Search results for: threat analysis

Authors: S. Vivekananda Pandian

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A major challenging task in this current scenario is protecting your computer and other electronic gadgets against Cyber-attacks. In this current era Cyber warfare becomes a major threat to the entire world which targets a particular organization or a country spreading the Malwares, Breaching the securities, causing major loss to the organization. Several sectors both public and private are computerized such as Energy sectors, Oil refinery sectors, Defense sectors and Aviation sectors are prone to attacks. Several attacks are unknown while accessing the internet. To study the characteristics and Intention of the Attacker Kippo Honeypots are used. Honeypots are the trap set by us which enables them to monitor the malicious activities and detailed study about attackers which leads to strengthening of the security.

Keywords: attackers, security, Kippo Honeypots, virtual machine

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Authors: Nasa'i Muhammad Gwadabe

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This study seeks to find the extent to which the old Islamophobic prejudice was tilted towards a more negative direction in the United States following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It is hypothesized that, the 9/11 attacks in the United States reshaped the old Islamophobic prejudice through the reinforcement of a strong social identity construction of Muslims as “out-group”. The “social identity” and “discourse representation” theories are used as framework for analysis. To test the hypothesis, two categories were created: the prejudice (out-group) and the tolerance (in-group) categories. The Prejudice (out-group) against Muslims category was coded to include six attributes: (Terrorist, Threat, Women's Rights violation, Undemocratic, Backward and Intolerant); while the tolerance (In-group) for Muslims category was also coded to include six attributes: (Peaceful, civilized, educated, partners trustworthy and honest). Data are generated from the archives of three American newspapers: The Los Angeles Times, New York Times and USA Today using specific search terms and specific date range; from 9/11/1996 to 9/11/2006, that is five years before and five years after the 9/11. An aggregate of 20595 articles were generated from the search of the three newspapers throughout the search periods. Conclusively, for both pre and post 9/11 periods, the articles generated under the category of prejudice (out-group) against Muslims revealed a higher frequency, against that of tolerance (in-group) for them, which is lesser. Finally, The comparison between the pre and post 9/11 periods showed that, the increased Prejudice (out-group) against Muslims was most influenced through libeling them as terrorist, which signaled a skyrocketed increase from pre to post 9/11.

Keywords: in-group, Islam, Islamophobia, Muslims, out-group, prejudice, terrorism, the 9/11 and tolerance

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Authors: Gizaw Mamo Gebeyehu, Marianna Pap, Geza Makkai, Tibor Z. Janosi, Shima Rashidian, Tibor A. Rauch

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Sepsis poses a significant global health threat, necessitating extensive exploration of indicators tied to its pathological mechanisms and multi-organ dysfunction. While murine studies have shed light on sepsis, the intricate cellular and molecular landscape in human sepsis remains enigmatic. Exploring the influence of activated monocyte-derived exosomes in sepsis sheds light on a promising pathway for understanding the intricate cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in this condition in humans. In sepsis, exosome-borne mRNA and miRNA orchestrate immune response gene expression in recipient cells. Yet, the specifics of exosome-mediated cell-to-cell communication, especially how mRNA cargoes modulate gene expression in recipient cells, remain poorly understood. This study aims to elucidate the precise molecular pathways through which exosomal mRNA cargo, particularly MAFB, contributes to the developing sepsis-induced molecular aberrations in liver tissues, employing rigorously defined cell culture conditions. THP-1 cells were treated with LPS to induce changes in exosomal RNA profiles. Exosomes were isolated and characterized using microscopy and mass spectrometry. RNA was extracted from exosomes and sequenced. The most abundant exosomal mRNAs were subjected to GO analysis for functional annotation analysis and KEGG database analysis to identify the involved enriched pathways. PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), RNA sequencing, and Western blotting were involved to analyze changes in gene expression, protein levels, and signaling pathways within the liver cells( HepG2) after exposure to exosomal MAFB. This study pinpoints exosomal MAFB as a potential key regulator linked to liver cell damage during sepsis, along with associated genes (miR155HG, H3F3A, and possibly JARD2) forming a crucial molecular pathway contributing to liver cell injury, Together, these elements indicate a vital molecular pathway that plays a significant role in the emergence of liver cell injury during sepsis.. These findings suggest the importance of further research on these components for potential therapeutic interventions in managing acute liver damage in sepsis.

Keywords: sepsis, exososome, exosomal MAFB, LPS-induced THP-1 cells, RNA profiles, sepsis-triggered liver injury

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Authors: Ho Yeon Park, Kyoung-Jae Kim

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The purpose of this study is to investigate whether friendship in social media can be an important factor in recommender system through social scientific analysis of friendship in popular social media such as Facebook and Twitter. For this purpose, this study analyzes data on friendship in real social media using component analysis and clique analysis among sub-group analysis in social network analysis. In this study, we propose an algorithm to reflect the results of sub-group analysis on the recommender system. The key to this algorithm is to ensure that recommendations from users in friendships are more likely to be reflected in recommendations from users. As a result of this study, outcomes of various subgroup analyzes were derived, and it was confirmed that the results were different from the results of the existing recommender system. Therefore, it is considered that the results of the subgroup analysis affect the recommendation performance of the system. Future research will attempt to generalize the results of the research through further analysis of various social data.

