Source Of Threat Research Articles

Household storage and disposal of medications: A source of potential health and environmental threats?

Household storage and disposal of medications: A source of potential health and environmental threats?

ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF METALLURGICAL INDUSTRY ON THE CONDITION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR AND WAYS OF ITS REDUCTION

The article examines the impact of metallurgical enterprises on the environment in Ukraine. It is established that metallurgical enterprises are a powerful source of threat to the environmental safety of urban agglomerations and have a significant impact on the health of people living in the surrounding areas. The sources and consequences of the environmental impact of the metallurgical industry on the environment, as well as the composition of emissions from the main ferrous metallurgy processes into the atmosphere are considered. It has been established that the assessment of the impact of metallurgical enterprises on the environment in Ukraine is a very promising area for further research on the level of environmental safety. An urgent issue is the development and improvement of the air pollution control system aimed at a certain type of anthropogenic sources.
 In order to ensure constant monitoring, improve the performance of enterprises, meet the requirements of stakeholders, promptly respond to violations, and reduce the negative impact on the environment, the article offers practical recommendations for reducing the negative impact. These recommendations relate to the introduction of comprehensive monitoring of metallurgical production, as well as improving the quality of environmental information in the field of environmental protection, which will lead to an improvement in the quality of public administration in a broader sense.

Cyber Threats and Their Impact on the U.S. National Security

The cyberspace has been turned into a new arena for the international struggle between the major powers in order to impose hegemony and influence on cyberspace, and these developments imposed a rethinking of the structure and the concept of national security of the state. As a result, the issue of cyberspace security became part of the national security strategies of many developed countries in order to prevent the exposure of their vital infrastructure to cyber threats and risks, and the United States is one of the first global powers to realize the importance of the impact of cyberspace on the global balance of power, as it considered it an essential element of the comprehensive forces of the state. Therefore, the United States focused on technological and information superiority in cyberspace in order to increase its strategic capabilities and deprive opponents of it within its national strategy for the twenty-first century. Since the cyberspace is one of the sources of threats facing the United States of America, it is necessary to develop several strategies to deal with threats and risks poses by cyberspace that threaten US national security.

USING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AS A STRATEGIC RESOURCE FOR IMPROVING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE STATE

This article explores the theoretical and practical aspects of protecting critical infrastructure as a strategic resource for improving the competitiveness of the state. In the article, the concept of critical infrastructure is defined and justified as a strategic resource for improving the competitiveness of the state. Also, a number of threats are identified that can affect the functioning of objects of critical infrastructure and cause instability at different levels, including national security, which significantly affects the competitiveness of the state. One of the directions for ensuring effective protection of critical infrastructure is to develop a policy of “efficiency” – to optimize the distribution and application of state security resources for localizing potential sources of threat and enhancing the competitiveness of the state. The approach to formulating content of the concept of “threat” in the context of competitiveness of the state is analyzed and improved. The focus is on identifying critical objects on national, regional and local levels of infrastructure as a strategic resource for improving the competitiveness of the state. The methodology for attributing objects of national infrastructure to the field of critical infrastructure in accordance with their importance functions and services that they perform is described. A list of vitally important functions and services provided by representatives that require protection is presented, as well as representatives that are objects of critical infrastructure in the context of national security and competitiveness of the state. The content of relevant normative-legal acts that provided grounds for specifying a list of threats to critical infrastructure and confirming its inclusion in strategic resources for ensuring national security and enhancing competitiveness of the state is analyzed. Based on a critical analysis, it is generalized that there are three main categories of threats to critical infrastructure: natural origin, technological nature and malicious actions. It is proposed to supplement this list with combined threats that can cause “synergy effect” destabilization of critical infrastructure, reducing competitiveness of the state.

