Real Threat Research Articles

Soil Pollution with Industrial Waste

In modern times, one of the dangerous processes of biosphere pollution is pollution by heavy metals, they accumulate excessively in the atmosphere and pedosphere. Pollution by scale and degree of impact on biological objects, including humans, heavy metals occupy a special place among pollutants. Among heavy metals, especially dangerous pollutants are lead, mercury, cadmium. The source of pollution by heavy metals is mainly motor transport, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises, and waste. Waste from motor transport through the atmosphere gets into the soil and plants and poses a real threat to the environment.

DENAZIFICATION OF THE IDEOLOGY OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM IN OCCUPIED GERMANY 1945–1949

The policy of denazification pursued by the victors in occupied Germany, which is discussed in the article, is reflected in published sources, research, and memoirs. However, most of them concern practical measures aimed at eliminating the Nazi regime, primarily the identification and punishment of war criminals. It was much more difficult with the ideology of Nazism, which had penetrated deeply into German society. The problem was also the initial lack of understanding of its content and role in the formation of a totalitarian regime. The war had showed what a real threat to humanity the ideas and designs of German fascism, striving for world domination, posed. During the occupation period, the Allies had to rebuild the education system, upbringing, culture, social relations, and social life of the Germans. The ambiguity of approaches, which took place in the policy of all the occupation authorities in Germany, nevertheless showed us that the main tasks of denazification were indeed solved. However, the process of “overcoming the totalitarian pastˮ did not end there and had its continuation in the German history of the second half of the 20th century.

Design and implementation of a smoke alarm system using YOLOv8

Abstract. This paper present a smoke alarm system built using Yolov8, a state-of-the-art object detection model. The system is designed to detect smoke in real-time environments and alert users in the event of a fire or smoke detection. The use of Yolov8 in this system offers several advantages over other object detection models, making it a suitable choice for building an effective smoke alarm system. One of the critical advantages of Yolov8 is its high accuracy in detecting objects with a small size, such as smoke. This is achieved through its efficient and robust architecture, which allows it to process images quickly and accurately. In comparison to other object detection models, Yolov8 demonstrates superior performance in terms of speed and accuracy. Furthermore, Yolov8s ability to detect objects with high precision and low false positives is crucial for a smoke alarm system. This is because smoke detection needs high accuracy to prevent false alarms and promptly detect real threats. The smoke alarm system built using Yolov8 can be implemented in various environments, including homes, offices, and public buildings. It can provide early warnings for fires and smoke, enabling timely evacuation and reducing potential injuries or damages. The implementation of this system can greatly contribute to improving safety in various environments by providing early warnings of fires and smoke.

Metal nanoparticles – a real threat or harmless companions for the thyroid gland? A review

Metal nanoparticles – a real threat or harmless companions for the thyroid gland? A review

CONCEPT OF CRISIS IN SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE

The article examines the main approaches to the concept and content of crisis in scientific literature. The main trends in the development of the crisis and its contradictions are analyzed. It is emphasized that most crises and their understanding are the result of a combination of human errors, institutional «failures» and constant changes in the sphere of functioning of society and states. The main stages of the development of theoretical approaches regarding the concept and content of the crisis and its main derivatives are considered. It has been proven that he does not have a clear understanding of the concept and essence of the crisis; there are three main approaches to understanding the concept and content of crisis; there are several stages of development and formation of the concept and content of the crisis; for the most part, researchers give this phenomenon a positive or negative character. This is explained by the complex nature of these phenomena and insufficient attention for a long time. It is indicated that analyzing the existing definitions of the concept of «crisis», we can talk about three main approaches: a crisis is a stage of the life cycle of any system, that is, a form of its development; crisis is a turning point in the functioning of the system, which provokes any changes, regardless of the result; a crisis is a deterioration of one or more parameters of the system's functioning, which can even lead to its final disappearance. It is emphasized that the crisis is not a separate phenomenon, but a process unfolding as various factors and forces interact in an unpredictable manner; disruption of the usual daily rhythm of life; the emergence and increase of anxiety and stress in the population; potential and real threats to basic values and structural social systems. It has been proven that all views on the concept and meaning of «crisis» and related concepts are determined by the established framework of their interpretation, as well as by the theoretical and spatiotemporal relationship in which they are interpreted. The conducted research shows that in modern scientific literature there are many approaches to understanding the concepts of crisis and risk, sometimes they are even opposite to each other. In this regard, it is appropriate to generalize the existing approaches to these concepts. This will provide an opportunity to more comprehensively reveal the essence of the concepts and will help during the formation of crisis and risk management policy. The modern world is quite complex and dynamic, which leads to the appearance of an increasing number of various crises and risks. Only a thorough understanding and perception of the crisis will allow, if not to avoid them, then to get out of them with the least losses.