Keywords: sub-group analysis, social media, social network analysis, recommender systems

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Authors: Amina Jibrin Ahmed

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The environment is mankind's natural habitat. Industrial activities over time have taken their toll on it in the form of deterioration and degradation. The petroleum industry is particularly notorious for its negative impact on its host environments. The realization that this poses a threat to sustainability led to the increased awareness and subsequent recognition of the importance of environmental disclosure in financial statements. This paper examines the laws and regulations put in place by the Nigerian Government to mitigate this impact, and the level of compliance by Shell Nigeria, the pioneer and largest oil company in the country. Based on the disclosure made, this paper finds there is indeed a high level of compliance by that company, and voluntary disclosure moreover.

Keywords: environmental accounting, legitimacy theory, environmental impact assessment, environmental disclosure, host communities

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Authors: Sannikumar Patel, Brian Nolan, Markus Hofmann, Philip Owende, Kunjan Patel

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Sentiment analysis and opinion mining have become emerging topics of research in recent years but most of the work is focused on data in the English language. A comprehensive research and analysis are essential which considers multiple languages, machine translation techniques, and different classifiers. This paper presents, a comparative analysis of different approaches for multilingual sentiment analysis. These approaches are divided into two parts: one using classification of text without language translation and second using the translation of testing data to a target language, such as English, before classification. The presented research and results are useful for understanding whether machine translation should be used for multilingual sentiment analysis or building language specific sentiment classification systems is a better approach. The effects of language translation techniques, features, and accuracy of various classifiers for multilingual sentiment analysis is also discussed in this study.

Keywords: cross-language analysis, machine learning, machine translation, sentiment analysis

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Authors: Jehan Fahim M. Alsulami

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Academic research about sentiment analysis in sentiment analysis has obtained significant advancement over recent years and is flourishing from the collection of knowledge provided by various academic disciplines. In the current study, the status and development trend of the field of sentiment analysis in social networks is evaluated through a bibliometric analysis of academic publications. In particular, the distributions of publications and citations, the distribution of subject, predominant journals, authors, countries are analyzed. The collaboration degree is applied to measure scientific connections from different aspects. Moreover, the keyword co-occurrence analysis is used to find out the major research topics and their evolutions throughout the time span. The area of sentiment analysis in social networks has gained growing attention in academia, with computer science and engineering as the top main research subjects. China and the USA provide the most to the area development. Authors prefer to collaborate more with those within the same nation. Among the research topics, newly risen topics such as COVID-19, customer satisfaction are discovered.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis, sentiment analysis, social networks, social media

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Authors: Lisdey Espinoza Pedraza

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Organised crime in Mexico evolves faster that our capacity to understand and explain it. Organised gangs have become successful entrepreneurs in many ways ad they have somehow mimicked the working ways of the authorities and in many cases, they have successfully infiltrated the governmental spheres. This business model is only possible under a clear scheme of rampant impunity. Impunity, however, is not exclusive to the PRI. Nor the PRI, PAN, or PRD can claim the monopoly of corruption, but what is worse is that none can claim full honesty in their acts either. The current security crisis in Mexico shows a crisis in the Mexican political party system. Corruption today is not only a problem of dishonesty and the correct use of public resources. It is the principal threat to Mexican democracy, governance, and national security.

Keywords: security, war on drugs, drug trafficking, Mexico, Latin America, United States

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Authors: Ketan N. Bajad, Manisha V. Waghmare

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Earthquakes are the biggest threat to the civil engineering structures as every year it cost billions of dollars and thousands of deaths, around the world. There are various experimental techniques such as pseudo-dynamic tests – nonlinear structural dynamic technique, real time pseudo dynamic test and shaking table test method that can be employed to verify the seismic performance of structures. Shake table is a device that is used for shaking structural models or building components which are mounted on it. It is a device that simulates a seismic event using existing seismic data and nearly truly reproducing earthquake inputs. This paper deals with the use of shaking table test method to check the response of structure subjected to earthquake. The various types of shake table are vertical shake table, horizontal shake table, servo hydraulic shake table and servo electric shake table. The goal of this experiment is to perform seismic analysis of a civil engineering structure with the help of 3 degree of freedom (i.e. in X Y Z direction) shake table. Three (3) DOF shaking table is a useful experimental apparatus as it imitates a real time desired acceleration vibration signal for evaluating and assessing the seismic performance of structure. This study proceeds with the proper designing and erection of 3 DOF shake table by trial and error method. The table is designed to have a capacity up to 981 Newton. Further, to study the seismic response of a steel industrial building, a proportionately scaled down model is fabricated and tested on the shake table. The accelerometer is mounted on the model, which is used for recording the data. The experimental results obtained are further validated with the results obtained from software. It is found that model can be used to determine how the structure behaves in response to an applied earthquake motion, but the model cannot be used for direct numerical conclusions (such as of stiffness, deflection, etc.) as many uncertainties involved while scaling a small-scale model. The model shows modal forms and gives the rough deflection values. The experimental results demonstrate shake table as the most effective and the best of all methods available for seismic assessment of structure.

Keywords: accelerometer, three degree of freedom shake table, seismic analysis, steel industrial shed

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Authors: Samiksha Raviraja, Junaid Arif

