Potential Dangers Research Articles

Threats Targeting Children on Online Social Networks

Today, practically everyone has access to the internet and owns some type of digital gadgets, such as a smartphone, laptop, tablet, etc. We live in a digital world where internet use is widespread. Nowadays, a growing number of children have access to the internet via portable electronic devices such as tablets, laptops, and gaming consoles. Online social networks (OSN) have become increasingly popular and are now widely used along with the rise of the internet. A large percentage of children worldwide have profiles on at least one online social networking site. Children register on these platforms so they can communicate with their peers, make new friends, share their interests and hobbies in the hopes of meeting someone who has similar ones, play games, and more. But in addition to the benefits and enjoyment that kids derive from social networks, there are also risks and dangers that specifically target children on OSN platforms. Online harassment, online predators, sexual solicitation, cyberbullying, and cyber grooming are all threats that target children on OSNs. This paper aims to bring awareness to parents and children about the potential dangers present on online social networking platforms and offers guidelines on how to better protect children in the social networking environment.

Strategic offloading: How the value of to‐be‐remembered information influences offloading decision‐making

AbstractWe examined potentially selective offloading decisions when the external store has a limited capacity and how the surprising unavailability of offloaded information influences subsequent offloading decision‐making and memory. In three experiments, learners were presented with to‐be‐remembered words paired with point values counting towards their scores if recalled and were allowed to offload some words. Experiment 1 included only positively valued words, Experiment 2 included some negatively valued words, and Experiment 3 included only positively valued words but some extremely high‐value words. Learners selectively offloaded high‐value words (an ideal strategy if the external store is more reliable than memory) but were also selective in their memory for not‐offloaded words. However, when offloaded words were surprisingly unavailable, learners frequently forgot high‐value words, illustrating the potential dangers of offloading. Thus, offloading decisions should depend on the reliability of the external store, memory abilities, and the variability of the value of to‐be‐remembered information.

Knowledge of Information Security Awareness and Practices for Home Users: Case Study in Libya

The abundance of information available through the Internet, mobile applications, and cloud computing has made it convenient for users to access a wide range of information. However, this convenience comes with a cost as this information is constantly at risk of being compromised by cybercriminals and hackers. While the recognition of the potential dangers of information security is increasing in developed countries, in regions like Libya in North Africa, the level of protection for this information is insufficient. The purpose of this study is to examine the various factors that may influence or affect the users’ practice and awareness at home. The investigated factors are policy, behavior, training, knowledge of IT and education. In order to accomplish the goals of this study, a quantitative methodology was implemented. Specifically, a survey was created to assess the correlation between key factors and security awareness and practices in the home environment. The survey attracted 220 respondents and analyzed using Bivariate/Pearson Correlation to determine the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. The result of the study showed that there was a moderate positive correlation between policy, knowledge of IT and education with security awareness and practice, but behavior factor has a low correlation. These results indicated that security awareness and practice level of employees at home are mostly at the middle level. It is hoped that the present study provides an initial step to focus on security training sessions among higher education employees to reflect new knowledge on the importance of security training to increase the knowledge of information security. It is hoped that the findings of this study will serve as a starting point for further research and focus on providing security information for public, which will help to reflect new knowledge on the importance of security training and increase awareness of information security.

Evaluation and thermal performance of cool pavement under desert weather conditions: Surface albedo enhancement and carbon emissions offset

