WorldWideScience

Sample records for bioterrorism related threats

  1. THE BIOTERRORISM THREAT: TECHNOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    J. F. PILAT

    2000-03-01

    Bioterrorism--along with biowarfare, from which it may not always be distinguishable in practice--will be a feature of the strategic landscape in the 21st century and is high on the US national security agenda. Bioterrorism poses a potential threat to the US population, agriculture, interests, friends and allies, and military forces (asymmetric threats). Yet these possibilities have not been widely pursued or realized by terrorists. The perceived threat is far worse than anything experienced to date, and is largely technologically driven.

  2. The Nature of the Bioterrorism Threat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Regens, J. L.

    2003-02-25

    This analysis provides an overview of the nature of the bioterrorism threat. It identifies potential CDC Class A biological agents that are likely candidates for use in a terrorist incident and describes the known sources of vulnerability. The paper also summarizes S&T resources/needs and assesses response options for achieving effective biodefense against terrorist threats.

  3. Bio-Terrorism Threat and Casualty Prevention

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NOEL,WILLIAM P.

    2000-01-01

    The bio-terrorism threat has become the ''poor man's'' nuclear weapon. The ease of manufacture and dissemination has allowed an organization with only rudimentary skills and equipment to pose a significant threat with high consequences. This report will analyze some of the most likely agents that would be used, the ease of manufacture, the ease of dissemination and what characteristics of the public health response that are particularly important to the successful characterization of a high consequence event to prevent excessive causalities.

  4. [Biological security confronting bioterrorism].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suárez Fernández, Guillermo

    2002-01-01

    A review is made on Biosecurity at both local and global level in relationship with Bioterrorism as a real threat and its control and prevention. The function of the network of High Security Laboratories around the world able to make immediate diagnosis, research on vaccines, fundamental and urgent epidemiological studies, conform a steady basis to control natural infections and also the possible bioterrorism attacks.

  5. Bioterrorism and Smallpox: Policies, Practices, and Implications for Social Work

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mackelprang, Romel W.; Mackelprang, Romel D.; Thirkill, Ashley D.

    2005-01-01

    Terrorist acts and the fear of terrorism have become a part of everyday life in the early 21st century. Among the threats most feared is bioterrorism, including the intentional release of smallpox. With the invasion of Iraq and toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime, acute bioterrorism fears have abated; however, an ongoing threat remains. This…

  6. Bioterrorism versus radiological terrorism: notes from a bio/nuclear epidemiologist.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goffman, Thomas E

    2009-01-01

    The antiterrorism and disaster planning communities often speak of the high potential for bioterrorism and possible potential for radioterrorism, specifically the explosion of a fission device on US soil. Information gained from an epidemiologist's work in the national and international scene, which inevitably involves Intel regarding the cultures and subcultures being studied, suggest that bioterrorism is far less likely to be a major threat, that has been over-emphasized at the state level due to warnings from Homeland Security, and that Homeland Security itself appears biased toward bioterrorism of late with very little available rational basis.

  7. BIRS - Bioterrorism Information Retrieval System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tewari, Ashish Kumar; Rashi; Wadhwa, Gulshan; Sharma, Sanjeev Kumar; Jain, Chakresh Kumar

    2013-01-01

    Bioterrorism is the intended use of pathogenic strains of microbes to widen terror in a population. There is a definite need to promote research for development of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostic methods as a part of preparedness to any bioterror attack in the future. BIRS is an open-access database of collective information on the organisms related to bioterrorism. The architecture of database utilizes the current open-source technology viz PHP ver 5.3.19, MySQL and IIS server under windows platform for database designing. Database stores information on literature, generic- information and unique pathways of about 10 microorganisms involved in bioterrorism. This may serve as a collective repository to accelerate the drug discovery and vaccines designing process against such bioterrorist agents (microbes). The available data has been validated from various online resources and literature mining in order to provide the user with a comprehensive information system. The database is freely available at http://www.bioterrorism.biowaves.org.

  8. Intelligence Support to the Life Science Community: Mitigating Threats from Bioterrorism

    Science.gov (United States)

    2004-01-01

    Lab: Made-from-Scratch Pathogen Prompts Concerns about Bioethics , Terror- ism,” Washington Post, 12 July 2002. ing discoveries that might aid...tural bioterrorism that the authors and the Department of Agriculture agreed would be of high-dual use value to individu- als with bad intentions

  9. BIRS – Bioterrorism Information Retrieval System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tewari, Ashish Kumar; Rashi; Wadhwa, Gulshan; Sharma, Sanjeev Kumar; Jain, Chakresh Kumar

    2013-01-01

    Bioterrorism is the intended use of pathogenic strains of microbes to widen terror in a population. There is a definite need to promote research for development of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostic methods as a part of preparedness to any bioterror attack in the future. BIRS is an open-access database of collective information on the organisms related to bioterrorism. The architecture of database utilizes the current open-source technology viz PHP ver 5.3.19, MySQL and IIS server under windows platform for database designing. Database stores information on literature, generic- information and unique pathways of about 10 microorganisms involved in bioterrorism. This may serve as a collective repository to accelerate the drug discovery and vaccines designing process against such bioterrorist agents (microbes). The available data has been validated from various online resources and literature mining in order to provide the user with a comprehensive information system. Availability The database is freely available at http://www.bioterrorism.biowaves.org PMID:23390356

  10. Community response grids: using information technology to help communities respond to bioterror emergencies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaeger, Paul T; Fleischmann, Kenneth R; Preece, Jennifer; Shneiderman, Ben; Wu, Philip Fei; Qu, Yan

    2007-12-01

    Access to accurate and trusted information is vital in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from an emergency. To facilitate response in large-scale emergency situations, Community Response Grids (CRGs) integrate Internet and mobile technologies to enable residents to report information, professional emergency responders to disseminate instructions, and residents to assist one another. CRGs use technology to help residents and professional emergency responders to work together in community response to emergencies, including bioterrorism events. In a time of increased danger from bioterrorist threats, the application of advanced information and communication technologies to community response is vital in confronting such threats. This article describes CRGs, their underlying concepts, development efforts, their relevance to biosecurity and bioterrorism, and future research issues in the use of technology to facilitate community response.

  11. Computerized bioterrorism education and training for nurses on bioterrorism attack agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyamathi, Adeline M; Casillas, Adrian; King, Major L; Gresham, Louise; Pierce, Elaine; Farb, Daniel; Wiechmann, Carrie; Weichmann, Carrie

    2010-08-01

    Biological agents have the ability to cause large-scale mass casualties. For this reason, their likely use in future terrorist attacks is a concern for national security. Recent studies show that nurses are ill prepared to deal with agents used in biological warfare. Achieving a goal for bioterrorism preparedness is directly linked to comprehensive education and training that enables first-line responders such as nurses to diagnose infectious agents rapidly. The study evaluated participants' responses to biological agents using a computerized bioterrorism education and training program versus a standard bioterrorism education and training program. Both programs improved participants' ability to complete and solve case studies involving the identification of specific biological agents. Participants in the computerized bioterrorism education and training program were more likely to solve the cases critically without reliance on expert consultants. However, participants in the standard bioterrorism education and training program reduced the use of unnecessary diagnostic tests.

  12. Terrorism: a public health threat with a trauma system response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobs, Lenworth M; Burns, Karyl J; Gross, Ronald I

    2003-12-01

    The threat of mass casualties and widespread infectious disease caused by terrorism is now a challenge for our government and public health system. Funds have been granted to the states by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration to establish bioterrorism preparedness and response capabilities. Hartford Hospital has been designated as a Center of Excellence for Bioterrorism Preparedness by the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health. The Center of Excellence has implemented strategies to prepare for a possible bioterrorist attack. A unique model that combines epidemiology and traumatology is being used to guide the preparedness activities. Although the focus of the grant from the Connecticut Department of Public Health is bioterrorism, the application of the model can apply to preparation for all terrorist events. Implementation of strategies indicates that bioterrorism preparedness is well underway. Similar initiatives should be achievable by other trauma systems throughout the country. A Center of Excellence for Bioterrorism Preparedness in Connecticut is successfully modifying a trauma system to meet the challenge of a new public health threat, terrorism.

  13. Bioterrorism, public health, and the law.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayer, Ronald; Colgrove, James

    2002-01-01

    The controversy over the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act has underscored the enduring tension in public health between guarding the common welfare and respecting individual liberty. The current version of the act, crafted in response to extensive public commentary, attempts to strike a balance between these values but has failed to allay the concerns of many civil libertarians and privacy advocates. Although the debates over the model act have been triggered by the threat of bioterrorism, they illustrate broader philosophical differences, with profound implications for all realms of public health policy.

  14. Metabolic network analysis-based identification of antimicrobial drug targets in category A bioterrorism agents.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yong-Yeol Ahn

    Full Text Available The 2001 anthrax mail attacks in the United States demonstrated the potential threat of bioterrorism, hence driving the need to develop sophisticated treatment and diagnostic protocols to counter biological warfare. Here, by performing flux balance analyses on the fully-annotated metabolic networks of multiple, whole genome-sequenced bacterial strains, we have identified a large number of metabolic enzymes as potential drug targets for each of the three Category A-designated bioterrorism agents including Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis and Yersinia pestis. Nine metabolic enzymes- belonging to the coenzyme A, folate, phosphatidyl-ethanolamine and nucleic acid pathways common to all strains across the three distinct genera were identified as targets. Antimicrobial agents against some of these enzymes are available. Thus, a combination of cross species-specific antibiotics and common antimicrobials against shared targets may represent a useful combinatorial therapeutic approach against all Category A bioterrorism agents.

  15. The Smallpox Threat: The School Nurse's Role

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Mary E.; Didion, Judy

    2003-01-01

    Today, with the threat of bioterrorism and war, there is a new dimension to the traditional role of the school nurse. The smallpox threat to public health will invoke the school nurse's role as an educator, liaison, and consultant in the community. This article discusses smallpox, the vaccination process, adverse effects, and postvaccination care.…

  16. Vaccines and bioterrorism: smallpox and anthrax.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimmel, Sanford R; Mahoney, Martin C; Zimmerman, Richard K

    2003-01-01

    Because of the success of vaccination and the ring strategy in eradicating smallpox from the world, smallpox vaccine has not been recommended for the United States civilian populations for decades. Given the low but possible threat of bioterrorism, smallpox vaccination is now recommended for those teams investigating potential smallpox cases and for selected personnel of acute-care hospitals who would be needed to care for victims in the event of a terrorist attack. Treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis for anthrax are ciprofloxacin or doxycycline. Anthrax vaccine alone is not effective for post-exposure prevention of anthrax; vaccination is accompanied by 60 days of antibiotic therapy. In addition to military use, anthrax vaccine is recommended for pre-exposure use in those persons whose work involves repeated exposure to Bacillus anthracis spores.

  17. Biological warfare, bioterrorism, and biocrime.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jansen, H J; Breeveld, F J; Stijnis, C; Grobusch, M P

    2014-06-01

    Biological weapons achieve their intended target effects through the infectivity of disease-causing infectious agents. The ability to use biological agents in warfare is prohibited by the Biological and Toxin Weapon Convention. Bioterrorism is defined as the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria or other agents used to cause illness or death in people, but also in animals or plants. It is aimed at creating casualties, terror, societal disruption, or economic loss, inspired by ideological, religious or political beliefs. The success of bioterroristic attempts is defined by the measure of societal disruption and panic, and not necessarily by the sheer number of casualties. Thus, making only a few individuals ill by the use of crude methods may be sufficient, as long as it creates the impact that is aimed for. The assessment of bioterrorism threats and motives have been described before. Biocrime implies the use of a biological agent to kill or make ill a single individual or small group of individuals, motivated by revenge or the desire for monetary gain by extortion, rather than by political, ideological, religious or other beliefs. The likelihood of a successful bioterrorist attack is not very large, given the technical difficulties and constraints. However, even if the number of casualties is likely to be limited, the impact of a bioterrorist attack can still be high. Measures aimed at enhancing diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities and capacities alongside training and education will improve the ability of society to combat 'regular' infectious diseases outbreaks, as well as mitigating the effects of bioterrorist attacks. © 2014 The Authors Clinical Microbiology and Infection © 2014 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

  18. Predicting Response to Reassurances and Uncertainties in Bioterrorism Communications for Urban Populations in New York and California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaughan, Elaine; Tinker, Tim L.; Truman, Benedict I.; Edelson, Paul; Morse, Stephen S.

    2015-01-01

    Recent national plans for recovery from bioterrorism acts perpetrated in densely populated urban areas acknowledge the formidable technical and social challenges of consequence management. Effective risk and crisis communication is one priority to strengthen the U.S.’s response and resilience. However, several notable risk events since September 11, 2001, have revealed vulnerabilities in risk/crisis communication strategies and infrastructure of agencies responsible for protecting civilian populations. During recovery from a significant biocontamination event, 2 goals are essential: (1) effective communication of changing risk circumstances and uncertainties related to cleanup, restoration, and reoccupancy; and (2) adequate responsiveness to emerging information needs and priorities of diverse populations in high-threat, vulnerable locations. This telephone survey study explored predictors of public reactions to uncertainty communications and reassurances from leaders related to the remediation stage of an urban-based bioterrorism incident. African American and Hispanic adults (N = 320) were randomly sampled from 2 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse geographic areas in New York and California assessed as high threat, high vulnerability for terrorism and other public health emergencies. Results suggest that considerable heterogeneity exists in risk perspectives and information needs within certain sociodemographic groups; that success of risk/crisis communication during recovery is likely to be uneven; that common assumptions about public responsiveness to particular risk communications need further consideration; and that communication effectiveness depends partly on preexisting values and risk perceptions and prior trust in leaders. Needed improvements in communication strategies are possible with recognition of where individuals start as a reference point for reasoning about risk information, and comprehension of how this influences subsequent

  19. Social Media and Its Dual Use in Biopreparedness: Communication and Visualization Tools in an Animal Bioterrorism Incident

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sjöberg, Elisabeth; Barker, Gary C.; Landgren, Jonas

    2013-01-01

    This article focuses on social media and interactive challenges for emergency organizations during a bioterrorism or agroterrorism incident, and it outlines the dual-use dilemma of social media. Attackers or terrorists can use social media as their modus of operandi, and defenders, including...... emergency organizations in law enforcement and public and animal health, can use it for peaceful purposes. To get a better understanding of the uses of social media in these situations, a workshop was arranged in Stockholm, Sweden, to raise awareness about social media and animal bioterrorism threats. Fifty......-six experts and crisis communicators from international and national organizations participated. As a result of the workshop, it was concluded that emergency organizations can collect valuable information and monitor social media before, during, and after an outbreak. In order to make use of interactive...

  20. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... 2007 2006 Natural Disasters and Severe Weather 2016 Hurricane Matthew Radiation Emergencies Chemical Emergencies Bioterrorism Information for Specific Groups Older Adults Expectant and New ...

  1. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... Emergencies Chemical Emergencies Bioterrorism Information for Specific Groups Older Adults Expectant and New Parents Evacuees Children and Their Caregivers People with Chronic Illnesses People with Disabilities People Experiencing ...

  2. Social media and its dual use in biopreparedness: communication and visualization tools in an animal bioterrorism incident.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sjöberg, Elisabeth; Barker, Gary C; Landgren, Jonas; Griberg, Isaac; Skiby, Jeffrey E; Tubbin, Anna; von Stapelmohr, Anne; Härenstam, Malin; Jansson, Mikael; Knutsson, Rickard

    2013-09-01

    This article focuses on social media and interactive challenges for emergency organizations during a bioterrorism or agroterrorism incident, and it outlines the dual-use dilemma of social media. Attackers or terrorists can use social media as their modus operandi, and defenders, including emergency organizations in law enforcement and public and animal health, can use it for peaceful purposes. To get a better understanding of the uses of social media in these situations, a workshop was arranged in Stockholm, Sweden, to raise awareness about social media and animal bioterrorism threats. Fifty-six experts and crisis communicators from international and national organizations participated. As a result of the workshop, it was concluded that emergency organizations can collect valuable information and monitor social media before, during, and after an outbreak. In order to make use of interactive communication to obtain collective intelligence from the public, emergency organizations must adapt to social networking technologies, requiring multidisciplinary knowledge in the fields of information, communication, IT, and biopreparedness. Social network messaging during a disease outbreak can be visualized in stream graphs and networks showing clusters of Twitter and Facebook users. The visualization of social media can be an important preparedness tool in the response to bioterrorism and agroterrorism.

  3. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... is Doing Blog: Public Health Matters Video: "The History of Bioterrorism" Recommend on Facebook Tweet Share Compartir ... as bioterrorist weapons. Watch the Complete Program "The History of Bioterroism" (26 min 38 sec) Watch Specific ...

  4. Animal Botulism Outcomes in the AniBioThreat Project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Woudstra, Cédric; Tevell Åberg, Annica; Skarin, Hanna

    2013-01-01

    and botulinum neurotoxins are considered potential weapons for bioterrorism and have been included in the Australia Group List of Biological Agents. In 2010 the European Commission (DG Justice, Freedom and Security) funded a 3-year project named AniBioThreat to improve the EU's capacity to counter animal...... new genetic information to better understand the diversity of these Clostridia and develop detection methods targeting both highly specific genetic markers of these Clostridia and the neurotoxins they are able to produce. Several European institutes participating in the AniBioThreat project...

  5. Smallpox-Related Knowledge and Beliefs among Recent College Graduates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bungum, Timothy; Day, Charlene

    2006-01-01

    Recent world events have increased concern and preparations for possible bioterror events. Despite worldwide efforts to limit access to bio-weapons, smallpox is still considered a potential bioterror threat. Americans' understanding of smallpox could prevent panic and enhance the willingness of citizens to receive vaccinations. Objective: The…

  6. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

    Medline Plus

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  7. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

    Medline Plus

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  8. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... Information on Specific Types of Emergencies Situation Awareness Hurricanes Wildfire Flooding Earthquakes Volcanos Winter Weather Recent Outbreaks ... 2007 2006 Natural Disasters and Severe Weather 2016 Hurricane Matthew Radiation Emergencies Chemical Emergencies Bioterrorism Information for ...

  9. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... is Doing Blog: Public Health Matters Video: "The History of Bioterrorism" Recommend on Facebook Tweet Share Compartir ... as bioterrorist weapons. Watch the Complete Program "The History of Bioterroism" (26 min 38 sec) Watch Specific ...

  10. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

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  11. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

    Medline Plus

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  12. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

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  13. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

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  14. History of Bioterrorism: Botulism

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  15. Response to bio-terrorism directed against animals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, J L; Sheesley, D

    2000-01-01

    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has a long history of rapid direction, control, and eradication of devastating diseases. Our immediate response mechanisms to diseases such as avian influenza, Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis, and Newcastle disease, have long been recognized by the global emergency response community as models of control and eradication. APHIS and the U.S. livestock industries, in partnership with the Animal Agriculture Coalition, re-evaluated the Nation's animal health emergency preparedness and response systems. The group identified areas that negatively impact, biologically and/or economically, the Nation's animal and food production industries. To counter the increased risks including bioterrorism, APHIS plans to establish a world-class "Center of Excellence for Animal Health Emergency Management." APHIS, Intelligence agencies, other Federal departments, State governments, and industries are working together to provide accurate information on the foreign and domestic threats posed to the U.S. agricultural sector by biological weapons. Additionally, the same agencies and organizations are evaluating, updating, and improving the coordination and training mechanisms necessary to respond in the even of a widespread pest or disease outbreak.

  16. The Approach to Bioterrorism Incidents in Turkey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kenar, L.; Karayilanoglu, T.; Ortatatli, M

    2007-01-01

    Achieving an adequate level of planning and preparedness for terrorist events involving unconventional weapons, such as the intentional release of nuclear, radiological, biological, and/or chemical agents is a great challenge for Turkey. However, since bioterror agents possess different properties than other conventional attacks like the need for decontamination and the need for personal protective equipment, etc., special plannings should be made where various governmental organizations should be involved. First response against a bioterror attack is commonly given by local or regional organizations. Some of the following reactions include quick notification of authorities, establishment of a local crisis management center, information to public, medical management and decontamination, quarantine measures, evacuation to hospitals for suspected cases, forensic measures, social aids to victims Laboratory management is essential for bioterror attacks, so that the treatment or prophylaxis of injured cases with the organism can be performed properly. Therefore, an accredited reference laboratory should be set up for final diagnosis. Although much progress has been made in this regards, much work remains be to done in terms of ensuring adequate level via bioterror drills, adequate hospital-based decontamination unit and negative pressure isolation bed capacities, and adequate hospital-based stockpiles of personal protective equipment, drugs, vaccines and ventilators. From this point of view, potential organizations which are supposed to be assigned in this event must have task-oriented official departments and the roles should be outlined in detailed. Within this connection, a scenario simulating a bioterrorist attack and describing the response and coordination developed is schematised. (author)

  17. Biological warfare, bioterrorism, and biocrime

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansen, H. J.; Breeveld, F. J.; Stijnis, C.; Grobusch, M. P.

    2014-01-01

    Biological weapons achieve their intended target effects through the infectivity of disease-causing infectious agents. The ability to use biological agents in warfare is prohibited by the Biological and Toxin Weapon Convention. Bioterrorism is defined as the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria

  18. National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats: Diplomacy and International Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-18

    Regulations provide a framework for im- proving disease surveillance and reporting worldwide. In this regard, I continue to be concerned that Indonesia is not...State’s Biosecurity Engagement Program ( BEP ) is working to reduce the threat of bioterrorism through coop- erative activities to prevent terrorist...public and animal health worldwide. Since 2006, the BEP program has matured into a $37-million-a- year effort, focused on regions and countries where

  19. Communicating the risks of bioterrorism and other emergencies in a diverse society: a case study of special populations in North Dakota.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGough, Marty; Frank, Loreeta Leer; Tipton, Stacia; Tinker, Tim L; Vaughan, Elaine

    2005-01-01

    In the event that terrorists use air, water, or food to deliver destructive agents to civilian populations, some groups and populations may be disproportionately at risk and have unique communications needs. Bioterrorism represents an even greater national public health threat if the nation's preparedness and readiness plans do not address the needs and perspectives of, for example, low-income residents, racially and ethnically diverse communities, and other "special populations". The objective of this study was to develop communications strategies to reach special populations in North Dakota before, during, and after a bioterrorism attack or other crisis. To achieve the study objectives, the investigators used telephone interviews and telephone focus groups with organizations that represented special populations. Areas of inquiry included attitudes and concerns about crises, sources of information used and those identified as most credible, methods to reach people during a crisis event, and awareness of and attitudes about the agencies and organizations that affect risk communications.

  20. Patients' request for and emergency physicians' prescription of antimicrobial prophylaxis for anthrax during the 2001 bioterrorism-related outbreak

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aber Robert C

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Inappropriate use of antibiotics by individuals worried about biological agent exposures during bioterrorism events is an important public health concern. However, little is documented about the extent to which individuals with self-identified risk of anthrax exposure approached physicians for antimicrobial prophylaxis during the 2001 bioterrorism attacks in the United States. Methods We conducted a telephone survey of randomly selected members of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians to assess patients' request for and emergency physicians' prescription of antimicrobial agents during the 2001 anthrax attacks. Results Ninety-seven physicians completed the survey. Sixty-four (66% respondents had received requests from patients for anthrax prophylaxis; 16 (25% of these physicians prescribed antibiotics to a total of 23 patients. Ten physicians prescribed ciprofloxacin while 8 physicians prescribed doxycycline. Conclusion During the 2001 bioterrorist attacks, the majority of the emergency physicians we surveyed encountered patients who requested anthrax prophylaxis. Public fears may lead to a high demand for antibiotic prophylaxis during bioterrorism events. Elucidation of the relationship between public health response to outbreaks and outcomes would yield insights to ease burden on frontline clinicians and guide strategies to control inappropriate antibiotic allocation during bioterrorist events.

  1. Stereotype threat and executive functions: which functions mediate different threat-related outcomes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rydell, Robert J; Van Loo, Katie J; Boucher, Kathryn L

    2014-03-01

    Stereotype threat research shows that women's math performance can be reduced by activating gender-based math stereotypes. Models of stereotype threat assert that threat reduces cognitive functioning, thereby accounting for its negative effects. This work provides a more detailed understanding of the cognitive processes through which stereotype threat leads women to underperform at math and to take risks, by examining which basic executive functions (inhibition, shifting, and updating) account for these outcomes. In Experiments 1 and 2, women under threat showed reduced inhibition, reduced updating, and reduced math performance compared with women in a control condition (or men); however, only updating accounted for women's poor math performance under threat. In Experiment 3, only updating accounted for stereotype threat's effect on women's math performance, whereas only inhibition accounted for the effect of threat on risk-taking, suggesting that distinct executive functions can account for different stereotype threat-related outcomes.

  2. Planning the bioterrorism response supply chain: learn and live.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandeau, Margaret L; Hutton, David W; Owens, Douglas K; Bravata, Dena M

    2007-01-01

    Responses to bioterrorism require rapid procurement and distribution of medical and pharmaceutical supplies, trained personnel, and information. Thus, they present significant logistical challenges. On the basis of a review of the manufacturing and service supply chain literature, the authors identified five supply chain strategies that can potentially increase the speed of response to a bioterrorism attack, reduce inventories, and save money: effective supply chain network design; effective inventory management; postponement of product customization and modularization of component parts; coordination of supply chain stakeholders and appropriate use of incentives; and effective information management. The authors describe how concepts learned from published evaluations of manufacturing and service supply chains, as well as lessons learned from responses to natural disasters, naturally occurring outbreaks, and the 2001 US anthrax attacks, can be applied to design, evaluate, and improve the bioterrorism response supply chain. Such lessons could also be applied to the response supply chains for disease outbreaks and natural and manmade disasters.

  3. A Comprehensive Evaluation System for Military Hospitals' Response Capability to Bio-terrorism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hui; Jiang, Nan; Shao, Sicong; Zheng, Tao; Sun, Jianzhong

    2015-05-01

    The objective of this study is to establish a comprehensive evaluation system for military hospitals' response capacity to bio-terrorism. Literature research and Delphi method were utilized to establish the comprehensive evaluation system for military hospitals' response capacity to bio-terrorism. Questionnaires were designed and used to survey the status quo of 134 military hospitals' response capability to bio-terrorism. Survey indicated that factor analysis method was suitable to for analyzing the comprehensive evaluation system for military hospitals' response capacity to bio-terrorism. The constructed evaluation system was consisted of five first-class and 16 second-class indexes. Among them, medical response factor was considered as the most important factor with weight coefficient of 0.660, followed in turn by the emergency management factor with weight coefficient of 0.109, emergency management consciousness factor with weight coefficient of 0.093, hardware support factor with weight coefficient of 0.078, and improvement factor with weight coefficient of 0.059. The constructed comprehensive assessment model and system are scientific and practical.

  4. Countering bioterrorism: the role of science and technology

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Panel on Biological Issues, Committee on Science and Technology for Countering Terrorism, National Research Council

    2002-01-01

    .... Thus, investments in research on bioterrorism will have enormous potential for application in the detection, prevention, and treatment of emerging infectious diseases that also are unpredictable...

  5. Biophysics and the Challenges of Emerging Threats

    CERN Document Server

    Puglisi, Joseph D

    2009-01-01

    This volume is a collection of articles from the proceedings of the International School of Structural Biology and Magnetic Resonance 8th Course: Biophysics and the Challenges of Emerging Threats. This NATO Advance Study Institute (ASI) was held in Erice at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture on 19 through 30 June 2007. The ASI brought together a diverse group of experts who bridged the fields of virology and biology, biophysics, chemistry and physics. Prominent lecturers and students from around the world representant a total of 24 countries participated in the NATO ASI organized by Professors Joseph Puglisi (Stanford University, USA) and Alexander Arseniev (Moscow, RU). The central hypothesis underlying this ASI was that interdisciplinary research, merging principles of physics, chemistry and biology, can drive new discovery in detecting and fighting bioterrorism agents, lead to cleaner environments, and help propel development in NATO partner countries. The ASI merged the relat...

  6. Negative impact of laws regarding biosecurity and bioterrorism on real diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wurtz, N; Grobusch, M P; Raoult, D

    2014-06-01

    Research on highly pathogenic microorganisms in biosafety level 3 and 4 laboratories is very important for human public health, as it provides opportunities for the development of vaccines and novel therapeutics as well as diagnostic methods to prevent epidemics. However, in recent years, after the anthrax and World Trade Center attacks in 2001 in the USA, the threat of bioterrorism has grown for both the public and the authorities. As a result, technical and physical containment measures and biosafety and biosecurity practices have been implemented in laboratories handling these dangerous pathogens. Working with selected biological agents and toxins is now highly regulated, owing to their potential to pose a threat to public health and safety, despite the fact that the anthrax attack was found to be the result of a lack of security at a US Army laboratory. Thus, these added regulations have been associated with a large amount of fruitless investment. Herein, we describe the limitations of research in these facilities, and the multiple consequences of the increased regulations. These limitations have seriously negatively impacted on the number of collaborations, the size of research projects, and, more generally, scientific research on microbial pathogens. Clearly, the actual number of known victims and fatalities caused by the intentional use of microorganisms has been negligible as compared with those caused by naturally acquired human infections. © 2014 The Authors Clinical Microbiology and Infection © 2014 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

  7. A Bioterrorism Prevention Strategy for the 21st Century

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Lein, Brian

    2003-01-01

    .... The results of the anthrax attack and multiple wargames revealed that the United States is currently ill prepared to prevent or deter a bioterrorism attack against it's homeland and protect the citizens...