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One of the most important abilities in species is the ability to communicate. This paper proposes steps to take when and if aliens came in contact with humans, and how humans would communicate with them. The situation would be a time-sensitive scenario, meaning that communication is at the utmost importance if such an event were to happen. First, humans would need to establish mutual peace by conveying that there is no threat to the alien race. Second, the aliens would need to acknowledge this understanding and reciprocate. This would be extremely difficult to do regardless of their intelligence level unless they are very human-like and have similarities to our way of communicating. The first step towards understanding their mind is to analyze their level of intelligence - Level 1-Low intelligence, Level 2-Human-like intelligence or Level 3-Advanced or High Intelligence. These three levels go hand in hand with the Kardashev scale. Further, the Barrow scale will also be used to categorize alien species in hopes of developing a common universal language to communicate in. This paper will delve into how the level of intelligence can be used toward achieving communication with aliens by predicting various possible scenarios and outcomes by proposing an intensive categorization system. This can be achieved by studying their Emotional and Intelligence Quotient (along with technological and scientific knowledge/intelligence). The limitations and capabilities of their intelligence must also be studied. By observing how they respond and react (expressions and senses) to different kinds of scenarios, items and people, the data will help enable good categorisation. It can be hypothesised that the more human-like aliens are or can relate to humans, the more likely it is that communication is possible. Depending on the situation, either human can teach aliens a human language, or humans can learn an alien language, or both races work together to develop a mutual understanding or mode of communication. There are three possible ways of contact. Aliens visit Earth, or humans discover aliens while on space exploration or through technology in the form of signals. A much rarer case would be humans and aliens running into each other during a space expedition of their own. The first two possibilities allow a more in-depth analysis of the alien life and enhanced results compared. The importance of finding a method of talking with aliens is important in order to not only protect Earth and humans but rather for the advancement of Science through the shared knowledge between the two species.

Keywords: intelligence, Kardashev scale, Barrow scale, alien civilizations, emotional and intelligence quotient

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Authors: Kara J. Coffman-Rea, Karen E. Samonds

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Microplastic pollution is an urgent global threat to our planet and human health. Microplastic particles have been detected within our food, water, and atmosphere, and found within the human stool, placenta, and lung tissue. However, most spectrometric microplastic detection methods require chemical digestion which can alter or destroy microplastic particles and makes it impossible to acquire information about their in-situ distribution. MALDI TOF MS (Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry) is an analytical method using a soft ionization technique that can be used for polymer analysis. This method provides a valuable opportunity to both acquire information regarding the in-situ distribution of microplastics and also minimizes the destructive element of chemical digestion. In addition, MALDI TOF MS allows for expanded analysis of the microplastics including detection of specific additives that may be present within them. MALDI TOF MS is particularly sensitive to sample preparation and has not yet been used to analyze environmental microplastics within their specific location (e.g., biological tissues, sediment, water). In this study, microplastics were created using polyethylene gloves, polystyrene micro-foam, and polyethylene terephthalate cable sleeving. Plastics were frozen using liquid nitrogen and ground to obtain small fragments. An artificial tissue was created using a cellulose sponge as scaffolding coated with a MaxGel Extracellular Matrix to simulate human lung tissue. Optimal preparation techniques (e.g., matrix, cationization reagent, solvent, mixing ratio, laser intensity) were first established for each specific polymer type. The artificial tissue sample was subsequently spiked with microplastics, and specific polymers were detected using MALDI-TOF-MS. This study presents a novel method for the detection of environmental polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polystyrene microplastics within a complex sample. Results of this study provide an effective method that can be used in future microplastics research and can aid in determining the potential threats to environmental and human health that they pose.

Keywords: environmental plastic pollution, MALDI-TOF MS, microplastics, polymer identification

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Authors: Serkan Yağlı, Selçuk Dal

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Cyber-attacks pose a serious threat to all states. Therefore, states constantly seek for various methods to encounter those threats. In addition, recent changes in the nature of cyber-attacks and their more complicated methods have created a new concept: active cyber defence (ACD). This article tries to answer firstly why ACD is important to NATO and find out the viewpoint of NATO towards ACD. Secondly, infrastructure protection is essential to cyber defence. Critical infrastructure protection with ACD means is even more important. It is assumed that by implementing active cyber defence, NATO may not only be able to repel the attacks but also be deterrent. Hence, the use of ACD has a direct positive effect in all international organizations’ future including NATO.

Keywords: active cyber defence, advanced persistent treat, critical infrastructure, NATO

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Authors: Gizem Derya Demir, Ilayda Yankilic, Daglar Karamuftuoglu, Dante Dorantes

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ABSTRACT HAPTIC ROBOTIC GLOVE FOR TELE-EXPLORATION OF EXPLOSIVE DEVICES Gizem Derya Demir, İlayda Yankılıç, Dağlar Karamüftüoğlu, Dante J. Dorantes-González Department of Mechanical Engineering, MEF University Ayazağa Cad. No.4, 34396 Maslak, Sarıyer, İstanbul, Turkey Nowadays, terror attacks are, unfortunately, a more common threat around the world. Therefore, safety measures have become much more essential. An alternative to providing safety and saving human lives is done by robots, such as disassembling and liquidation of bombs. In this article, remote exploration and manipulation of potential explosive devices from a safe-distance are addressed by designing a novel, simple and ergonomic haptic robotic glove. SolidWorks® Computer-Aided Design, computerized dynamic simulation, and MATLAB® kinematic and static analysis were used for the haptic robotic glove and finger design. Angle controls of servo motors were made using ARDUINO® IDE codes on a Makeblock® MegaPi control card. Simple grasping dexterity solutions for the fingers were obtained using one linear soft and one angle sensors for each finger, and six servo motors are used in total to remotely control a slave multi-tooled robotic hand. This project is still undergoing and presents current results. Future research steps are also presented.