Role of nanotechnology as a zero waste tool

AbstractIn the advancing generation, commercialization and industrial development are on the incessant proliferation. Due to this unremitting need for development, the danger to the biological health of the environment is on the assurgent rise. Many “clean and green” industrial protocols have been generated and taken into purview but has been ineffective in keeping abreast with the ever‐growing pace of environmental threats. Technology in today's world has been the game changer in revolutionizing the way humans live their lives today but at the same time, has also become the greatest source of threat to the very sustainability of the planet. Thus, newer technological enhancements have been initiated to compensate for the harm to the environment. Of these, green and sustainable nanotechnological methodology and tools to be used as zero waste tools have been developed to efficiently beat the crisis of the hour. For example, the development of various nano‐based zero‐waste tools to the introduction of nanotechnology in various industries like automobiles, water, agriculture, and so on, has changed the way sustainable development has been adopted. This article aims to enhance the success of nanotechnology in the various sustainable developments done in industrial fields to cope up with the need of a “clean and green” environment.

Testing the bidirectional relationship between belief in COVID‐19 conspiracy theories and psychological distress: A five‐wave longitudinal study

AbstractPrevious studies have primarily focused on understanding why people believe conspiracy theories, especially during societal crises (e.g., the COVID‐19 pandemic). The investigation of how such conspiracy beliefs would influence people's mental well‐being has just begun recently. The present research aims to address this crucial question by testing the relationships between psychological distress and COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs with a five‐wave longitudinal study. On the one hand, COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs could be more appealing to people with heightened distress, as these theories apparently help people to make sense of the uncertainty and life‐threatening disease outbreak. On the other hand, conspiracy theories could be a source of existential threat and thus, would induce rather than reduce psychological distress. We tested these possibilities empirically by a series of cross‐lagged model analyses. Using the random intercept cross‐lagged panel model analysis, we only found a between‐person association but not a cross‐lagged within‐person relationship between the two. COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs was predicted by being more politically conservative. These findings were further corroborated by the supplementary latent growth curve analyses. Overall, our findings suggest that conspiracy beliefs may not induce or reduce psychological distress in the context of COVID‐19.

Protecting and restoring habitats to benefit freshwater biodiversity

Freshwater biodiversity is under great threat across the globe as evidenced by more severe declines relative to other types of ecosystems. Some of the main stressors responsible for these concerning trends is habitat fragmentation, degradation, and loss stemming from anthropogenic activities, including energy production, urbanization, agriculture, and resource extraction. Habitat protection and restoration both play an integral role in efforts to save freshwater biodiversity and associated ecosystem services from further decline. In this paper, we summarize the sources of threats associated with habitat fragmentation, degradation, and loss and then outline response options to protect and restore freshwater habitats. Specific response options are to legislate the protection of healthy and productive freshwater ecosystems, prioritize habitats for protection and restoration, enact durable protections, conserve habitat in a coordinated and integrated manner, engage in evidence-based restoration using an adaptive management approach, ensure that potential freshwater habitat alterations are mitigated or off-set, and future-proof protection and restoration actions. Such work should be done through a lens that engages and involves local community members. We identify three broad categories of obstacles that could arise during the implementation of the response options outlined: (a) scientific (e.g., inaccessible data or uncertainties), (b) institutional and management (e.g., capacity issues or differing goals across agencies), and (c) social and political (e.g., prioritizing economic development over conservation initiatives). The protection and restoration of habitats is key to Bend the Curve for freshwater biodiversity, with a comprehensive, connected, and coordinated effort of response options needed to protect intact habitats and restore fragmented, degraded, and lost habitats and the biodiversity and ecosystem services that they support.

Smart Terminal System of Systems’ Cyber Threat Impact Evaluation

Systems of system-level thinking is required when the purpose is to develop a coherent understanding of the ecosystem where every user and system requirements are divided into specific parts. The smarter project, as a part of the Sea4value program of DIMECC, aims to develop harbor operations, including passenger and cargo transportation, in a way that port processes will improve, emissions will decrease, and overall security will enhance in smart ports. This paper describes cyber-attack impacts against the Smart terminal system of systems in the cyber realm by utilizing the MITRE ATTACK® framework to map the objectives of threat actors. The Smart Terminal system environment includes ICT, ICS networks and components, communication systems, and port service systems. Internal and external threat sources or actors are hard to divide exactly because of the diversity of the threats. Hybrid threats challenge maritime domain awareness globally. The cyber threat impacts on IT and OT environments are connected to each other because of the use of internal and external networks that impact each other by combining vulnerabilities and threats. Well-working port and terminal operations require not only protected operational systems or sensor systems, but human errors must also be minimized. Objectives of threat actors are presented, categorized, and listed. Threat scenarios illustrate that cyber threats and risks are mainly similar in the maritime global-linked port community and basic hinterland trade. The networked supply chain of the business causes evolving and combined threat scenarios. European and international standards, regulations, policies, recommendations, and, e.g., guidelines by the IMO, set new cyber-threat requirements for port and terminal services and facilities. Therefore, overall security must be considered when cyber-security is the development area. Information exchange in an understandable form is essential for maintaining business continuity. Threat information has to be transferred among stakeholders as well as cyber security codes have to be followed in the port operations of partners that are involved, for example, in operational and system-level actions. Digitalization in smart ports and terminals enhances the capacity to handle cargo and passengers more efficiently, but cyber threats evolve.