Surfaces such as pavement, buildings, and other heat-absorbing surfaces that store more heat than natural vegetation generate the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Temperatures are known to be significantly higher in urbanized areas compared to rural ones.The application of a reflective surface treatment to the pavement improves its solar reflectivity while lowering the warmth of its surface. The main objective of this study is to assess the performance of a cool pavement in an educational complex parking area, under desert climatic conditions to reduce heat islands. White and high reflective material was applied to the tested parking pavement area. Various experimental techniques were used to assess the performance of non treated (baseline) and treated (cool) pavements including spectral radiation, reflectance (albedo), solar irradiance, and pavement surface temperature. The results show that the coated pavement has a 15 % reflectance in ultraviolet A (UVA) and the untreated pavement has a 17 % solar reflectance (baseline basement). There are no potential dangers to human health posed by the coated pavement's reflection of UVA (For visible wavelengths, coated pavement has a reflectance of roughly 70 %, while uncoated pavement has a reflectivity of only 24 %. Under desert climatic conditions, the results show a net decrease in surface temperature of the coated pavement by up to 15 °C compared to the uncoated one. In the summer, for example, raising the albedo of the pavement surface from 24 % to 70 % lowered the surface temperature from 60 °C to 47 °C. This represents a 22 % decrease in pavement surface temperature. The thermal performance analysis of the cool pavement technology reveals that the pavement surface albedo enhancement will help to increase surface reflectance while lowering pavement surface temperature and offsetting CO2 emissions. Increasing the pavement surface albedo by 192 % (from 24 % to 70 %) for the total treated surface area (81,000 m2) in the educational complex will offset 28,350 tons of CO2. The application of a white coating with a high reflective value on concrete and asphalt pavements will help to extend the life of the pavement, reduce the energy consumption of buildings and the emissions of greenhouse gases, minimize the emissions of carbon dioxide caused by the enhancement of albedo (a strategy for mitigating the effects of climate change), improve parking lot visibility, and deal with the effects of heat islands.

Forecasting Flashover in a Compartment Fire by Using a Real-time Moving Average from Temperature Recordings

A series of flashover fire tests were carried out using standard wood as fuel with various ventilation, and a comprehensive set of experimental data is presented. Fighting against compartment fires with occurance of flashover could cause fatal consequences on firefighters. This work shows that the potential dangers as flashover can be detected as soon as possible thanks to the comparison between two moving averages in the past calculated from a temperature recording in a very short time. The present study aims to evaluate the possibility of using only commonly available measurements as data to be assimilated into the model. A real-time decision method is developed, allowing to the selection of optimal intervention to minimize firefight occupant exposure to the detected hazard. This approach includes the mathematical analysis which is based on the comparison of two moving averages centered in the past, calculated on the recordings of the smoke temperature. Firefighters would greatly benefit from this predictive method in real time, able to assist their decision making process during operations against a compartment fire. From the safety point of view, the model gives conservative predictions for flashover fire.

Fpic as Peacebuilding Tool?

Abstract Although wide-ranging in scope, a core principle embedded throughout the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is the right to free, prior and informed consent (fpic). Given the widespread nature of protracted struggles over land involving Indigenous peoples, some argue fpic could provide a powerful tool to prevent and resolve land conflicts. Using a case study of the Indigenous Batwa in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the paper examines the promises and perils of employing fpic as a peacebuilding tool. Specifically, it contrasts two land-related conflicts involving the Batwa: (1) the Batwa’s recent attempts to reclaim territories lost via the creation of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and (2) the decade-long conflict pitting the Batwa and Luba people. In so doing, the analysis explores the role of the proposed ‘Organic bill’, which aims to recognise Indigenous peoples’ right to fpic. This serves to highlight both the limitations and potential dangers of adopting an Indigenous rights framework to resolve land conflict in certain political contexts.

A brainstem-to-mediodorsal thalamic pathway mediates sound-induced arousal from slow-wave sleep

Auditory-induced arousal is a defense mechanism of animals against potential dangers. Although the thalamus is the neural substrate that relays sensory information to the cortex, its function is reduced during slow-wave sleep (SWS), also known as deep sleep. Despite this, animals are capable of waking up in response to external sensory stimuli, suggesting the existence of neural circuits that are involved in this response. Here, we report that kainate-class-type ionotropic glutamate receptor subunit 4 (GRIK4)-positive mediodorsal (MD) thalamic neurons act as a neural substrate for arousals from SWS. These neurons become active during arousal from SWS and their photoactivation can induce arousal from SWS. Moreover, we show that these neurons are influenced by glutamatergic neurons in the brainstem, the activity of which increases during auditory-induced arousals. These results suggest that this brainstem-MD pathway can mediate wakefulness from SWS.

Clinical Presentations and Treatment of Phenibut Toxicity and Withdrawal: A Systematic Literature Review.