Keywords: Dexterity, Exoskeleton, Haptics , Position Control, Robotic Hand , Teleoperation

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Authors: V. Ibujes, A. Guevara, P. Barreto

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Concentration of arsenic represents a serious threat to human health. It is a bioaccumulable toxic element and is transferred through the food chain. In Ecuador, values of 0.0423 mg/kg As are registered in potatoes of the skirts of the Tungurahua volcano. The increase of arsenic contamination in Ecuador is mainly due to mining activity, since the process of gold extraction generates toxic tailings with mercury. In the Province of Azuay, due to the mining activity, the soil reaches concentrations of 2,500 to 6,420 mg/kg As whereas in the province of Tungurahua it can be found arsenic concentrations of 6.9 to 198.7 mg/kg due to volcanic eruptions. Since the contamination by arsenic, the present investigation is directed to the remediation of the soils in the provinces of Azuay and Tungurahua by phytoremediation technique and the definition of a methodology of extraction by means of analysis of arsenic in the system soil-plant. The methodology consists in selection of two types of plants that have the best arsenic removal capacity in synthetic solutions 60 μM As, a lower percentage of mortality and hydroponics resistance. The arsenic concentrations in each plant were obtained from taking 10 ml aliquots and the subsequent analysis of the ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry) equipment. Soils were contaminated with synthetic solutions of arsenic with the capillarity method to achieve arsenic concentration of 13 and 15 mg/kg. Subsequently, two types of plants were evaluated to reduce the concentration of arsenic in soils for 7 weeks. The global variance for soil types was obtained with the InfoStat program. To measure the changes in arsenic concentration in the soil-plant system, the Rhizo and Wenzel arsenic extraction methodology was used and subsequently analyzed with the ICP-OES (optima 8000 Pekin Elmer). As a result, the selected plants were bluegrass and llanten, due to the high percentages of arsenic removal of 55% and 67% and low mortality rates of 9% and 8% respectively. In conclusion, Azuay soil with an initial concentration of 13 mg/kg As reached the concentrations of 11.49 and 11.04 mg/kg As for bluegrass and llanten respectively, and for the initial concentration of 15 mg/kg As reached 11.79 and 11.10 mg/kg As for blue grass and llanten after 7 weeks. For the Tungurahua soil with an initial concentration of 13 mg/kg As it reached the concentrations of 11.56 and 12.16 mg/kg As for the bluegrass and llanten respectively, and for the initial concentration of 15 mg/kg As reached 11.97 and 12.27 mg/kg Ace for bluegrass and llanten after 7 weeks. The best arsenic extraction methodology of soil-plant system is Wenzel.

Keywords: blue grass, llanten, phytoremediation, soil of Azuay, soil of Tungurahua, synthetic arsenic solution

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Authors: Dainius Genys, Vylius Leonavicius, Ricardas Krikstolaitis

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Energy security problems in Lithuania are analyzed on a regular basis; however, there is no comprehensive research on the very issue of the concept of public energy security. There is a lack of attention not only to social determinants of perception of energy security, but also a lack of a deeper analysis of the public opinion. This article aims to research the Lithuanian public perception of energy security. Complex tasks were set during the sociological study. Survey questionnaire consisted of different sets of questions: view of energy security (risk perception, political orientation, and energy security; comprehensiveness and energy security); view of energy risks and threats (perception of energy safety factors; individual dependence and burden; disobedience and risk); view of the activity of responsible institutions (energy policy assessment; confidence in institutions and energy security), demographic issues. In this article, we will focus on two aspects: a) We will analyze public opinion on the most important aspects of energy security and social factors influencing them; The hypothesis is made that public perception of energy security is related to value orientations: b) We will analyze how public opinion on energy policy executed by the government and confidence in the government are intertwined with the concept of energy security. Data of the survey, conducted on May 10-19 and June 7-17, 2013, when Seimas and the government consisted of the coalition dominated by Social Democrats with Labor, Order and Justice Parties and the Electoral Action of Poles, were used in this article. It is important to note that the survey was conducted prior to Russia’s occupation of the Crimea.

Keywords: energy security, public opinion, risk, energy threat, energy security policy

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Authors: Diamant Irene, Dar Tamar

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Burnout, conceptualized within the framework of stress research, is to a large extent a result of a threat on resources of time or a feeling of time shortage. In reaction to numerous tasks, deadlines, high output, management of different duties encompassing work-home conflicts, many individuals experience ‘time pressure’. Time pressure is characterized as the perception of a lack of available time in relation to the amount of workload. It can be a result of local objective constraints, but it can also be a chronic attribute in coping with life. As such, time pressure is associated in the literature with general stress experience and can therefore be a direct, contributory burnout factor. The present study examines the relation of chronic time pressure – feeling of time shortage and of being rushed, with another central aspect in subjective temporal experience - time perspective. Time perspective is a stable personal disposition, capturing the extent to which people subjectively remember the past, live the present and\or anticipate the future. Based on Hobfoll’s Conservation of Resources Theory, it was hypothesized that individuals with chronic time pressure would experience a permanent threat on their time resources resulting in relatively increased burnout. In addition, it was hypothesized that different time perspective profiles, based on Zimbardo’s typology of five dimensions – Past Positive, Past Negative, Present Hedonistic, Present Fatalistic, and Future, would be related to different magnitudes of chronic time pressure and of burnout. We expected that individuals with ‘Past Negative’ or ‘Present Fatalist’ time perspectives would experience more burnout, with chronic time pressure being a moderator variable. Conversely, individuals with a ‘Present Hedonistic’ - with little concern with the future consequences of actions, would experience less chronic time pressure and less burnout. Another temporal experience angle examined in this study is the difference between the actual distribution of time (as in a typical day) versus desired distribution of time (such as would have been distributed optimally during a day). It was hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between the gap between these time distributions and chronic time pressure and burnout. Data was collected through an online self-reporting survey distributed on social networks, with 240 participants (aged 21-65) recruited through convenience and snowball sampling methods from various organizational sectors. The results of the present study support the hypotheses and constitute a basis for future debate regarding the elements of burnout in the modern work environment, with an emphasis on subjective temporal experience. Our findings point to the importance of chronic and stable temporal experiences, as time pressure and time perspective, in occupational experience. The findings are also discussed with a view to the development of practical methods of burnout prevention.