Multi-Drone Optimal Mission Assignment and 3D Path Planning for Disaster Rescue

In a three-dimensional (3D) disaster rescue mission environment, multi-drone mission assignments and path planning are challenging. Aiming at this problem, a mission assignment method based on adaptive genetic algorithms (AGA) and a path planning method using sine–cosine particle swarm optimization (SCPSO) are proposed. First, an original 3D digital terrain model is constructed. Second, common threat sources in disaster rescue environments are modeled, including mountains, transmission towers, and severe weather. Third, a cost–revenue function that considers factors such as drone performance, demand for mission points, elevation cost, and threat sources, is formulated to assign missions to multiple drones. Fourth, an AGA is employed to realize the multi-drone mission assignment. To enhance convergence speed and optimize performance in finding the optimal solution, an AGA using both the roulette method and the elite retention method is proposed. Additionally, the parameters of the AGA are adjusted according to the changes in the fitness function. Furthermore, the improved circle algorithm is also used to preprocess the mission sequence for AGA. Finally, based on the sine–cosine function model, a SCPSO is proposed for planning the optimal flight path between adjacent task points. In addition, the inertia and acceleration coefficients of linear weights are designed for SCPSO so as to enhance its performance to escape the local minimum, explore the search space more thoroughly, and achieve the purpose of global optimization. A multitude of simulation experiments have demonstrated the validity of our method.

RISKS AND SOURCES OF THREATS THE FOREIGN ECONOMIC SECURITY OF UKRAINE

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to study modern risks and sources of threats in the sphere of ensuring Ukraine's foreign economic security. Method. In order to solve scientific problems, the research used: comparative analysis of empirical data; abstract-logical generalization, grouping methods, statistical methods. Results. The work identifies the existing and potential risks of Ukraine's foreign economic activity. On the basis of the conducted comparative analysis, it is proven that the current low state of foreign economic security is the result of russia's military aggression; high level of dollarization of the economy; vulnerable export commodity structure; low competitiveness of domestic producers; dependence on the import of energy carriers and certain types of products; certain discrimination of Ukrainian enterprises in trade relations. The main way to improve foreign economic activity should be the simultaneous implementation of structural reforms in all economic spheres of the country. Scientific novelty consists in a comprehensive study of the current level of foreign economic security and the identification of potential risks and threats, the implementation of which can significantly worsen the state of Ukraine's foreign economic activity. Practical significance. Individual results and conclusions can be used by national regulators in the process of determining ways to improve the state of foreign economic security.

Study on Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Forces of Habitat Quality in the Basin along the Yangtze River in Anhui Province Based on InVEST Model