Use of mobile communication technology to overcome vaccine skepticism

Despite significant advances in clinical medicine, infectious diseases and their prevention remain the leading problem of our time. Low literacy of the population reggarding immunization, combined with high activity of the anti-vaccination movement, creates unhealthy skepticism about immunoprophylaxis and the risks of epidemics. The work uses theoretical analysis of literature, methods of anonymous questionnaires of students of medical and non-medical specialties, methods of statistical and bioinformatics data processing, and modern internet technologies: the platform of the social network “Vkontakte” and the program for creating a chatbot “Senler”. The analysis of commitment to vaccination of medical and non-medical students showed that 65.8% to 96.2% of respondents have a positive attitude to preventive health measures. From 1.9% to 6% believe the disease is easier to treat than to prevent, and almost 30% of respondents do not think about prevention and diseases in general, considering themselves young. Almost 10% of non-medical students (1 group) consider vaccination useless, 8.4% dangerous for immunity, 18.3% know nothing about vaccinations and cannot compare the benefits of vaccination with the risk of infectious pathology. In order to form medical literacy of the population, including in strategic issues of preserving the health of the nation, the team of authors developed and implemented through the social network “Vkontakte” chatbot “Vaccine and point” containing up-to-date information about vaccines, methods multiplicity and age features of their use. People [n = 156] used the chatbot during the month of work, noting its high informational value, motivating to vaccination. Analysis of commitment to vaccination of students of medical and non-medical specialties showed an insufficient level of trust in domestic preventive medicine, which forms an unhealthy attitude to vaccine prevention. Insufficient vaccine coverage creates real threats to the spread of infectious diseases at the population level. Developed and implemented in real practice, the “Vaccine and point” chatbot is an effective tool for increasing the knowledge of compatriots about the real possibilities of protection against the main vaccine-controlled infections and an additional attempt to overcome anti-vaccination skepticism.

Leveraging Universal Adversarial Perturbation and Frequency Band Filters Against Face Recognition

Universal adversarial perturbation (UAP) exhibits universality as it is independent of specific images. Although previous investigations have shown that the classification of natural images is susceptible to universal adversarial attacks, the impact of UAP on face recognition has not been fully investigated. Thus, in this paper we assess the vulnerability of face recognition for UAP. We propose FaUAP-FBF, which exploits the frequency domain by learning high, middle, and low band filters as an additional dimension of refining facial UAP. The facial UAP and filters are alternately and repeatedly learned from a training set. Furthermore, we convert non-target attacks to target attacks by customizing a target example, which is an out-of-distribution sample for a training set. Accordingly, non-target and target attacks form a uniform target attack. Finally, the variance of cosine similarity is incorporated into the adversarial loss, thereby enhancing the attacking capability. Extensive experiments on LFW and CASIA-WebFace datasets show that FaUAP-FBF has a higher fooling rate and better objective stealthiness metrics across the evaluated network structures compared to existing universal adversarial attacks, which confirms the effectiveness of the proposed FaUAP-FBF. Our results also imply that UAP poses a real threat for face recognition systems and should be taken seriously when face recognition systems are being designed.