  8. Striking against bioterrorism with advanced proteomics and reference methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armengaud, Jean

    2017-01-01

    The intentional use by terrorists of biological toxins as weapons has been of great concern for many years. Among the numerous toxins produced by plants, animals, algae, fungi, and bacteria, ricin is one of the most scrutinized by the media because it has already been used in biocrimes and acts of bioterrorism. Improving the analytical toolbox of national authorities to monitor these potential bioweapons all at once is of the utmost interest. MS/MS allows their absolute quantitation and exhibits advantageous sensitivity, discriminative power, multiplexing possibilities, and speed. In this issue of Proteomics, Gilquin et al. (Proteomics 2017, 17, 1600357) present a robust multiplex assay to quantify a set of eight toxins in the presence of a complex food matrix. This MS/MS reference method is based on scheduled SRM and high-quality standards consisting of isotopically labeled versions of these toxins. Their results demonstrate robust reliability based on rather loose scheduling of SRM transitions and good sensitivity for the eight toxins, lower than their oral median lethal doses. In the face of an increased threat from terrorism, relevant reference assays based on advanced proteomics and high-quality companion toxin standards are reliable and firm answers. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  9. The application of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation to control transmission of airborne disease: bioterrorism countermeasure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brickner, Philip W; Vincent, Richard L; First, Melvin; Nardell, Edward; Murray, Megan; Kaufman, Will

    2003-01-01

    Bioterrorism is an area of increasing public health concern. The intent of this article is to review the air cleansing technologies available to protect building occupants from the intentional release of bioterror agents into congregate spaces (such as offices, schools, auditoriums, and transportation centers), as well as through outside air intakes and by way of recirculation air ducts. Current available technologies include increased ventilation, filtration, and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) UVGI is a common tool in laboratories and health care facilities, but is not familiar to the public, or to some heating, ventilation, and air conditioning engineers. Interest in UVGI is increasing as concern about a possible malicious release of bioterror agents mounts. Recent applications of UVGI have focused on control of tuberculosis transmission, but a wide range of airborne respiratory pathogens are susceptible to deactivation by UVGI. In this article, the authors provide an overview of air disinfection technologies, and an in-depth analysis of UVGI-its history, applications, and effectiveness.

  10. A decision framework for coordinating bioterrorism planning: lessons from the BioNet program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manley, Dawn K; Bravata, Dena M

    2009-01-01

    Effective disaster preparedness requires coordination across multiple organizations. This article describes a detailed framework developed through the BioNet program to facilitate coordination of bioterrorism preparedness planning among military and civilian decision makers. The authors and colleagues conducted a series of semistructured interviews with civilian and military decision makers from public health, emergency management, hazardous material response, law enforcement, and military health in the San Diego area. Decision makers used a software tool that simulated a hypothetical anthrax attack, which allowed them to assess the effects of a variety of response actions (eg, issuing warnings to the public, establishing prophylaxis distribution centers) on performance metrics. From these interviews, the authors characterized the information sources, technologies, plans, and communication channels that would be used for bioterrorism planning and responses. The authors used influence diagram notation to describe the key bioterrorism response decisions, the probabilistic factors affecting these decisions, and the response outcomes. The authors present an overview of the response framework and provide a detailed assessment of two key phases of the decision-making process: (1) pre-event planning and investment and (2) incident characterization and initial responsive measures. The framework enables planners to articulate current conditions; identify gaps in existing policies, technologies, information resources, and relationships with other response organizations; and explore the implications of potential system enhancements. Use of this framework could help decision makers execute a locally coordinated response by identifying the critical cues of a potential bioterrorism event, the information needed to make effective response decisions, and the potential effects of various decision alternatives.

  11. Are ranger patrols effective in reducing poaching-related threats within protected areas?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Jennnifer F.; Mulindahabi, Felix; Masozera, Michel K.; Nichols, James; Hines, James; Turikunkiko, Ezechiel; Oli, Madan K.

    2018-01-01

    Poaching is one of the greatest threats to wildlife conservation world-wide. However, the spatial and temporal patterns of poaching activities within protected areas, and the effectiveness of ranger patrols and ranger posts in mitigating these threats, are relatively unknown.We used 10 years (2006–2015) of ranger-based monitoring data and dynamic multi-season occupancy models to quantify poaching-related threats, to examine factors influencing the spatio-temporal dynamics of these threats and to test the efficiency of management actions to combat poaching in Nyungwe National Park (NNP), Rwanda.The probability of occurrence of poaching-related threats was highest at lower elevations (1,801–2,200 m), especially in areas that were close to roads and tourist trails; conversely, occurrence probability was lowest at high elevation sites (2,601–3,000 m), and near the park boundary and ranger posts. The number of ranger patrols substantially increased the probability that poaching-related threats disappear at a site if threats were originally present (i.e. probability of extinction of threats). Without ranger visits, the annual probability of extinction of poaching-related threats was an estimated 7%; this probability would increase to 20% and 57% with 20 and 50 ranger visits per year, respectively.Our results suggest that poaching-related threats can be effectively reduced in NNP by adding ranger posts in areas where they do not currently exist, and by increasing the number of patrols to sites where the probability of poaching activities is high.Synthesis and applications. Our application of dynamic occupancy models to predict the probability of presence of poaching-related threats is novel, and explicitly considers imperfect detection of illegal activities. Based on the modelled relationships, we identify areas that are most vulnerable to poaching, and offer insights regarding how ranger patrols can be optimally deployed to reduce poaching-related threats and

  12. Bioterrorism: toxins as weapons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Peter D

    2012-04-01

    The potential for biological weapons to be used in terrorism is a real possibility. Biological weapons include infectious agents and toxins. Toxins are poisons produced by living organisms. Toxins relevant to bioterrorism include ricin, botulinum, Clostridium perfrigens epsilson toxin, conotoxins, shigatoxins, saxitoxins, tetrodotoxins, mycotoxins, and nicotine. Toxins have properties of biological and chemical weapons. Unlike pathogens, toxins do not produce an infection. Ricin causes multiorgan toxicity by blocking protein synthesis. Botulinum blocks acetylcholine in the peripheral nervous system leading to muscle paralysis. Epsilon toxin damages cell membranes. Conotoxins block potassium and sodium channels in neurons. Shigatoxins inhibit protein synthesis and induce apoptosis. Saxitoxin and tetrodotoxin inhibit sodium channels in neurons. Mycotoxins include aflatoxins and trichothecenes. Aflatoxins are carcinogens. Trichothecenes inhibit protein and nucleic acid synthesis. Nicotine produces numerous nicotinic effects in the nervous system.

  13. Work-related threats and violence in human service sectors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Lars Peter Sønderbo; Hogh, Annie; Biering, Karin

    2018-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Threats and violence at work are major concerns for employees in many human service sectors. The prevention of work-related violence is a major challenge for employees and management. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify prospective associations between psycho-social w......BACKGROUND: Threats and violence at work are major concerns for employees in many human service sectors. The prevention of work-related violence is a major challenge for employees and management. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify prospective associations between psycho...... rewards at work, low role clarity, many role conflicts, many work-family conflicts and low organizational justice had statistically significant associations with high levels of work-related threats. Furthermore, high emotional demands, low predictability, low role clarity, many role conflicts, many work......-family conflicts, low supervisor quality and low support from nearest supervisor had statistically significant associations with high levels of work-related violence. Finally, across the four sectors both similar and different associations between psycho-social work environment and work-related violence...

  14. Stress-induced cortisol facilitates threat-related decision making among police officers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akinola, Modupe; Mendes, Wendy Berry

    2012-02-01

    Previous research suggests that cortisol can affect cognitive functions such as memory, decision making, and attentiveness to threat-related cues. Here, we examine whether increases in cortisol, brought on by an acute social stressor, influence threat-related decision making. Eighty-one police officers completed a standardized laboratory stressor and then immediately completed a computer simulated decision-making task designed to examine decisions to accurately shoot or not shoot armed and unarmed Black and White targets. Results indicated that police officers who had larger cortisol increases to the social-stress task subsequently made fewer errors when deciding to shoot armed Black targets relative to armed White targets, suggesting that hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) activation may exacerbate vigilance for threat cues. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of threat-initiated decision making.

  15. Responding to bioterror concerns by increasing milk pasteurization temperature would increase estimated annual deaths from listeriosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stasiewicz, Matthew J; Martin, Nicole; Laue, Shelley; Gröhn, Yrjo T; Boor, Kathryn J; Wiedmann, Martin

    2014-05-01

    In a 2005 analysis of a potential bioterror attack on the food supply involving a botulinum toxin release into the milk supply, the authors recommended adopting a toxin inactivation step during milk processing. In response, some dairy processors increased the times and temperatures of pasteurization well above the legal minimum for high temperature, short time pasteurization (72 °C for 15 s), with unknown implications for public health. The present study was conducted to determine whether an increase in high temperature, short time pasteurization temperature would affect the growth of Listeria monocytogenes, a potentially lethal foodborne pathogen normally eliminated with proper pasteurization but of concern when milk is contaminated postpasteurization. L. monocytogenes growth during refrigerated storage was higher in milk pasteurized at 82 °C than in milk pasteurized at 72 °C. Specifically, the time lag before exponential growth was decreased and the maximum population density was increased. The public health impact of this change in pasteurization was evaluated using a quantitative microbial risk assessment of deaths from listeriosis attributable to consumption of pasteurized fluid milk that was contaminated postprocessing. Conservative estimates of the effect of pasteurizing all fluid milk at 82 °C rather than 72 °C are that annual listeriosis deaths from consumption of this milk would increase from 18 to 670, a 38-fold increase (8.7- to 96-fold increase, 5th and 95th percentiles). These results exemplify a situation in which response to a rare bioterror threat may have the unintended consequence of putting the public at increased risk of a known, yet severe harm and illustrate the need for a paradigm shift toward multioutcome risk benefit analyses when proposing changes to established food safety practices.

  16. Modeling threat assessments of water supply systems using markov latent effects methodology.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, Consuelo Juanita

    2006-12-01

    Recent amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act emphasize efforts toward safeguarding our nation's water supplies against attack and contamination. Specifically, the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 established requirements for each community water system serving more than 3300 people to conduct an assessment of the vulnerability of its system to a terrorist attack or other intentional acts. Integral to evaluating system vulnerability is the threat assessment, which is the process by which the credibility of a threat is quantified. Unfortunately, full probabilistic assessment is generally not feasible, as there is insufficient experience and/or data to quantify the associated probabilities. For this reason, an alternative approach is proposed based on Markov Latent Effects (MLE) modeling, which provides a framework for quantifying imprecise subjective metrics through possibilistic or fuzzy mathematics. Here, an MLE model for water systems is developed and demonstrated to determine threat assessments for different scenarios identified by the assailant, asset, and means. Scenario assailants include terrorists, insiders, and vandals. Assets include a water treatment plant, water storage tank, node, pipeline, well, and a pump station. Means used in attacks include contamination (onsite chemicals, biological and chemical), explosives and vandalism. Results demonstrated highest threats are vandalism events and least likely events are those performed by a terrorist.

  17. Bioterrorism and Biological Warfare, from Past to the Present: A classic review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Majid Zare Bidaki

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Bioterrorism is defined as any terrorist action of intentional release or dissemination of highly pathogenic biological agents, including a variety of microorganisms or biological toxins. With the growing threat of terrorism, is necessary that the potential danger of various microorganisms – as a powerful tool of aggression and threat- to be taken seriously. This review tries to explain the concept of biological weapons and their historical development process with an emphasis on efforts to control the proliferation of these types of weapons over the last century. Potential impact of infectious diseases on people and armed forces was known from since 600 BC. Using the victims of the plague as a weapon in medieval warfare and spread of smallpox as a weapon during the war against the Indians when initially America was discovered, the development of biological weapons during the World War I, World War II and the Cold War, and even since the beginning of the third millennium, all show the strategic importance of pathogenic microorganisms as a deterrent power for the superiority of some governments and cults. Historical attempts to use infectious diseases as biological weapons reveal that the distinction between a natural outbreak of an infectious disease and that of a deliberate biological attack is very difficult. Abusing this characteristic of infectious diseases has made it possible for the purposes of superiority. International agreements to control the development of biological weapons, such as “the 1925 Geneva Protocol” and “the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Biological and Toxic Weapons” have not been able to control the development and using of biological warfare.  The current paper is a classic review (Overview article aiming at increasing the knowledge and awareness of people especially of health authorities and government officials.

  18. Viral Vectors for Use in the Development of Biodefense Vaccines

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Lee, John S; Hadjipanayis, Angela G; Parker, Michael D

    2005-01-01

    ... agents of bioterrorism or biowarfare. The use of viruses, for example adenovirus, vaccinia virus, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, as vaccine-vectors has enabled researchers to develop effective means for countering the threat of bioterrorism and biowarfare. An overview of the different viral vectors and the threats they counter will be discussed.

  19. Accidental and deliberate microbiological contamination in the feed and food chains — How biotraceability may improve the response to bioterrorism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knutsson, Rickard; van Rotterdam, Bart; Fach, Patrick

    2011-01-01

    A next frontier of the global food safety agenda has to consider a broad spectrum of bio-risks, such as accidental and intentional contaminations in the food and feed chain. In this article, the background for the research needs related to biotraceability and response to bioterrorism incidents...... are outlined. Given the current scale of international trade any response need to be considered in an international context. Biotraceability (e.g the ability to use downstream information to point to processes or within a particular food chain that can be identified as the source of undesirable agents......) is crucial in any food-born outbreak and particular in the response to bioterrorism events. In the later case, tested and proven biotraceability improves the following; (i) international collaboration of validated tracing tools and detection methods, (ii) multi-disciplinary expertise and collaboration...

  20. The bioscience revolution & the biological weapons threat: levers & interventions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin Greg

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract In December 2008, the US Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, released a report, World At Risk. The Report points to the fact that, not only is the use of a weapon of mass destruction in a terrorist attack before the end of 2013, more likely than not, but also to the fact that terrorists are more likely to be able to obtain and use biological weapons than nuclear. This paper examines the recommendations of the report in the context of the historic and geopolitical changes, in particular globalization. The authors highlight the "dual-use" dilemma, as described in the report, as the paradoxical use of technology developed for the benefit of mankind being used for sinister purposes. The mitigation of such a threat lies in broad stakeholder involvement and cooperation, including non-state actors, governments and the bio-tech industry itself. The importance of vigilance measures within the life science community is emphasized and, the authors propose, could include a web-based didactic course in bioterrorism and weapons of mass destruction identification. The site could outline safety protocols, have detailed disaster management tutorials, and could be specifically tailored for different subsets of industry and health professionals. The paper concludes with an endorsement of a multi-pronged approach including strong international guidelines and intelligence cooperation and preparatory measures such as the wide-spread use of detection systems as well as diagnostic decision support systems for bioterrorism detection at the local level.

  1. Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude of Dentists Toward Bioterrorism Awareness in Dhule (Maharashtra, India: A Cross-sectional Survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minal M Kshirsagar

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Bioterrorism, as a major health problem, has received lots of attention in the recent years. It is the intentional use of microorganisms and toxins to produce disease and death in humans, livestock, and crops; their attraction in war and their use in terrorist attacks are attributed to various unique features. Aim: To assess the knowledge and attitude of graduate dentists and postgraduate dentists toward bioterrorism in Dhule city, Maharashtra (India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study included graduate dentists and postgraduate dentists in Dhule, Maharashtra, India. The list of dentists of Dhule city was obtained from the Indian Dental Association office, Dhule branch. Among 110 dentists practicing in Dhule city, 97 responded. A structured, self-administered questionnaire consisting of 15 closed-ended questions was employed. The information regarding age, gender, and profession (specialty branch was collected. The data were tabulated and subjected to analysis using Pearson’s chi-square test. Results: Statistically significant difference was seen when knowledge and attitude of dentists and dentists with postgraduate qualification toward bioterrorism were compared (P < 0.05. Conclusion: Dentists with postgraduate qualification have better knowledge and attitude toward bioterrorism as compared to graduate dentists. Most of the dentists felt the need to educate the public regarding suspected bioterrorist attack, and they were willing to do so and had the confidence that it was preventable.

  2. Autonomic Nervous System Responses to Hearing-Related Demand and Evaluative Threat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mackersie, Carol L; Kearney, Lucia

    2017-10-12

    This paper consists of 2 parts. The purpose of Part 1 was to review the potential influence of internal (person-related) factors on listening effort. The purpose of Part 2 was to present, in support of Part 1, preliminary data illustrating the interactive effects of an external factor (task demand) and an internal factor (evaluative threat) on autonomic nervous system measures. For Part 1, we provided a brief narrative review of motivation and stress as modulators of listening effort. For Part 2, we described preliminary data from a study using a repeated-measures (2 × 2) design involving manipulations of task demand (high, low) and evaluative threat (high, low). The low-demand task consisted of repetition of sentences from a narrative. The high-demand task consisted of answering questions about the narrative, requiring both comprehension and recall. During the high evaluative threat condition, participants were filmed and told that their video recordings would be evaluated by a panel of experts. During the low evaluative threat condition, no filming occurred; participants were instructed to "do your best." Skin conductance (sympathetic nervous system activity) and heart rate variability (HRV, parasympathetic activity) were measured during the listening tasks. The HRV measure was the root mean square of successive differences of adjacent interbeat intervals. Twelve adults with hearing loss participated. Skin conductance increased and HRV decreased relative to baseline (no task) for all listening conditions. Skin conductance increased significantly with an increase in evaluative threat, but only for the more demanding task. There was no significant change in HRV in response to increasing evaluative threat or task demand. Listening effort may be influenced by factors other than task difficulty, as reviewed in Part 1. This idea is supported by the preliminary data indicating that the sympathetic nervous system response to task demand is modulated by social evaluative

  3. Threat-related selective attention predicts treatment success in childhood anxiety disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Legerstee, Jeroen S; Tulen, Joke H M; Kallen, Victor L; Dieleman, Gwen C; Treffers, Philip D A; Verhulst, Frank C; Utens, Elisabeth M W J

    2009-02-01

    The present study examined whether threat-related selective attention was predictive of treatment success in children with anxiety disorders and whether age moderated this association. Specific components of selective attention were examined in treatment responders and nonresponders. Participants consisted of 131 children with anxiety disorders (aged 8-16 years), who received standardized cognitive-behavioral therapy. At pretreatment, a pictorial dot-probe task was administered to assess selective attention. Both at pretreatment and posttreatment, diagnostic status of the children was evaluated with a semistructured clinical interview (the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Children). Selective attention for severely threatening pictures at pretreatment assessment was predictive of treatment success. Examination of the specific components of selective attention revealed that nonresponders showed difficulties to disengage their attention away from severe threat. Treatment responders showed a tendency not to engage their attention toward severe threat. Age was not associated with selective attention and treatment success. Threat-related selective attention is a significant predictor of treatment success in children with anxiety disorders. Clinically anxious children with difficulties disengaging their attention away from severe threat profit less from cognitive-behavioral therapy. For these children, additional training focused on learning to disengage attention away from anxiety-arousing stimuli may be beneficial.

  4. Three-Week Bright-Light Intervention Has Dose-Related Effects on Threat-Related Corticolimbic Reactivity and Functional Coupling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fisher, Patrick M; Madsen, Martin K; Mc Mahon, Brenda

    2014-01-01

    environmental stimuli (e.g., threat) and may underlie these effects. Serotonin signaling modulates this circuit and is implicated in the pathophysiology of seasonal and other affective disorders. METHODS: We evaluated the effects of a bright-light intervention protocol on threat-related corticolimbic reactivity......-related amygdala and prefrontal reactivity in a dose-dependent manner. Conversely, amygdala-prefrontal and intraprefrontal functional coupling increased significantly in a dose-dependent manner. Genotype status significantly moderated bright-light intervention effects on intraprefrontal functional coupling....... CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to evaluate the effects of clinically relevant bright-light intervention on threat-related brain function. We show that amygdala-prefrontal reactivity and communication are significantly affected by bright-light intervention, an effect partly moderated by genotype...

  5. Breast-related stereotype threat contributes to a symptom cluster in women with breast cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jie; Gao, Wei; Yu, Li-Xiang; Zhu, Song-Ying; Cao, Feng-Lin

    2017-05-01

    To investigate the prevalence of breast-related stereotype threat and its effects on a symptom cluster consisting of anxiety, depression and fatigue and on each symptom. The stereotype that breasts are a sign of women's femininity results in patients with breast cancer fearing diminished femininity and rejection, which may induce psychological problems that co-occur as a symptom cluster. Cross-sectional study. A total of 131 patients with breast cancer postmastectomy completed the study. A question measuring breast-related stereotype threat, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue Scale were used to assess their breast-related stereotype threat and symptoms of anxiety, depression and fatigue. Of the 131 patients who answered the breast-related stereotype threat question, 86 (65·6%) reported breast-related stereotype threat. They did not differ significantly in social and clinical characteristics compared with those without the stereotype, but did report significantly higher levels of the symptom cluster and each symptom (anxiety, depression and fatigue). The odds ratios of the stereotype were significant for the symptom cluster, depression and fatigue (odds ratios = 2·52-3·98, p stereotype threat was common in patients with breast cancer. There was about a twofold increase in their risk of experiencing the symptom cluster and symptoms of depression and fatigue. In clinical practice, breast-related stereotype threat should be measured together with prevalent symptoms (e.g. anxiety, depression and fatigue) in patients with breast cancer. Our findings will aid the development of interventions for improving the mental health of women with breast cancer. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. An earlier time of scan is associated with greater threat-related amygdala reactivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baranger, David A A; Margolis, Seth; Hariri, Ahmad R; Bogdan, Ryan

    2017-08-01

    Time-dependent variability in mood and anxiety suggest that related neural phenotypes, such as threat-related amygdala reactivity, may also follow a diurnal pattern. Here, using data from 1,043 young adult volunteers, we found that threat-related amygdala reactivity was negatively coupled with time of day, an effect which was stronger in the left hemisphere (β = -0.1083, p-fdr = 0.0012). This effect was moderated by subjective sleep quality (β = -0.0715, p-fdr = 0.0387); participants who reported average and poor sleep quality had relatively increased left amygdala reactivity in the morning. Bootstrapped simulations suggest that similar cross-sectional samples with at least 300 participants would be able to detect associations between amygdala reactivity and time of scan. In control analyses, we found no associations between time and V1 activation. Our results provide initial evidence that threat-related amygdala reactivity may vary diurnally, and that this effect is potentiated among individuals with average to low sleep quality. More broadly, our results suggest that considering time of scan in study design or modeling time of scan in analyses, as well as collecting additional measures of circadian variation, may be useful for understanding threat-related neural phenotypes and their associations with behavior, such as fear conditioning, mood and anxiety symptoms, and related phenotypes. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

  7. Management of natural and bioterrorism induced pandemics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tyshenko, Michael G

    2007-09-01

    A recent approach for bioterrorism risk management calls for stricter regulations over biotechnology as a way to control subversion of technology that may be used to create a man-made pandemic. This approach is largely unworkable given the increasing pervasiveness of molecular techniques and tools throughout society. Emerging technology has provided the tools to design much deadlier pathogens but concomitantly the ability to respond to emerging pandemics to reduce mortality has also improved significantly in recent decades. In its historical context determining just how 'risky' biological weapons is an important consideration for decision making and resource allocation. Management should attempt to increase capacity, share resources, provide accurate infectious disease reporting, deliver information transparency and improve communications to help mitigate the magnitude of future pandemics.

  8. The effect of panic disorder versus anxiety sensitivity on event-related potentials during anticipation of threat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Elizabeth S; Weinberg, Anna; Nelson, Brady D; Meissel, Emily E E; Shankman, Stewart A

    2018-03-01

    Attention-related abnormalities are key components of the abnormal defensive responding observed in panic disorder (PD). Although behavioral studies have found aberrant attentional biases towards threat in PD, psychophysiological studies have been mixed. Predictability of threat, an important feature of threat processing, may have contributed to these mixed findings. Additionally, anxiety sensitivity, a dimensional trait associated with PD, may yield stronger associations with cognitive processes than categorical diagnoses of PD. In this study, 171 participants with PD and/or depression and healthy controls completed a task that differentiated anticipation of predictable vs. unpredictable shocks, while startle eyeblink and event-related potentials (ERPs [N100, P300]) were recorded. In all participants, relative to the control condition, probe N100 was enhanced to both predictable and unpredictable threat, whereas P300 suppression was unique to predictable threat. Probe N100, but not P300, was associated with startle eyeblink during both threatening conditions, and was strongest for unpredictable threat. PD was not associated with ERPs, but anxiety sensitivity (physical concerns) was positively associated with probe N100 (indicating reduced responding) in the unpredictable condition independent of PD diagnosis. Vulnerability to panic-related psychopathology may be characterized by aberrant early processing of threat, which may be especially evident during anticipation of unpredictable threats. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Effectiveness of E-learning Compared to Classroom Learning in the Diagnostic Approach to Bioterrorism and Chemical Terrorism for Emergency Physicians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mustafa Alavi-Moghaddam

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Background and purpose: Emergency physicians play an important role in the immediate diagnosis of bioterrorism activities. The present study was conducted with the purpose of comparing the effectiveness of e-learning and classroom learning in approach to bioterrorism and chemical terrorism for emergency physicians.Methods: This was a semi-empirical study, which was conducted via testing knowledge before and after the educational intervention in the field of bioterrorism and chemical terrorism on the emergency physicians in Tehran. The external validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by two academic experts in order to determine the ability to detect bioterrorist and chemical terrorist diseases. In this study, education was done in both virtual and classroom forms. The education regarded 6 bioterrorist diseases in group A (anthrax, plague, viral hemorrhagic fever, tularemia, smallpox, and 5 chemical terrorist diseases (nerve gas, mustard, lewisite, phosgene, chlorine.Results: 160 doctors participated in this study. 96 people (60% were men and 64 people (40% were women. The average age of the participants was 36.2±5.5 years. In e-learning method, the pre-test scores average was (30.6%, while the post-test scores average was (81.6% (p=0.001. In classroom learning method, the pre-test scores average was (41.9%, while the post-test scores average was (72.9%, which the pre-test and post-test scores average differences in both cases are significant (p<0.001. In e-learning method, the difference was (51%, and in the classroom method it was (31%, which these two represent a 20% difference between methods. From statistical point of view, this difference indicates that the e-learning method being more effective (p=0.02.Conclusions: Based on the study results, it seems that in comparison to the classroom learning, e-learning method is more effective in helping emergency physicians to diagnose bioterrorism or chemical terrorism factors.Keywords: E

  10. Anxiety and Threat-Related Attention: Cognitive-Motivational Framework and Treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mogg, Karin; Bradley, Brendan P

    2018-03-01

    Research in experimental psychopathology and cognitive theories of anxiety highlight threat-related attention biases (ABs) and underpin the development of a computer-delivered treatment for anxiety disorders: attention-bias modification (ABM) training. Variable effects of ABM training on anxiety and ABs generate conflicting research recommendations, novel ABM training procedures, and theoretical controversy. This article summarises an updated cognitive-motivational framework, integrating proposals from cognitive models of anxiety and attention, as well as evidence of ABs. Interactions between motivational salience-driven and goal-directed influences on multiple cognitive processes (e.g., stimulus evaluation, inhibition, switching, orienting) underlie anxiety and the variable manifestations of ABs (orienting towards and away from threat; threat-distractor interference). This theoretical analysis also considers ABM training as cognitive skill training, describes a conceptual framework for evaluating/developing novel ABM training procedures, and complements network-based research on reciprocal anxiety-cognition relationships. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  11. Lab Safety and Bioterrorism Readiness Curricula Using Active Learning and Hands-on Strategies as Continuing Education for Medical Technologists

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steven Fiester

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Frequent reports of laboratory- (and hospital- acquired infection suggest a deficiency in safety training or lack of compliance. To assess the need for continuing education (CE addressing this problem, an original education needs assessment survey was designed and administered to medical technologists (med-techs in Northeast Ohio. Survey results were used to design a learner-centered training curriculum (for example, Lab Safety and Bioterrorism Readiness trainings that engaged med-techs in active learning, integrative peer-to-peer teaching, and hands-on exercises in order to improve microbiology safety knowledge and associated laboratory techniques. The Lab Safety training was delivered six times and the Bioterrorism Readiness training was delivered five times. Pre/posttesting revealed significant gains in knowledge and techniques specific to laboratory safety, security, risk assessment, and bioterrorism readiness amongst the majority of med-techs completing the CE trainings. The majority of participants felt that the hands-on exercises met their needs and that their personal laboratory practices would change as a result of the training course, as measured by attitudinal surveys. We conclude that active learning techniques and peer education significantly enhance microbiology learning amongst participating med-techs.