Keywords: conservation of resources, burnout, time pressure, time perspective

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Authors: Girish M. Bhatia

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Most of the important structures in refinery complex are RCC Structures for which in-depth structural monitoring and inspection is required for incessant service. Reinforced concrete structures can be under threat from a combination of insidious challenges due to environmental conditions, including temperature and humidity that lead to accelerated deterioration mechanisms like carbonation, as well as marine exposure, above and below ground structures can experience ingress from aggressive ground waters carrying chlorides and sulphates leading to unexpected deterioration that threaten the integrity of a vital structural asset. By application of health monitoring techniques like corrosion monitoring with help of sensor probes, visual inspection of high rise structures with help of drones, it is possible to establish an early warning at the onset of these destructive processes.

Keywords: concrete structures, corrosion sensors, drones, health monitoring

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Authors: F. Argurio, F. G. Vaccaro

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In a global environment defined by ever-increasing health issues, in spite of the progress made by modern medicine, this paper seeks to readdress the question of global health in an international relations perspective. The research hypothesis is: the lower the security environment, the higher the spread of communicable diseases. This question will be channeled by re-scaling the connotation of 'global' and 'international' dimension through the theoretical lens of glocalization, a theory by Bauman that starts its analysis from simple systems to get to the most complex ones. Glocalization theory will be operationalized by analyzing health in an armed-conflict context. In this respect, the independent variable 'low security environment' translates into the cases of Syria and Yemen, which provide a clear example of the all-encompassing nature of conflict on national health and the effects on regional development. In fact, Syria and Yemen have been affected by poliomyelitis and cholera outbreaks respectively. The dependent variable will be constructed on said communicable diseases which belong to the families of sanitation-related and vaccine-preventable diseases. The research will be both qualitative and quantitative, based on primary (interviews) and secondary (WHO and other NGO’s reports) sources. The methodology is based on the assessment of the vaccine coverage and case-analysis in time and space using epidemiological data. Moreover, local health facilities’ functioning and efficiency will be studied. The article posits that the intervention and cooperation of international organizations with the local authorities becomes crucial to provide the local populations with their primary health needs. In Yemen, the majority of fatal cholera cases were in the regions controlled by the Houthi rebels, not officially accredited by the International Community. Similarly, the polio outbreak in Syria primarily affected the areas not controlled by the Syrian Arab Republic forces, recognized as the leading interlocutor by the WHO. The jeopardized possibilities to access these countries have been pivotal to the determining the problem in controlling sanitation-related and vaccine preventable diseases. This represents a potential threat to global health.

Keywords: health in conflict-affected areas, cholera, polio, Yemen, Syria, glocalization

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Authors: Simona Maria Ignat

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Bullying online has been an increasing studied topic during the last years. Different approaches, psychological, linguistic, or computational, have been applied. To our best knowledge, a definition and a set of characteristics of phenomenon agreed internationally as a common framework are still waiting for answers. Thus, the objectives of this paper are the identification of bullying utterances on Twitter and their algorithms. This research paper is focused on the identification of words or groups of words, categorized as “utterances”, with bullying effect, from Twitter platform, extracted on a set of legislative criteria. This set is the result of analysis followed by synthesis of law documents on bullying(online) from United States of America, European Union, and Ireland. The outcome is a linguistic corpus with approximatively 10,000 entries. The methods applied to the first objective have been the following. The discourse analysis has been applied in identification of keywords with bullying effect in texts from Google search engine, Images link. Transcription and anonymization have been applied on texts grouped in CL1 (Corpus linguistics 1). The keywords search method and the legislative criteria have been used for identifying bullying utterances from Twitter. The texts with at least 30 representations on Twitter have been grouped. They form the second corpus linguistics, Bullying utterances from Twitter (CL2). The entries have been identified by using the legislative criteria on the the BoW method principle. The BoW is a method of extracting words or group of words with same meaning in any context. The methods applied for reaching the second objective is the conversion of parts of speech to alphabetical and numerical symbols and writing the bullying utterances as algorithms. The converted form of parts of speech has been chosen on the criterion of relevance within bullying message. The inductive reasoning approach has been applied in sampling and identifying the algorithms. The results are groups with interchangeable elements. The outcomes convey two aspects of bullying: the form and the content or meaning. The form conveys the intentional intimidation against somebody, expressed at the level of texts by grammatical and lexical marks. This outcome has applicability in the forensic linguistics for establishing the intentionality of an action. Another outcome of form is a complex of graphemic variations essential in detecting harmful texts online. This research enriches the lexicon already known on the topic. The second aspect, the content, revealed the topics like threat, harassment, assault, or suicide. They are subcategories of a broader harmful content which is a constant concern for task forces and legislators at national and international levels. These topic – outcomes of the dataset are a valuable source of detection. The analysis of content revealed algorithms and lexicons which could be applied to other harmful contents. A third outcome of content are the conveyances of Stylistics, which is a rich source of discourse analysis of social media platforms. In conclusion, this corpus linguistics is structured on legislative criteria and could be used in various fields.