Virtual Clouds, Real Threats: DDoS Attacks Reviewed and Mitigated

In today's digital world, companies and organizations rely heavily on cloud computing for their everyday needs. Ensuring availability, confidentiality, accessibility, and integrity in the cloud is crucial. Any attack on cloud services can lead to serious consequences, including downtime, reputational damage, and financial loss. Among these threats, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are particularly concerning as they target cloud infrastructure with overwhelming traffic. This review examines various studies on cloud architecture and DDoS attack scenarios, exploring how these attacks happen and their impact. It also discusses defensive measures like mitigation, detection, and prevention, while acknowledging the limitations of existing research in fully addressing DDoS threats.

How sceptics teach us to know

The purpose of this paper is to show (1) that scepticism, in both its traditional forms and contemporary forms, poses no real threat to obtaining inferential empirical knowledge, even if such knowledge requires certainty and (2) that there are some significant lessons to be learned from the traditional sceptics about what constitutes a plausible argument for scepticism and how to obtain knowledge while avoiding dogmatism and (3) that contemporary scepticism is based on several serious mistakes about what is required to obtain empirical knowledge because it both conflates knowing with being dogmatic and inflates the requirements for obtaining empirical knowledge. I will focus on inferential empirical knowledge, rather than knowledge in general, in order to eliminate the necessity of defending one of the various responses to the problem of the regress of reasons. I will limit the discussion to inferential empirical knowledge because it has been the primary target of contemporary arguments for scepticism. I aim to show that we are justified in rejecting the sceptic’s arguments but that we should not be certain that the sceptic is wrong. I hope that it will become obvious that such a seemingly incoherent set of beliefs is part of the correct description of our epistemic position.

Sewage sludge as soil amendment in arid soils - A trace metal, nutrient and trace organics perspective

Sewage sludge management has emerged as a critical environmental challenge due to the large volumes generated globally. Valorization techniques, including energy production and agricultural applications, offer sustainable solutions, particularly in regions with low soil fertility. The sewage sludge utilization in the Middle East region is low. This paper presents a pragmatic risk-based assessment using the risk-based corrective action approach to evaluate sludge application in desert soils. This methodology focuses on the source-pathway-receptor interaction and assesses the likelihood of contaminants posing a real threat. In arid desert regions like Kuwait, where soil organic content and moisture are extremely low, the application of sewage sludge presents a feasible option to enhance soil quality and valorize unutilized sludge dumps which pose significant environmental concerns but are left to desiccate in the absence of any environmental regulation towards its utilization and due to religious apprehensions. Since the sludge characterization is not well detailed a brief review of the available data was included to establish the bounds of various organic, metal and nutrients that were used for generating the model. This study examines the changes in the physico-chemical properties of desert soils following sludge application, focusing on the likely fate of trace metals and organic contaminants. The alkaline desert soils of Kuwait, with a pH range of 7.7–8.9, are particularly suitable for sludge application due to the low mobility of metals in alkaline conditions. Additionally, sludge application lowers soil pH, improving conditions for plant growth. The region's deeper water table and scant annual precipitation (<0.15 m) further reduce the risk of groundwater contamination and deeper soil profile contamination. The presence of organic content, nitrates, Zn, and Cu in sludge can promote native vegetation growth. However, trace organic contaminants, including PAHs, PCBs, and pharmaceuticals, pose a potential risk to soil contamination, but since the geological section shows intervening impervious layers the contamination is going to be localized, even if there is sufficient leachable fraction. Given the minimal risk of contamination under the unique conditions of arid regions, this approach highlights the potential for eco-friendly sludge valorization, that will improve vegetation cover and arrest the suspended particulate suspension. However, before the large-scale implementation of this modelled concept, a detailed experimental study on the pilot scale or lysimeters is recommended to assess the long-term impacts of sludge application and to obtain data that can inform policy guidelines for sustainable sludge management in desert environments.