  12. Biosensors for security and bioterrorism applications

    CERN Document Server

    Nikoleli, Georgia-Paraskevi

    2016-01-01

    This book offers comprehensive coverage of biomarker/biosensor interactions for the rapid detection of weapons of bioterrorism, as well as current research trends and future developments and applications. It will be useful to researchers in this field who are interested in new developments in the early detection of such. The authors have collected very valuable and, in some aspects indispensable experience in the area i.e. in the development and application of portable biosensors for the detection of potential hazards. Most efforts are centered on the development of immunochemical assays including flow-lateral systems and engineered antibodies and their fragments. In addition, new approaches to the detection of enzyme inhibitors, direct enzymatic and microbial detection of metabolites and nutrients are elaborated. Some realized prototypes and concept devices applicable for the further use as a basis for the cooperation programs are also discussed. There is a particular focus on electrochemical and optical det...

  13. Examining perceived stereotype threat among overweight/obese adults using a multi-threat framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carels, Robert A; Domoff, Sarah E; Burmeister, Jacob M; Koball, Afton M; Hinman, Nova G; Davis, Alan K; Wagner Oehlhof, Marissa; Leroy, Michelle; Bannon, Erin; Hoffmann, Debra A

    2013-01-01

    The Multi-Threat Framework accounts for potentially different forms of stereotype threat that differ in target (i.e., the individual or the group) and source (i.e., the self or others). This investigation examined how these different forms of perceived stereotype threat were related to concepts, such as group identity, stereotype endorsement, stigma consciousness, etc., among overweight and obese individuals. 216 adults completed an online survey. Participants' mean age was 23.6 (SD 10.1; range 18-64) years and mean BMI was 31.6 (SD 7.5) kg/m². Participants reported a history of feeling threatened by stereotypes related to weight. When reflecting on past experiences of perceived stereotype threat, participants reported greater levels of self/own stereotype threat compared to group stereotype threat. Level of stereotype threat was related to a number of personal characteristics (i.e., sex, BMI) and individual factors (i.e., group identity, stigma consciousness, fear of fat). Individuals who are overweight report a history of being threatened by negative stereotypes. The findings support the Multi-Threat Framework for stereotype threat based on body weight. Overweight individuals' susceptibility to stereotype threat may vary systematically depending on several factors. Future research should examine weight-related stereotypes' impact on cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg

  14. Examining Perceived Stereotype Threat among Overweight/Obese Adults Using a Multi-Threat Framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert A. Carels

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The Multi-Threat Framework accounts for potentially different forms of stereotype threat that differ in target (i.e., the individual or the group and source (i.e., the self or others. This investigation examined how these different forms of perceived stereotype threat were related to concepts, such as group identity, stereotype endorsement, stigma consciousness, etc., among overweight and obese individuals. Method: 216 adults completed an online survey. Participants' mean age was 23.6 (SD 10.1; range 18-64 years and mean BMI was 31.6 (SD 7.5 kg/m2. Results: Participants reported a history of feeling threatened by stereotypes related to weight. When reflecting on past experiences of perceived stereotype threat, participants reported greater levels of self/own stereotype threat compared to group stereotype threat. Level of stereotype threat was related to a number of personal characteristics (i.e., sex, BMI and individual factors (i.e., group identity, stigma consciousness, fear of fat. Conclusion: Individuals who are overweight report a history of being threatened by negative stereotypes. The findings support the Multi-Threat Framework for stereotype threat based on body weight. Overweight individuals' susceptibility to stereotype threat may vary systematically depending on several factors. Future research should examine weight-related stereotypes' impact on cognitive and behavioral outcomes.

  15. Threat-related amygdala activity is associated with peripheral CRP concentrations in men but not women

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swartz, Johnna R.; Prather, Aric A.; Hariri, Ahmad R.

    2017-01-01

    Increased levels of peripheral inflammatory markers, including C-Reactive Protein (CRP), are associated with increased risk for depression, anxiety, and suicidality. The brain mechanisms that may underlie the association between peripheral inflammation and internalizing problems remain to be determined. The present study examines associations between peripheral CRP concentrations and threat-related amygdala activity, a neural biomarker of depression and anxiety risk, in a sample of 172 young adult undergraduate students. Participants underwent functional MRI scanning while performing an emotional face matching task to obtain a measure of threat-related amygdala activity to angry and fearful faces; CRP concentrations were assayed from dried blood spots. Results indicated a significant interaction between CRP and sex: in men, but not women, higher CRP was associated with higher threat-related amygdala activity. These results add to the literature finding associations between systemic levels of inflammation and brain function and suggest that threat-related amygdala activity may serve as a potential pathway through which heightened chronic inflammation may increase risk for mood and anxiety problems. PMID:28183031

  16. 75 FR 42363 - Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002; Biennial Review...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-21

    ... be e-mailed to: [email protected] . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robbin Weyant, Director..., Atlanta, GA 30333. Telephone: (404) 718- 2000. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bioterrorism Act requires... to the Select Agent regulations (42 CFR Part 73) to implement a tiering and/or stratification schema...

  17. How Is Existential Threat Related to Intergroup Conflict? Introducing the Multidimensional Existential Threat (MET) Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirschberger, Gilad; Ein-Dor, Tsachi; Leidner, Bernhard; Saguy, Tamar

    2016-01-01

    Existential threat lies at the heart of intergroup conflict, but the literature on existential concerns lacks clear conceptualization and integration. To address this problem, we offer a new conceptualization and measurement of existential threat. We establish the reliability and validity of our measure, and to illustrate its utility, we examine whether different existential threats underlie the association between political ideology and support for specific political policies. Study 1 (N = 798) established the construct validity of the scale, and revealed four distinct existential threats: personal death (PD), physical collective annihilation (PA), symbolic collective annihilation (SA), and past victimization (PV). Study 2 (N = 424) confirmed the 4-factor structure, and the convergent and discriminant validity of the scale. Study 3 (N = 170) revealed that the association between a hawkish political ideology and support for hardline policies was mediated by PV, whereas the association between a dovish political ideology and conciliatory policies was mediated by concerns over collective symbolic annihilation. Study 4 (N = 503) conceptually replicated the pattern of findings found in Study 3, and showed that at times of conflict, PA concerns also mediate the relationship between hawkish ideologies and support for hardline policies. In both Studies 3 and 4, when controlling for other threats, PD did not play a significant role. These results underscore the need to consider the multidimensional nature of existential threat, especially in the context of political conflict. PMID:27994561

  18. Coping with Self-Threat and the Evaluation of Self-Related Traits: An fMRI Study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas Hoefler

    Full Text Available A positive view of oneself is important for a healthy lifestyle. Self-protection mechanisms such as suppressing negative self-related information help us to maintain a positive view of ourselves. This is of special relevance when, for instance, a negative test result threatens our positive self-view. To date, it is not clear which brain areas support self-protective mechanisms under self-threat. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI study the participants (N = 46 received a (negative vs. positive performance test feedback before entering the scanner. In the scanner, the participants were instructed to ascribe personality traits either to themselves or to a famous other. Our results showed that participants responded slower to negative self-related traits compared to positive self-related traits. High self-esteem individuals responded slower to negative traits compared to low self-esteem individuals following a self-threat. This indicates that high self-esteem individuals engage more in self-enhancing strategies after a threat by inhibiting negative self-related information more successfully than low self-esteem individuals. This behavioral pattern was mirrored in the fMRI data as dACC correlated positively with trait self-esteem. Generally, ACC activation was attenuated under threat when participants evaluated self-relevant traits and even more for negative self-related traits. We also found that activation in the ACC was negatively correlated with response times, indicating that greater activation of the ACC is linked to better access (faster response to positive self-related traits and to impaired access (slower response to negative self-related traits. These results confirm the ACC function as important in managing threatened self-worth but indicate differences in trait self-esteem levels. The fMRI analyses also revealed a decrease in activation within the left Hippocampus and the right thalamus under threat. This

  19. Coping with Self-Threat and the Evaluation of Self-Related Traits: An fMRI Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corcoran, Katja; Ebner, Franz

    2015-01-01

    A positive view of oneself is important for a healthy lifestyle. Self-protection mechanisms such as suppressing negative self-related information help us to maintain a positive view of ourselves. This is of special relevance when, for instance, a negative test result threatens our positive self-view. To date, it is not clear which brain areas support self-protective mechanisms under self-threat. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study the participants (N = 46) received a (negative vs. positive) performance test feedback before entering the scanner. In the scanner, the participants were instructed to ascribe personality traits either to themselves or to a famous other. Our results showed that participants responded slower to negative self-related traits compared to positive self-related traits. High self-esteem individuals responded slower to negative traits compared to low self-esteem individuals following a self-threat. This indicates that high self-esteem individuals engage more in self-enhancing strategies after a threat by inhibiting negative self-related information more successfully than low self-esteem individuals. This behavioral pattern was mirrored in the fMRI data as dACC correlated positively with trait self-esteem. Generally, ACC activation was attenuated under threat when participants evaluated self-relevant traits and even more for negative self-related traits. We also found that activation in the ACC was negatively correlated with response times, indicating that greater activation of the ACC is linked to better access (faster response) to positive self-related traits and to impaired access (slower response) to negative self-related traits. These results confirm the ACC function as important in managing threatened self-worth but indicate differences in trait self-esteem levels. The fMRI analyses also revealed a decrease in activation within the left Hippocampus and the right thalamus under threat. This indicates that a down

  20. Veterinary College Virologist To Discuss Small Pox

    OpenAIRE

    Douglas, Jeffrey S.

    2003-01-01

    The words "small pox" have become almost synonymous with the word "bio-terrorism" in our post 9/11 world. Once thought eradicated, it is now viewed as the number one threat among a host of bio-terror agents that might be deployed against America and an immunization program is underway.

  1. Threat-Related Selective Attention Predicts Treatment Success in Childhood Anxiety Disorders

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J.S. Legerstee (Jeroen); J.H.M. Tulen (Joke); V.L. Kallen (Victor); G.C. Dieleman (Gwen); P.D.A. Treffers (Philip); F.C. Verhulst (Frank); E.M.W.J. Utens (Elisabeth)

    2009-01-01

    textabstractAbstract OBJECTIVE: The present study examined whether threat-related selective attention was predictive of treatment success in children with anxiety disorders and whether age moderated this association. Specific components of selective attention were examined in treatment responders

  2. Threat-related selective attention predicts treatment success in childhood anxiety disorders

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Legerstee, Jeroen S.; Tulen, Joke H. M.; Kallen, Victor L.; Dieleman, Gwen C.; Treffers, Philip D. A.; Verhulst, Frank C.; Utens, Elisabeth M. W. J.

    2009-01-01

    The present study examined whether threat-related selective attention was predictive of treatment success in children with anxiety disorders and whether age moderated this association. Specific components of selective attention were examined in treatment responders and nonresponders. Participants

  3. Bioterrorism Countermeasure Development: Issues in Patents and Homeland Security

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Schacht, Wendy H; Thomas, John R

    2006-01-01

    ... potential biological threats. These bills proposed reforms to current policies and practices associated with intellectual property, particularly patents, and the marketing of pharmaceuticals and related products...

  4. Capripoxviruses: an emerging worldwide threat to sheep, goats and cattle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babiuk, S; Bowden, T R; Boyle, D B; Wallace, D B; Kitching, R P

    2008-09-01

    Capripoxviruses are the cause of sheeppox, goatpox and lumpy skin disease (LSD) of cattle. These diseases are of great economic significance to farmers in regions in which they are endemic and are a major constraint to international trade in livestock and their products. Although the distribution of capripoxviruses is considerably reduced from what it was even 50 years ago, they are now expanding their territory, with recent outbreaks of sheeppox or goatpox in Vietnam, Mongolia and Greece, and outbreaks of LSD in Ethiopia, Egypt and Israel. Increased legal and illegal trade in live animals provides the potential for further spread, with, for instance, the possibility of LSD becoming firmly established in Asia. This review briefly summarizes what is known about capripoxviruses, including their impact on livestock production, their geographic range, host-specificity, clinical disease, transmission and genomics, and considers current developments in diagnostic tests and vaccines. Capripoxviruses have the potential to become emerging disease threats because of global climate change and changes in patterns of trade in animals and animal products. They also could be used as economic bioterrorism agents.

  5. Defensive motivation and attention in anticipation of different types of predictable and unpredictable threat: A startle and event-related potential investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Brady D; Hajcak, Greg

    2017-08-01

    Predictability is an important characteristic of threat that impacts defensive motivation and attentional engagement. Supporting research has primarily focused on actual threat (e.g., shocks), and it is unclear whether the predictability of less intense threat (e.g., unpleasant pictures) similarly affects motivation and attention. The present study utilized a within-subject design and examined defensive motivation (startle reflex and self-reported anxiety) and attention (probe N100 and P300) in anticipation of shocks and unpleasant pictures during a no, predictable, and unpredictable threat task. This study also examined the impact of predictability on the P300 to shocks and late positive potential (LPP) to unpleasant pictures. The startle reflex and self-reported anxiety were increased in anticipation of both types of threat relative to no threat. Furthermore, startle potentiation in anticipation of unpredictable threat was greater for shocks compared to unpleasant pictures, but there was no difference for predictable threat. The probe N100 was enhanced in anticipation of unpredictable threat relative to predictable threat and no threat, and the probe P300 was suppressed in anticipation of predictable and unpredictable threat relative to no threat. These effects did not differ between the shock and unpleasant picture trials. Finally, the P300 and early LPP component were increased in response to unpredictable relative to predictable shocks and unpleasant pictures, respectively. The present study suggests that the unpredictability of unpleasant pictures increases defensive motivation, but to a lesser degree relative to actual threat. Moreover, unpredictability enhances attentional engagement in anticipation of, and in reaction to, both types of threat. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

  6. The germs of terror – Bioterrorism and science communication after September 11

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Chiara Montani

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available The attacks of September 11 2001 and in particular, the sending of letters containing anthrax spores the following October had a profound effect on society, and at the same time on science and its communicative mechanisms. Through a quanto-qualitative analysis of articles taken from four publications: two daily newspapers, the Corriere della Sera from Italy and the New York Times from the United States and two science magazines, Science and Nature, we have shown how the aforementioned events provoked the emergence of media attention regarding bioterrorism. A closer reading of the articles shows that today, science – including that found in science magazines – is closely related to politics, economics and the debate over the freedom to practice communicate. The very mechanisms of communication between scientists were changed as a result of this debate, as can be seen from the signing of the Denver Declaration in February 2003, which brought about the preventative self-censorship of publication of biomedical research findings.

  7. Threat and parochialism in intergroup relations: lab-in-the-field evidence from rural Georgia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaub, Max

    2017-10-25

    Competition between groups is widely considered to foster cooperation within groups. Evidence from laboratory experiments hints at the existence of a proximate mechanism by which humans increase their level of cooperation with their ingroup when faced with an external threat. Further work suggests that ingroup cooperation should go along with aggressive behaviour towards the outgroup, although these theories are at odds with others that see high investments in outgroup relations as important means of stabilizing intergroup relations. Surprisingly, few of these arguments have been tested in the field, and existing studies are also limited by the lack of a direct measure of threat perception and aggressive behaviour. This study presents lab-in-the-field results from a rural context where exposure to an ethnic outgroup varies between villages. This context makes it possible to capture levels of threat perception, aggressive behaviour and cooperation without inducing intergroup competition artificially in the laboratory. All concepts are measured behaviourally. In- and outgroup cooperation was measured with a standard public goods game, and a novel experimental protocol was developed that measures perceived threat and aggressive behaviour: the threat game. The results show that levels of perceived threat, ingroup cooperation and aggressive behaviour are higher in regions more strongly exposed to ethnic outsiders. However, exposed regions also show high levels of outgroup cooperation and a concomitant lack of elevated ingroup bias. This pattern is explained by theorizing that communities show parochial altruism when faced with an ethnic outgroup, but balance aggressive behaviour with cooperative offers to diffuse tensions and to keep open channels of mutually beneficial exchange. © 2017 The Author(s).

  8. Direction of attention bias to threat relates to differences in fear acquisition and extinction in anxious children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waters, Allison M; Kershaw, Rachel

    2015-01-01

    Anxious children show attention biases towards and away from threat stimuli. Moreover, threat avoidance compared to vigilance predicts a poorer outcome from exposure-based treatments, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), yet the mechanisms underlying this differential response are unclear. Pavlovian fear conditioning is a widely accepted theory to explain the acquisition and extinction of fear, including exposure-based treatments, such as CBT. In typical fear conditioning experiments, anxious children have shown larger physiological responses to an aversive unconditional stimulus (i.e., US on CS+ trials) and to non-reinforced stimuli (CS-) during fear acquisition and to both CSs during fear extinction compared to non-anxious peers. This study examined whether threat avoidance compared to threat vigilance was related to differences in fear acquisition and extinction in anxious children. Thirty-four clinically-anxious children completed a visual probe task including angry-neutral face pairs to determine the direction of threat attention bias as well as a discriminant conditioning and extinction task in which a geometric shape CS+ was paired with an aversive tone US, while the CS- geometric shape was always presented alone during acquisition trials. Both CSs were presented alone during extinction trials. Fear acquisition and extinction were indexed by skin conductance responses (SCR) and subjective measures. Children were classified as threat vigilant (N = 18) and threat avoidant (n = 16) based on the direction of threat attention bias on the visual probe task. During acquisition, threat avoidant relative to threat vigilant anxious children displayed larger orienting SCRs to both CSs during the first block of trials and larger third interval SCRs to the US on CS+ trials as well as on CS- trials. During extinction, threat avoidant anxious children showed delayed extinction of SCRs to both the CS+ and CS- and reported higher subjective anxiety ratings after

  9. Neural responses to threat and reward interact to predict stress-related problem drinking: A novel protective role of the amygdala

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Research into neural mechanisms of drug abuse risk has focused on the role of dysfunction in neural circuits for reward. In contrast, few studies have examined the role of dysfunction in neural circuits of threat in mediating drug abuse risk. Although typically regarded as a risk factor for mood and anxiety disorders, threat-related amygdala reactivity may serve as a protective factor against substance use disorders, particularly in individuals with exaggerated responsiveness to reward. Findings We used well-established neuroimaging paradigms to probe threat-related amygdala and reward-related ventral striatum reactivity in a sample of 200 young adult students from the ongoing Duke Neurogenetics Study. Recent life stress and problem drinking were assessed using self-report. We found a significant three-way interaction between threat-related amygdala reactivity, reward-related ventral striatum reactivity, and recent stress, wherein individuals with higher reward-related ventral striatum reactivity exhibit higher levels of problem drinking in the context of stress, but only if they also have lower threat-related amygdala reactivity. This three-way interaction predicted both contemporaneous problem drinking and problem drinking reported three-months later in a subset of participants. Conclusions These findings suggest complex interactions between stress and neural responsiveness to both threat and reward mediate problem drinking. Furthermore, they highlight a novel protective role for threat-related amygdala reactivity against drug use in individuals with high neural reactivity to reward. PMID:23151390

  10. Failure to differentiate between threat-related and positive emotion cues in healthy adults with childhood interpersonal or adult trauma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Denise A; Bryant, Richard A; Gatt, Justine M; Harris, Anthony W F

    2016-07-01

    Enhanced threat-related processing is associated with both elevated anxiety and childhood exposure to trauma. Given the paucity of evidence regarding the effects of childhood and adult trauma exposure on subsequent psychophysiological processes in the absence of psychopathology, we investigated the relative impacts of childhood interpersonal and non-interpersonal trauma, as well as adult trauma exposure on neural processing of threat in healthy adults. We measured peak amplitudes of the N170 face-sensitive visual ERP component response to non-conscious and conscious Angry (threat) versus Happy (non-threat, positive) and Neutral (non-threat baseline) faces at temporo-occipital sites (right-T6; left-T5) in 489 psychiatrically asymptomatic adults (aged 18-70 years, 54% women, 94% right-handed). N170 peak amplitude differences between Angry vs Happy or Neutral faces were calculated and subjected to hierarchical multiple regression analysis, with trauma types (childhood interpersonal, childhood non-interpersonal and adult trauma) entered as predictors of interest. After controlling for sociodemographic and health factors, N170 peak amplitudes for non-conscious Angry vs Happy faces were inversely associated with childhood interpersonal trauma at T6 and adult trauma exposure at T5. Post-hoc repeated measures ANOVA indicated that unlike adults without trauma exposure, trauma-exposed adults failed to show significantly reduced N170 responses to Happy relative to Angry faces during non-conscious processing. This suggests that childhood interpersonal and adult trauma exposure are associated with a failure to differentiate between non-threat or positive and threat-related emotion cues. This is consistent with generalised hypervigilance seen in PTSD, and suggests trauma exposure is associated with a generalized heightened responsivity to non-conscious non-threat or positive as well as threat-related emotion cues in psychiatrically healthy adults. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

  11. Threat Related Selective Attention Predicts Treatment Success in Childhood Anxiety Disorders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Legerstee, Jeroen S.; Tulen, Joke H. M.; Kallen, Victor L.; Dieleman, Gwen C.; Treffers, Philip D. A.; Verhulst, Frank C.; Utens, Elisabeth M. W. J.

    2009-01-01

    Threat-related selective attention was found to predict the success of the treatment of childhood anxiety disorders through administering a pictorial dot-probe task to 131 children with anxiety disorders prior to cognitive behavioral therapy. The diagnostic status of the subjects was evaluated with a semistructured clinical interview at both pre-…

  12. Agroterrorism: Threats and Preparedness

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-03-12

    fungi . People more generally associate bioterrorism with outbreaks of human illness (e.g., anthrax or smallpox), rather than diseases affecting animals...world production was 42% for corn, 35% for soybeans, and 12% for wheat . Of global exports, the U.S. accounted for 65% for corn, 40% for soybeans...and 32% for wheat . If export markets were to decline following an agroterrorism event, U.S. markets could be severely disrupted since 21% of U.S

  13. Contextual Factors Related to Stereotype Threat and Student Success in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Education: A Mixed Methods Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leker, Lindsey Beth

    Stereotype threat is a widely researched phenomenon shown to impact performance in testing and evaluation situations (Katz, Roberts, & Robinson, 1965; Steele & Aronson, 1995). When related to gender, stereotype threat can lead women to score lower than men on standardized math exams (Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999). Stereotype threat may be one reason women have lower enrollment in most science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors, hold a smaller number of STEM careers than men, and have a higher attrition rate in STEM professions (Hill, Corbet, & Rose, 2010; Picho & Brown 2011; Sorby & Baartmans, 2000). Most research has investigated stereotype threat using experiments yielding mixed results (Stoet & Geary, 2012). Thus, there is a need to explore stereotype threat using quantitative surveys and qualitative methods to examine other contextual factors that contribute to gender difference in STEM fields. This dissertation outlined a mixed methods study designed to, first, qualitatively explore stereotype threat and contextual factors related to high achieving women in STEM fields, as well as women who have failed and/or avoided STEM fields. Then, the quantitative portion of the study used the themes from the qualitative phase to create a survey that measured stereotype threat and other contextual variables related to STEM success and failure/avoidance. Fifteen participants were interviewed for the qualitative phase of the study and six themes emerged. The quantitative survey was completed 242 undergraduate participants. T-tests, correlations, regressions, and mediation analyses were used to analyze the data. There were significant relationships between stereotype threat and STEM confidence, STEM anxiety, giving up in STEM, and STEM achievement. Overall, this mixed methods study advanced qualitative research on stereotype threat, developed a much-needed scale for the measurement of stereotype threat, and tested the developed scale.

  14. Perceived Threat, Risk Perception, and Efficacy Beliefs Related to SARS and Other (Emerging) Infectious Diseases

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    de Zwart, Onno; Veldhuijzen, Irene; Elam, Gillian

    2009-01-01

    PURPOSE: To study the levels of perceived threat, perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, response efficacy, and self-efficacy for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and eight other diseases in five European and three Asian countries. METHOD: A computer-assisted phone survey was conduc......PURPOSE: To study the levels of perceived threat, perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, response efficacy, and self-efficacy for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and eight other diseases in five European and three Asian countries. METHOD: A computer-assisted phone survey...... was conducted among 3,436 respondents. The questionnaire focused on perceived threat, vulnerability, severity, response efficacy, and self-efficacy related to SARS and eight other diseases. RESULTS: Perceived threat of SARS in case of an outbreak in the country was higher than that of other diseases. Perceived...... vulnerability of SARS was at an intermediate level and perceived severity was high compared to other diseases. Perceived threat for SARS varied between countries in Europe and Asia with a higher perceived severity of SARS in Europe and a higher perceived vulnerability in Asia. Response efficacy and self...

  15. Historical evolution of human anthrax from occupational disease to potentially global threat as bioweapon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Amelio, Enrico; Gentile, Bernardina; Lista, Florigio; D'Amelio, Raffaele

    2015-12-01

    Anthrax is caused by Bacillus anthracis, which can naturally infect livestock, wildlife and occupationally exposed humans. However, for its resistance due to spore formation, ease of dissemination, persistence in the environment and high virulence, B. anthracis has been considered the most serious bioterrorism agent for a long time. During the last century anthrax evolved from limited natural disease to potentially global threat if used as bioweapon. Several factors may mitigate the consequences of an anthrax attack, including 1. the capability to promptly recognize and manage the illness and its public health consequences; 2. the limitation of secondary contamination risk through an appropriate decontamination; and 3. the evolution of genotyping methods (for microbes characterization at high resolution level) that can influence the course and/or focus of investigations, impacting the response of the government to an attack. A PubMed search has been done using the key words “bioterrorism anthrax”. Over one thousand papers have been screened and the most significant examined to present a comprehensive literature review in order to discuss the current knowledge and strategies in preparedness for a possible deliberate release of B. anthracis spores and to indicate the most current and complete documents in which to deepen. The comprehensive analysis of the two most relevant unnatural anthrax release events, Sverdlovsk in the former Soviet Union (1979) and the contaminated letters in the USA (2001), shows that inhalational anthrax may easily and cheaply be spread resulting in serious consequences. The damage caused by an anthrax attack can be limited if public health organization, first responders, researchers and investigators will be able to promptly manage anthrax cases and use new technologies for decontamination methods and in forensic microbiology.

  16. Assessing the Biological Weapons and Bioterrorism Threat

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-12-01

    Senate testimony, Dr. Craig Venter suggested that “outbreaks and spread of avian and other fl u virus strains . . . could potentially kill hundreds of...May 23, 2005. 36. Dr. Craig Venter, Testimony to Hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, “21st Century...International Studies. 241. Robert M. Cook- Deegan , “Issues in Biosecurity and Biosafety,” Science, Vol. 308, No. 5730, June 24, 2005, pp. 1867-1868

  17. Indicators of implicit and explicit social anxiety influence threat-related interpretive bias as a function of working memory capacity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elske eSalemink

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Interpretive biases play a crucial role in anxiety disorders. The aim of the current study was to examine factors that determine the relative strength of threat-related interpretive biases that are characteristic of individuals high in social anxiety. Different (dual process models argue that both implicit and explicit processes determine information processing biases and behaviour, and that their impact is moderated by the availability of executive resources such as working memory capacity (WMC. Based on these models, we expected indicators of implicit social anxiety to predict threat-related interpretive bias in individuals low, but not high in WMC. Indicators of explicit social anxiety should predict threat-related interpretive bias in individuals high, but not low in WMC. As expected, WMC moderated the impact of implicit social anxiety on threat-related interpretive bias, although the simple slope for individuals low in WMC was not statistically significant. The hypotheses regarding explicit social anxiety (with fear of negative evaluation used as an indicator were fully supported. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

  18. Attention processes in chronic fatigue syndrome: attentional bias for health-related threat and the role of attentional control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Ruihua; Moss-Morris, Rona; Risdale, Anna; Lynch, Jeannette; Jeevaratnam, Preshan; Bradley, Brendan P; Mogg, Karin

    2014-01-01

    Cognitive behavioural models of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) propose that attention processes, specifically, enhanced selective attention to health-threat related cues, may play an important role in symptom maintenance. The current study investigated attentional bias towards health-threat stimuli in CFS. It also examined whether individuals with CFS have impaired executive attention, and whether this was related to attentional bias. 27 participants with CFS and 35 healthy controls completed a Visual Probe Task measuring attentional bias, and an Attention Network Test measuring executive attention, alerting and orienting. Participants also completed self-report measures of CFS and mood symptoms. Compared to the control group, the CFS group showed greater attentional bias for health-threat words than pictures; and the CFS group was significantly impaired in executive attention. Furthermore, CFS individuals with poor executive attention showed greater attentional bias to health-threat related words, compared not only to controls but also to CFS individuals with good executive attention. Thus, this study revealed a significant relationship between attentional bias and executive attention in CFS: attentional bias to threat was primarily evident in those with impaired executive attention control. Taking account of individual differences in executive attention control in current intervention models may be beneficial for CFS. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Threat-Related Selective Attention Predicts Treatment Success in Childhood Anxiety Disorders

    OpenAIRE

    Legerstee, Jeroen; Tulen, Joke; Kallen, Victor; Dieleman, Gwen; Treffers, Philip; Verhulst, Frank; Utens, Elisabeth

    2009-01-01

    textabstractAbstract OBJECTIVE: The present study examined whether threat-related selective attention was predictive of treatment success in children with anxiety disorders and whether age moderated this association. Specific components of selective attention were examined in treatment responders and nonresponders. METHOD: Participants consisted of 131 children with anxiety disorders (aged 8-16 years), who received standardized cognitive-behavioral therapy. At pretreatment, a pictorial dot-pr...