Keywords: corpus linguistics, cyberbullying, legislation, natural language processing, twitter

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Authors: Ayse Arslan

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One of the important elements underpinning a conscious design is the degree of toxicity in communication. This study explores the mechanisms and strategies for identifying toxic content by avoiding dark patterns. Given the breadth of hate and harassment attacks, this study explores a threat model and taxonomy to assist in reasoning about strategies for detection, prevention, mitigation, and recovery. In addition to identifying some relevant techniques such as nudges, automatic detection, or human-ranking, the study suggests the use of major metrics such as the overhead and friction of solutions on platforms and users or balancing false positives (e.g., incorrectly penalizing legitimate users) against false negatives (e.g., users exposed to hate and harassment) to maintain a conscious design towards fairness.

Keywords: AI, ML, algorithms, policy, system design

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Authors: Stacey Pollard, Henry Baraket, Girish Ganesan, Natalie Kim

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One year after U.S.-led coalition operations liberated ISIS-held territories in Iraq and Syria and killed ISIS core leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS is resurging. Taking a page from its old playbook, the organization is capitalizing on social unrest and a rapidly deteriorating security environment—exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic—to reconstitute in permissive areas of Iraq and Syria. This Short examines ISIS’s pandemic-era ground and information operations through the lens of its state- and nation-making efforts to help analysts and decisionmakers better understand the imminence and scope of the threat. ISIS is rapidly overcoming U.S.-supported counterterrorism gains and, without direct pressure to reverse these advances, is poised for recovery.

Keywords: Terrorism, COVID-19, Islamic State, Instability, Iraq, Syria, Global, Resurgence

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Authors: Noha Nagy, Hoda Mokhtar, Mohamed El Sherkawi

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The popularity of workflow delegation models and the increasing number of workflow provenance-aware systems motivate the need for finding more strict delegation models. Such models combine different approaches for enhanced security and respecting workflow privacy. Although modern enterprises seek conformance to workflow constraints to ensure correctness of their work, these constraints pose a threat to security, because these constraints can be good seeds for attacking privacy even in secure models. This paper introduces a comprehensive Workflow Delegation Model (WFDM) that utilizes provenance and workflow constraints to prevent malicious delegate from attacking workflow privacy as well as extending the delegation functionalities. In addition, we argue the need for exploiting workflow constraints to improve workflow security models.

Keywords: workflow delegation models, secure workflow, workflow privacy, workflow provenance

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Authors: Diana M. Torres, Anngie K. Hernandez, Andrea Villareal, Magda R. Gomez, Sadao Kobayashi

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Colombian Garlic crops exhibited mild mosaic, yellow stripes, and deformation. This group of symptoms suggested a viral infection. Several viruses belonging to the genera Potyvirus, Carlavirus and Allexivirus are known to infect garlic and lower their yield worldwide, but in Colombia, there are no studies of viral infections in this crop, only leek yellow stripe virus (LYSV) has been reported to our best knowledge. In Colombia, there are no management strategies for viral diseases in garlic because of the lack of information about viral infections on this crop, which is reflected in (i) high prevalence of viral related symptoms in garlic fields and (ii) high dispersal rate. For these reasons, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the viral status of garlic in Colombia, which can represent a major threat on garlic yield and quality for this country 55 symptomatic leaf samples were collected for virus detection by RT-PCR and mechanical inoculation. Total RNA isolated from infected samples were subjected to RT-PCR with primers 1-OYDV-G/2-OYDV-G for Onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV) (expected size 774pb), 1LYSV/2LYSV for LYSV (expected size 1000pb), SLV 7044/SLV 8004 for Shallot latent virus (SLV) (expected size 960pb), GCL-N30/GCL-C40 for Garlic common latent virus (GCLV) (expected size 481pb) and EF1F/EF1R for internal control (expected size 358pb). GCLV, SLV, and LYSV were detected in infected samples; in 95.6% of the analyzed samples was detected at least one of the viruses. GCLV and SLV were detected in single infection with low prevalence (9.3% and 7.4%, respectively). Garlic generally becomes coinfected with several types of viruses. Four viral complexes were identified: three double infection (64% of analyzed samples) and one triple infection (15%). The most frequent viral complex was SLV + GCLV infecting 48.1% of the samples. The other double complexes identified had a prevalence of 7% (GCLV + LYSV and SLV + LYSV) and 5.6% of the samples were free from these viruses. Mechanical transmission experiments were set up using leaf tissues of collected samples from infected fields, different test plants were assessed to know the host range, but it was restricted to C. quinoa, confirming the presence of detected viruses which have limited host range and were detected in C. quinoa by RT-PCR. The results of molecular and biological tests confirm the presence of SLV, LYSV, and GCLV; this is the first report of SLV and LYSV in garlic plants in Colombia, which can represent a serious threat for this crop in this country.

Keywords: SLV, GCLV, LYSV, leek yellow stripe virus, Allium sativum

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Authors: S. Divya, M. Jose

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Over the past years, industrial dyes have emerged as a significant threat to aquatic life, extensively detected in drinking water and groundwater, thus contributing to water pollution due to their improper and excessive use. To address this issue, the utilization of core-shell structures has been prioritized as it demonstrates remarkable efficiency in utilizing light energy for catalytic reactions and exhibiting excellent photocatalytic activity despite the availability of various photocatalysts. This work focuses on the photocatalytic degradation of Nd₂O₃@SiO₂ CSNs under UV light irradiation against MB and RhB dyes. Different characterization techniques, including XRD, FTIR, and TEM analyses, were employed to reveal the material's structure, functional groups, and morphological features. VSM and XPS analyses confirmed the soft, paramagnetic nature and chemical states with respective atomic percentages, respectively. Optical band gaps, determined using the Tauc plot model, indicated 4.24 eV and 4.13 eV for Nd₂O₃ NPs and Nd₂O₃@SiO₂ CSNs, respectively. The reduced bandgap energy of Nd₂O₃@SiO₂ CSNs enhances light absorption in the UV range, potentially leading to improved photocatalytic efficiency. The Nd₂O₃@SiO₂ CSNs exhibited greater degradation efficiency, reaching 95% and 96% against MB and RhB dyes, while Nd₂O₃ NPs showed 90% and 92%, respectively. The enhanced efficiency of Nd₂O₃@SiO₂ CSNs can be attributed to the larger specific surface area provided by the SiO₂ shell, as confirmed by surface area analysis using the BET surface area analyzer through N₂ adsorption-desorption.