Legal aspects of ensuring state Security of Ukraine with the help of artificial intelligence in the light of the experience of the Olympic Games in Paris 2024

In this article, the authors research the legal aspects of ensuring the State security of Ukraine with the help of artificial intelligence, taking into account the experience of the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. The relevance of the research is due to the growing challenges to the use of artificial intelligence in public life and the need to respect the right to privacy. It is established that after lengthy discussions, the technology of face recognition using artificial intelligence was not introduced at the Olympic Games in Paris. It is substantiated that the main areas for improving the current regulatory framework in Ukraine for the use of artificial intelligence and ensuring the privacy of citizens and avoiding possible human rights violations are as follows: in the context of the introduction of face recognition technology, it is important to have detailed rules governing the scope and application of measures, as well as reliable safeguards against the risk of abuse and arbitrariness (the need for legal safeguards is much greater when it comes to the use of real-time face recognition technology); the processing of personal data in the application of face recognition technology must be justified and require a high level of justification; the use of face recognition technology for forensic identification of suspects. It is proved that when identifying real threats to the state security of Ukraine at the present stage in the context of the possible introduction of face recognition technology, it is important to have detailed rules governing the scope and application of measures, as well as reliable guarantees against the risk of abuse and arbitrariness. The inevitable need for legal guarantees for the implementation and protection of citizens’ privacy, especially when it comes to the use of real-time face recognition technology, is derived from the content of the State Security Strategy.

Competition is the main factor, compared to non-lethal threat of predation, affecting life-history traits of Aedes aegypti (Diptera, Culicidae) mosquitoes.

Mosquito larvae coexist with different species of predators in small freshwater bodies. These environments can vary widely in terms of the amount of food and larval densities. Our objective was to understand the impacts of the non-lethal threat of predation, combined with competition effects on Aedes aegypti development and adult life cycle. We tested the effects of two types of non-lethal threat of predation, divided into nine combinations of larvae densities and resource availability on Ae. aegypti larvae. We measured their isolated and combined impacts on larval mortality rate, time to reach pupation, adult size, and lifespan. Real non-lethal threat of predation resulted in a higher larval mortality (71%), compromised the sizes of the individuals (-7%) and prolonged the lifespan (19%) compared to control. Simulated treatment, the anti-predation behaviors led to an increase in larval mortality (21%) compared to the control treatment. Accelerating the larva's development time (-14%) to escape from a dangerous environment severely compromised the size of the individuals (-23%) and increased adult life (10%). The scarcity of food resources, high levels of competition, and non-lethal threat of predation as well, are effective stressors for Ae. aegypti. We observed that resources (food and space) were more important than predation risk for the fitness of the survivors. However, these stressors, individually or combined, can result in high larvae mortality, altered larval development and pupation, affecting the emergence of the adults, with small sizes and altered lifespan, ultimately reducing the fitness of the individuals. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Renegotiations in the Presence of Supply Disruptions

We study the ability to renegotiate in a supply chain setting with the possibility of supply disruption. Disruptions are a real threat to supply chains, especially as the supply chains become longer and more complex. When buyers and sellers write a purchase contract, specifying every possible contingency related to disruptions may not be realistic. However, the ability to renegotiate once a disruption occurs can help buyers and suppliers find efficient solutions. We conducted a controlled laboratory experiment consisting of three studies, each exploring different conditions regarding relationship length, bargaining power, and communication. Our findings indicate that the ability to renegotiate increases buyer profit and decreases disruption inefficiency in short-term relationships but not in long-term ones. In free bargaining, where bargaining power is equal, the impact of renegotiation is greater than in ultimatum bargaining, where bargaining power is unequal. Additionally, when communication is not allowed in ultimatum bargaining, renegotiation significantly enhances buyer profit and reduces disruption inefficiency. These insights can assist managers in designing and negotiating incomplete contracts in environments prone to supply disruptions. The findings can aid managers in designing and negotiating incomplete contracts in environments with supply disruptions.