  20. Actionable knowledge and strategic decision making for bio- and agroterrorism threats: building a collaborative early warning culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mårtensson, Per-Åke; Hedström, Lars; Sundelius, Bengt; Skiby, Jeffrey E; Elbers, Armin; Knutsson, Rickard

    2013-09-01

    Current trends in biosecurity and cybersecurity include (1) the wide availability of technology and specialized knowledge that previously were available only to governments; (2) the global economic recession, which may increase the spread of radical non-state actors; and (3) recent US and EU commission reports that reflect concerns about non-state actors in asymmetric threats. The intersectoral and international nature of bioterrorism and agroterrorism threats requires collaboration across several sectors including intelligence, police, forensics, customs, and other law enforcement organizations who must work together with public and animal health organizations as well as environmental and social science organizations. This requires coordinated decision making among these organizations, based on actionable knowledge and information sharing. The risk of not sharing information among organizations compared to the benefit of sharing information can be considered in an "information sharing risk-benefit analysis" to prevent a terrorism incident from occurring and to build a rapid response capability. In the EU project AniBioThreat, early warning is the main topic in work package 3 (WP 3). A strategy has been generated based on an iterative approach to bring law enforcement agencies and human and animal health institutes together. Workshops and exercises have taken place during the first half of the project, and spin-off activities include new preparedness plans for institutes and the formation of a legal adviser network for decision making. In addition, a seminar on actionable knowledge was held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2012, which identified the need to bring various agency cultures together to work on developing a resilient capability to identify early signs of bio- and agroterrorism threats. The seminar concluded that there are a number of challenges in building a collaborative culture, including developing an education program that supports collaboration and shared

  1. Pubertal testosterone influences threat-related amygdala-orbitofrontal cortex coupling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spielberg, Jeffrey M; Forbes, Erika E; Ladouceur, Cecile D; Worthman, Carol M; Olino, Thomas M; Ryan, Neal D; Dahl, Ronald E

    2015-03-01

    Growing evidence indicates that normative pubertal maturation is associated with increased threat reactivity, and this developmental shift has been implicated in the increased rates of adolescent affective disorders. However, the neural mechanisms involved in this pubertal increase in threat reactivity remain unknown. Research in adults indicates that testosterone transiently decreases amygdala-orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) coupling. Consequently, we hypothesized that increased pubertal testosterone disrupts amygdala-OFC coupling, which may contribute to developmental increases in threat reactivity in some adolescents. Hypotheses were tested in a longitudinal study by examining the impact of testosterone on functional connectivity. Findings were consistent with hypotheses and advance our understanding of normative pubertal changes in neural systems instantiating affect/motivation. Finally, potential novel insights into the neurodevelopmental pathways that may contribute to adolescent vulnerability to behavioral and emotional problems are discussed. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. The germs of terror – Bioterrorism and science communication after September 11 (Italian original version

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Chiara Montani

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available The attacks of September 11 2001 and in particular, the sending of letters containing anthrax spores the following October had a profound effect on society, and at the same time on science and its communicative mechanisms. Through a quanto-qualitative analysis of articles taken from four publications: two daily newspapers, the Corriere della Sera from Italy and the New York Times from the United States and two science magazines, Science and Nature, we have shown how the aforementioned events provoked the emergence of media attention regarding bioterrorism. A closer reading of the articles shows that today, science – including that found in science magazines – is closely related to politics, economics and the debate over the freedom to practice communicate. The very mechanisms of communication between scientists were changed as a result of this debate, as can be seen from the signing of the Denver Declaration in February 2003, which brought about the preventative self-censorship of publication of biomedical research findings.

  3. Attention Biases Towards and Away from Threat Mark the Relation between Early Dysregulated Fear and the Later Emergence of Social Withdrawal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morales, Santiago; Pérez-Edgar, Koraly E; Buss, Kristin A

    2015-08-01

    Fearful temperament, mostly studied as behavioral inhibition (BI), has been extensively associated with social withdrawal in childhood and the later emergence of anxiety disorders, especially social anxiety disorder (SAD). Recent studies have characterized a distinct type of fearful temperament marked by high levels of fear in low threat situations - labeled dysregulated fear. Dysregulated fear has been related to SAD over and above risks associated with BI. However, the mechanism by which dysregulated fear is related to SAD has not been studied. Cognitive mechanisms, such as attentional bias towards threat, may be a possible conduit. We examined differences in attentional bias towards threat in six-year-olds who displayed a pattern of dysregulated fear at age two (N = 23) compared with children who did not display dysregulated fear (N = 33). Moreover, we examined the concurrent relation between attentional bias and social withdrawal. Results indicated that children characterized by dysregulated fear showed a significant bias away from threat, and that this bias was significantly different from the children without dysregulated fear, who showed no significant bias. Moreover, attentional bias towards threat was positively related to social withdrawal only for the dysregulated fear group. These results are discussed in consideration of the existing knowledge of attentional bias to threat in the developmental and pediatric anxiety literatures, as well as recent studies that find important heterogeneity in attentional bias.

  4. The use of animals as a surveillance tool for monitoring environmental health hazards, human health hazards and bioterrorism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neo, Jacqueline Pei Shan; Tan, Boon Huan

    2017-05-01

    This review discusses the utilization of wild or domestic animals as surveillance tools for monitoring naturally occurring environmental and human health hazards. Besides providing early warning to natural hazards, animals can also provide early warning to societal hazards like bioterrorism. Animals are ideal surveillance tools to humans because they share the same environment as humans and spend more time outdoors than humans, increasing their exposure risk. Furthermore, the biologically compressed lifespans of some animals may allow them to develop clinical signs more rapidly after exposure to specific pathogens. Animals are an excellent channel for monitoring novel and known pathogens with outbreak potential given that more than 60 % of emerging infectious diseases in humans originate as zoonoses. This review attempts to highlight animal illnesses, deaths, biomarkers or sentinel events, to remind human and veterinary public health programs that animal health can be used to discover, monitor or predict environmental health hazards, human health hazards, or bioterrorism. Lastly, we hope that this review will encourage the implementation of animals as a surveillance tool by clinicians, veterinarians, ecosystem health professionals, researchers and governments. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Different groups, different threats: a multi-threat approach to the experience of stereotype threats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapiro, Jenessa R

    2011-04-01

    Two studies demonstrated that different negatively stereotyped groups are at risk for distinct forms of stereotype threats. The Multi-Threat Framework articulates six distinct stereotype threats and the unique constellations of variables (e.g., group identification, stereotype endorsement) that elicit each stereotype threat. Previous research suggests that different negatively stereotyped groups systematically vary across these stereotype threat elicitors; a pilot study confirms these differences. Across two studies, groups that tend to elicit low stereotype endorsement (religion, race/ethnicity, congenital blindness) were less likely to report experiencing self-as-source stereotype threats (stereotype threats requiring stereotype endorsement) and groups that tend to elicit low group identification (mental illness, obesity, blindness later in life) were less likely to report experiencing group-as-target stereotype threats (stereotype threats requiring group identification). This research suggests that traditional models may overlook the experiences of stereotype threats within some groups and that interventions tailored to address differences between stereotype threats will be most effective.

  6. Survey of threat studies related to the nuclear power industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wagner, N.R.

    1977-08-01

    A considerable effort has been directed toward the determination of threat characteristics, resulting in a voluminous collection of documents. This report summarizes several of the major studies in order to make the information more accessible. This summary includes only studies involving attacks on nuclear material, plus those incidents which because of their objectives, resources, or motivations may lend insight into potential threat against nuclear facilities or material

  7. Threat in Context: School Moderation of the Impact of Social Identity Threat on Racial/Ethnic Achievement Gaps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanselman, Paul; Bruch, Sarah K.; Gamoran, Adam; Borman, Geoffrey D.

    2014-01-01

    Schools with very few and relatively low-performing marginalized students may be most likely to trigger social identity threats (including stereotype threats) that contribute to racial disparities. We test this hypothesis by assessing variation in the benefits of a self-affirmation intervention designed to counteract social identity threat in a…

  8. Multikilovolt Coherent X-Ray Generation for Protein Analysis and Biological Threat Reduction

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Rhodes, Charles

    2003-01-01

    Efforts to trump bioterrorism can be sharply advanced by the development of new modalities for the rapid measurement and quantitative classification of protein structural and regulatory information. This report (1...

  9. Work-related fear and the threats of fear among emergency department nursing staff and physicians in Finland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikkola, Riitta; Huhtala, Heini; Paavilainen, Eija

    2017-10-01

    To describe fear, the threats causing fear and the occurrence of fear among emergency department nursing staff and physicians. The emergency department is a challenging workplace where the staff is often confronted by factors that cause fear. A cross-sectional study. A survey was conducted in 16 hospitals (n = 544). Nurses, practical nurses, orderlies and physicians from those hospitals participated in the survey. The survey questionnaire was based on the analysis of interviews of 30 nurses from one university hospital and one central hospital. The results of the interviews were analysed using the inductive content analysis method. The analysis of the survey was performed using statistical methods, such as frequencies, cross-tabulation and principal component analysis. The results showed that nearly all of the emergency department personnel had experienced work-related fear. Generally, the fear had been momentary. According to the survey results, fear was most often caused by medication errors, the resuscitation of a child, a catastrophic accident, urgent or violent situations or patients armed with weapons. Threats that caused fear included insecurity, danger in the work environment, threat of loss of one's health and threat of the consequences of one's mistakes and actions. The staff of emergency departments often encountered factors or situations that caused fear. The main threats causing fear that were raised by the respondents were insecurity and danger in the work environment. The data obtained from this study can be utilised in identifying and describing work-related fear and threats of fear among emergency department nursing staff and physicians. Based on the information herein, it will be possible to develop methods to prevent situations that cause fear in emergency departments. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Applying the multi-threat framework of stereotype threat in the context of digital gaming

    OpenAIRE

    Pennington, C. R.; Kaye, L. K.; McCann, J. J.

    2018-01-01

    Females often report experiencing stigmatisation pertaining to their competency in digital gaming communities. Employing the principles of the multi-threat framework of stereotype threat, the current research examined the impact of gender-related stereotypes on females' gaming performance and related self-perceptions. In Experiment 1, 90 females were assigned to one of three conditions in which they were primed that their performance would be either diagnostic of their personal (self-as-targe...

  11. Identity processes, threat, and interpersonal relations: accounts from British Muslim gay men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaspal, Rusi; Cinnirella, Marco

    2012-01-01

    This study explores identity processes, identity threat, and interpersonal relations with other gay men in a qualitative interview study with a sample of young British Muslim gay men of Pakistani background. Transcripts were subjected to qualitative thematic analysis. Data were analyzed through the interpretive lens of Identity Process Theory. Three superordinate themes are reported: (a) self-continuity and the transition from straight to gay space; (b) interpersonal relations with other gay men and self- and other categorization; and (c) interpersonal contact or identification with White gay men as an identity enhancer. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

  12. Adapting to the Changing Climate: An Assessment of Local Health Department Preparations for Climate Change-Related Health Threats, 2008-2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roser-Renouf, Connie; Maibach, Edward W; Li, Jennifer

    2016-01-01

    Climate change poses a major public health threat. A survey of U.S. local health department directors in 2008 found widespread recognition of the threat, but limited adaptive capacity, due to perceived lack of expertise and other resources. We assessed changes between 2008 and 2012 in local public health departments' preparedness for the public health threats of climate change, in light of increasing national polarization on the issue, and widespread funding cutbacks for public health. A geographically representative online survey of directors of local public health departments was conducted in 2011-2012 (N = 174; response rate = 50%), and compared to the 2008 telephone survey results (N = 133; response rate = 61%). Significant polarization had occurred: more respondents in 2012 were certain that the threat of local climate change impacts does/does not exist, and fewer were unsure. Roughly 10% said it is not a threat, compared to 1% in 2008. Adaptation capacity decreased in several areas: perceived departmental expertise in climate change risk assessment; departmental prioritization of adaptation; and the number of adaptation-related programs and services departments provided. In 2008, directors' perceptions of local impacts predicted the number of adaptation-related programs and services their departments offered, but in 2012, funding predicted programming and directors' impact perceptions did not. This suggests that budgets were constraining directors' ability to respond to local climate change-related health threats. Results also suggest that departmental expertise may mitigate funding constraints. Strategies for overcoming these obstacles to local public health departments' preparations for climate change are discussed.

  13. Work-related threats and violence in human service sectors: The importance of the psycho-social work environment examined in a multilevel prospective study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Lars Peter; Hogh, Annie; Biering, Karin; Gadegaard, Charlotte Ann

    2018-01-01

    Threats and violence at work are major concerns for employees in many human service sectors. The prevention of work-related violence is a major challenge for employees and management. The purpose of this study was to identify prospective associations between psycho-social work environment and work-related threats and violence in four high risk human service sectors. Questionnaire data was collected from 3011 employees working at psychiatric wards, in the elder sector, in the Prison and Probation Service and at Special Schools. Associations between psycho-social work environment and work-related violence and threats were then studied using a one-year follow-up design and multilevel logistic regression analyses. The analyses showed that quantitative demands, high emotional demands, low level of influence over own work-situation, low predictability, low rewards at work, low role clarity, many role conflicts, many work-family conflicts and low organizational justice had statistically significant associations with high levels of work-related threats. Furthermore, high emotional demands, low predictability, low role clarity, many role conflicts, many work-family conflicts, low supervisor quality and low support from nearest supervisor had statistically significant associations with high levels of work-related violence. Finally, across the four sectors both similar and different associations between psycho-social work environment and work-related violence and threats were found. The results of the study underline the importance of including the psycho-social work environment as a supplement to existing violence prevention methods and interventions aimed at reducing work-related violence and threats.

  14. Counter-terrorism threat prediction architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehman, Lynn A.; Krause, Lee S.

    2004-09-01

    This paper will evaluate the feasibility of constructing a system to support intelligence analysts engaged in counter-terrorism. It will discuss the use of emerging techniques to evaluate a large-scale threat data repository (or Infosphere) and comparing analyst developed models to identify and discover potential threat-related activity with a uncertainty metric used to evaluate the threat. This system will also employ the use of psychological (or intent) modeling to incorporate combatant (i.e. terrorist) beliefs and intent. The paper will explore the feasibility of constructing a hetero-hierarchical (a hierarchy of more than one kind or type characterized by loose connection/feedback among elements of the hierarchy) agent based framework or "family of agents" to support "evidence retrieval" defined as combing, or searching the threat data repository and returning information with an uncertainty metric. The counter-terrorism threat prediction architecture will be guided by a series of models, constructed to represent threat operational objectives, potential targets, or terrorist objectives. The approach would compare model representations against information retrieved by the agent family to isolate or identify patterns that match within reasonable measures of proximity. The central areas of discussion will be the construction of an agent framework to search the available threat related information repository, evaluation of results against models that will represent the cultural foundations, mindset, sociology and emotional drive of typical threat combatants (i.e. the mind and objectives of a terrorist), and the development of evaluation techniques to compare result sets with the models representing threat behavior and threat targets. The applicability of concepts surrounding Modeling Field Theory (MFT) will be discussed as the basis of this research into development of proximity measures between the models and result sets and to provide feedback in support of model

  15. An overview of non-traditional nuclear threats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Geelhood, B.D.; Wogman, N.A.

    2005-01-01

    In view of the terrorist threats to the United States, the country needs to consider new vectors and weapons related to nuclear and radiological threats against our homeland. The traditional threat vectors, missiles and bombers, have expanded to include threats arriving through the flow of commerce. The new commerce-related vectors include: sea cargo, truck cargo, rail cargo, air cargo, and passenger transport. The types of weapons have also expanded beyond nuclear warheads to include radiation dispersal devices (RDD) or 'dirty' bombs. The consequences of these nuclear and radiological threats are both economic and life threatening. The defense against undesirable materials entering our borders involves extensive radiation monitoring at ports of entry. The radiation and other signatures of potential nuclear and radiological threats are examined along with potential sensors to discover undesirable items in the flow of commerce. Techniques to improve radiation detection are considered. A strategy of primary and secondary screening is proposed to rapidly clear most cargo and carefully examine suspect cargo. (author)

  16. An examination of age-based stereotype threat about cognitive decline: Implications for stereotype threat research and theory development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barber, Sarah J.

    2017-01-01

    “Stereotype threat” is often thought of as a singular construct, with moderators and mechanisms that are stable across groups and domains. However, this is not always true. To illustrate this, the current review focuses on the stereotype threat that older adults face about their cognitive abilities. Using Shapiro and Neuberg's (2007) Multi-Threat Framework, I first provide evidence that this is a self-concept threat, and not a group-reputation threat. Because this differs from the form(s) of threat experienced by other groups (e.g., the threat that minority students face about their intellectual abilities), the moderators of threat observed in other groups (i.e., group identification) do not always generalize to age-based stereotype threat about cognitive decline. Looking beyond the form(s) of threat elicited, this review also provides evidence that the mechanisms underlying stereotype threat effects may vary across the lifespan. Due to age-related improvements in emotion regulation abilities, stereotype threat does not seem to reduce older adults' executive control resources. Overall, this review highlights the need to approach the concept of stereotype threat with more granularity. This will allow us to design more effective stereotype threat interventions. It will also shed light on why certain effects “fail to replicate” across domains or groups. PMID:28073332

  17. Revolutions in Science and Technology: Future Threats to US National Security

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-04-01

    to Iran, the Stuxnet virus is known to have affected computers in Indonesia, India, Australia, Malaysia , Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United...Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science , Vol. 4, No.3, 2006. "’ Julie E. Fischer, Stewardship or Censorship : Balancing Biosecurity

  18. Categorizing threat : building and using a generic threat matrix.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Woodard, Laura; Veitch, Cynthia K.; Thomas, Sherry Reede; Duggan, David Patrick

    2007-09-01

    The key piece of knowledge necessary for building defenses capable of withstanding or surviving cyber and kinetic attacks is an understanding of the capabilities posed by threats to a government, function, or system. With the number of threats continuing to increase, it is no longer feasible to enumerate the capabilities of all known threats and then build defenses based on those threats that are considered, at the time, to be the most relevant. Exacerbating the problem for critical infrastructure entities is the fact that the majority of detailed threat information for higher-level threats is held in classified status and is not available for general use, such as the design of defenses and the development of mitigation strategies. To reduce the complexity of analyzing threat, the threat space must first be reduced. This is achieved by taking the continuous nature of the threat space and creating an abstraction that allows the entire space to be grouped, based on measurable attributes, into a small number of distinctly different levels. The work documented in this report is an effort to create such an abstraction.

  19. Psychoanalysis and the nuclear threat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Levine, H.B.; Jacobs, D.; Rubin, L.J.

    1988-01-01

    {ital Psychoanalysis and the Nuclear Threat} provides coverage of the dynamic and clinical considerations that follow from life in the nuclear age. Of special clinical interest are chapters dealing with the developmental consequences of the nuclear threat in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and those exploring the technical issues raised by the occurrence in analytic and psychotherapeutic hours of material related to the nuclear threat. Additional chapters bring a psychoanalytic perspective to bear on such issues as the need to have enemies, silence as the real crime, love, work, and survival in the nuclear age, the relationship of the nuclear threat to issues of mourning and melancholia, apocalyptic fantasies, the paranoid process, considerations of the possible impact of gender on the nuclear threat, and the application of psychoanalytic thinking to nuclear arms strategy. Finally, the volume includes the first case report in the English language---albeit a brief psychotherapy---involving the treatment of a Hiroshima survivor.

  20. Bichat guidelines for the clinical management of smallpox and bioterrorism-related smallpox.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bossi, Philippe; Tegnell, Anders; Baka, Agoritsa; Van Loock, Frank; Hendriks, J; Werner, Albrecht; Maidhof, Heinrich; Gouvras, Georgios

    2004-12-15

    Smallpox is a viral infection caused by the variola virus. It was declared eradicated worldwide by the Word Health Organization in 1980 following a smallpox eradication campaign. Smallpox is seen as one of the viruses most likely to be used as a biological weapon. The variola virus exists legitimately in only two laboratories in the world. Any new case of smallpox would have to be the result of human accidental or deliberate release. The aerosol infectivity, high mortality, and stability of the variola virus make it a potential and dangerous threat in biological warfare. Early detection and diagnosis are important to limit the spread of the disease. Patients with smallpox must be isolated and managed, if possible, in a negative-pressure room until death or until all scabs have been shed. There is no established antiviral treatment for smallpox. The most effective prevention is vaccination before exposure.

  1. Bioterrorism and its aftermath: dealing individually and organizationally with the emotional reactions to an anthrax attack.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugden, Brian W; Katchmar, Rosemary

    2005-01-01

    From September 2001 through April 2004, the United States Postal Service (USPS) dealt, for the first time, with bioterrorism resulting in employee deaths and the closure of a large mail processing plant in Washington, D.C. The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) partnered with the USPS throughout this tumultuous time to meet the multiple and evolving behavioral health needs of the employees and facilitate the employees' emotional preparedness for their return to work at the closed facility. This paper discusses the reactions manifested by the employees during this extended period, as well as the EAP activities in the recovery process.

  2. Biased processing of threat-related information rather than knowledge deficits contributes to overestimation of threat in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moritz, Steffen; Pohl, Rüdiger F

    2009-11-01

    Overestimation of threat (OET) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The present study deconstructed this complex concept and looked for specific deviances in OCD relative to controls. A total of 46 participants with OCD and 51 nonclinical controls were asked: (a) to estimate the incidence rate for 20 events relating to washing, checking, positive, or negative incidents. Furthermore, they were required (b) to assess their personal vulnerability to experience each event type, and (c) to judge the degree of accompanying worry. Later, participants were confronted with the correct statistics and asked (d) to rate their degree of worry versus relief. OCD participants did not provide higher estimates for OCD-related events than healthy participants, thus rendering a knowledge deficit unlikely. The usual unrealistic optimism bias was found in both groups but was markedly attenuated in OCD participants. OCD-related events worried OCD participants more than controls. Confrontation with the correct statistics appeased OCD participants less than healthy participants. Even in the case of large initial overestimations for OCD-related events, correct information appeased OCD participants significantly less than healthy participants. Our results suggest that OCD is not associated with a knowledge deficit regarding OCD-related events but that patients feel personally more vulnerable than nonclinical controls.

  3. Organizational Security Threats Related to Portable Data Storage Devices: Qualitative Exploratory Inquiry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Paul K.

    2017-01-01

    There has been a significant growth of portable devices capable of storing both personal data as well as sensitive organizational data. This growth of these portable devices has led to an increased threat of cyber-criminal activity. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of security threats to the data assets of organizations…

  4. Insider threat to secure facilities: data analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1980-01-01

    Three data sets drawn from industries that have experienced internal security breaches are analyzed. The industries and the insider security breaches are considered analogous in one or more respects to insider threats potentially confronting managers in the nuclear industry. The three data sets are: bank fraud and embezzlement (BF and E), computer-related crime, and drug theft from drug manufacturers and distributors. A careful analysis by both descriptive and formal statistical techniques permits certain general conclusions on the internal threat to secure industries to be drawn. These conclusions are discussed and related to the potential insider threat in the nuclear industry. 49 tabs

  5. Beyond the Dirty Dozen: A Proposed Methodology for Assessing Future Bioweapon Threats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cieslak, Theodore J; Kortepeter, Mark G; Wojtyk, Ronald J; Jansen, Hugo-Jan; Reyes, Ricardo A; Smith, James O

    2018-01-01

    Defense policy planners and countermeasure developers are often faced with vexing problems involving the prioritization of resources and efforts. This is especially true in the area of Biodefense, where each new emerging infectious disease outbreak brings with it questions regarding the causative agent's potential for weaponization. Recent experience with West Nile Virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Monkeypox, and H1N1 Influenza highlights this problem. Appropriately, in each of these cases, the possibility of bioterrorism was raised, although each outbreak ultimately proved to have a natural origin. In fact, determining whether an outbreak has an unnatural origin can be quite difficult. Thus, the questions remain: could the causative agents of these and other emerging infectious disease outbreaks pose a future weaponization threat? And how great is that threat? Should precious resources be diverted from other defense efforts in order to prepare for possible hostile employment of novel diseases by belligerents? Answering such critical questions requires some form of systematic threat assessment. Through extensive collaborative work conducted within NATO's Biomedical Advisory Council, we developed a scoring matrix for evaluating the weaponization potential of the causative agents of such diseases and attempted to validate our matrix by examining the reproducibility of data using known threat agents. Our matrix included 12 attributes of a potential weapon and was provided, along with detailed scoring instructions, to 12 groups of biodefense experts in 6 NATO nations. Study participants were asked to score each of these 12 attributes on a scale of 0-3: Infectivity, Infection-to-Disease Ratio (Reliability), Predictability (& Incubation Period), Morbidity & Mortality (Virulence), Ease of Large-Scale Production & Storage, Aerosol Stability, Atmospheric Stability, Ease of Dispersal, Communicability, Prophylactic Countermeasure Availability, Therapeutic

  6. Stereotype Threat Lowers Older Adults' Self-Reported Hearing Abilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barber, Sarah J; Lee, Soohyoung Rain

    2015-01-01

    Although stereotype threat is a well-documented phenomenon, previous studies examining it in older adults have almost exclusively focused on objective cognitive outcomes. Considerably less attention has been paid to the impact of stereotype threat on older adults' subjective assessments of their own abilities or to the impact of stereotype threat in noncognitive domains. Older adults are stereotyped as having experienced not only cognitive declines, but physical declines as well. The current study tested the prediction that stereotype threat can negatively influence older adults' subjective hearing abilities. To test this, 115 adults (mean age 50.03 years, range 41-67) read either a positive or negative description about how aging affects hearing. All participants then answered a questionnaire in which they assessed their own hearing abilities. The impact of stereotype threat on self-reported hearing was moderated by chronological age. Participants in their 40s and early 50s were unaffected by the stereotype threat manipulation. In contrast, participants in their late 50s and 60s rated their hearing as being subjectively worse when under stereotype threat. The current study provides a clear demonstration that stereotype threat negatively impacts older adults' subjective assessments of their own abilities. It is also the first study to demonstrate an effect of stereotype threat within the domain of hearing. These results have important implications for researchers investigating age-related hearing decline. Stereotype threat can lead to overestimation of the prevalence of age-related hearing decline. It can also serve as a confounding variable when examining the psychosocial correlates of hearing loss. Because of this, researchers studying age-related hearing loss should aim to provide a stereotype threat-free testing environment and also include assessments of stereotype threat within their studies. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  7. Stereotype threat lowers older adults’ self-reported hearing abilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barber, Sarah J.; Lee, Soohyoung Rain

    2016-01-01

    Background Although stereotype threat is a well-documented phenomenon, previous studies examining it in older adults have almost exclusively focused on objective cognitive outcomes. Considerably less attention has been paid to the impact of stereotype threat on older adults’ subjective assessments of their own abilities or to the impact of stereotype threat in non-cognitive domains. Objective Older adults are stereotyped as having experienced not only cognitive declines, but physical declines as well. The current study tested the prediction that stereotype threat can negatively influence older adult's subjective hearing abilities. Methods To test this, 115 adults (M age = 50.02, range = 41-67) read either a positive or negative description about how aging affects hearing. All participants then answered a questionnaire in which they assessed their own hearing abilities. Results The impact of stereotype threat on self-reported hearing was moderated by chronological age. Participants in their 40's and early 50's were unaffected by the stereotype threat manipulation. In contrast, participants in their late 50's and 60's rated their hearing as being subjectively worse when under stereotype threat. Conclusion The current study provides a clear demonstration that stereotype threat negatively impacts older adults’ subjective assessments of their own abilities. It is also the first study to demonstrate an effect of stereotype threat within the domain of hearing. These results have important implications for researchers investigating age-related hearing decline. Stereotype threat can lead to overestimation of the prevalence of age-related hearing decline. It can also serve as a confounding variable when examining the psychosocial correlates of hearing loss. Because of this, researchers studying age-related hearing loss should aim to provide a stereotype-threat free testing environment and also include assessments of stereotype threat within their studies. PMID:26461273

  8. Cyber threat metrics.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frye, Jason Neal; Veitch, Cynthia K.; Mateski, Mark Elliot; Michalski, John T.; Harris, James Mark; Trevino, Cassandra M.; Maruoka, Scott

    2012-03-01

    Threats are generally much easier to list than to describe, and much easier to describe than to measure. As a result, many organizations list threats. Fewer describe them in useful terms, and still fewer measure them in meaningful ways. This is particularly true in the dynamic and nebulous domain of cyber threats - a domain that tends to resist easy measurement and, in some cases, appears to defy any measurement. We believe the problem is tractable. In this report we describe threat metrics and models for characterizing threats consistently and unambiguously. The purpose of this report is to support the Operational Threat Assessment (OTA) phase of risk and vulnerability assessment. To this end, we focus on the task of characterizing cyber threats using consistent threat metrics and models. In particular, we address threat metrics and models for describing malicious cyber threats to US FCEB agencies and systems.