The basin along the Yangtze River in Anhui Province is an important ecological protective screen in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Belt, with a large number of wetlands, lakes, and nature reserves in the basin. The effect of the rapid development of regional urbanization on the ecological environment quality has become an important threat source that restricts ecosystem function and biodiversity protection in the basin. Therefore, this study used InVEST model to analyze the spatial and temporal evolution of habitat quality based on remote sensing image data from 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 in the basin along the Yangtze River in Anhui Province and revealed the spatial evolution trend of habitat quality degradation by using hot and cold spot analysis methods. The geographical detector model was used to discuss the main driving factors of habitat quality change. The study results showed that a trend of increase and decrease of construction land and paddy land in the basin from 1990 to 2020 was the opposite, that is, the area of construction land increased, and the area of paddy land decreased. Especially, the area of construction land increased from 390.18 km2 in 1990 to 1616.34 km2 in 2020. The area of increase and decrease of other land types remained around 1% to 2%. During the period from 2000 to 2020, Construction land was mainly transferred in from paddy land, accounting for over 60% of the area transferred in, which indicated the continuous increase of human activity intensity in the study area. From 1990 to 2020, the areas with a significant decline in habitat quality in the basin were mainly concentrated along the Yangtze River and in the northern part of the Chaohu Lake. The area proportion with the lowest grade of habitat quality showed a trend of increasing year by year, that is, the area proportion increased from 4.85% in 1990 to 8.47% in 2020. The hot spots of habitat quality degradation were concentrated in Hefei and its surrounding areas, while the cold spots of the degradation were mainly concentrated in the southern and western mountainous areas. Land use type was the main driving factor affecting habitat quality, and the interaction between land use and per capita GDP was the main driving factor for changes in habitat quality. The study results had important theoretical and practical value for the ecological environment protection and harmonious development of the relationship between humans and nature in the basin along the Yangtze River in Anhui Province.

Enjoying Europe, yearning for Russia? Russian travel writing on the Baltic provinces during the 19th century

ABSTRACT After the end of the Napoleonic Wars it became popular in the Russian Empire to investigate one’s own country. Inspired by Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinskii’s bestseller A Journey to Reval (1821), the Russian elite also travelled through the Baltic provinces with their romantic medieval ruins and Hanseatic cities. During the first half of the nineteenth century, Baltic German culture was usually understood as enhancing Russia’s imperial diversity and ‘Europeanising’ the state. From the 1830s onwards, travel accounts concentrated on traces of the empire in the region and imagined the city of Reval/Tallinn as a site of memory for Russia’s first emperor, Peter I. This article argues that Russian travel writing on the Baltic provinces used tourism imaginaries that mirrored a growing imperial consciousness in which the Baltic provinces became more ‘Russian’ in the perceptions of the Russian public. This process has to be seen in the context of the nationalisation of Russian elite perceptions that also affected the general idea of this region as culturally ‘German’. In the end, the better accessibility of the region due to infrastructural modernisation paradoxically contributed to a growing sense of alienation, the romantic attraction of ‘Europeanness’ turned into a source of threat for the empire.

Finding the Corridor Potential Between Protected Areas in a Fragmented Landscape, Gunungkidul Regency, Indonesia

Abstract Fragmentation impacts disconnecting protected areas in Gunungkidul Regency, namely Bunder Forest Park (BFP) and the Paliyan Wildlife Reserve (PWR). This also decreases the carrying capacity in PWR, degrading the Long-Tailed Macaque (LTM) habitat. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the landscape structure between Protected areas, the habitat suitability of LTM in Gunungkidul Regency, and determine connectivity potential as an environmental management strategy. applied for this research to investigates the structure and fragmentation using Fragstat 4.2 and ArcGIS 10.8 software. Meanwhile, scoring and weighting methods analyze the LTM habitat, while Least Cost Patch Analysis (LCPA) supported by ArcGIS 10.8 determine the corridor. The results showed that the research land cover changed from 1999-2021. Agriculture, scrubs, and settlements are the dominant land cover suspected to cause forest fragmentation. Based on the habitat suitability analysis using parameters such as land cover, vegetation density, slope, altitude, distance from the river, and sources of threats, most of the research area is intermediate habitat suitability class. These findings can be integrated to determine connectivity between protected areas as one of the environment management strategies. Good forest cover can be used to designate a corridor that has the greatest potential to be developed between BFP and PWR and should be maintained as a wildlife crossing.

Legal challenges in ensuring the cybersecurity of genetic data in the Russian Federation

The article explores problematic issues of legal regulation of genetic data cybersecurity. The author points out gaps in the legal framework regulating the requirements for collection, storage, processing and transfer of genetic data as a special type of personal data. The author investigates the aspects of insufficient protection of genetic information and the main reasons and sources of threats for private and public interests. The author proposed ways to improve the legislation in order to counteract cyber risks in conditions of a significant growth of genetic data in the Internet space, in particular, to approve mandatory security requirements when dealing with genetic information, to increase responsibility for violation of legislation in the field of personal data, to limit the range of persons having access to genetic databases and other mechanisms of legal regulation.