Antimicrobial Peptides and Their Anti-Leishmanial Efficacies on Leishmania tropica Promastigotes In vitro.

Antimicrobial resistance is a real threat to humanity. Pentavalent antimonials are reported non-effective in leishmaniasis treatment today, in countries like India. New treatment options have been assessed worldwide lately. Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) are the leading antibiotic candidates due to their large spectrum, fast efficacy, and low resistance risks. Cathelicidins are the AMP with well-documented antimicrobial activities against bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, over their positively charged membranes. Here, we aim to design cathelicidine-like helical peptides (CLHP), and compare their anti-Leishmanial efficacies in vitro, with meglumine antimoniate (MA) on Leishmania tropica. A total of five study [TN-1-5] and two control (MA and non-drug) groups were formed. Cryopreserved L. tropica isolate was thawed and cultivated in Novy-MacNeal-Nicolle medium and then in RPMI. Five different CLHPs (TN1-5) were diluted in dimethyl sulphoxide. A total of 150 uL of CLHPs and MA were added into the first wells of the test plaques, followed by serial dilutions that revealed doses within 4 and 512 ug/mL. Then, 100 uL of cultures including 1x108/mL of L. tropica promastigotes were added into each well. Viability of promastigotes was checked with XTT, while the parasite count was assessed at 24th and 48th hours. TN3 was effective at 32 ug/mL. All tested CLHPs exhibited varying degrees of anti-Leishmanial activities, except TN5, even at its highest dose. TN3 showed a particular efficacy against L. tropica in vitro. Further studies including in vivo testing of the candidate's both efficacy and toxicity are essential.

Cyberbullying – a Real Threat to Children and Young People. A Brief Review of Selected Intervention Programs

Cyberbullying – a Real Threat to Children and Young People. A Brief Review of Selected Intervention Programs

Kabata Banda &amp; the significance of Islamic eco-theology education

The environmental crisis is a real threat to human survival. Climate change, natural disasters, and food crises are some of the devastating impacts that can have a major impact on the human population. The Banda Islands have a wide water zone with diverse marine biota but face the threat of natural disasters from active volcanoes and human behaviour that is not environmentally friendly. Historically, Banda has a tradition that is very close to coastal nature. This is revealed in their traditional song known as Kabata Belang, often sung while rowing a traditional boat (Belang) in various community cultural stages. By adopting phenomenology perspectives, this research is focused on reviewing the narration of the Fiat’ Kabata belang sacrament songs to seek out the implied values of environmental ethics and its urgency in handling coastal environmental problems in Banda Naira today. The results show that Kabata Belang contains both theological and ecological values (eco-theology) apart from being an instrument of traditional rituals. There are 13 stanzas in Fiat village Kabata Belang that are oriented towards maintaining several coastal natural objects, such as mountains, coasts, birds, and fish. The singing of the Kabata Belang as a traditional wisdom functions as an "advisor" for the people of Banda today to preserve the marine and coastal environment. This research recommends the importance of writing down the Kabata text, complete with pictures and articulations that are more accessible to the public as a guidebook, especially for the younger generation to understand better and participate in creative efforts to preserve the coastal and marine environment in their everyday lives.

Reducing the risk of social engineering attacks using SOAR measures in a real world environment: A case study

The global cost of successful cyberattacks is increasing annually, with there being a shift towards social engineering threats in recent years. Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting humans rather than technical systems, recognizing data as a critical resource, especially in the finance industry where breaches can lead to substantial losses and reputational damage. The present case study proposes measures to reduce human susceptibility to social engineering attacks, leveraging SOAR (Security Automation, Orchestration, and Response) technology for incident response automation. The study covers various issues in cybersecurity, SOAR, and social engineering, through analyzing interviews with expert practitioners in the field, addressing cybersecurity skills shortages and current cyber threats. Four social engineering vignettes were developed, representing real threats, along with specific SOAR measures implemented using Microsoft Sentinel. These measures were simulated to demonstrate their effectiveness by reducing the employee's vulnerability to social engineering attacks. The risk of social engineering attacks was successfully reduced by implementing a responsive approach through the developed SOAR measures. Some of the measures reduced the risk by locking user accounts or forcing password changes after a detected cyber incident while another measure was developed for awareness enhancements. Given the current shortage of cybersecurity professionals, technologies like SOAR are becoming increasingly relevant for security teams. However, SOAR alone cannot address all challenges posed by social engineering and should be viewed as a complementary measure rather than a standalone solution.