This systematic review aimed to identify published articles that evaluated all phenibut toxicity and withdrawal cases to understand better their clinical presentations and treatments. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), and Cochrane Library databases to capture all published cases on the presentations and management of phenibut toxicity or withdrawal. Sixty-two cases from 36 studies on presentation and management of phenibut toxicity or phenibut withdrawal were identified. Of all subjects, 80.7% were male. The average age was 30.9 years (SD, 13.2 years; range, 0-71 years). A total of 86.8% reported obtaining phenibut online, and 63.2% reported concomitant substance use with other addictive agents; benzodiazepines and alcohol were the most combined drugs. The average length of hospital stay was 5.0 days (n = 25; SD, 5.4 days; range, 1-25 days) for phenibut toxicity and 7.7 days (n = 20; SD, 7.8 days; range, 0-30 days) for phenibut withdrawals. The most common symptoms reported during phenibut toxicity were altered mental status, somnolence, psychosis, and movement disorders. Of the phenibut toxicity cases, 48.7% required intubation. Benzodiazepines and antipsychotics were most used to treat phenibut toxicity. For phenibut withdrawal cases, 95.7% reported daily use. The most common symptoms reported during phenibut withdrawals were anxiety, irritability or agitation, insomnia, and psychosis. Sixteen (69.6%) of phenibut withdrawal cases required multiple medications for treatment. Benzodiazepines, baclofen, atypical antipsychotics, gabapentanoids, and barbiturates were commonly used to treat phenibut withdrawals. The seriousness of presentations, combined with the assortments of medications used for both syndromes, reflects the potential dangers of phenibut use and the need for systematized treatment protocols.

Tracking Moored Vessel Movement in Multiple DOF Using Active Sensing Methods

Over the years, the economics of scale have caused vessels used for the transportation of goods to become increasingly larger, handling more containers. This increase in capacity (and particular in the dimensions of the vessels) leads to larger forces on the moored vessels during (un)loading operations, and as a result, the process becomes more prone to potential errors. One of those risks is the movement of the vessel that occurs despite of it being moored with a large number of mooring lines. These movements can cause the handling process to slow down, limiting harbor efficiency, and to potentially endanger harbor personnel. It is of great importance for harbors to get a clear sense of these movements so that they can be analyzed and help implement efficient measures to minimize any potential dangers. In this letter, several active sensing methods (SONAR, RADAR, and LiDAR) are used to try and capture these movements in multiple degrees of freedom, and their results are compared. Initially, the testing is done in a simulated harbor environment, and afterwards, the setups are validated in practice at several different active quays in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Belgium.

Current Self-Medication Practices among the Russian Population

Introduction: The practice of self-medication is widespread among the population. It is a kind of a socio-cultural norm that is habitual for many Russian people. Self-treatment, however, can be dangerous and lead to complications and poor health, thus being a serious challenge for healthcare. Misuse of antibiotics poses a particular danger. Self-medication has many reasons related to personal beliefs and external circumstances. The scientific community is discussing the topic of responsible self-treatment that implies reasonable health care and does not exclude seeking medical advice. The necessity of forming a responsible attitude of Russians to their health draws special attention to the problem of self-medication. Objective: To analyze changes in the prevalence of self-medication among the Russian population and to establish the reasons for its demand in the contemporary context. Methods: The empirical basis of the study was the personal in-home interview survey of the population aged 18 years and older. The field stage was carried out on April 18–27, 2022 in 30 regions of the Russian Federation and captured 1,500 respondents. Result: We have found that the health status and everyday well-being of Russians leaves much to be desired and necessitates different types of treatment. Self-medication remains a common practice. Every second respondent prefers self-care choosing medicines and folk remedies. Yet, we noticed a gradual decrease in the demand for this kind of treatment in favor of seeking professional medical advice. We revealed a significant dependence of the population, especially young people, on taking self-prescribed medications. We established also that many citizens cannot either afford or get access to necessary medical services or drugs in the area of residence, and are therefore compelled to self-treatment. The worse the respondents assess the healthcare system, the less often they consult a doctor and the more often they opt to self-medicate. Conclusions: The problems described indicate the importance of raising awareness of self-treatment and potential dangers of drug self-administration among Russian people. It is essential to improve the general level of the culture of health and responsibility of citizens for their health, and to create conditions for getting affordable professional medical care.