The intersectional identity work of entrepreneurs with disabilities: constructing difference through disability, gender, and entrepreneurship

ABSTRACT Despite a growing interest in intersectional entrepreneurship studies investigating the interplay of privileged and disadvantaged identities, people with disabilities still appear to be a ‘forgotten minority’ in that field. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 29 entrepreneurs with disabilities (EWD), this study examines how differences are constructed by EWD when performing intersectional identity work at the crossroads of disability, gender, and entrepreneurship. The results revealed four overlapping strategies in response to different sources of identity threats, such as disability and gender threats: bracketing, reconciling, adjusting, and neglecting. While the identity work of EWD was informed by challenging dominant entrepreneurial discourse impregnated by ableism and hegemonic masculinity, simultaneously, othering was also used in crafting positive identities, which instead reproduced power-laden social differences.

‘Desirable Types’: Australian Press Photography and Jewish Refugees 1935–49

This article analyses Australian news photographs of Jewish refugees during two pivotal eras: from 1935 to 1939, when increasing numbers of refugees sought asylum from Nazi persecution in Europe; and from 1945, in the wake of the Holocaust, as the Australian federal Labor government was formalising Australian citizenship and embarking on a program of expanded immigration, while still adhering to the restrictive White Australia policy. The article argues that the visual record of Jewish refugees was significant in conveying three specific if contradictory visual idioms: Australia as a sanctuary; the ideal of the ‘good citizen’, easily assimilated; and the refugee as a source of threat and disruption. Editorial regulation, political context and government censorship were fundamental to the news mediations of belonging and citizenship. The article shows that after the war, the Australian federal government sought to manage these press narratives, signalling the tenuous place of refugees in modern Australia.

Criticism of modern approaches to the interpretation of the concept of «threat» in technical disciplines: elements of theoretical absurdity of some researchers' ideas

In the presented work, the subject of research is one of the main categories of the conceptual apparatus of such a new direction of theoretical thought as the science of safety - the concept of «threat». Despite the obvious simplicity of this term and its widespread use in everyday life and legal practice, disputes about its substantive basis do not stop in the scientific community. Insufficient elaboration of the main categories of safety theory leads to numerous ambiguous interpretations of its fundamental terms, which do not allow forming a strictly defined theoretical basis. Therefore, in this article, using the example of the analysis of publications published in scientific journals and on the «AGA-Sofia»s website, the most obvious shortcomings of existing approaches to the interpretation of the concept of «threat» and its main characteristics are revealed. The solution of the tasks set in the work is based on the application of methods of logical analysis, laws of terminology and methodological principles of philosophy. The paper draws attention to the fact that, unlike the general case, when a threat is formulated as the intention (possibility) of causing any harm to someone / something (the object of the threat) on the part of someone/something (the source of the threat), in technical disciplines, the threat is presented as the possibility of harmful consequences as a result of object–object/subject relations (the impact of something on someone/something). Among the identified shortcomings in the interpretation of the characteristics of the threat, it is emphasized that it does not necessarily have to be manifested. If the threat is real, it can be both explicit and hidden. In addition, its potential form is legitimate, due to the two-dimensionality of the universal «possibility». At the same time, the author draws attention to the grossest methodological miscalculation made by some researchers - the threat cannot be a phenomenon, since it represents only the possibility of harmful consequences of any phenomenon. The article draws attention to the fallacy of attempts by some authors to extend the scope of the definition of «threat» to the concepts of «blackmail» and «ultimatum», as well as to the possibility of perception responses when harm is caused as a result of the threat. The inaccuracies allowed by researchers in defining the term «threat source» are analyzed, and the validity of the use of certain terms closely related to the concept of threat, such as «threat to the safety of the object», «threat to interests», «threat of unauthorized access» is justified.