  9. Illness representations of type 2 diabetes patients are associated with perceptions of diabetes threat in relatives

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Esch, S.C.M.; Nijkamp, M.D.; Cornel, M.C.; Snoek, F.J.

    2014-01-01

    In the fight against the type 2 diabetes epidemic, patients might be asked to discuss familial susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in their family. Illness representations of patients (N = 546) were assessed to explore their impact on perceived type 2 diabetes threat in relatives. Reporting high type

  10. Relationships Among Attention Networks and Physiological Responding to Threat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarapas, Casey; Weinberg, Anna; Langenecker, Scott A.

    2016-01-01

    Although researchers have long hypothesized a relationship between attention and anxiety, theoretical and empirical accounts of this relationship have conflicted. We attempted to resolve these conflicts by examining relationships of attentional abilities with responding to predictable and unpredictable threat, related but distinct motivational process implicated in a number of anxiety disorders. Eighty-one individuals completed a behavioral task assessing efficiency of three components of attention – alerting, orienting, and executive control (Attention Network Test - Revised). We also assessed startle responding during anticipation of both predictable, imminent threat (of mild electric shock) and unpredictable contextual threat. Faster alerting and slower disengaging from non-emotional attention cues were related to heightened responding to unpredictable threat, whereas poorer executive control of attention was related to heightened responding to predictable threat. This double dissociation helps to integrate models of attention and anxiety and may be informative for treatment development. PMID:27816781

  11. Usefulness of data from primary care for real-time surveillance of diseases.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nielen, M.M.J.; Schellevis, F.G.; Verheij, R.A.

    2006-01-01

    Background: The increased threat of bioterrorism and the outbreaks of new infectious diseases require rapid identification of clusters of illness. The increased availability of electronic data in health care makes real-time surveillance of diseases possible. Therefore, we investigated the

  12. Key issues in body armour: threats, materials and design

    OpenAIRE

    Horsfall, Ian

    2012-01-01

    This chapter will examine the mechanics and materials of body armour in military, police and some security related applications to protect the wearer from penetrative threats. These threats will include battlefield threats such as shell fragments and high velocity bullets, and threats to law enforcement personnel such as handgun bullets and knives. Regardless of whether the threat is a high velocity bullet, or a knife, the essential requirements of body armour are the same; first an interacti...

  13. Transweb - real time transportation threat assessment analysis tool: look what the future may bring for energy related infrastructure?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dilger, F.; Ballard, J.D.

    2005-01-01

    Full text: Transweb is envisioned as a transportation threat assessment program and this real time GIS based web assessment too (a.k.a., GTA for GIS threat assessment) can be used to plan railroad or highway shipments of hazardous waste (e.g., toxic industrial chemicals - TIC's) and high-level nuclear waste materials (e.g., like those destined for Yucca Mountain - HLW) that may be used in energy production facilities. Transweb will become a vulnerability mapping and analysis tool that can be used by transportation planners, emergency response personnel, security/safety managers, and law enforcement to route such shipments, make contingency plans in the event of altered road or rail conditions, and/or to assist in the response to an accident or human initiated event like terrorism. The initial phase of the project will seek to establish the protocol on highway shipments and follow up phases will focus on rail GTA's. This paper will report on the initial development of this analytical technique, define the problems associated with such analysis, and offer examples of its analytical possibilities for threat assessment relative to energy related facilities like nuclear power generation stations. (author)

  14. Applying the multi-threat framework of stereotype threat in the context of digital gaming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pennington, Charlotte R; Kaye, Linda K; McCann, Joseph J

    2018-01-01

    Females often report experiencing stigmatisation pertaining to their competency in digital gaming communities. Employing the principles of the multi-threat framework of stereotype threat, the current research examined the impact of gender-related stereotypes on females' gaming performance and related self-perceptions. In Experiment 1, 90 females were assigned to one of three conditions in which they were primed that their performance would be either diagnostic of their personal (self-as-target) or gender group's ability (group-as-target) or would be non-diagnostic of gaming ability (control). In Experiment 2, 90 females were primed that their performance would be judged by a group of other females (in-group source) or males (out-group source), or would be non-diagnostic of ability (control). Participants then completed a casual gaming task, as well as measures of competence beliefs, self-efficacy and self-esteem. Findings from Experiment 1 indicate that neither a self-as-target nor a group-as-target stereotype affected significantly gaming performance, or game-related self-efficacy, self-esteem and competency beliefs. Findings from Experiment 2 reveal further that females' gaming performance and associated self-perceptions were not impacted significantly by an in-group or out-group source of stereotype threat. The discussion turns to potential explanations for these findings, proposing that females may not perceive negative gender-gaming stereotypes to be an accurate representation of their personal or social group's gaming ability. We also discuss the implications of the experimental design and difficulty, as well as the potential for domain identification to moderate performance outcomes under stereotype threat.

  15. Applying the multi-threat framework of stereotype threat in the context of digital gaming.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charlotte R Pennington

    Full Text Available Females often report experiencing stigmatisation pertaining to their competency in digital gaming communities. Employing the principles of the multi-threat framework of stereotype threat, the current research examined the impact of gender-related stereotypes on females' gaming performance and related self-perceptions. In Experiment 1, 90 females were assigned to one of three conditions in which they were primed that their performance would be either diagnostic of their personal (self-as-target or gender group's ability (group-as-target or would be non-diagnostic of gaming ability (control. In Experiment 2, 90 females were primed that their performance would be judged by a group of other females (in-group source or males (out-group source, or would be non-diagnostic of ability (control. Participants then completed a casual gaming task, as well as measures of competence beliefs, self-efficacy and self-esteem. Findings from Experiment 1 indicate that neither a self-as-target nor a group-as-target stereotype affected significantly gaming performance, or game-related self-efficacy, self-esteem and competency beliefs. Findings from Experiment 2 reveal further that females' gaming performance and associated self-perceptions were not impacted significantly by an in-group or out-group source of stereotype threat. The discussion turns to potential explanations for these findings, proposing that females may not perceive negative gender-gaming stereotypes to be an accurate representation of their personal or social group's gaming ability. We also discuss the implications of the experimental design and difficulty, as well as the potential for domain identification to moderate performance outcomes under stereotype threat.

  16. Indicators of implicit and explicit social anxiety influence threat-related interpretive bias as a function of working memory capacity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Salemink, E.; Friese, M.; Drake, E.; Mackintosh, B.; Hoppitt, L.

    2013-01-01

    Interpretive biases play a crucial role in anxiety disorders. The aim of the current study was to examine factors that determine the relative strength of threat-related interpretive biases that are characteristic of individuals high in social anxiety. Different (dual process) models argue that both

  17. Exercising multi-jurisdictional response to bioterrorism in Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, M. S.; Marchione, A.; MacDonald, S.; Vidosa, D.

    2009-01-01

    Throughout 2007, the CRTI Biological Cluster conducted a series of biological terrorism exercises within a project entitled Bi-Ex West. The overall purpose of Bi-Ex West was to determine how the federal science and technology community could assist responders in a bio-terrorism attack involving a zoonotic agent. Bi-Ex West consisted of three immersive electronic tabletop exercises, which culminated into a two-day full-scale field exercise involving more than 200 players distributed throughout six sites. Participants represented 18 agencies, including agricultural, health and emergency management organizations at the federal, provincial and municipal levels, as well as first responders from the law enforcement and fire rescue communities. These exercises were conducted in a learning environment that fostered knowledge sharing between local, provincial and federal agencies and enabled participants to exercise their roles, responsibilities and procedures when responding to a biological terrorist event. It also provided agencies with an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how to integrate their various response plans to improve coordination. Observations and recommendations were collected from evaluators and participants over the course of the exercise. The resulting 70 recommendations have been grouped under the following categories: Roles and Responsibilities; Communication; Training, Education and Planning; Resources and Equipment; Security and; Exercise Design. In addition to action items attached to the recommendations, a number of CBRNE activities resulted from Bi-Ex West increasing the capacity of resources within the Federal Government and the Province of British Columbia.(author)

  18. Agricultural Bioterrorism: A Federal Strategy to Meet the Threat

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-01-01

    10,000—the price of a beer fermenter, a protein-based culture, a gas mask, and a plastic lab coat.30 Compounding the problem of ease of...deliberate food contamination by terrorists. In 1996, FSIS implemented the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point ( HACCP ) regulatory system. This...America. FSIS is expanding the HACCP program by undertaking a comprehensive farm- to-table approach to improve product safety at each step in the

  19. Biosecurity: Addressing the Threats of Bioterrorism and Infectious Diseases

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-22

    weakened the Inca and Aztec Empire and led to a leadership crisis that eventually contributed significantly to the Spanish conquest. See John AI berth...vii 1. INTRODUCTION Since the end of the Cold War and the demise of the Soviet empire , certain experts optimistically proclaimed the triumph of...for millennia, have been responsible for the deaths of millions and the collapse of a few ancient empires , 17 the human species has always managed to

  20. Insular threat associations within taxa worldwide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leclerc, Camille; Courchamp, Franck; Bellard, Céline

    2018-04-23

    The global loss of biodiversity can be attributed to numerous threats. While pioneer studies have investigated their relative importance, the majority of those studies are restricted to specific geographic regions and/or taxonomic groups and only consider a small subset of threats, generally in isolation despite their frequent interaction. Here, we investigated 11 major threats responsible for species decline on islands worldwide. We applied an innovative method of network analyses to disentangle the associations of multiple threats on vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants in 15 insular regions. Biological invasions, wildlife exploitation, and cultivation, either alone or in association, were found to be the three most important drivers of species extinction and decline on islands. Specifically, wildlife exploitation and cultivation are largely associated with the decline of threatened plants and terrestrial vertebrates, whereas biological invasions mostly threaten invertebrates and freshwater fish. Furthermore, biodiversity in the Indian Ocean and near the Asian coasts is mostly affected by wildlife exploitation and cultivation compared to biological invasions in the Pacific and Atlantic insular regions. We highlighted specific associations of threats at different scales, showing that the analysis of each threat in isolation might be inadequate for developing effective conservation policies and managements.

  1. Stereotype Threat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spencer, Steven J; Logel, Christine; Davies, Paul G

    2016-01-01

    When members of a stigmatized group find themselves in a situation where negative stereotypes provide a possible framework for interpreting their behavior, the risk of being judged in light of those stereotypes can elicit a disruptive state that undermines performance and aspirations in that domain. This situational predicament, termed stereotype threat, continues to be an intensely debated and researched topic in educational, social, and organizational psychology. In this review, we explore the various sources of stereotype threat, the mechanisms underlying stereotype-threat effects (both mediators and moderators), and the consequences of this situational predicament, as well as the means through which society and stigmatized individuals can overcome the insidious effects of stereotype threat. Ultimately, we hope this review alleviates some of the confusion surrounding stereotype threat while also sparking further research and debate.

  2. Development of a bead-based Luminex assay using lipopolysaccharide specific monoclonal antibodies to detect biological threats from Brucella species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silbereisen, Angelika; Tamborrini, Marco; Wittwer, Matthias; Schürch, Nadia; Pluschke, Gerd

    2015-10-05

    Brucella, a Gram-negative bacterium, is classified as a potential bioterrorism agent mainly due to the low dose needed to cause infection and the ability to transmit the bacteria via aerosols. Goats/sheep, cattle, pigs, dogs, sheep and rodents are infected by B. melitensis, B. abortus, B. suis, B. canis, B. ovis and B. neotomae, respectively, the six classical Brucella species. Most human cases are caused by B. melitensis and B. abortus. Our aim was to specifically detect Brucellae with 'smooth' lipopolysaccharide (LPS) using a highly sensitive monoclonal antibody (mAb) based immunological assay. To complement molecular detection systems for potential bioterror agents, as required by international biodefense regulations, sets of mAbs were generated by B cell hybridoma technology and used to develop immunological assays. The combination of mAbs most suitable for an antigen capture assay format was identified and an immunoassay using the Luminex xMAP technology was developed. MAbs specific for the LPS O-antigen of Brucella spp. were generated by immunising mice with inactivated B. melitensis or B. abortus cells. Most mAbs recognised both B. melitensis and B. abortus and antigen binding was not impeded by inactivation of the bacterial cells by γ irradiation, formalin or heat treatment, a step required to analyse the samples immunologically under biosafety level two conditions. The Luminex assay recognised all tested Brucella species with 'smooth' LPS with detection limits of 2×10(2) to 8×10(4) cells per mL, depending on the species tested. Milk samples spiked with Brucella spp. cells were identified successfully using the Luminex assay. In addition, the bead-based immunoassay was integrated into a multiplex format, allowing for simultaneous, rapid and specific detection of Brucella spp., Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis and Yersinia pestis within a single sample. Overall, the robust Luminex assay should allow detection of Brucella spp. in both natural

  3. Stereotype Threat Alters the Subjective Experience of Memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazerolle, Marie; Régner, Isabelle; Rigalleau, François; Huguet, Pascal

    2015-01-01

    There is now evidence that negative age-related stereotypes about memory reduce older adults' memory performance, and inflate age differences in this domain. Here, we examine whether stereotype threat may also influence the basic feeling that one is more or less able to remember. Using the Remember/Know paradigm, we demonstrated that stereotype threat conducted older adults to a greater feeling of familiarity with events, while failing to retrieve any contextual detail. This finding indicates that stereotype threat alters older adults' subjective experience of memory, and strengthens our understanding of the mechanisms underlying stereotype threat effects.

  4. Cyber Threats to Nuclear Infrastructures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robert S. Anderson; Paul Moskowitz; Mark Schanfein; Trond Bjornard; Curtis St. Michel

    2010-07-01

    Nuclear facility personnel expend considerable efforts to ensure that their facilities can maintain continuity of operations against both natural and man-made threats. Historically, most attention has been placed on physical security. Recently however, the threat of cyber-related attacks has become a recognized and growing world-wide concern. Much attention has focused on the vulnerability of the electric grid and chemical industries to cyber attacks, in part, because of their use of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. Lessons learned from work in these sectors indicate that the cyber threat may extend to other critical infrastructures including sites where nuclear and radiological materials are now stored. In this context, this white paper presents a hypothetical scenario by which a determined adversary launches a cyber attack that compromises the physical protection system and results in a reduced security posture at such a site. The compromised security posture might then be malevolently exploited in a variety of ways. The authors conclude that the cyber threat should be carefully considered for all nuclear infrastructures.

  5. Cyber Threats to Nuclear Infrastructures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, Robert S.; Moskowitz, Paul; Schanfein, Mark; Bjornard, Trond; St. Michel, Curtis

    2010-01-01

    Nuclear facility personnel expend considerable efforts to ensure that their facilities can maintain continuity of operations against both natural and man-made threats. Historically, most attention has been placed on physical security. Recently however, the threat of cyber-related attacks has become a recognized and growing world-wide concern. Much attention has focused on the vulnerability of the electric grid and chemical industries to cyber attacks, in part, because of their use of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. Lessons learned from work in these sectors indicate that the cyber threat may extend to other critical infrastructures including sites where nuclear and radiological materials are now stored. In this context, this white paper presents a hypothetical scenario by which a determined adversary launches a cyber attack that compromises the physical protection system and results in a reduced security posture at such a site. The compromised security posture might then be malevolently exploited in a variety of ways. The authors conclude that the cyber threat should be carefully considered for all nuclear infrastructures.

  6. Sex-related differences in behavioral and amygdalar responses to compound facial threat cues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Im, Hee Yeon; Adams, Reginald B; Cushing, Cody A; Boshyan, Jasmine; Ward, Noreen; Kveraga, Kestutis

    2018-03-08

    During face perception, we integrate facial expression and eye gaze to take advantage of their shared signals. For example, fear with averted gaze provides a congruent avoidance cue, signaling both threat presence and its location, whereas fear with direct gaze sends an incongruent cue, leaving threat location ambiguous. It has been proposed that the processing of different combinations of threat cues is mediated by dual processing routes: reflexive processing via magnocellular (M) pathway and reflective processing via parvocellular (P) pathway. Because growing evidence has identified a variety of sex differences in emotional perception, here we also investigated how M and P processing of fear and eye gaze might be modulated by observer's sex, focusing on the amygdala, a structure important to threat perception and affective appraisal. We adjusted luminance and color of face stimuli to selectively engage M or P processing and asked observers to identify emotion of the face. Female observers showed more accurate behavioral responses to faces with averted gaze and greater left amygdala reactivity both to fearful and neutral faces. Conversely, males showed greater right amygdala activation only for M-biased averted-gaze fear faces. In addition to functional reactivity differences, females had proportionately greater bilateral amygdala volumes, which positively correlated with behavioral accuracy for M-biased fear. Conversely, in males only the right amygdala volume was positively correlated with accuracy for M-biased fear faces. Our findings suggest that M and P processing of facial threat cues is modulated by functional and structural differences in the amygdalae associated with observer's sex. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Centrifugal microfluidic platform for ultrasensitive detection of Botulinum Toxin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botulinum neurotoxin – a global public health threat and category A bioterrorism agent - is the most toxic substance known and one of the most challenging toxins to detect due to its lethality at extremely low concentrations. Hence the live-mouse bioassay because of its superior sensitivity, remains...

  8. Detecting Bioterrorism: Is Chemistry Enough?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Omberg, Kristin M. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2014-03-13

    This slide shows how most bioaerosol detection systems work. There is a lot of concern in the biothreat community, and in the federal government, about a large-scale aerosolized attack. Because of that, we’ve implemented environmental monitoring programs that use aerosol collectors to continuously monitor for the presence of threat agents in the air. Air samples are usually analyzed using PCR, which is one of the most effective analytical techniques we have for identifying DNA. Experiments and modeling have shown these systems are effective, and can warn public health of an impending crisis in time to mount an effective response.

  9. A Probabilistic Analysis Framework for Malicious Insider Threats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chen, Taolue; Kammuller, Florian; Nemli, Ibrahim

    2015-01-01

    Malicious insider threats are difficult to detect and to mitigate. Many approaches for explaining behaviour exist, but there is little work to relate them to formal approaches to insider threat detection. In this work we present a general formal framework to perform analysis for malicious insider...

  10. Improving Visual Threat Detection: Research to Validate the Threat Detection Skills Trainer

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-01

    26 Threat Detection and Mitigation Strategies...quicker when identifying threats in relevant locations. This task utilized the Flicker paradigm (Rensink, O’Regan, & Clark, 1997; Scholl, 2000...the meaning and implication of threats, why cues were relevant, strategies used to detect and mitigate threats, and challenges when attempting to

  11. Testing a symptom-based surveillance system at high-profile gatherings as a preparatory measure for bioterrorism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osaka, K; Takahashi, H; Ohyama, T

    2002-12-01

    We tested symptom-based surveillance during the G8 conference in 2000 as a means of detecting outbreaks, including bio-terrorism attacks, promptly. Five categories of symptoms (skin and haemorrhagic, respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological and unexplained) were adopted for the case definition of the surveillance. The surveillance began I week before the conference, and continued until 1 week after the conference ended. We could not detect any outbreaks during this surveillance. Compared to the existing diagnosis-based surveillance system, symptom-based surveillance has the advantages of timeliness and simplicity. However, poor specificity and difficulties in determining epidemic threshold were important limitations of this system. To increase the specificity of surveillance, it is essential to incorporate rapid laboratory diagnoses into the system.

  12. Status and Challenges of Filovirus Vaccines

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-03-01

    implementation of general barrier- nursing proce- ures appears to bring a halt to these outbreaks. However, here is still considerable concern about these...Virusol 1995;40(3):113–5. [46] Leffel EK, Reed DS. Marburg and Ebola viruses as aerosol threats. Biosecurity Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strat Pract Sci

  13. An Examination of Age-Based Stereotype Threat About Cognitive Decline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barber, Sarah J

    2017-01-01

    "Stereotype threat" is often thought of as a singular construct, with moderators and mechanisms that are stable across groups and domains. However, this is not always true. To illustrate this, the current review focuses on the stereotype threat that older adults face about their cognitive abilities. Drawing upon the multithreat framework, I first provide evidence that this is a self-concept threat and not a group-reputation threat. Because this differs from the forms of stereotype threat experienced by other groups (e.g., the threat that minority students face about their intellectual abilities), the moderators of stereotype threat observed in other groups (i.e., group identification) do not always generalize to age-based stereotype threat about cognitive decline. Looking beyond the forms of stereotype threat elicited, this review also provides evidence that the mechanisms underlying stereotype-threat effects may vary across the adult life span. Because of age-related improvements in emotion-regulation abilities, stereotype threat does not seem to reduce older adults' executive-control resources. Overall, this review highlights the need to approach the concept of stereotype threat with more granularity, allowing researchers to design more effective stereotype-threat interventions. It will also shed light on why certain stereotype threat effects "fail to replicate" across domains or groups.

  14. Radiological threat, public and media: a psychosociological view

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arciszewski, T. [University Rene Descartes - Paris 5, 92 - Boulogne (France)

    2006-07-01

    Nuclear risk has become a major social communication along the 20. century because of its critical socio-political impact. That communication is not limited to expert speeches and simple acceptation. The way people understand that kind of threat is based on beliefs and on imaginary pictures. Consequently, and because it shapes people attitude, expectations and behaviours, their analysis is a key for policy and prevention. We will present, in the light of the research on risk perception and social psychology theoretical background, how people can manage with the nuclear fear. Some particular points will be studied: the nature of nuclear threat and fear, the cultural and media coverage and the consequences of this threat on behaviour. We will first focus on what a societal threat is and of which nature is the nuclear threat. We will rely on statistical data on risk perception. We have to consider the two main fields of information: first the nuclear threat as a mass destruction weapon and second, the radiological risk as a consequence of civil use of radiological material. Those two aspects, deeply related for most people, make the roots for the described fears. Then, the perception of the risks relative to nuclear is necessarily influenced by this representation. The representation of the nuclear power is and will be for next years, related to the nuclear mushroom as experimentally pointed o ut by Fiske, both with the abnormal children of Chernobyl. How can we change that vision? Not to be a liar, it will be hard work because it a old story, a long construction of what will be the future of mankind, something deeply influenced by media, movie, geopolitical facts like the cold war or technological accident like Three Mile Island or Chernobyl. It has to deal with the problem of media transmission of fears, which is a problem in itself, but due to the scientific base of our problem, particularly relevant. Moreover, there is a strong cultural background that maintains

  15. Radiological threat, public and media: a psychosociological view

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arciszewski, T.

    2006-01-01

    Nuclear risk has become a major social communication along the 20. century because of its critical socio-political impact. That communication is not limited to expert speeches and simple acceptation. The way people understand that kind of threat is based on beliefs and on imaginary pictures. Consequently, and because it shapes people attitude, expectations and behaviours, their analysis is a key for policy and prevention. We will present, in the light of the research on risk perception and social psychology theoretical background, how people can manage with the nuclear fear. Some particular points will be studied: the nature of nuclear threat and fear, the cultural and media coverage and the consequences of this threat on behaviour. We will first focus on what a societal threat is and of which nature is the nuclear threat. We will rely on statistical data on risk perception. We have to consider the two main fields of information: first the nuclear threat as a mass destruction weapon and second, the radiological risk as a consequence of civil use of radiological material. Those two aspects, deeply related for most people, make the roots for the described fears. Then, the perception of the risks relative to nuclear is necessarily influenced by this representation. The representation of the nuclear power is and will be for next years, related to the nuclear mushroom as experimentally pointed o ut by Fiske, both with the abnormal children of Chernobyl. How can we change that vision? Not to be a liar, it will be hard work because it a old story, a long construction of what will be the future of mankind, something deeply influenced by media, movie, geopolitical facts like the cold war or technological accident like Three Mile Island or Chernobyl. It has to deal with the problem of media transmission of fears, which is a problem in itself, but due to the scientific base of our problem, particularly relevant. Moreover, there is a strong cultural background that maintains

  16. Comparing electronic news media reports of potential bioterrorism-related incidents involving unknown white powder to reports received by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Bureau of Investigation: U.S.A., 2009-2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fajardo, Geroncio C; Posid, Joseph; Papagiotas, Stephen; Lowe, Luis

    2015-01-01

    There have been periodic electronic news media reports of potential bioterrorism-related incidents involving unknown substances (often referred to as "white powder") since the 2001 intentional dissemination of Bacillus anthracis through the U.S. Postal System. This study reviewed the number of unknown "white powder" incidents reported online by the electronic news media and compared them with unknown "white powder" incidents reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during a 2-year period from June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2011. Results identified 297 electronic news media reports, 538 CDC reports, and 384 FBI reports of unknown "white powder." This study showed different unknown "white powder" incidents captured by each of the three sources. However, the authors could not determine the public health implications of this discordance. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  17. Iraqi adolescents: self-regard, self-derogation, and perceived threat in war.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlton-Ford, Steve; Ender, Morten G; Tabatabai, Ahoo

    2008-02-01

    A year into the 2003 US-Iraq war, how were adolescents in Baghdad faring? Conflict-related events typically lower psychological well-being; in contrast, investment in and protection of threatened identities should lead to self-esteem striving and, presumably, better well-being. How threatened do Iraqi adolescents feel? Is their self-esteem related to their sense of threat? Do age, religion, ethnicity, and gender alter the link between perceived threat and self-esteem? We use data from 1000 randomly selected adolescents living in Baghdad during July 2004. Iraqi adolescents reported high levels of threat; those feeling more threatened reported higher levels of self-esteem. Social background correlates with both self-esteem and perceived threat, but controlling for social background does not eliminate the relationship between self-esteem and perceived threat. We interpret our results in light of theory and research concerning social identity, mortality threats, and war trauma.

  18. Non fisheries threats - Risk, status and trends of non-fisheries threats in the California Current to groundfish species

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — We are calculating the risk of focal groundfish species to non-fisheries related threats (e.g. shipping activity, inorganic pollution) and comparing the relative...

  19. Nuclear power threats, public opposition and green electricity adoption: Effects of threat belief appraisal and fear arousal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hartmann, Patrick; Apaolaza, Vanessa; D'Souza, Clare; Echebarria, Carmen; Barrutia, Jose M.

    2013-01-01

    This study analyses the extent to which willingness to oppose nuclear power and intention to adopt green electricity are related to the cognitive and emotional appraisal of threats deriving from nuclear power. The analysis draws on a theoretical framework which introduces emotional fear arousal as a direct behavioural antecedent of coping behaviour into a model based on cognitive centred Protection Motivation Theory (PMT, Maddux and Rogers, 1983; Rogers, 1983) and the Extended Parallel Processing Model (EPPM, Witte, 1992, 1998). Hypothesized relations are tested in a nationally representative online study conducted in April and May 2012, one year after the Fukushima accident. Results support the hypothesized influences of perceived threat, fear arousal and perceived coping efficacy. Support for the proposed effects of fear control is rather limited. Findings contribute to extending previous knowledge on the role of cognitive and emotional appraisal processes induced by awareness of threats from nuclear power as behavioural antecedents of both opposing nuclear power and adopting green electricity. Findings of the study have implications for nuclear power policy and activism, as well as for institutional and commercial promoters of voluntary residential green electricity adoption. - Highlights: • Nationally representative online survey on nuclear power conducted in Spain in April and May 2012. • Opposition to nuclear power and green electricity adoption are related to threat beliefs. • Emotional fear arousal motivates nuclear opposition and green electricity uptake. • Significant behavioural effects of coping efficacy are confirmed. • Influences of fear control on behaviour intentions are rather weak

  20. Chronic illness in the workplace: stigma, identity threat and strain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGonagle, Alyssa K; Barnes-Farrell, Janet L

    2014-10-01

    Chronic illness affects a large and growing number of workers in the United States and globally. Stigmatization (devaluation) at work based on chronic illness may be stressful for individuals and therefore may lead to negative psychological consequences (i.e. strains). In order to better understand stressful experiences of stigma for workers with chronic illnesses, a model of stigma-related identity threat (perceptions that one is at risk of being treated negatively at work because of chronic illness) was tested on a sample of 203 working adults with chronic illnesses. The following variables related to workers' perceptions of chronic illness-related identity threat: workers' boundary flexibility (flexibility in managing their work and life), their meta-perceptions of devaluation (perceptions of others' devaluation of them based on illness) and their job self-efficacy (feelings of confidence related to performing their job). In turn, perceptions of identity threat related to both feelings of psychological strain and (lower levels of) perceived work ability. Surprisingly, neither stigma centrality (how fundamental illness is to one's identity) nor supervisor support related to workers' identity threat perceptions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Identifying and Mitigating Insider Threats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Probst, Christian W.

