated in at least one of our 22 training sessions, a cohort that included 37 nurses, 17 physicians, eight physician assistants, and four allied health professionals. Feedback from these participants and case facilitators informed our iterative process of review and development of program guidelines and best practices. We share these key technical points and the themes we found to be essential to the successful implementation of an ISS program: consideration of session timing, participant buy-in, flexibility, and threats to professional identity. Overall, our report demonstrates the feasibility of implementing an ISS program in a high-volume urban ED and provides medical educators with a guide for creating an ISS program for interprofessional education.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Acoustic Localization Using Multilayer Perceptron

ABSTRACT Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), in recent years, are developing rapidly. However, when fly into private residences or public areas without authorizations, UAVs pose latent threats to personal privacy and public security. UAVs localization is a significant part of an anti-UAV system. In this paper, a remolded acoustic energy decay model preserved relative in acoustic energy attenuation inverse of distance square is used to generate training data. Multilayer perceptron(MLP) is the model to train these data and predicts accurate relative 3D space coordinates. Four different UAV flight trajectories are simulated. We also test robustness against noise with different levels. Simulation experiment results show that the deviation is less than 1.48 m in specific distances and noise levels, even with higher noise levels the deviation can still be accepted. The problem of limited detection range is overcome by the use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with more sensors. Long and short-term memory (LSTM) is investigated, but it doesn’t outperform MLP in accuracy and processing time.