Технологическая карта как один из инструментов повышения качества ремонтно-строительных работ

Introduction. Nowadays, improving the quality of repair-construction works is an important complex problem, insufficient attention to which inevitably leads to their increasing cost, increasing operational costs, increasing the number of current and overhaul repairs, as well as reducing the time between repairs, worsening the quality of life of consumers. In the worst cases, poor quality of repair and construction works can lead to the accidents, become a source of threat to life and health, leading to accidents. The quality of work — is the main purpose of using the technological card; this standardized organizational and technological document contains detailed instructions for the working staff, allowing to understand all the processes to be carried out during the project as well as to evaluate the resources necessary for this. The process map contains a set of measures for the organisation of work with the most efficient use of modern means of mechanisation, technological equipment, tools and fixtures. This document includes the most progressive and rational methods of construction works technology facilitating reduction of time and improvement of work quality and reduction of their cost. The technological card ensures not only economical and high quality, but also safe execution of works, as it contains regulatory requirements and safety rules. Materials and methods. The task is to analyse flow charts for different types of work in major repairs with the identification of a list of shortcomings, errors and inaccuracies in drawing up flow charts. Results. Proposals for correcting basic data and parameters in the flow charts required for operational control of the technological process have been developed. Conclusions. A list of flow charts for different types of work during major repairs has been analysed; a list of shortcomings, errors and inaccuracies in drawing up flow charts that require adjustments has been identified.

SaCHBA_PDN: Modified honey badger algorithm with multi-strategy for UAV path planning

The honey badger algorithm (HBA) is a meta-heuristic optimization algorithm that simulates the foraging behavior of honey badgers. Since the algorithm is prone to premature convergence when solving complex optimization problems. To improve the overall optimization performance of the basic HBA, this paper develops a modified HBA named SaCHBA_PDN based on the Bernoulli shift map, piecewise optimal decreasing neighborhood, and horizontal crossing with strategy adaptation and applies it to solve the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) path planning problem. Firstly, the Bernoulli shift map is invoked to the HBA algorithm to change its initialization process, thus increasing the diversity of the population and speeding up the convergence speed. Secondly, a new piecewise optimal decreasing neighborhood strategy (PODNS) is proposed to address the shortcomings of unbalanced convergence of the traditional optimal neighborhood strategy. The proposed PODNS increases the optimization efficiency of HBA and enhances the local search ability to avoid falling into the local optimum. Finally, a novel horizontal crossing with strategy adaptation is introduced to balance exploration and exploitation and enhance the global optimization ability. These strategies collaborate to enhance HBA in accelerating overall performance. The superiority of SaCHBA_PDN is comprehensively verified by comparing it with the original HBA and numerous celebrated and newly developed algorithms on the well-known 23 classical benchmark functions and IEEE CEC2017 test suite, respectively. Experimental results show that SaCHBA_PDN has a better performance than other optimization algorithms. Furthermore, SaCHBA_PDN is used to solve a UAV path planning problem based on the threat source model and applied to circular and irregular obstacle scenarios as well as two-dimensional grid maps. Simulation results show that SaCHBA_PDN can obtain more feasible and efficient paths in different obstacle environments.

Resilience and Resilient Systems of Artificial Intelligence: Taxonomy, Models and Methods

Artificial intelligence systems are increasingly being used in industrial applications, security and military contexts, disaster response complexes, policing and justice practices, finance, and healthcare systems. However, disruptions to these systems can have negative impacts on health, mortality, human rights, and asset values. The protection of such systems from various types of destructive influences is thus a relevant area of research. The vast majority of previously published works are aimed at reducing vulnerability to certain types of disturbances or implementing certain resilience properties. At the same time, the authors either do not consider the concept of resilience as such, or their understanding varies greatly. The aim of this study is to present a systematic approach to analyzing the resilience of artificial intelligence systems, along with an analysis of relevant scientific publications. Our methodology involves the formation of a set of resilience factors, organizing and defining taxonomic and ontological relationships for resilience factors of artificial intelligence systems, and analyzing relevant resilience solutions and challenges. This study analyzes the sources of threats and methods to ensure each resilience properties for artificial intelligence systems. As a result, the potential to create a resilient artificial intelligence system by configuring the architecture and learning scenarios is confirmed. The results can serve as a roadmap for establishing technical requirements for forthcoming artificial intelligence systems, as well as a framework for assessing the resilience of already developed artificial intelligence systems.