Assessment of As, Cr, Cd, and Pb in urban surface water from a subtropical river: contamination, sources, and human health risk

ABSTRACT This work aimed to determine the level of some toxic elements (As, Cr, Cd, and Pb) in the water of the Rupsha River, Bangladesh, concerning their potential dangers to human exposure. The elemental concentrations (mg/L) were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer and found to decrease in the order of Cr (0.041) > Pb (0.029) > As (0.004) > Cd (0.002). The level of elements in this river water surpasses various international limits, making it unfit for human consumption. Furthermore, the metal pollution index and contamination index indicated that the water was also unsuitable for this purpose. The elements chosen were persuasive to discern the hazard quotient of non-carcinogenic risk. Moreover, total targeted hazard quotient (TTHQ) values were found for adults and children within acceptable limits (TTHQ <1). The value of carcinogenic risk did not surpass the range (10−6 to 10−4) of the threshold limit. Due to their high-water consumption per unit of body-weight and physiological development, children were found to be more sensitive than adults. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that human activities were the primary origin of toxic elements in river water. According to the findings, urban and industrial effluents should be treated before being released into rivers. Development along the river bank must be carefully controlled to safeguard the river environment. In the end, this will improve the quality of the water and lower the chance that people will be exposed to metals.

Coopetition and the marketing/entrepreneurship interface in an international arena

PurposeGuided by resource-based theory, this study unpacks the relationship between an export entrepreneurial marketing orientation (EMO) and export performance. This is undertaken by investigating quadratic effects and the moderating role of export coopetition (cooperation amongst competitors in an international arena).Design/methodology/approachSurvey responses were collected from a sample of 282 smaller-sized wine producers in Italy. This empirical context was ideal, as it hosted varying degrees of the constructs within the conceptual model. Put another way, it was suitable to test the underlying issues for theorising purposes. The hypotheses and control paths were tested through a three-step hierarchical regression analysis.FindingsAn export EMO had a non-linear (inverted U-shaped) association with export performance. Furthermore, this link was positively moderated by export coopetition. With too little of an export EMO, small enterprises might struggle to create value for their overseas customers. With too much of an export EMO, owner-managers could experience harmful performance outcomes. By cooperating with appropriate industry rivals, small companies can acquire new resources, capabilities and opportunities to help them to boost their export performance. That is, export coopetition can stabilise some of the potential dangers of employing an export EMO.Originality/valueThe empirical findings signified that an export EMO has potential dark-sides if these firm-wide behaviours are not implemented effectively. Nevertheless, cooperating with competitors in export markets can alleviate some of these concerns. Collectively, unique insights have emerged, whereby entrepreneurs are advantaged by being strategically flexible and collaborating with appropriate key stakeholders to enhance their export performance.

Internet addiction among university students and its relationship to some variables

The aim of the current research is to identify the level of Internet addiction among university students and compare in addition to the Internet according to gender and specialization variables. The research sample consisted of (160) male and female students from both disciplines at the University of Baghdad, and the Internet addiction test developed by a scientist was used The American psychologist and physician (Kimberly Young) 1996, translated into Arabic and extracted psychometric properties, represented by the discriminatory force, apparent and constructive honesty, and consistency in the mid-way segmentation. Reaching the following results: 1) The level of addiction to the Internet is at an average level for the current research sample and that is a positive result. 2) There is a statistically significant difference in Internet addiction among university students according to the gender variable (male, female). And in favor of males over females 3) There is a difference of statistical significance in Internet addiction among university students according to the variable of specialization (scientific, humanistic) and for the benefit of the human specialization, since the human specialization is more addictive on the Internet than the scientific specialization: The reserch has come out with a number of recommendations and proposals, the most important of which is the necessity of holding educational seminars for young people to introduce the potential dangers of addiction to the Internet and all physical, psychological, social and academic dimensions. Keywords: addiction, addiction to the Internet, university students, variables