    2011-01-01

    Organisations face many threats that coarsely can be separated in inside threats and outside threats. Threats from insiders are especially hard to counter since insiders have special knowledge and privileges. Therefore, malicious insider actions are hard to distinguish from benign actions. After ...... discussing new definitions of insiders and insider threats, this article gives an overview of how to mitigate insider threats and discusses conflicting goals when dealing with insider threats....

  2. Content specificity of attention bias to threat in anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pergamin-Hight, Lee; Naim, Reut; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J; van IJzendoorn, Marinus H; Bar-Haim, Yair

    2015-02-01

    Despite the established evidence for threat-related attention bias in anxiety, the mechanisms underlying this bias remain unclear. One important unresolved question is whether disorder-congruent threats capture attention to a greater extent than do more general or disorder-incongruent threat stimuli. Evidence for attention bias specificity in anxiety would implicate involvement of previous learning and memory processes in threat-related attention bias, whereas lack of content specificity would point to perturbations in more generic attention processes. Enhanced clarity of mechanism could have clinical implications for the stimuli types used in Attention Bias Modification Treatments (ABMT). Content specificity of threat-related attention bias in anxiety and potential moderators of this effect were investigated. A systematic search identified 37 samples from 29 articles (N=866). Relevant data were extracted based on specific coding rules, and Cohen's d effect size was used to estimate bias specificity effects. The results indicate greater attention bias toward disorder-congruent relative to disorder-incongruent threat stimuli (d=0.28, pattention tasks, or type of disorder-incongruent stimuli. No evidence of publication bias was observed. Implications for threat bias in anxiety and ABMT are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Issues and Trends in Higher Education Health

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tietjen-Smith, Tara

    2016-01-01

    Public speculation about bioterrorism and the increasing obesity epidemic are examples of current public health issues that continue to be illuminated in the spotlight. Major public health threats continue to drive the health job market and impact higher education health curricula (e.g., public health, health promotion, community health). Also,…

  4. Stereotype threat reduces false recognition when older adults are forewarned.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Jessica T; Gallo, David A

    2016-01-01

    Exposing older adults to ageing stereotypes can reduce their memory for studied information--a phenomenon attributed to stereotype threat--but little is known about stereotype effects on false memory. Here, we assessed ageing stereotype effects on the Deese-Roediger-McDermott false memory illusion. Older adults studied lists of semantically associated words, and then read a passage about age-related memory decline (threat condition) or an age-neutral passage (control condition). They then took a surprise memory test with a warning to avoid false recognition of non-studied associates. Relative to the control condition, activating stereotype threat reduced the recognition of both studied and non-studied words, implicating a conservative criterion shift for associated test words. These results indicate that stereotype threat can reduce false memory, and they help to clarify mixed results from prior ageing research. Consistent with the regulatory focus hypothesis, threat motivates older adults to respond more conservatively when error-prevention is emphasised at retrieval.

  5. Fluctuations in [¹¹C]SB207145 PET binding associated with change in threat-related amygdala reactivity in humans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fisher, Patrick MacDonald; Haahr, Mette Ewers; Jensen, Christian Gaden

    2015-01-01

    resonance imaging while performing a gender discrimination task of fearful, angry, and neutral faces. This offered a unique opportunity to evaluate whether individual fluctuations in central serotonin levels, indexed by change in [11C]SB207145 binding, predicted changes in threat-related reactivity (ie...

  6. Are all interventions created equal? A multi-threat approach to tailoring stereotype threat interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapiro, Jenessa R; Williams, Amy M; Hambarchyan, Mariam

    2013-02-01

    To date, stereotype threat interventions have been considered interchangeable. Across 4 experiments, the present research demonstrates that stereotype threat interventions need to be tailored to the specific form of experienced stereotype threat to be effective. The Multi-Threat Framework (Shapiro & Neuberg, 2007) distinguishes between group-as-target stereotype threats-concerns that a stereotype-relevant performance will reflect poorly on the abilities of one's group-and self-as-target stereotype threats-concerns that a stereotype-relevant performance will reflect poorly on one's own abilities. The present experiments explored Black college students' performance on diagnostic intelligence tests (Experiments 1 and 3) and women's interest (Experiment 2) and performance (Experiment 4) in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Across the 4 experiments, participants were randomly assigned to experience either a group-as-target or self-as-target stereotype threat. Experiments 1 and 2 revealed that role model interventions were successful at protecting only against group-as-target stereotype threats, and Experiments 3 and 4 revealed that self-affirmation interventions were successful at protecting only against self-as-target stereotype threats. The present research provides an experimental test of the Multi-Threat Framework across different negatively stereotyped groups (Black students, female students), different negatively stereotyped domains (general intelligence, STEM), and different outcomes (test performance, career interest). This research suggests that interventions should address the range of possible stereotype threats to effectively protect individuals against these threats. Through an appreciation of the distinct forms of stereotype threats and the ways in which interventions work to reduce them, this research aims to facilitate a more complete understanding of stereotype threat. (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  7. From Threat to Relief: Expressing Prejudice toward Atheists as a Self-Regulatory Strategy Protecting the Religious Orthodox from Threat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kossowska, Małgorzata; Szwed, Paulina; Czernatowicz-Kukuczka, Aneta; Sekerdej, Maciek; Wyczesany, Miroslaw

    2017-01-01

    We claim that religious orthodoxy is related to prejudice toward groups that violate important values, i.e., atheists. Moreover, we suggest that expressing prejudice may efficiently reduce the threat posed by this particular group among people who hold high levels, but not low levels, of orthodox belief. We tested these assumptions in an experimental study in which, after being exposed to atheistic worldviews (value-threat manipulation), high and low orthodox participants were allowed (experimental condition) or not (control condition) to express prejudice toward atheists. Threat was operationalized by cardiovascular reactivity, i.e., heart rate (HR); the higher the HR index, the higher the threat. The results found that people who hold high (vs. low) levels of orthodox belief responded with increased HR after the threat manipulation. However, we observed decreased HR after the expression of prejudice toward atheists among highly orthodox participants compared to the control condition. We did not find this effect among people holding low levels of orthodox belief. Thus, we conclude that expressing prejudice toward this particular group may be an efficient strategy to cope with the threat posed by this group for highly orthodox people. The results are discussed in light of previous findings on religious beliefs and the self-regulatory function of prejudice. PMID:28611715

  8. The Effects of Verbal Disgust- and Threat-Related Information about Novel Animals on Disgust and Fear Beliefs and Avoidance in Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muris, Peter; Huijding, Jorg; Mayer, Birgit; Leemreis, Willem; Passchier, Stefanie; Bouwmeester, Samantha

    2009-01-01

    Disgust is a basic emotion that is thought to play a role in the etiology of certain types of specific phobias, like animal phobias. Two experiments were conducted in which 9- to 14-year-old children were exposed to disgust-related, cleanliness-related, and threat-related information about unknown animals. It was investigated to what extent these…

  9. Digital Threat and Vulnerability Management: The SVIDT Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roland W. Scholz

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The Digital Revolution is inducing major threats to many types of human systems. We present the SVIDT method (a Strengths, Vulnerability, and Intervention Assessment related to Digital Threats for managing the vulnerabilities of human systems with respect to digital threats and changes. The method first performs a multilevel system–actor analysis for assessing vulnerabilities and strengths with respect to digital threats. Then, the method identifies threat scenarios that may become real. By constructing, evaluating, and launching interventions against all identified digital threats and their critical negative outcomes, the resilience of a specific human system can be improved. The evaluation of interventions is done when strengthening the adaptive capacity, i.e., a system’s capability to cope with negative outcomes that may take place in the future. The SVIDT method is embedded in the framework of coupled human–environment systems, the theory of risk and vulnerability assessment, types of adaptation (assimilation vs. accommodation, and a comprehensive sustainability evaluation. The SVIDT method is exemplarily applied to an enterprise (i.e., a Swiss casino for which online gaming has become an essential digital-business field. The discussion reflects on the specifics of digital threats and discusses both the potential benefits and limitations of the SVIDT method.

  10. The sound of danger: threat sensitivity to predator vocalizations, alarm calls, and novelty in gulls.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah A MacLean

    Full Text Available The threat sensitivity hypothesis predicts that organisms will evaluate the relative danger of and respond differentially to varying degrees of predation threat. Doing so allows potential prey to balance the costs and benefits of anti-predator behaviors. Threat sensitivity has undergone limited testing in the auditory modality, and the relative threat level of auditory cues from different sources is difficult to infer across populations when variables such as background risk and experience are not properly controlled. We experimentally exposed a single population of two sympatric gull species to auditory stimuli representing a range of potential threats in order to compare the relative threat of heterospecific alarm calls, conspecific alarms calls, predator vocalizations, and novel auditory cues. Gulls were able to discriminate among a diverse set of threat indicators and respond in a graded manner commensurate with the level of threat. Vocalizations of two potential predators, the human voice and bald eagle call, differed in their threat level compared to each other and to alarm calls. Conspecific alarm calls were more threatening than heterospecfic alarm calls to the larger great black-backed gull, but the smaller herring gull weighed both equally. A novel cue elicited a response intermediate between known threats and a known non-threat in herring gulls, but not great black-backed gulls. Our results show that the relative threat level of auditory cues from different sources is highly species-dependent, and that caution should be exercised when comparing graded and threshold threat sensitive responses.

  11. Protecting HVAC systems from bio-terrorism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arterburn, Tom

    2003-01-01

    The FBI, in the wake of the September 11 attacks, issued an advisory to state and local law enforcement authorities and the public asking to remain especially alert to any unusual activities around ventilation systems. It noted that while the Bureau possessed no specific threats regarding the release of toxic chemicals into air handling systems, building owners and managers should be well-aware of the potential for contamination of such systems. This article presents recommendations of air-handling experts and associations for operators to consider.

  12. External Threat Risk Assessment Algorithm (ExTRAA)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Powell, Troy C. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2017-08-01

    Two risk assessment algorithms and philosophies have been augmented and combined to form a new algorit hm, the External Threat Risk Assessment Algorithm (ExTRAA), that allows for effective and statistically sound analysis of external threat sources in relation to individual attack methods . In addition to the attack method use probability and the attack method employment consequence, t he concept of defining threat sources is added to the risk assessment process. Sample data is tabulated and depicted in radar plots and bar graphs for algorithm demonstration purposes. The largest success of ExTRAA is its ability to visualize the kind of r isk posed in a given situation using the radar plot method.

  13. "Exclusive Dealing Contract and Inefficient Entry Threat"

    OpenAIRE

    Noriyuki Yanagawa; Ryoko Oki

    2008-01-01

    This paper examines the effects of exclusive dealing contracts in a simple model with manufacturers-distributors relations. We consider entrants in both manufacturing and distribution sectors. It is well-known that a potential entry threat is welfare increasing under homogenous price competition, even though the potential entrant is less productive. This paper reexamines this intuition by employing the above model. We show that the entry threat of a less-productive manufacturer is welfare dec...

  14. GLOBAL WARMING: IS A NEW THREAT?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ayca Eminoglu

    2008-09-30

    In the Post Cold War era, the concepts of ''security'', ''national security'', and ''international security'' have changed with regard to their contents and meanings. Such developments made states to renew their national security policies. Security is a special form of politics as well. All security issues are political problems but not all political conflicts are security issues. In the Post Cold War era, differentiating and increasing numbers of elements that constitutes threat changed the concept of threat and widen the capacity of security. In this term, many elements lost its effect of being a threat but also new threatening elements emerged. Environmental problems, human rights, mass migration, micro nationalism, ethnic conflicts, religious fundamentalism, contagious diseases, international terrorism, economic instabilities, drug and weapon smuggling and human trafficking are the new problems emerged in international security agenda. Environmental problems no longer take place in security issues and can be mentioned as a ''low security'' issue. They are threats to the global commons i.e. the oceans, the seas, the ozone layer and the climate system, which are life supports for mankind as a whole. Global warming is one of the most important environmental issues of our day that effects human life in every field and can be defined as a 'serious threat to international security'. Because of global warming, environmental changes will occur and these changes will cause conflicting issues in international relations. Because of global warming dwindling freshwater supplies, food shortages, political instability and other conflicts may take place. Some IR scholars see a need for global cooperation in order to face the threat. At the background of global warming and its effects, states have to get preventive measures and normally, each state form its own measures, therefore as a

  15. Unhealthy interactions: the role of stereotype threat in health disparities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aronson, Joshua; Burgess, Diana; Phelan, Sean M; Juarez, Lindsay

    2013-01-01

    Stereotype threat is the unpleasant psychological experience of confronting negative stereotypes about race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or social status. Hundreds of published studies show how the experience of stereotype threat can impair intellectual functioning and interfere with test and school performance. Numerous published interventions derived from this research have improved the performance and motivation of individuals targeted by low-ability stereotypes. Stereotype threat theory and research provide a useful lens for understanding and reducing the negative health consequences of interracial interactions for African Americans and members of similarly stigmatized minority groups. Here we summarize the educational outcomes of stereotype threat and examine the implications of stereotype threat for health and health-related behaviors.

  16. Bio-Terrorism: A Limited Threat Against the U.S. Homeland

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Chiri, Don

    2002-01-01

    .... With the amount of media attention given to the issue, the casual observer cannot help but have a significant concern that he or she is likely to be killed or injured in a terrorist attack by a biological agent...

  17. The Bioterrorism Threat by Non-State Actors: Hype or Horror?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-12-01

    at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, FL, thinks he treated one of the 9/11 hijackers, Ahmed Ibrahim A. Haznawi, for cutaneous anthrax. In...of Kyushu, he was the fourth son of a poor family of mat weavers.128 He was afflicted with infantile glaucoma causing blindness in one eye and

  18. Speaking up about traditional and professionalism-related patient safety threats: a national survey of interns and residents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinez, William; Lehmann, Lisa Soleymani; Thomas, Eric J; Etchegaray, Jason M; Shelburne, Julia T; Hickson, Gerald B; Brady, Donald W; Schleyer, Anneliese M; Best, Jennifer A; May, Natalie B; Bell, Sigall K

    2017-11-01

    Open communication between healthcare professionals about care concerns, also known as 'speaking up', is essential to patient safety. Compare interns' and residents' experiences, attitudes and factors associated with speaking up about traditional versus professionalism-related safety threats. Anonymous, cross-sectional survey. Six US academic medical centres, 2013-2014. 1800 medical and surgical interns and residents (47% responded). Attitudes about, barriers and facilitators for, and self-reported experience with speaking up. Likelihood of speaking up and the potential for patient harm in two vignettes. Safety Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ) teamwork and safety scales; and Speaking Up Climate for Patient Safety (SUC-Safe) and Speaking Up Climate for Professionalism (SUC-Prof) scales. Respondents more commonly observed unprofessional behaviour (75%, 628/837) than traditional safety threats (49%, 410/837); pbarrier to speaking up about unprofessional behaviour compared with traditional safety threats (58%, 482/837 vs 42%, 348/837; psafety vignette, even when they perceived high potential patient harm (20%, 49/251 vs 71%, 179/251; psafety vignette (OR 1.90, 99% CI 1.36 to 2.66 and 1.46, 1.02 to 2.09, respectively), while only a positive perception of SUC-Prof was associated with speaking up in the professionalism vignette (1.76, 1.23 to 2.50). Interns and residents commonly observed unprofessional behaviour yet were less likely to speak up about it compared with traditional safety threats even when they perceived high potential patient harm. Measuring SUC-Safe, and particularly SUC-Prof, may fill an existing gap in safety culture assessment. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  19. Stereotype threat can both enhance and impair older adults' memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barber, Sarah J; Mather, Mara

    2013-12-01

    Negative stereotypes about aging can impair older adults' memory via stereotype threat; however, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are unclear. In two experiments, we tested competing predictions derived from two theoretical accounts of stereotype threat: executive-control interference and regulatory fit. Older adults completed a working memory test either under stereotype threat about age-related memory declines or not under such threat. Monetary incentives were manipulated such that recall led to gains or forgetting led to losses. The executive-control-interference account predicts that stereotype threat decreases the availability of executive-control resources and hence should impair working memory performance. The regulatory-fit account predicts that threat induces a prevention focus, which should impair performance when gains are emphasized but improve performance when losses are emphasized. Results were consistent only with the regulatory-fit account. Although stereotype threat significantly impaired older adults' working memory performance when remembering led to gains, it significantly improved performance when forgetting led to losses.

  20. Threat ≠ prevention, challenge ≠ promotion: the impact of threat, challenge and regulatory focus on attention to negative stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sassenberg, Kai; Sassenrath, Claudia; Fetterman, Adam K

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of the current experiment was to distinguish between the impact of strategic and affective forms of gain- and loss-related motivational states on the attention to negative stimuli. On the basis of the counter-regulation principle and regulatory focus theory, we predicted that individuals would attend more to negative than to neutral stimuli in a prevention focus and when experiencing challenge, but not in a promotion focus and under threat. In one experiment (N = 88) promotion, prevention, threat, or challenge states were activated through a memory task, and a subsequent dot probe task was administered. As predicted, those in the prevention focus and challenge conditions had an attentional bias towards negative words, but those in promotion and threat conditions did not. These findings provide support for the idea that strategic mindsets (e.g., regulatory focus) and hot emotional states (e.g., threat vs. challenge) differently affect the processing of affective stimuli.

  1. The concept of ego threat in social and personality psychology: is ego threat a viable scientific construct?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leary, Mark R; Terry, Meredith L; Batts Allen, Ashley; Tate, Eleanor B

    2009-08-01

    Although widely invoked as an explanation for psychological phenomena, ego threat has been conceptualized and induced in a variety of ways. Most contemporary research conceptualizes ego threat as a threat to a person's self-image or self-esteem, but experimental operationalizations of ego threat usually confound threats to self-esteem with threats to public image or decreased control over negative events, leading to an inability to distinguish the effects of threats to people's personal egos from threats to public image or threats to feelings of control. This article reviews research on ego threat, discusses experimental manipulations that confound ego threat with other processes, and makes recommendations regarding the use of ego threat as a construct in personality and social psychology.

  2. A Quantitative Threats Analysis for the Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Runge, Michael C.; Sanders-Reed, Carol A.; Langtimm, Catherine A.; Fonnesbeck, Christopher J.

    2007-01-01

    The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) is an endangered marine mammal endemic to the southeastern United States. The primary threats to manatee populations are collisions with watercraft and the potential loss of warm-water refuges. For the purposes of listing, recovery, and regulation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), an understanding of the relative effects of the principal threats is needed. This work is a quantitative approach to threats analysis, grounded in the assumption that an appropriate measure of status under the ESA is based on the risk of extinction, as quantified by the probability of quasi-extinction. This is related to the qualitative threats analyses that are more common under the ESA, but provides an additional level of rigor, objectivity, and integration. In this approach, our philosophy is that analysis of the five threat factors described in Section 4(a)(1) of the ESA can be undertaken within an integrated quantitative framework. The basis of this threats analysis is a comparative population viability analysis. This involves forecasting the Florida manatee population under different scenarios regarding the presence of threats, while accounting for process variation (environmental, demographic, and catastrophic stochasticity) as well as parametric and structural uncertainty. We used the manatee core biological model (CBM) for this viability analysis, and considered the role of five threats: watercraft-related mortality, loss of warm-water habitat in winter, mortality in water-control structures, entanglement, and red tide. All scenarios were run with an underlying parallel structure that allowed a more powerful estimation of the effects of the various threats. The results reflect our understanding of manatee ecology (as captured in the structure of the CBM), our estimates of manatee demography (as described by the parameters in the model), and our characterization of the mechanisms by which the threats act on manatees. As an

  3. Threat-related amygdala functional connectivity is associated with 5-HTTLPR genotype and neuroticism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Martin Korsbak; Mc Mahon, Brenda; Andersen, Sofie Bech

    2016-01-01

    between right amygdala and mPFC and visual cortex, and between both amygdalae and left lateral orbitofrontal (lOFC) and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC). Notably, 5-HTTLPR moderated the association between neuroticism and functional connectivity between both amygdalae and left l...... is not fully understood. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we evaluated independent and interactive effects of the 5-HTTLPR genotype and neuroticism on amygdala functional connectivity during an emotional faces paradigm in 76 healthy individuals. Functional connectivity between left amygdala......Communication between the amygdala and other brain regions critically regulates sensitivity to threat, which has been associated with risk for mood and affective disorders. The extent to which these neural pathways are genetically determined or correlate with risk-related personality measures...

  4. Toddlers’ Duration of Attention towards Putative Threat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiel, Elizabeth J.; Buss, Kristin A.

    2010-01-01

    Although individual differences in reactions to novelty in the toddler years have been consistently linked to risk for developing anxious behavior, toddlers’ attention towards a novel, putatively threatening stimulus while in the presence of other enjoyable activities has rarely been examined as a precursor to such risk. The current study examined how attention towards an angry-looking gorilla mask in a room with alternative opportunities for play in 24-month-old toddlers predicted social inhibition when children entered kindergarten. Analyses examined attention to threat above and beyond and in interaction with both proximity to the mask and fear of novelty observed in other situations. Attention to threat interacted with proximity to the mask to predict social inhibition, such that attention to threat most strongly predicted social inhibition when toddlers stayed furthest from the mask. This relation occurred above and beyond the predictive relation between fear of novelty and social inhibition. Results are discussed within the broader literature of anxiety development and attentional processes in young children. PMID:21373365

  5. Understanding Cyber Threats and Vulnerabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Luiijf, H.A.M.

    2012-01-01

    This chapter reviews current and anticipated cyber-related threats to the Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) and Critical Infrastructures (CI). The potential impact of cyber-terrorism to CII and CI has been coined many times since the term was first coined during the 1980s. Being the

  6. Peering into the Brain to Predict Behavior: Peer-Reported, but not Self-Reported, Conscientiousness Links Threat-Related Amygdala Activity to Future Problem Drinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swartz, Johnna R.; Knodt, Annchen R.; Radtke, Spenser R.; Hariri, Ahmad R.

    2016-01-01

    Personality traits such as conscientiousness as self-reported by individuals can help predict a range of outcomes, from job performance to longevity. Asking others to rate the personality of their acquaintances often provides even better predictive power than using self-report. Here, we examine whether peer-reported personality can provide a better link between brain function, namely threat-related amygdala activity, and future health-related behavior, namely problem drinking, than self-reported personality. Using data from a sample of 377 young adult university students who were rated on five personality traits by peers, we find that higher threat-related amygdala activity to fearful facial expressions is associated with higher peer-reported, but not self-reported, conscientiousness. Moreover, higher peer-reported, but not self-reported, conscientiousness predicts lower future problem drinking more than one year later, an effect specific to men. Remarkably, relatively higher amygdala activity has an indirect effect on future drinking behavior in men, linked by peer-reported conscientiousness to lower future problem drinking. Our results provide initial evidence that the perceived conscientiousness of an individual by their peers uniquely reflects variability in a core neural mechanism supporting threat responsiveness. These novel patterns further suggest that incorporating peer-reported measures of personality into individual differences research can reveal novel predictive pathways of risk and protection for problem behaviors. PMID:27717769

  7. Peering into the brain to predict behavior: Peer-reported, but not self-reported, conscientiousness links threat-related amygdala activity to future problem drinking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swartz, Johnna R; Knodt, Annchen R; Radtke, Spenser R; Hariri, Ahmad R

    2017-02-01

    Personality traits such as conscientiousness as self-reported by individuals can help predict a range of outcomes, from job performance to longevity. Asking others to rate the personality of their acquaintances often provides even better predictive power than using self-report. Here, we examine whether peer-reported personality can provide a better link between brain function, namely threat-related amygdala activity, and future health-related behavior, namely problem drinking, than self-reported personality. Using data from a sample of 377 young adult university students who were rated on five personality traits by peers, we find that higher threat-related amygdala activity to fearful facial expressions is associated with higher peer-reported, but not self-reported, conscientiousness. Moreover, higher peer-reported, but not self-reported, conscientiousness predicts lower future problem drinking more than one year later, an effect specific to men. Remarkably, relatively higher amygdala activity has an indirect effect on future drinking behavior in men, linked by peer-reported conscientiousness to lower future problem drinking. Our results provide initial evidence that the perceived conscientiousness of an individual by their peers uniquely reflects variability in a core neural mechanism supporting threat responsiveness. These novel patterns further suggest that incorporating peer-reported measures of personality into individual differences research can reveal novel predictive pathways of risk and protection for problem behaviors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. [Bio-terrorism, bio-defense, bioethics].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kottow, Miguel

    2003-01-01

    The terrorist attacks launched on September 11, 2001, ignited fear of further aggression with biological weapons, leading to a discourse and allocation of resources for both defensive and dissuasive/ offensive use in order to counteract such threats. Many such measures involved the investigation and production of biological agents, and the public health field has been called upon to participate in these strategic efforts. Participation by health programs is in moral contradiction with military tactics and should be limited to protecting the health of the purportedly threatened population, in itself a difficult task due to the numerous imponderable factors. The additional resources being made available to public health are largely conditioned on their strategic military application, leaving traditional public health care in its chronic state of insufficient funding and non-egalitarian allocation.

  9. Vigilant attention to threat, sleep patterns, and anxiety in peripubertal youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ricketts, Emily J; Price, Rebecca B; Siegle, Greg J; Silk, Jennifer S; Forbes, Erika E; Ladouceur, Cecile D; Harvey, Allison G; Ryan, Neal D; Dahl, Ronald E; McMakin, Dana L

    2018-05-02

    Vigilant attention to threat is commonly observed in anxiety, undergoes developmental changes in early adolescence, and has been proposed to interfere with sleep initiation and maintenance. We present one of the first studies to use objective measures to examine associations between vigilant attention to threat and difficulties initiating and maintaining sleep in an early adolescent anxious sample. We also explore the moderating role of development (age, puberty) and sex. Participants were 66 peripubertal youth (ages 9-14) with a primary anxiety disorder and 24 healthy control subjects. A dot-probe task was used to assess attentional bias to fearful relative to neutral face stimuli. Eye-tracking indexed selective attentional bias to threat, and reaction time bias indexed action readiness to threat. Sleep was assessed via actigraphy (e.g. sleep onset delay, wake after sleep onset, etc.), parent report (Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire), and child report (Sleep Self-Report). The Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale assessed anxiety severity. Eye-tracking initial threat fixation bias (β = .33, p = .001) and threat dwell time bias (β = .22, p = .041) were positively associated with sleep onset latency. Reaction time bias was positively associated with wake after sleep onset (β = .24, p = .026) and parent-reported sleep disturbance (β = .25, p = .019). Anxiety (severity, diagnosis) was not associated with these outcomes. Sex (β = -.32, p = .036) moderated the relation between initial threat fixation bias and sleep onset latency, with a positive association for males (p = .005), but not for females (p = .289). Age and pubertal status did not moderate effects. Vigilant attention to threat is related to longer sleep onset and reduced sleep maintenance. These associations are not stronger in early adolescents with anxiety. Implications for early intervention or prevention that targets vigilant attention to threat to impact sleep disturbance, and

  10. Insiders and Insider Threats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hunker, Jeffrey; Probst, Christian W.

    2011-01-01

    Threats from the inside of an organization’s perimeters are a significant problem, since it is difficult to distinguish them from benign activity. In this overview article we discuss defining properties of insiders and insider threats. After presenting definitions of these terms, we go on to disc......Threats from the inside of an organization’s perimeters are a significant problem, since it is difficult to distinguish them from benign activity. In this overview article we discuss defining properties of insiders and insider threats. After presenting definitions of these terms, we go...

  11. Friendship Characteristics, Threat Appraisals, and Varieties of Jealousy About Romantic Partners’ Friendships

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Timothy R. Worley

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This study examined the role of friendship sex composition, friendship history, and threat appraisals in the experience of jealousy about a romantic partner’s involvement in extradyadic friendships. Using a survey, 201 individuals responded to scenarios describing a romantic partner’s involvement in a significant friendship outside the romantic dyad. A partner’s involvement in a cross-sex friendship was associated with greater perceptions of threat to both the existence and quality of the romantic relationship than was a partner’s involvement in a same-sex friendship. Further, the specific forms of jealousy experienced about partners’ friendships were dependent on the threat appraisals individuals associated with the friendships. Appraisals of relational existence threat mediated the influence of friendship characteristics (i.e., sex composition and history on sexual jealousy and companionship jealousy, while appraisals of relational quality threat mediated the influence of friendship characteristics on intimacy jealousy, power jealousy, and companionship jealousy. This study points toward the central role of threat appraisals in mediating associations between rival characteristics and various forms of jealousy about a partner’s friendships.