Can CRP and Lymphocyte Count be Considered as Predictive Factors for the Prognosis of COVID-19 in Intensive Care? An Analytic Study

Introduction: SARS Cov2 infection still represents a real threat whose clinical severity results from an inadequate immuno-inflammatory reaction. The objective of our study was to determine the prognostic interest of the value of CRP and the rate of lymphocytes in the management of patients contaminated by SARS-Cov2. Material And Methods: This is a prospective, descriptive and analytical study of interest to patients with severe COVID-19, admitted to medical intensive care at the Oued Eddahab military hospital, for a period of one year. The biological parameters were analyzed on admission and during the stay in intensive care. The ROC curve was used to determine the sensitivity and specificity of CRP and lymphocytes as well as their optimal predictive threshold values. Results: 32 patients were included in our study. The average age of admissions was 65 years ± 12.38 with a sex ratio of 5.4 in favor of men. The optimal predictive threshold for the severity found was 147mg/l for CRP with a sensitization of 95% and a specificity of 83.3%, and 807/mm3 for lymphocytes with a sensitivity of 91.7% and a specificity of 95%. The odds ratio (OR) found for CRP and lymphocytes was &gt; 1. Conclusion: The CRP and the level of lymphocytes at the threshold defined above are risk factors for the severity of Sars-Cov2 infection.

War shock and the economy

AbstractThe main features of war shock are substantially different from those of the preceding COVID-19 shock. The EU economy is showing important elements of resilience. The existing structural forces and adaptive capacity of the EU economy are clear indications that it is capable of transformation and avoiding recession.The dynamics of the war is also crucial in terms of economic impacts. There are still many uncertainties about the future course of the war and its ramifications. The fundamental question is whether the war is heading in the direction of escalation or de-escalation. Unless the war spreads beyond Ukraine and the conventional means of warfare, its global economic consequences may be limited after the initial shock. New adjustment processes in the field of green and digital transition can be set in motion in parallel with the suffering and turmoil of war shock. New market players could emerge in the energy markets.The prolonged war continues to challenge the Ukrainian economy, but it can remain viable with massive external support. The Russian economy could suffer serious erosion, with its comparative advantage being wasted.There is a real threat of deglobalisation and the emergence of a fragmented world economy, but the counteracting factors appear to be much stronger. However, the prolonged war continues to pose major and unpredictable threats to the countries affected directly and indirectly, to Europe and to the world economy.

Recent Occurrence, Diversity, and Candidate Vaccine Virus Selection for Pandemic H5N1: Alert Is in the Air.

The prevalence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 in wild birds that migrate all over the world has resulted in the dissemination of this virus across Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America, the Arctic continent, and Antarctica. So far, H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4.b has reached an almost global distribution, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand for autochthonous cases. H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4.b, derived from the broad-host-range A/Goose/Guangdong/1/96 (H5N1) lineage, has evolved, adapted, and spread to species other than birds, with potential mammal-to-mammal transmission. Many public health agencies consider H5N1 influenza a real pandemic threat. In this sense, we analyzed H5N1 hemagglutinin sequences from recent outbreaks in animals, clinical samples, antigenic prototypes of candidate vaccine viruses, and licensed human vaccines for H5N1 with the aim of shedding light on the development of an H5N1 vaccine suitable for a pandemic response, should one occur in the near future.