Chronic Kidney Disease in Hospital Cooks

Chronic kidney disease is still a concern for health problems in Indonesia. Complications of chronic kidney disease include hypertension, cardiovascular disease, decreased kidney function to the end stage and even death. One of the potential dangers is heat, which not only causes the risk of kidney and cardiovascular health problems but it can also worsen the condition of the disease. Workplaces such as hospital kitchens have a risk of heat exposure. This shows the importance of fit-to-work assessment based on occupational medicine management. A 55-year-old cook worker with stage IV chronic kidney disease came to the hospital. The result from the last visit suggested that she had dyslipidemia and uncontrolled hypertension. We recommend the worker with job restrictions. She can still work in the nutrition department of the hospital but with restrictions on cooking duties. She can still work in the food filter and serving area. The goal of limiting work assignments is to maintain chronic kidney failure at stage IV. In addition, the hospital is also required to take control measures so that other workers do not have the risk of kidney disease health problems.&#x0D; Keywords: chronic kidney disease, cook, occupational medicine management

Experimental Research of Welding Residual Stress of Butt Welded Joint of Thick Steel Plate

The thickness of steel plates used in the structure has gradually increased to meet the load-bearing capacity requirements of long-span steel bridges. Thick steel plate welded by arc welding process will result in considerable welding residual stress with complex distribution. Large welding residual stress will significantly impact the performance of steel bridges. At present; residual welding stress of thick steel plates is not considered enough in bridge engineering; which could lead to potential dangers in safety. In this paper; a butt welded joint with a thickness of 80 mm was designed; the residual welding stress was measured by X-ray diffraction method; and the distribution of residual stress in the direction perpendicular to the weld seam and along the direction of the weld seam is analyzed; and the distribution pattern of welding residual stress in thick steel plate is systematically studied. It is found that in the area near the weld; the stress in the direction along the weld seam is more significant than that in the perpendicular direction; the peak stress in the direction perpendicular to the weld seam usually appears in the weld seam and the heat-affected zone; and the maximum value tends to appear close to the last weld bead on the surface; on the path perpendicular to the weld seam; the stress in the direction perpendicular to the weld seam is distributed in a “Π” shape; the stress in the direction along the weld seam is distributed in an “M” shape; and the stresses in the direction along and perpendicular to the weld seam are symmetrically distributed; however the axis of symmetry may appear anywhere in and around the weld seam. The results could serve as a reference for welding residual stress analysis and guide optimization design of steel bridges made of thick steel plates.

A strategy improving stiffness to resist local vibration of sandwich plates by extended Legendre higher-order model

Sandwich structures have been increasingly used in aerospace engineering, while local vibration modes of sandwich plates might occur earlier than global vibration modes attributing to the weak stiffness of the core layer, and it is difficult to predict such vibration modes. Therefore, local vibration modes are often discarded in the process of structural design, so that potential dangers might be encountered when the frequency of external load is close to the natural frequency of local vibration. To avoid such an issue, an extended Legendre higher-order theory (ELHT) is developed to accurately forecast the local dynamic behaviors of sandwich plates for the first time. Subsequently, an effective multi-objective optimization platform will be constructed to optimize the distribution of graphene-nanoplatelets (GPLs) in the core layer, so that natural frequencies of local vibration modes will be improved and largely more than the fundamental frequency. The B-spline basis functions are employed to describe various GPLs distributions, which is more convenient to produce original data for the machine learning method in the optimization process. Then, extreme gradient boosting optimized by Sparrow Search Algorithm (SSA-XGBoost) is utilized as the high-fidelity surrogate model to construct the objective functions to accelerate the interaction of the ELHT and non-dominated sorting sparrow search algorithm (NSSSA). By optimizing for minimum global and local fundamental frequency ratio and total mass of GPLs reinforced sandwich plates, the Pareto-optimal solutions are obtained from the present algorithm which can give an alternative suggestion for the future designer to ensure the structural dynamic safety of thick sandwich plates.

The key constituents underlying the combined toxicity of eight cosmetic contaminants towards Vibrio qinghaiensis.