Keywords: core shell nanocomposites, rare earth oxides, photocatalysis, advanced oxidation process

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Authors: Ntandazo Dlatu, Benjamin Longo-Mbenza, Andre Renzaho, Ruffin Appalata, Yolande Yvonne Valeria Matoumona Mavoungou, Mbenza Ben Longo, Kenneth Ekoru, Blaise Makoso, Gedeon Longo Longo

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Background: The gap between complexities related to the integration of Tuberculosis /HIV control and evidence-based knowledge motivated the initiation of the study. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore correlations between national TB management guidelines, multiple deprivation indexes, quantiles, components and levels of Tuberculosis control programme using mathematical modeling in rural O.R. Tambo District Health Facilities, South Africa. Methods: The study design used mixed secondary data analysis and cross-sectional analysis between 2009 and 2013 across O.R Tambo District, Eastern Cape, South Africa using univariate/ bivariate analysis, linear multiple regression models, and multivariate discriminant analysis. Health inequalities indicators and component of an impediment to the tuberculosis control programme were evaluated. Results: In total, 62 400 records for TB notification were analyzed for the period 2009-2013. There was a significant but negative between Financial Year Expenditure (r= -0.894; P= 0.041) Seropositive HIV status(r= -0.979; P= 0.004), Population Density (r = -0.881; P= 0.048) and the number of TB defaulter in all TB cases. It was shown unsuccessful control of TB management program through correlations between numbers of new PTB smear positive, TB defaulter new smear-positive, TB failure all TB, Pulmonary Tuberculosis case finding index and deprivation-concentration-dispersion index. It was shown successful TB program control through significant and negative associations between declining numbers of death in co-infection of HIV and TB, TB deaths all TB and SMIAD gradient/ deprivation-concentration-dispersion index. The multivariate linear model was summarized by unadjusted r of 96%, adjusted R2 of 95 %, Standard Error of estimate of 0.110, R2 changed of 0.959 and significance for variance change for P=0.004 to explain the prediction of TB defaulter in all TB with equation y= 8.558-0.979 x number of HIV seropositive. After adjusting for confounding factors (PTB case finding the index, TB defaulter new smear-positive, TB death in all TB, TB defaulter all TB, and TB failure in all TB). The HIV and TB death, as well as new PTB smear positive, were identified as the most important, significant, and independent indicator to discriminate most deprived deprivation index far from other deprivation quintiles 2-5 using discriminant analysis. Conclusion: Elimination of poverty such as overcrowding, lack of sanitation and environment of highest burden of HIV might end the TB threat in O.R Tambo District, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Furthermore, ongoing adequate budget comprehensive, holistic and collaborative initiative towards Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) is necessary for complete elimination of TB in poor O.R Tambo District.

Keywords: tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, success, failure, control program, health inequalities, South Africa

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Authors: Nataliya Venelinova

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The paper proposes a new interdisciplinary model of reconsidering the role of mass communication effects by coverage of terrorism. The idea of 4P model is based on the synergy, created by the information strategy of threat, predominantly used by terrorist groups, the effects of mediating the symbolic action of the terrorist attacks or the taking of responsibility of any attacks, and the reshaped public perception for security after the attacks being mass communicated. The paper defines the mass communication cycle of terrorism, which leads not only to re-agenda setting of the societies, but also spirally amplifying the effect of propagating fears by over-informing on terrorism attacks. This finally results in the outlining of the so called 4P-model of information terrorism: mass propaganda, panic, paranoia and pandemic.

Keywords: information terrorism, mass communication cycle, public perception, security

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Authors: Ahmed Emad, Ahmed Salah, Abdelrahman Magdy, Omar Rashid, Mohammed Adel

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This research paper discusses vehicle-to-vehicle technology as an important application of linear algebra. This communication technology represents an efficient and promising application to help to ensure the safety of the drivers by warning them when a crash possibility is close. The major link that combines our topic with linear algebra is the Laplacian matrix. Some main definitions used in the V2V were illustrated, such as VANET and its characteristics. The V2V technology could be applied in different applications with different traffic scenarios and various ways to warn car drivers. These scenarios were simulated programs such as MATLAB and Python to test how the V2V system would respond to the different scenarios and warn the car drivers exposed to the threat of collisions.