  12. Poland and Global Threats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleer, Jerzy

    2016-01-01

    This essay seeks to present the specifics of global threats, as well as the reasons for them being universal in nature, and for their persistence. A certain classification of the threats is also engaged in. At the same time, an attempt is made to show the specific threats present - irrespective of their global counterparts - in different regions, and even in different states. The genesis and nature of the latter are demonstrated in a somewhat ad hoc manner by reference to the threats considered to face Poland. If the global threats are truly universal, and arise out of the changes taking place around the world in the last half-century (primarily around the twin phenomena of globalisation and the information revolution), a specific reverse kind of situation applies to decolonisation, plus the collapse of the communist system and the transformation into market economies that apply to formerly communist countries. Equally, some at least of the threats facing Poland may have even a longer history, given that they are very much influenced by past economic and political development, as well as the dominant cultural system.

  13. Interrelationships Among Men’s Threat Potential, Facial Dominance, and Vocal Dominance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chengyang Han

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The benefits of minimizing the costs of engaging in violent conflict are thought to have shaped adaptations for the rapid assessment of others’ capacity to inflict physical harm. Although studies have suggested that men’s faces and voices both contain information about their threat potential, one recent study suggested that men’s faces are a more valid cue of their threat potential than their voices are. Consequently, the current study investigated the interrelationships among a composite measure of men’s actual threat potential (derived from the measures of their upper-body strength, height, and weight and composite measures of these men’s perceived facial and vocal threat potential (derived from dominance, strength, and weight ratings of their faces and voices, respectively. Although men’s perceived facial and vocal threat potential were positively correlated, men’s actual threat potential was related to their perceived facial, but not vocal, threat potential. These results present new evidence that men’s faces may be a more valid cue of these aspects of threat potential than their voices are.

  14. Are All Interventions Created Equal? A Multi-Threat Approach to Tailoring Stereotype Threat Interventions

    OpenAIRE

    Shapiro, Jenessa R.; Williams, Amy M.; Hambarchyan, Mariam

    2012-01-01

    To date, stereotype threat interventions have been considered interchangeable. Across 4 experiments, the present research demonstrates that stereotype threat interventions need to be tailored to the specific form of experienced stereotype threat to be effective. The Multi-Threat Framework (Shapiro & Neuberg, 2007) distinguishes between group-as-target stereotype threats—concerns that a stereotype-relevant performance will reflect poorly on the abilities of one’s group—and self-as-target stere...

  15. Threat Detection in Tweets with Trigger Patterns and Contextual Cues

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spitters, M.M.; Eendebak, P.T.; Worm, D.T.H.; Bouma, H.

    2014-01-01

    Many threats in the real world can be related to activities in open sources on the internet. Early detection of threats based on internet information could assist in the prevention of incidents. However, the amount of data in social media, blogs and forums rapidly increases and it is time consuming

  16. Attentional bias towards health-threat information in chronic fatigue syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Ruihua; Moss-Morris, Rona; Bradley, Brendan P; Peveler, Robert; Mogg, Karin

    2008-07-01

    To investigate whether individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) show an attentional bias towards health-threat information. Attentional bias (AB) was assessed in individuals with CFS and healthy controls using a visual probe task which presented health-threat and neutral words and pictures for 500 ms. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess CFS symptoms, depression, anxiety, and social desirability. Compared to a healthy control group, the CFS group showed an enhanced AB towards heath-threat stimuli relative to neutral stimuli. The AB was not influenced by the type of stimulus (pictures vs. words). The finding of an AB towards health-threat information in individuals with CFS is supportive of models of CFS which underlie cognitive behavior therapy.

  17. Threat modeling designing for security

    CERN Document Server

    Shostack, Adam

    2014-01-01

    Adam Shostack is responsible for security development lifecycle threat modeling at Microsoft and is one of a handful of threat modeling experts in the world. Now, he is sharing his considerable expertise into this unique book. With pages of specific actionable advice, he details how to build better security into the design of systems, software, or services from the outset. You'll explore various threat modeling approaches, find out how to test your designs against threats, and learn effective ways to address threats that have been validated at Microsoft and other top companies. Systems secur

  18. Open literature review of threats including sabotage and theft of fissile material transport in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cochran, John Russell; Furaus, James Phillip; Marincel, Michelle K.

    2005-01-01

    This report is a review of open literature concerning threats including sabotage and theft related to fissile material transport in Japan. It is intended to aid Japanese officials in the development of a design basis threat. This threat includes the external threats of the terrorist, criminal, and extremist, and the insider threats of the disgruntled employee, the employee forced into cooperation via coercion, the psychotic employee, and the criminal employee. Examination of the external terrorist threat considers Japanese demographics, known terrorist groups in Japan, and the international relations of Japan. Demographically, Japan has a relatively homogenous population, both ethnically and religiously. Japan is a relatively peaceful nation, but its history illustrates that it is not immune to terrorism. It has a history of domestic terrorism and the open literature points to the Red Army, Aum Shinrikyo, Chukaku-Ha, and Seikijuku. Japan supports the United States in its war on terrorism and in Iraq, which may make Japan a target for both international and domestic terrorists. Crime appears to remain low in Japan; however sources note that the foreign crime rate is increasing as the number of foreign nationals in the country increases. Antinuclear groups' recent foci have been nuclear reprocessing technology, transportation of MOX fuel, and possible related nuclear proliferation issues. The insider threat is first defined by the threat of the disgruntled employee. This threat can be determined by studying the history of Japan's employment system, where Keiretsu have provided company stability and lifetime employment. Recent economic difficulties and an increase of corporate crime, due to sole reliability on the honor code, have begun to erode employee loyalty

  19. Stereotype threat among older employees: relationship with job attitudes and turnover intentions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Hippel, Courtney; Kalokerinos, Elise K; Henry, Julie D

    2013-03-01

    Stereotype threat, or the belief that one may be the target of demeaning stereotypes, leads to acute performance decrements and reduced psychological well-being. The current research examined stereotype threat among older employees, a group that is the target of many negative stereotypes. Study 1 surveyed older workers in two different organizations regarding their experiences of stereotype threat, their job attitudes and work mental health, and their intentions to resign or retire. Across both samples, feelings of stereotype threat were related to more negative job attitudes and poorer work mental health. In turn, these negative job attitudes were associated with intentions to resign and (possibly) retire. In Study 2, younger and older employees were surveyed. The results indicated that only for older employees were feelings of stereotype threat negatively related to job attitudes, work mental health, and intentions to resign. The implications of these findings for understanding job attitudes and intentions among older workers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

  20. Extending the amygdala in theories of threat processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, Andrew S.; Oler, Jonathan A.; Tromp, Do P.M.; Fudge, Julie L.; Kalin, Ned H.

    2015-01-01

    The central extended amygdala is an evolutionarily conserved set of interconnected brain regions that play an important role in threat processing to promote survival. Two core components of the central extended amygdala, the central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce) and the lateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) are highly similar regions that serve complimentary roles by integrating fear- and anxiety-relevant information. Survival depends on the central extended amygdala's ability to rapidly integrate and respond to threats that vary in their immediacy, proximity, and characteristics. Future studies will benefit from understanding alterations in central extended amygdala function in relation to stress-related psychopathology. PMID:25851307

  1. Sugar-Coated PPE's, Novel Nanomaterial's and Sensing Modules for Disease and Bioterrorism Related Threats

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bunz, Uwe [Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)

    2003-11-21

    The detection and sensing of biological warfare agents (ricin, anthrax toxin), of disease agents (cholera, botulinum, and tetnus toxins, influenza virus, etc.) and of biologically active species important for national security and disease control.

  2. Addressing the Cyber-security and Cyber-terrorism Threats [video

    OpenAIRE

    Robi Sen; Center for Homeland Defense and Security Naval Postgraduate School

    2015-01-01

    While cyber terrorism is a relatively new threat in the world of national defense, the security issues we face are not necessarily new as a genre. In this segment, Chief Science Officer Robi Sen draws on the changing attitudes towards the cyber world. Topics include cooperation between law enforcement and hackers, the major motivations behind criminal hacking, and the realistic threats of cyber terrorism.

  3. The cyber threat landscape: Challenges and future research directions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gil, Santiago; Kott, Alexander; Barabási, Albert-László

    2014-07-01

    While much attention has been paid to the vulnerability of computer networks to node and link failure, there is limited systematic understanding of the factors that determine the likelihood that a node (computer) is compromised. We therefore collect threat log data in a university network to study the patterns of threat activity for individual hosts. We relate this information to the properties of each host as observed through network-wide scans, establishing associations between the network services a host is running and the kinds of threats to which it is susceptible. We propose a methodology to associate services to threats inspired by the tools used in genetics to identify statistical associations between mutations and diseases. The proposed approach allows us to determine probabilities of infection directly from observation, offering an automated high-throughput strategy to develop comprehensive metrics for cyber-security.

  4. Identifying key conservation threats to Alpine birds through expert knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedrini, Paolo; Brambilla, Mattia; Rolando, Antonio; Girardello, Marco

    2016-01-01

    Alpine biodiversity is subject to a range of increasing threats, but the scarcity of data for many taxa means that it is difficult to assess the level and likely future impact of a given threat. Expert opinion can be a useful tool to address knowledge gaps in the absence of adequate data. Experts with experience in Alpine ecology were approached to rank threat levels for 69 Alpine bird species over the next 50 years for the whole European Alps in relation to ten categories: land abandonment, climate change, renewable energy, fire, forestry practices, grazing practices, hunting, leisure, mining and urbanization. There was a high degree of concordance in ranking of perceived threats among experts for most threat categories. The major overall perceived threats to Alpine birds identified through expert knowledge were land abandonment, urbanization, leisure and forestry, although other perceived threats were ranked highly for particular species groups (renewable energy and hunting for raptors, hunting for gamebirds). For groups of species defined according to their breeding habitat, open habitat species and treeline species were perceived as the most threatened. A spatial risk assessment tool based on summed scores for the whole community showed threat levels were highest for bird communities of the northern and western Alps. Development of the approaches given in this paper, including addressing biases in the selection of experts and adopting a more detailed ranking procedure, could prove useful in the future in identifying future threats, and in carrying out risk assessments based on levels of threat to the whole bird community. PMID:26966659

  5. Identifying key conservation threats to Alpine birds through expert knowledge

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan E. Chamberlain

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Alpine biodiversity is subject to a range of increasing threats, but the scarcity of data for many taxa means that it is difficult to assess the level and likely future impact of a given threat. Expert opinion can be a useful tool to address knowledge gaps in the absence of adequate data. Experts with experience in Alpine ecology were approached to rank threat levels for 69 Alpine bird species over the next 50 years for the whole European Alps in relation to ten categories: land abandonment, climate change, renewable energy, fire, forestry practices, grazing practices, hunting, leisure, mining and urbanization. There was a high degree of concordance in ranking of perceived threats among experts for most threat categories. The major overall perceived threats to Alpine birds identified through expert knowledge were land abandonment, urbanization, leisure and forestry, although other perceived threats were ranked highly for particular species groups (renewable energy and hunting for raptors, hunting for gamebirds. For groups of species defined according to their breeding habitat, open habitat species and treeline species were perceived as the most threatened. A spatial risk assessment tool based on summed scores for the whole community showed threat levels were highest for bird communities of the northern and western Alps. Development of the approaches given in this paper, including addressing biases in the selection of experts and adopting a more detailed ranking procedure, could prove useful in the future in identifying future threats, and in carrying out risk assessments based on levels of threat to the whole bird community.

  6. Specifically altered brain responses to threat in generalized anxiety disorder relative to social anxiety disorder and panic disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christine Buff

    2016-01-01

    Conclusion: The findings present the first evidence for GAD-specific neural correlates of hyper-responsive threat processing, possibly reflecting exaggerated threat sensitivity, maladaptive appraisal and attention-allocation processes.

  7. Towards an Enhancement of Organizational Information Security through Threat Factor Profiling (TFP) Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sidi, Fatimah; Daud, Maslina; Ahmad, Sabariah; Zainuddin, Naqliyah; Anneisa Abdullah, Syafiqa; Jabar, Marzanah A.; Suriani Affendey, Lilly; Ishak, Iskandar; Sharef, Nurfadhlina Mohd; Zolkepli, Maslina; Nur Majdina Nordin, Fatin; Amat Sejani, Hashimah; Ramadzan Hairani, Saiful

    2017-09-01

    Information security has been identified by organizations as part of internal operations that need to be well implemented and protected. This is because each day the organizations face a high probability of increase of threats to their networks and services that will lead to information security issues. Thus, effective information security management is required in order to protect their information assets. Threat profiling is a method that can be used by an organization to address the security challenges. Threat profiling allows analysts to understand and organize intelligent information related to threat groups. This paper presents a comparative analysis that was conducted to study the existing threat profiling models. It was found that existing threat models were constructed based on specific objectives, thus each model is limited to only certain components or factors such as assets, threat sources, countermeasures, threat agents, threat outcomes and threat actors. It is suggested that threat profiling can be improved by the combination of components found in each existing threat profiling model/framework. The proposed model can be used by an organization in executing a proactive approach to incident management.

  8. Protected areas in tropical Africa: assessing threats and conservation activities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tranquilli, Sandra; Abedi-Lartey, Michael; Abernethy, Katharine; Amsini, Fidèle; Asamoah, Augustus; Balangtaa, Cletus; Blake, Stephen; Bouanga, Estelle; Breuer, Thomas; Brncic, Terry M; Campbell, Geneviève; Chancellor, Rebecca; Chapman, Colin A; Davenport, Tim R B; Dunn, Andrew; Dupain, Jef; Ekobo, Atanga; Eno-Nku, Manasseh; Etoga, Gilles; Furuichi, Takeshi; Gatti, Sylvain; Ghiurghi, Andrea; Hashimoto, Chie; Hart, John A; Head, Josephine; Hega, Martin; Herbinger, Ilka; Hicks, Thurston C; Holbech, Lars H; Huijbregts, Bas; Kühl, Hjalmar S; Imong, Inaoyom; Yeno, Stephane Le-Duc; Linder, Joshua; Marshall, Phil; Lero, Peter Minasoma; Morgan, David; Mubalama, Leonard; N'Goran, Paul K; Nicholas, Aaron; Nixon, Stuart; Normand, Emmanuelle; Nziguyimpa, Leonidas; Nzooh-Dongmo, Zacharie; Ofori-Amanfo, Richard; Ogunjemite, Babafemi G; Petre, Charles-Albert; Rainey, Hugo J; Regnaut, Sebastien; Robinson, Orume; Rundus, Aaron; Sanz, Crickette M; Okon, David Tiku; Todd, Angelique; Warren, Ymke; Sommer, Volker

    2014-01-01

    Numerous protected areas (PAs) have been created in Africa to safeguard wildlife and other natural resources. However, significant threats from anthropogenic activities and decline of wildlife populations persist, while conservation efforts in most PAs are still minimal. We assessed the impact level of the most common threats to wildlife within PAs in tropical Africa and the relationship of conservation activities with threat impact level. We collated data on 98 PAs with tropical forest cover from 15 countries across West, Central and East Africa. For this, we assembled information about local threats as well as conservation activities from published and unpublished literature, and questionnaires sent to long-term field workers. We constructed general linear models to test the significance of specific conservation activities in relation to the threat impact level. Subsistence and commercial hunting were identified as the most common direct threats to wildlife and found to be most prevalent in West and Central Africa. Agriculture and logging represented the most common indirect threats, and were most prevalent in West Africa. We found that the long-term presence of conservation activities (such as law enforcement, research and tourism) was associated with lower threat impact levels. Our results highlight deficiencies in the management effectiveness of several PAs across tropical Africa, and conclude that PA management should invest more into conservation activities with long-term duration.

  9. Hindrances are not threats: advancing the multidimensionality of work stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuckey, Michelle R; Searle, Ben J; Boyd, Carolyn M; Winefield, Anthony H; Winefield, Helen R

    2015-04-01

    The challenge-hindrance framework has proved useful for explaining inconsistencies in relationships between work stressors and important outcomes. By introducing the distinction between threat and hindrance to this framework, we capture the potential for personal harm or loss (threat) associated with stressors, as distinct from the potential to block goal attainment (hindrance) or promote gain (challenge). In Study 1, survey data were collected from 609 retail workers, 220 of whom responded 6 months later. The results supported a 3-factor threat-hindrance-challenge stressor structure and showed that threat stressors are associated with increased psychological distress and emotional exhaustion, and reduced dedication, whereas hindrance stressors undermine dedication but may not be related to distress or exhaustion with threats included in the model. Study 2 utilized a diary study design, with data collected from 207 workers over 3 workdays. Findings revealed that the threat, hindrance, and challenge appraisals of individual workers are statistically distinct, and associated with stressors and well-being as anticipated: threats with role conflict and anxiety, hindrances with organizational constraints and fatigue, and challenges with skill demands and enthusiasm. Overall, moving to a 3-dimensional challenge-hindrance-threat framework for stressors and stress appraisals will support a more accurate picture regarding the nature, processes, and effects of stressors on individuals and organizations, and ensure prevention efforts are not misguided. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  10. Protected areas in tropical Africa: assessing threats and conservation activities.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Tranquilli

    Full Text Available Numerous protected areas (PAs have been created in Africa to safeguard wildlife and other natural resources. However, significant threats from anthropogenic activities and decline of wildlife populations persist, while conservation efforts in most PAs are still minimal. We assessed the impact level of the most common threats to wildlife within PAs in tropical Africa and the relationship of conservation activities with threat impact level. We collated data on 98 PAs with tropical forest cover from 15 countries across West, Central and East Africa. For this, we assembled information about local threats as well as conservation activities from published and unpublished literature, and questionnaires sent to long-term field workers. We constructed general linear models to test the significance of specific conservation activities in relation to the threat impact level. Subsistence and commercial hunting were identified as the most common direct threats to wildlife and found to be most prevalent in West and Central Africa. Agriculture and logging represented the most common indirect threats, and were most prevalent in West Africa. We found that the long-term presence of conservation activities (such as law enforcement, research and tourism was associated with lower threat impact levels. Our results highlight deficiencies in the management effectiveness of several PAs across tropical Africa, and conclude that PA management should invest more into conservation activities with long-term duration.

  11. Countering Insider Threats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Probst, Christian W.; Hunker, Jeffrey; Gollmann, Dieter

    threat, and to develop a common vision of how an insider can be categorized as well as an integrated approach that allows a qualitative reasoning about the threat and the possibilities of attacks. This report gives an overview of the discussions and presentations during the week, as well as the outcome...

  12. PORT SECURITY-Threats and Vulnerabilities

    OpenAIRE

    Kusi, Bernard

    2015-01-01

    The main objective of this thesis is to identify the threats and the vulnerabilities concerning Takoradi port, and finally recommend measure to overcome the identified threats and vul-nerabilities. Various categories of potential threats and vulnerabilities have been studied throughout the literature review. However, because each port presents a unique sets of threats and vulnerabilities, there was a need to look critically into how Takoradi port operations are being conducted in other to ide...

  13. Cognitive and affective components of challenge and threat states.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meijen, Carla; Jones, Marc V; McCarthy, Paul J; Sheffield, David; Allen, Mark S

    2013-01-01

    We explored the cognitive and affective components of the Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes (TCTSA) using a cross-sectional design. One hundred and seventy-seven collegiate athletes indicated how they typically approached an important competition on measures of self-efficacy, perceived control, achievement goals, emotional states and interpretation of emotional states. Participants also indicated to what extent they typically perceived the important competition as a challenge and/or a threat. The results suggest that a perception of challenge was not predicted by any of the cognitive components. A perception of threat was positively predicted by avoidance goals and negatively predicted by self-efficacy and approach goals. Both challenge and threat had a positive relationship with anxiety. Practical implications of this study are that an avoidance orientation appeared to be related to potentially negative constructs such as anxiety, threat and dejection. The findings may suggest that practitioners and researchers should focus on reducing an avoidance orientation, however the results should be treated with caution in applied settings, as this study did not examine how the combination of constructs exactly influences sport performance. The results provided partial support for the TCTSA with stronger support for proposed relationships with threat rather than challenge states.

  14. Does stereotype threat affect women in academic medicine?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burgess, Diana Jill; Joseph, Anne; van Ryn, Michelle; Carnes, Molly

    2012-04-01

    Multiple complex factors contribute to the slow pace of women's advancement into leadership positions in academic medicine. In this article, the authors propose that stereotype threat--under which individuals who are members of a group characterized by negative stereotypes in a particular domain perform below their actual abilities in that domain when group membership is emphasized--may play an important role in the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions in academic medicine. Research to objectively assess the impact of stereotype threat for women in academic medicine is feasible and necessary to confirm this hypothesis. Still, a number of conditions present in the academic medicine community today have been shown to trigger stereotype threat in other settings, and stereotype threat fits with existing research on gender in academic medicine. In the meantime, academic health centers should implement relatively simple measures supported by experimental evidence from other settings to reduce the risk of stereotype threat, including (1) introducing the concept of stereotype threat to the academic medicine community, (2) engaging all stakeholders, male and female, to promote identity safety by enacting and making faculty aware of policies to monitor potential instances of discrimination, and training faculty to provide performance feedback that is free of gender bias, (3) counteracting the effects of sex segregation at academic health centers by increasing exposure to successful female leaders, (4) reducing gender stereotype priming by avoiding stereotypically male criteria for promotion, grants, and awards, and (5) building leadership efficacy among female physicians and scientists.

  15. Today's threat and tomorrow's reaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moore, L.R.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: The events of September 11 have only confirmed our past nightmares and warnings to industries, agencies, and governments. The threat of even more significant catastrophic attacks, using nuclear materials, was just as real ten years ago, as it is today. In many cases, our vulnerability remains the same as years ago. There is a dire need for all organizations to agree upon threats and vulnerabilities, and to implement appropriate protections, for nuclear materials or other 'means' to achieve an event of mass destruction. All appropriate organizations (industries, agencies, and governments) should be able to define, assess, and recognize international threats and vulnerabilities in the same manner. In complimentary fashion, the organizations should be able to implement safeguards against this consistent generic threat. On an international scale the same threats, and most vulnerabilities, pose high risks to all of these organizations and societies. Indeed, in today's world, the vulnerabilities of one nation may clearly pose great risk to another nation. Once threats and vulnerabilities are consistently recognized, we can begin to approach their mitigation in a more 'universal' fashion by the application of internationally recognized and accepted security measures. The path to recognition of these security measures will require agreement on many diverse issues. However, once there is general agreement, we can then proceed to the acquisition of diverse national and international resources with which to implement the security measures 'universally' to eliminate 'weak-links' in the chain of nuclear materials, on a truly international scale. I would like to discuss: developing a internationally acceptable 'generic' statement of threat, vulnerability assessment process, and security measure; proposing this international statement of threat, vulnerability assessment process, and appropriate security measures to organizations (industries, agencies, and governments

  16. Women and computers: effects of stereotype threat on attribution of failure

    OpenAIRE

    Koch, Sabine C.; Müller, Stephanie M.; Sieverding, Monika

    2008-01-01

    This study investigated whether stereotype threat can influence women’s attributions of failure in a computer task. Male and female college-age students (n = 86, 16–21 years old) from Germany were asked to work on a computer task and were hinted beforehand that in this task, either (a) men usually perform better than women do (negative threat condition), or (b) women usually perform better than men do (positive condition), or (c) they received no threat or gender-related information (contr...

  17. The roots of stereotype threat: when automatic associations disrupt girls' math performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galdi, Silvia; Cadinu, Mara; Tomasetto, Carlo

    2014-01-01

    Although stereotype awareness is a prerequisite for stereotype threat effects (Steele & Aronson, 1995), research showed girls' deficit under stereotype threat before the emergence of math-gender stereotype awareness, and in the absence of stereotype endorsement. In a study including 240 six-year-old children, this paradox was addressed by testing whether automatic associations trigger stereotype threat in young girls. Whereas no indicators were found that children endorsed the math-gender stereotype, girls, but not boys, showed automatic associations consistent with the stereotype. Moreover, results showed that girls' automatic associations varied as a function of a manipulation regarding the stereotype content. Importantly, girls' math performance decreased in a stereotype-consistent, relative to a stereotype-inconsistent, condition and automatic associations mediated the relation between stereotype threat and performance. © 2013 The Authors. Child Development © 2013 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  18. Exploring the function of selective attention and hypervigilance for threat in anxiety

    OpenAIRE

    Richards, Helen J.; Benson, Valerie; Donnelly, Nick; Hadwin, Julie A.

    2014-01-01

    Theoretical frameworks of anxiety propose that attentional biases to threat-related stimuli cause or maintain anxious states. The current paper draws on theoretical frameworks and key empirical studies to outline the distinctive attentional processes highlighted as being important in understanding anxiety. We develop a conceptual framework to make a distinction between two attentional biases: selective attention to threat and hypervigilance for threat. We suggest that these biases each have a...

  19. The effects of stereotype threat and contextual cues on alcohol users' inhibitory control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pennington, Charlotte R; Qureshi, Adam; Monk, Rebecca L; Heim, Derek

    2016-03-01

    Previous research indicates that users of illicit substances exhibit diminished cognitive function under stereotype threat. Advancing this research, the current study aimed to examine the effects of stereotype threat on alcohol users' inhibitory control. It also examined whether drinkers demonstrate a greater approach bias towards alcohol-related relative to neutral stimuli. Fifty-five participants were assigned randomly to a stereotype threat condition, in which they were primed with a negative stereotype linking drinking behavior to cognitive decline, or a non-threat control condition. All participants then completed a modified version of the Cued Go/No-Go Association Test that exposed participants to alcohol-related and neutral pictorial stimuli and sound cues. Stereotype threatened participants demonstrated a speed-accuracy trade off, taking significantly longer to respond to go-trials with equivalent accuracy to the control condition. They also showed reduced response accuracy to both alcohol-related and neutral stimuli in reversed instruction trials. Participants in the control condition were both more accurate and quicker to respond to alcohol-related stimuli compared to neutral stimuli. These results suggest that awareness of negative stereotypes pertaining to alcohol-related impulsivity may have a harmful effect on inhibitive cognitive performance. This may have implications for public health campaigns and for methodological designs with high levels of procedural signaling with respect to not inadvertently inducing stereotype threat and impacting impulsivity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Distracted by the Unthought - Suppression and Reappraisal of Mind Wandering under Stereotype Threat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuster, Carolin; Martiny, Sarah E; Schmader, Toni

    2015-01-01

    Previous research has found that subtle reminders of negative stereotypes about one's group can lead individuals to underperform on stereotype-relevant tests (e.g., women in math, ethnic minorities on intelligence tests). This so called stereotype threat effect can contribute to systematic group differences in performance that can obscure the true abilities of certain social groups and thereby sustain social inequalities. In the present study, we examined processes underlying stereotype threat effects on women's math performance, specifically focusing on the role of suppression of mind wandering (i.e., task-irrelevant thinking) in stereotype threat (ST) and no threat (NT) situations. Based on a process model of stereotype threat effects on performance, we hypothesized that women under stereotype threat spontaneously suppress mind wandering, and that this suppression impairs performance. An alternative regulation strategy that prevents suppression (i.e., reappraising task-irrelevant thoughts as normal) was predicted to prevent stereotype threat effects on performance. We manipulated stereotype threat (ST vs. NT) and cognitive regulation strategy (suppression, reappraisal, or no strategy) and measured women's performance on a math and a concentration task (N = 113). We expected three groups to perform relatively more poorly: Those in ST with either no strategy or suppression and those in NT with a suppression strategy. We tested the performance of these groups against the remaining three groups hypothesized to perform relatively better: those in NT with no strategy or reappraisal and those in ST with reappraisal. The results showed the expected pattern for participants' math performance, but not for concentration achievement. This pattern suggests that ineffective self-regulation by suppressing mind wandering can at least partly explain stereotype threat effects on performance, whereas a reappraisal strategy can prevent this impairment. We discuss implications for

  1. Threat evaluation for impact assessment in situation analysis systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roy, Jean; Paradis, Stephane; Allouche, Mohamad

    2002-07-01

    Situation analysis is defined as a process, the examination of a situation, its elements, and their relations, to provide and maintain a product, i.e., a state of situation awareness, for the decision maker. Data fusion is a key enabler to meeting the demanding requirements of military situation analysis support systems. According to the data fusion model maintained by the Joint Directors of Laboratories' Data Fusion Group, impact assessment estimates the effects on situations of planned or estimated/predicted actions by the participants, including interactions between action plans of multiple players. In this framework, the appraisal of actual or potential threats is a necessary capability for impact assessment. This paper reviews and discusses in details the fundamental concepts of threat analysis. In particular, threat analysis generally attempts to compute some threat value, for the individual tracks, that estimates the degree of severity with which engagement events will potentially occur. Presenting relevant tracks to the decision maker in some threat list, sorted from the most threatening to the least, is clearly in-line with the cognitive demands associated with threat evaluation. A key parameter in many threat value evaluation techniques is the Closest Point of Approach (CPA). Along this line of thought, threatening tracks are often prioritized based upon which ones will reach their CPA first. Hence, the Time-to-CPA (TCPA), i.e., the time it will take for a track to reach its CPA, is also a key factor. Unfortunately, a typical assumption for the computation of the CPA/TCPA parameters is that the track velocity will remain constant. When a track is maneuvering, the CPA/TCPA values will change accordingly. These changes will in turn impact the threat value computations and, ultimately, the resulting threat list. This is clearly undesirable from a command decision-making perspective. In this regard, the paper briefly discusses threat value stabilization

  2. Experimental estimation of snare detectability for robust threat monitoring

    OpenAIRE

    O Kelly, H. J.; Rowcliffe, M.; Durant, S.; Milner-Gulland, E. J.