Cosmetic additives (ADDs) and packaging plasticizers (PLAs) probably present potential risks and dangers to the environment and human body as emerging pollutants. To investigate their potential risks and dangers, five ADDs including methyl paraben (MET), ethyl paraben (ETH), propyl paraben (PRO), butyl-hydroxy anisole (BHA), and salicylic acid (SAL), as well as three PLAs including bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S (BPS) and tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBEP) were selected as research objects, and ten mixture rays (R1-R10) composed of the eight components were designed by the uniform design ray (UD-Ray) method. The toxicities of the eight cosmetic pollutants and their eight-component mixture system towards Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67 (Q67) were systematically determined by the time-dependent microplate toxicity analysis (t-MTA) method. The three-dimensional (3D) surface of deviation from the concentration addition model (dCA) was utilized to qualitatively and quantitatively analyse the toxicity interaction of the mixtures and the correlation between toxicity interaction and the components' concentration ratios. Finally, eight individual pollutants and representative rays with significant inhibitory and interactive effects were selected to analyse DNA and soluble proteolysis as well as the microstructure and morphology of Q67 after treatment with single chemicals and their mixtures. The results showed that the eight cosmetic pollutants had conspicuous concentration-dependent toxicity and acute toxicity, and none of them, except BPS, BPA and ETH, had time-dependent toxicity. All rays had time/concentration-dependent toxicity and acute toxicity. At the same time, the toxicity interaction of these mixture rays was predominantly antagonism and the strongest antagonism appeared at high concentrations at 12 h. Nevertheless, the components' concentration ratio (pi) was the decisive factor for the type of mixture interaction. The correlation analysis revealed a significant positive linear correlation between mixture toxicity and pETH and pBPA, which indicated that ETH and BPA were the key components of the toxic effects. However, there was a significant negative linear correlation between the antagonism intensity and pBPA and pTBEP, which demonstrated that BPA and TBEP were the key components of the antagonism intensity. Pollutants and their mixtures can also damage cellular structures, and mixtures can exacerbate the dissolution of DNA and soluble proteins.

Blockchain-based framework for secure and efficient exchange of electronic medical records on mobile cloud environments

The maintenance of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) on mobile cloud platforms, in which mobile devices are incorporated with cloud computing to ease healthcare information exchange between healthcare providers and patients, has become a paradigm shift in latest days. This cutting-edge strategy makes it possible to provide medical care at a low overhead expense, with a high level of flexibility, and with electronic health record access. Furthermore, this new approach also expresses concern over the confidentiality of patient data and the safety of the networks that support e-health systems. It is a tough problem to figure out a way to effectively share EMRs amongst mobile users while also maintaining maximum security measures in mobile cloud environments. In this research, a novel framework is presented for the sharing of EMRs that integrates blockchain technology and the decentralized Interplanetary File System (DIFS) on a mobile cloud. The empirical results suggest that the concept offers a useful method for ensuring the reliability of data transfers on mobile clouds, while also preserving important patient data from any potential dangers that may arise. Comparing the results of this performance assessment and security analysis to those of previously implemented data sharing models reveals significant performance enhancements in areas such as lightweight access control method, minimal network latency, maximum security levels, and data privacy protections.

The Microorganism Investigation and Information Visualization Display in Qingliangshan Grottoes, Yan ’an

There are many grottoes of the Song and Jin Dynasties in northern Shaanxi, the Qingliangshan grottoes of Yan’an is typical representatives. Due to the influence of environmental and geographical factors, the microbial of the Qingliangshan grottoes have caused the surface weathering, pollution or discoloring of cultural relics, as well as the potential dangers, which have caused some damage to the grottoes. This paper based on the investigation of harmful microbial samples on the surface of the grottoes of Qingliangshan in northern Shaanxi Province. Using microscopy and molecular biology to analyze microbial communities, Understand the influence and harm of microorganisms on grottoes, then to display and publicize with graphical information, to make readers understand the influence of microbial disasters on the grottoes and further attract people’s attention. It is form a consensus on protecting the material and cultural heritage of grottoes and promote the inheritance of traditional Chinese culture.

Contractual Dilemmas of Smart Contracts – Information Society Versus Contract Law

The aim of this study is to examine the issues of inserting smart contracts into our operative contract law. In this context, I am examining the positive and negative effects of this technological achievement on contract law, as well as its potential dangers. Smart contracts, like traditional contracts, require the consensus of the parties at the time the contract is concluded. The only difference is that the performance of the contract in the case of a smart contract is completely independent of the parties. This attribute could lead to the potential outcome that the application of performance and breach of contract rules in the Hungarian Civil Code–and as well in other continental civil codes–, could become inapplicable due to the lack of possibility of breaching the contract.