Keywords: V2V communication, vehicle to vehicle scenarios, VANET, FCW, EEBL, IMA, Laplacian matrix

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Authors: Giovana Privatte Maciera, Jair Izaías Kappann

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Introduction: The violence against woman is a complex phenomenon that accompanies the woman throughout her life and is a result of a social, cultural, political and religious construction, based on the differences among the genders. Those differences are felt, mainly, because of the patriarchal system that is still present which just naturalize and legitimate the asymmetry of power. As consequence of the women’s lasting historical and collective effort for a legislation against the impunity of violence against women in the national scenery, it was ordained, in 2006, a law known as Maria da Penha. The law was created as a protective measure for women that were victims of violence and consequently for the punishment of the aggressor. Methodology: Analysis of police inquiries is established by the Police Station of Defense of the Woman of Assis city, by formal authorization of the justice, in the period of 2013 to 2015. For the evaluating of the results will be used the content analysis and the theoretical referential of Psychoanalysis. Results and Discussion: The final analysis of the inquiries demonstrated that the violence against women is reproduced by the society and the aggressor, in most cases it is a member of their own family, mainly the current or former-spouse. The most common kinds of aggression were: the threat bodily harm, and the physical violence, that normally happens accompanied by psychological violence, being the most painful for the victims. The biggest part of the aggressors was white, older than the victim, worker and had primary school. But, unlike the expected, the minority of the aggressors were users of alcohol and/or drugs and possessed children in common with the victim. There is a contrast among the number of victims who already admitted have suffered some type of violence earlier by the same aggressor and the number of victims who has registered the occurrence before. The aggressors often use the discourse of denial in their testimony or try to justify their act like the blame was of the victim. It is believed in the interaction of several factors that can influence the aggressor to commit the abuse, including psychological, personal and sociocultural factors. One hypothesis is that the aggressor has a violence history in the family origin. After the aggressor being judged, condemned or not, usually there is no rehabilitation plan or supervision that enable his change. Conclusions: It has noticed the importance of studying the aggressor’s characteristics and the reasons that took him to commit such violence, making possible the implementation of an appropriate treatment to prevent and reduce the aggressions, as well the creation of programs and actions that enable communication and understanding concerning the theme. This is because the recurrence is still high, since the punitive system is not enough and the law is still ineffective and inefficient in certain aspects and in its own functioning. It is perceived a compulsion in repeat so much for the victims as for the aggressors, because they end involving, almost always, in disturbed and violent relationships, with the relation of subordination-dominance as characteristic.

Keywords: aggressors' profile, gender equality, Maria da Penha law, violence against women

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Authors: Jesica López, Deniz Koca, Asaf Tzachor

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In 2016 the historic peace accord between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had no strong mechanism for managing changes to land use and the environment. Since the end of a 60-year conflict in Colombia, large areas of forest in the Amazon region have been rapidly converted to agricultural uses, most recently by cattle ranching. This suggests that the peace agreement presents a threat to the conservation of the country's rainforest. We analyze the effects of cattle ranching as a driver and accelerator of deforestation from a systemic perspective, focusing on two key leverage points the legal and illegal activities involved in the cattle ranching practices. We map and understand the inherent dynamic complexity of deforestation, including factors such as land policy instruments, national strategy to tackle deforestation, land use nexus with Amazonian food systems, and loss of biodiversity. Our results show that deforestation inside Colombian Protected Areas (PAs) in the Amazon region and the surrounding buffer areas has accelerated with the onset of peace. By using a systems analysis approach, we contextualized the competition of land between cattle ranching and the need to protect tropical forests and their biodiversity loss. We elaborate on future recommendations for land use management decisions making suggest the inclusion of an Amazonian food system, interconnecting and visualizing the synergies between sustainable development goals, climate action (SDG 13) and life on land (SDG 15).

Keywords: tropical rainforest, deforestation, sustainable land use, food security, Colombian Amazon

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Authors: Ramesh Chinnasamy, Srishti Semalty, Vishnu S. Nair, Thirumurugan Vedagiri, Mahesh Ganeshan, Gautam Talukdar, Karthy Sivapushanam, Abhijit Das

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Snakes form an integral component of ecological systems. Human population explosion and associated acceleration of habitat destruction and degradation, has led to a rapid increase in human-snake encounters. The study aims at understanding the level of awareness, knowledge, and attitude of the people towards human-snake negative interaction and role of awareness programmes in the Moyar river valley, Tamil Nadu. The study area is part of the Mudumalai and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserves, which are significant wildlife corridors between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The data was collected using questionnaire covering 644 respondents spread across 18 villages between 2018 and 2019. The study revealed that 86.5% of respondents had strong negative perceptions towards snakes which were propelled by fear, superstitions, and threat of snakebite which was common and did not vary among different villages (F=4.48; p = <0.05) and age groups (X2 = 1.946; p = 0.962). Cobra 27.8% (n = 294) and rat snake 21.3% (n = 225) were the most sighted species and most snake encounter occurred during the monsoon season i.e., July 35.6 (n = 218), June 19.1% (n = 117) and August 18.4% (n = 113). At least 1 out of 5 respondents was reportedly bitten by snakes during their lifetime. The most common species of snakes that were the cause of snakebite were Saw scaled viper (32.6%, n = 42) followed by Cobra 17.1% (n = 22). About 21.3% (n = 137) people reported livestock loss due to pythons and other snakes 21.3% (n = 137). Most people, preferred medical treatment for snakebite (87.3%), whereas 12.7%, still believed in traditional methods. The majority (82.3%) used precautionary measure by keeping traditional items such as garlic, kerosene, and snake plant to avoid snakes. About 30% of the respondents expressed need for technical and monetary support from the forest department that could aid in reducing the human-snake conflict. It is concluded that the general perception in the study area is driven by fear and negative attitude towards snakes. Though snakes such as Cobra were widely worshiped in the region, there are still widespread myths and misconceptions that have led to the irrational killing of snakes. Awareness and innovative education programs rooted in the local context and language should be integrated at the village level, to minimize risk and the associated threat of snakebite among the people. Results from this study shall help policy makers to devise appropriate conservation measures to reduce human-snake conflicts in India.

Keywords: Envenomation, Health-Education, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Neglected Tropical Disease, Snakebite Mitigation, Traditional Practitioners

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