    2018-01-01

    Hunting with wire snares is rife within many tropical forest systems, and constitutes one of the severest threats to a wide range of vertebrate taxa. As for all threats, reliable monitoring of snaring levels is critical for assessing the relative effectiveness of management interventions. However, snares pose a particular challenge in terms of tracking spatial or temporal trends in their prevalence because they are extremely difficult to detect, and are typically spread across large, inaccess...

  3. How Threat Assessment Could Become Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Case of U.S.-China Relations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhamad Arif

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This article tries to explain how misperception can trigger conflict between countries. The article would employ spiral model of conflict proposed by Robert Jervis as a theoretical framework to scrutinize contemporary US and Chinese contemporary competition. As a result, this paper shows how threat assessment could trigger a spiral of conflict through state’s tendency to overestimate threat level and its failure to perceive that defensive behavior can be interpreted as offensive by the belligerent. Based on this analysis, the probability of conflicts can be reduced as each country tries to comprehend motivations that drive other behavior, perceptions and reactions that might arise as a result of the strategic empathy.

  4. Healthcare Stereotype Threat in Older Adults in the Health and Retirement Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdou, Cleopatra M; Fingerhut, Adam W; Jackson, James S; Wheaton, Felicia

    2016-02-01

    Healthcare stereotype threat is the threat of being personally reduced to group stereotypes that commonly operate within the healthcare domain, including stereotypes regarding unhealthy lifestyles and inferior intelligence. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which people fear being judged in healthcare contexts on several characteristics, including race/ethnicity and age, and to test predictions that experience of such threats would be connected with poorer health and negative perceptions of health care. Data were collected as part of the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). A module on healthcare stereotype threat, designed by the research team, was administered to a random subset (n=2,048 of the total 20,555) of HRS participants. The final sample for the present healthcare stereotype threat experiment consists of 1,479 individuals. Logistic regression was used to test whether healthcare stereotype threat was associated with self-rated health, reported hypertension, and depressive symptoms, as well as with healthcare-related outcomes, including physician distrust, dissatisfaction with health care, and preventative care use. Seventeen percent of respondents reported healthcare stereotype threat with respect to one or more aspects of their identities. As predicted, healthcare stereotype threat was associated with higher physician distrust and dissatisfaction with health care, poorer mental and physical health (i.e., self-rated health, hypertension, and depressive symptoms), and lower odds of receiving the influenza vaccine. The first of its kind, this study demonstrates that people can experience healthcare stereotype threat on the basis of various stigmatized aspects of social identity, and that these experiences can be linked with larger health and healthcare-related outcomes, thereby contributing to disparities among minority groups. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  5. Terrorism threats and preparedness in Canada: the perspective of the Canadian public.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, Stacey; Lemyre, Louise; Clément, Mélanie; Markon, Marie-Pierre L; Lee, Jennifer E C

    2007-06-01

    Although Canada has not experienced a major terrorist attack, an increased global pending threat has put preparedness at the top of the Canadian government's agenda. Given its strong multicultural community and close proximity to the recently targeted United States, the Canadian experience is unique. However, minimal research exists on the public's reactions to terrorism threats and related preparedness strategies. In order for response initiatives to be optimally effective, it is important that the public's opinions regarding terrorism and preparedness be considered. This qualitative study examined perceptions of terrorism threats among Canadians living in Central and Eastern Canada (N = 75) in the fall of 2004. Conceptualizations of terrorism threat, psychosocial impacts, and sense of preparedness were explored in a series of qualitative interviews. Findings revealed that the majority of Canadians did not feel overly threatened by terrorist attacks, due in part to a perception of terrorist threats as related to global sociopolitical events and a positive Canadian identity. In addition, while most respondents did not feel they were individually affected by the threat of terrorism, there was some concern regarding larger societal impacts, such as increased paranoia, discrimination, and threats to civil liberties. Participants' views on preparedness focused largely on the utility of emergency preparedness strategies and the factors that could mitigate or inhibit preparedness at the individual and institutional levels, with a specific focus on education. Finally, the significant relevance of these findings in shaping terrorism preparedness, both in Canada and generally, is discussed.

  6. Stereotype threat and female communication styles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Hippel, Courtney; Wiryakusuma, Cindy; Bowden, Jessica; Shochet, Megan

    2011-10-01

    A large body of research has documented the performance-debilitating effects of stereotype threat for individuals, but there is a paucity of research exploring interpersonal consequences of stereotype threat. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that stereotype threat would change the style in which women communicate. Results indicate that women who experience stereotype threat regarding leadership abilities react against the stereotype by adopting a more masculine communication style. Study 2 provides evidence that self-affirmation eliminates this effect of stereotype threat on women's communication styles. A third study demonstrates an ironic consequence of this effect of stereotype threat on women's communication--when women under stereotype threat adopt a more masculine communication style, they are rated as less warm and likeable, and evaluators indicate less willingness to comply with their requests. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

  7. Fear, threat and efficacy in threat appeals: message involvement as a key mediator to message acceptance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cauberghe, Verolien; De Pelsmacker, Patrick; Janssens, Wim; Dens, Nathalie

    2009-03-01

    In a sample of 170 youngsters, the effect of two versions of a public service announcement (PSA) threat appeal against speeding, placed in four different contexts, on evoked fear, perceived threat (severity and probability of occurrence), perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy, message involvement and anti-speeding attitude and anti-speeding intention is investigated. Evoked fear and perceived threat and efficacy independently influence message involvement. Message involvement is a full mediator between evoked fear, perceived threat and efficacy perception on the one hand, and attitudes towards the message and behavioral intention to accept the message on the other. Speeding experience has a significantly negative impact on anti-speeding attitudes. Message and medium context threat levels and context thematic congruency have a significant effect on evoked fear and to a lesser extent on perceived threat.

  8. Does Stereotype Threat Affect Women in Academic Medicine?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burgess, Diana Jill; Joseph, Anne; van Ryn, Michelle; Carnes, Molly

    2012-01-01

    Multiple complex factors contribute to the slow pace of women’s advancement into leadership positions in academic medicine. In this article, the authors propose that stereotype threat--under which individuals who are members of a group characterized by negative stereotypes in a particular domain perform below their actual abilities in that domain when group membership is emphasized--may play an important role in the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions in academic medicine. Research to objectively assess the impact of stereotype threat for women in academic medicine is feasible and necessary to confirm this hypothesis. Still, a number of conditions present in the academic medicine community today have been shown to trigger stereotype threat in other settings, and stereotype threat fits with existing research on gender in academic medicine. In the meantime, academic health centers should implement relatively simple measures supported by experimental evidence from other settings to reduce the risk of stereotype threat, including: (1) introducing the concept of stereotype threat to the academic medicine community; (2) engaging all stakeholders, male and female, to promote identity safety by enacting and making faculty aware of policies to monitor potential instances of discrimination, and training faculty to provide performance feedback that is free of gender bias; (3) counteracting the effects of sex segregation at academic health centers by increasing exposure to successful female leaders; (4) reducing gender stereotype priming by avoiding stereotypically male criteria for promotion, grants, and awards; and (5) building leadership efficacy among female physicians and scientists. PMID:22361794

  9. Social class rank, threat vigilance, and hostile reactivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraus, Michael W; Horberg, E J; Goetz, Jennifer L; Keltner, Dacher

    2011-10-01

    Lower-class individuals, because of their lower rank in society, are theorized to be more vigilant to social threats relative to their high-ranking upper-class counterparts. This class-related vigilance to threat, the authors predicted, would shape the emotional content of social interactions in systematic ways. In Study 1, participants engaged in a teasing interaction with a close friend. Lower-class participants--measured in terms of social class rank in society and within the friendship--more accurately tracked the hostile emotions of their friend. As a result, lower-class individuals experienced more hostile emotion contagion relative to upper-class participants. In Study 2, lower-class participants manipulated to experience lower subjective socioeconomic rank showed more hostile reactivity to ambiguous social scenarios relative to upper-class participants and to lower-class participants experiencing elevated socioeconomic rank. The results suggest that class affects expectations, perception, and experience of hostile emotion, particularly in situations in which lower-class individuals perceive their subordinate rank.

  10. Converging requirements and emerging challenges to public health diseases surveillance and bio surveillance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao, V.; Abel, T.

    2009-01-01

    Disease surveillance systems are a critical component of an early warning system for public health agencies to prepare and respond to major public health catastrophes. With a growing emphasis for more robust early indicator and warning systems to track emerging and dangerous diseases of suspicious nature, considerable emphasis is now placed on deployment of more expanded electronic disease surveillance systems. The architectural considerations for bio surveillance information system are based on collection, analysis and dissemination of human, veterinary and agricultural related disease surveillance to broader regional areas likely to be affected in the event of an emerging disease, or due to bioterrorism and better coordinate plans, preparations and response by governmental agencies and multilateral forums. The diseases surveillance systems architectures by intent and design could as well support biological threat monitoring and threat reduction initiatives. As an illustrative sample set, this paper will describe the comparative informatics requirements for a disease surveillance systems developed by CSC for the US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) currently operational nationwide, and biological weapons threat assessment developed as part of the Threat Agent Detection and Response (TADR) Network under the US Biological Threat Reduction Program and deployed at Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.(author)

  11. The role of perceived threat in the emergence of PTSD and depression symptoms during warzone deployment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lancaster, Cynthia L; Cobb, Adam R; Lee, Han-Joo; Telch, Michael J

    2016-07-01

    Numerous studies have shown that level of exposure to combat-related stressors is a robust risk factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among military personnel deployed to a warzone. Threat perception of warzone experiences assessed retrospectively has been consistently linked to increased risk for PTSD and depression months or even years after returning from deployment. However, little is known about concurrent relations between perceived threat, deployment stress, and stress-related symptoms during deployment. Using a novel in-theater web-based assessment system, we investigated the unique and joint contribution of threat perception and deployment stressors in predicting the emergence of PTSD and depression symptoms during deployment. Soldiers (N = 150) completed assessments of deployment stressors, perceived threat, PTSD symptoms, and depression symptoms throughout deployment to Iraq. Results revealed that perceived threat potentiated the increase in PTSD symptoms as a result of increases in deployment stressors. In contrast, perceived threat, but not warzone stressors, uniquely predicted depression symptoms. Results highlight the important role of threat perception as a risk marker for the acute experience of depression and PTSD symptoms during deployment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. Age differences in the underlying mechanisms of stereotype threat effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popham, Lauren E; Hess, Thomas M

    2015-03-01

    The goals of the present study were to (a) examine whether age differences exist in the mechanisms underlying stereotype threat effects on cognitive performance and (b) examine whether emotion regulation abilities may buffer against threat effects on performance. Older and younger adults were exposed to positive or negative age-relevant stereotypes, allowing us to examine the impact of threat on regulatory focus and working memory. Self-reported emotion regulation measures were completed prior to the session. Older adults' performance under threat suggested a prevention-focused approach to the task, indexed by increased accuracy and reduced speed. The same pattern was observed in younger adults, but the effects were not as strong. Age differences emerged when examining the availability of working memory resources under threat, with young adults showing decrements, whereas older adults did not. Emotion regulation abilities moderated threat effects in young adults but not in older adults. The results provide support for the notion that stereotype threat may lead to underperformance through somewhat different pathways in older and younger adults. Future research should further examine whether the underlying reason for this age difference is rooted in age-related improvements in emotion regulation. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. Prefrontal control of attention to threat

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Polly V Peers

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Attentional control refers to the regulatory processes that ensure that our actions are in accordance with our goals. Dual-system accounts view temperament as consisting of both individual variation in emotionality (e.g. trait anxiety and variation in regulatory attentional mechanisms that act to modulate emotionality. Increasing evidence links trait variation in attentional control to clinical mood and anxiety disorder symptoms, independent of trait emotionality. Attentional biases to threat have been robustly linked to mood and anxiety disorders. However, the role of variation in attentional control in influencing such biases, and the neural underpinnings of trait variation in attentional control, are unknown. Here, we show, that individual differences in trait attentional control, even when accounting for trait and state anxiety, are related to the magnitude of an attentional blink following threat-related targets. Moreover, we demonstrate that activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is observed specifically in relation to control of attention over threatening stimuli, in line with neural theories of attentional control, such as guided activation theory. These results have key implications for neurocognitive theories of attentional bias and emotional resilience.

  14. Exploring the function of selective attention and hypervigilance for threat in anxiety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, Helen J; Benson, Valerie; Donnelly, Nick; Hadwin, Julie A

    2014-02-01

    Theoretical frameworks of anxiety propose that attentional biases to threat-related stimuli cause or maintain anxious states. The current paper draws on theoretical frameworks and key empirical studies to outline the distinctive attentional processes highlighted as being important in understanding anxiety. We develop a conceptual framework to make a distinction between two attentional biases: selective attention to threat and hypervigilance for threat. We suggest that these biases each have a different purpose and can account for the typical patterns of facilitated and impaired attention evident in anxious individuals. The framework is novel in its specification of the eye movement behavior associated with these attentional biases. We highlight that selective attention involves narrowing overt attention onto threat to ensure that these stimuli receive processing priority, leading to rapid engagement with task-relevant threat and delayed disengagement from task-irrelevant threat. We show that hypervigilance operates in the presence and absence of threat and involves monitoring for potential dangers via attentional broadening or excessive scanning of the environment with numerous eye movements, leading to improved threat detection and increased distraction from task-irrelevant threat. We conclude that future research could usefully employ eye movement measures to more clearly understand the diverse roles of attention in anxiety. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Bio-threat microparticle simulants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farquar, George Roy; Leif, Roald N

    2012-10-23

    A bio-threat simulant that includes a carrier and DNA encapsulated in the carrier. Also a method of making a simulant including the steps of providing a carrier and encapsulating DNA in the carrier to produce the bio-threat simulant.

  16. Bio-threat microparticle simulants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Farquar, George Roy; Leif, Roald

    2014-09-16

    A bio-threat simulant that includes a carrier and DNA encapsulated in the carrier. Also a method of making a simulant including the steps of providing a carrier and encapsulating DNA in the carrier to produce the bio-threat simulant.

  17. Neural circuitry governing anxious individuals' mis-allocation of working memory to threat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stout, Daniel M; Shackman, Alexander J; Pedersen, Walker S; Miskovich, Tara A; Larson, Christine L

    2017-08-18

    Dispositional anxiety is a trait-like phenotype that confers increased risk for a range of debilitating neuropsychiatric disorders. Like many patients with anxiety disorders, individuals with elevated levels of dispositional anxiety are prone to intrusive and distressing thoughts in the absence of immediate threat. Recent electrophysiological research suggests that these symptoms are rooted in the mis-allocation of working memory (WM) resources to threat-related information. Here, functional MRI was used to identify the network of brain regions that support WM for faces and to quantify the allocation of neural resources to threat-related distracters in 81 young adults. Results revealed widespread evidence of mis-allocation. This was evident in both face-selective regions of the fusiform cortex and domain-general regions of the prefrontal and parietal cortices. This bias was exaggerated among individuals with a more anxious disposition. Mediation analyses provided compelling evidence that anxious individuals' tendency to mis-allocate WM resources to threat-related distracters is statistically explained by heightened amygdala reactivity. Collectively, these results provide a neurocognitive framework for understanding the pathways linking anxious phenotypes to the development of internalizing psychopathology and set the stage for developing improved intervention strategies.

  18. Simultaneous Detection of CDC Category "A" DNA and RNA Bioterrorism Agents by Use of Multiplex PCR & RT-PCR Enzyme Hybridization Assays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kelly J. Henrickson

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Assays to simultaneously detect multiple potential agents of bioterrorism are limited. Two multiplex PCR and RT-PCR enzyme hybridization assays (mPCR-EHA, mRT-PCR-EHA were developed to simultaneously detect many of the CDC category “A” bioterrorism agents. The “Bio T” DNA assay was developed to detect: Variola major (VM, Bacillus anthracis (BA, Yersinia pestis (YP, Francisella tularensis (FT and Varicella zoster virus (VZV. The “Bio T” RNA assay (mRT-PCR-EHA was developed to detect: Ebola virus (Ebola, Lassa fever virus (Lassa, Rift Valley fever (RVF, Hantavirus Sin Nombre species (HSN and dengue virus (serotypes 1-4. Sensitivity and specificity of the 2 assays were tested by using genomic DNA, recombinant plasmid positive controls, RNA transcripts controls, surrogate (spiked clinical samples and common respiratory pathogens. The analytical sensitivity (limit of detection (LOD of the DNA asssay for genomic DNA was 1×100~1×102 copies/mL for BA, FT and YP. The LOD for VZV whole organism was 1×10-2 TCID50/mL. The LOD for recombinant controls ranged from 1×102~1×103copies/mL for BA, FT, YP and VM. The RNA assay demonstrated LOD for RNA transcript controls of 1×104~1×106 copies/mL without extraction and 1×105~1×106 copies/mL with extraction for Ebola, RVF, Lassa and HSN. The LOD for dengue whole organisms was ~1×10-4 dilution for dengue 1 and 2, 1×104 LD50/mL and 1×102 LD50/mL for dengue 3 and 4. The LOD without extraction for recombinant plasmid DNA controls was ~1×103 copies/mL (1.5 input copies/reaction for Ebola, RVF, Lassa and HSN. No cross-reactivity of primers and probes used in both assays was detected with common respiratory pathogens or between targeted analytes. Clinical sensitivity was estimated using 264 surrogate clinical samples tested with the BioT DNA assay and 549 samples tested with the BioT RNA assay. The clinical specificity is 99.6% and 99.8% for BioT DNA assay and BioT RNA assay, respectively. The

  19. Distracted by the Unthought – Suppression and Reappraisal of Mind Wandering under Stereotype Threat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuster, Carolin; Martiny, Sarah E.; Schmader, Toni

    2015-01-01

    Previous research has found that subtle reminders of negative stereotypes about one’s group can lead individuals to underperform on stereotype-relevant tests (e.g., women in math, ethnic minorities on intelligence tests). This so called stereotype threat effect can contribute to systematic group differences in performance that can obscure the true abilities of certain social groups and thereby sustain social inequalities. In the present study, we examined processes underlying stereotype threat effects on women’s math performance, specifically focusing on the role of suppression of mind wandering (i.e., task-irrelevant thinking) in stereotype threat (ST) and no threat (NT) situations. Based on a process model of stereotype threat effects on performance, we hypothesized that women under stereotype threat spontaneously suppress mind wandering, and that this suppression impairs performance. An alternative regulation strategy that prevents suppression (i.e., reappraising task-irrelevant thoughts as normal) was predicted to prevent stereotype threat effects on performance. We manipulated stereotype threat (ST vs. NT) and cognitive regulation strategy (suppression, reappraisal, or no strategy) and measured women’s performance on a math and a concentration task (N = 113). We expected three groups to perform relatively more poorly: Those in ST with either no strategy or suppression and those in NT with a suppression strategy. We tested the performance of these groups against the remaining three groups hypothesized to perform relatively better: those in NT with no strategy or reappraisal and those in ST with reappraisal. The results showed the expected pattern for participants’ math performance, but not for concentration achievement. This pattern suggests that ineffective self-regulation by suppressing mind wandering can at least partly explain stereotype threat effects on performance, whereas a reappraisal strategy can prevent this impairment. We discuss

  20. Stereotype threat and social function in opioid substitution therapy patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Hippel, Courtney; Henry, Julie D; Terrett, Gill; Mercuri, Kimberly; McAlear, Karen; Rendell, Peter G

    2017-06-01

    People with a history of substance abuse are subject to widespread stigmatization. It seems likely that this societal disapproval will result in feelings of stereotype threat, or the belief that one is the target of demeaning stereotypes. If so, stereotype threat has the potential to contribute to functional difficulties including poor social outcomes. Eighty drug users on opioid substitution therapy and 84 demographically matched controls completed measures of mental health and social function. The opioid substitution therapy group were additionally asked to complete a measure that focused on their feelings of stereotype threat in relation to their drug use history. Bivariate correlations and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to establish the magnitude and specificity of the relationship between stereotype threat and social functioning. Relative to controls, the opioid substitution therapy group reported higher levels of negative affect and schizotypy, and poorer social functioning, with all three of these indices significantly correlated with their feelings of stereotype threat. The results also showed that stereotype threat contributed significant unique variance to social functioning in the opioid substitution therapy group, even after taking into account other background, clinical, and mental health variables. Social functioning is an important aspect of recovery, yet these data indicate that people with a history of drug abuse who believe they are the target of stereotypical attitudes have poorer social functioning. This relationship holds after controlling for the impact of other variables on social functioning, including mental health. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. Concerns about being stereotyped can shape the social experiences of opioid substitution therapy patients. Opioid substitution therapy patients who feel negatively stereotyped experience greater social function deficits, and this

  1. DOE site-specific threat assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    West, D.J.; Al-Ayat, R.A.; Judd, B.R.

    1985-01-01

    A facility manager faced with the challenges of protecting a nuclear facility against potential threats must consider the likelihood and consequences of such threats, know the capabilities of the facility safeguards and security systems, and make informed decisions about the cost-effectivness of safeguards and security upgrades. To help meet these challenges, the San Francisco Operations Office of the Department of Energy, in conjunction with the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, has developed a site-specific threat assessment approach and a quantitative model to improve the quality and consistency of site-specific threat assessment and resultant security upgrade decisions at sensitive Department of Energy facilities. 5 figs

  2. Prefrontal inhibition of threat processing protects working memory from interference.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert James Clarke

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Bottom-up processes can interrupt ongoing cognitive processing in order to adaptively respond to emotional stimuli of high potential significance, such as those that threaten wellbeing. However it is vital that this interference can be modulated in certain contexts to focus on current tasks. Deficits in the ability to maintain the appropriate balance between cognitive and emotional demands can severely impact on day-to-day activities. This fMRI study examined this interaction between threat processing and cognition; 18 adult participants performed a visuospatial working memory (WM task with two load conditions, in the presence and absence of anxiety induction by threat of electric shock. Threat of shock interfered with performance in the low cognitive load condition; however interference was eradicated under high load, consistent with engagement of emotion regulation mechanisms. Under low load the amygdala showed significant activation to threat of shock that was modulated by high cognitive load. A directed top-down control contrast identified two regions associated with top-down control; ventrolateral PFC and dorsal ACC. Dynamic causal modelling provided further evidence that under high cognitive load, top-down inhibition is exerted on the amygdala and its outputs to prefrontal regions. Additionally, we hypothesised that individual differences in a separate, non-emotional top-down control task would predict the recruitment of dorsal ACC and ventrolateral PFC during top-down control of threat. Consistent with this, performance on a separate dichotic listening task predicted dorsal ACC and ventrolateral PFC activation during high WM load under threat of shock, though activation in these regions did not directly correlate with WM performance. Together, the findings suggest that under high cognitive load and threat, top-down control is exerted by dACC and vlPFC to inhibit threat processing, thus enabling WM performance without threat-related

  3. Promoting dental hygiene to children: comparing traditional and interactive media following threat appeals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panic, Katarina; Cauberghe, Veroline; De Pelsmacker, Patrick

    2014-01-01

    Until now, social marketing campaigns mainly targeted children using traditional media. However, little is known about the effectiveness of computer games to communicate health-related information to children. This study compares the impact of an interactive game as a medium to provide health information and improve children's dietary habits to the impact of more traditional media. Using a 2 × 3 between-subject factorial design with 190 children (7-9 years old), this study investigates the effect of threat messages (weak vs. strong) concerning dental hygiene on behavioral outcome (snack choice), and how this effect is moderated by the type of medium used to communicate subsequent health information after the threat appeal (computer game, information brochure, narrative story). Results show a positive significant effect of perceived threat on children's adaptive behavior. However, this effect only remains significant when afterwards children are exposed to a narrative health-related story. When children play a game or read a brochure, they need to devote more attention to process this content, distracting them from the original threat message. In sum, when a threat message is followed by additional health information, the medium through which this information is presented influences the effectiveness of the preceding threat message.

  4. Automated cyber threat analysis and specified process using vector relational data modeling

    OpenAIRE

    Kelly, Ryan Forrest

    2014-01-01

    Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited Computer network defense systems should be sufficiently integrated to pull data from any information source, model an expert cyber analyst’s decision process, continuously adapt to an evolving cyber threat environment, and amalgamate with industry standard network hardware. Unfortunately, cyber defense systems are generally stovepipe solutions that do not natively integrate disparate network systems. Correlation engines are generally l...

  5. Attention biases to threat and behavioral inhibition in early childhood shape adolescent social withdrawal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez-Edgar, Koraly; Bar-Haim, Yair; McDermott, Jennifer Martin; Chronis-Tuscano, Andrea; Pine, Daniel S; Fox, Nathan A

    2010-06-01

    Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament characterized in young children by a heightened sensitivity to novelty, social withdrawal, and anxious behaviors. For many children, these social difficulties dissipate over time. For others, patterns of social withdrawal continue into adolescence. Over time, attention biases to threat may influence the stability of BI and its association with social withdrawal, ultimately modulating the risk for anxiety disorders in BI children. However, we know relatively little about the cognitive processes that accompany BI and shape later socio-emotional functioning. We examined the relations among BI in childhood, attention biases to threat in adolescence, and adolescent social withdrawal in a longitudinal study (N = 126, Mean age = 15 years). As has been reported in anxious adults, adolescents who were behaviorally inhibited as toddlers and young children showed heightened attention bias to threat. In addition, attention bias to threat moderated the relation between childhood BI and adolescent social withdrawal.

  6. Prototyping of CBRN threat assessment system. Phase 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ina, Shinichiro; Suzuki, Tomoyuki; Maeno, Akihiro; Sakaue, Motoki

    2015-01-01

    Recently, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, that is, CBRN threats have emerged. In order to support the Japan Self Defense Forces unit coping with the CBRN threats, it is important to take measures against these invisible threats. Our CBRN threat assessment system will make invisible CBRN threats visible. This report describes a prototyping of the CBRN threat assessment system (PHASE 1) carried out from fiscal year 2012-2014. (author)

  7. Culture, threat, and mental illness stigma: identifying culture-specific threat among Chinese-American groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Lawrence H; Purdie-Vaughns, Valerie; Kotabe, Hiroki; Link, Bruce G; Saw, Anne; Wong, Gloria; Phelan, Jo C

    2013-07-01

    We incorporate anthropological insights into a stigma framework to elucidate the role of culture in threat perception and stigma among Chinese groups. Prior work suggests that genetic contamination that jeopardizes the extension of one's family lineage may comprise a culture-specific threat among Chinese groups. In Study 1, a national survey conducted from 2002 to 2003 assessed cultural differences in mental illness stigma and perceptions of threat in 56 Chinese-Americans and 589 European-Americans. Study 2 sought to empirically test this culture-specific threat of genetic contamination to lineage via a memory paradigm. Conducted from June to August 2010, 48 Chinese-American and 37 European-American university students in New York City read vignettes containing content referring to lineage or non-lineage concerns. Half the participants in each ethnic group were assigned to a condition in which the illness was likely to be inherited (genetic condition) and the rest read that the illness was unlikely to be inherited (non-genetic condition). Findings from Study 1 and 2 were convergent. In Study 1, culture-specific threat to lineage predicted cultural variation in stigma independently and after accounting for other forms of threat. In Study 2, Chinese-Americans in the genetic condition were more likely to accurately recall and recognize lineage content than the Chinese-Americans in the non-genetic condition, but that memorial pattern was not found for non-lineage content. The identification of this culture-specific threat among Chinese groups has direct implications for culturally-tailored anti-stigma interventions. Further, this framework might be implemented across other conditions and cultural groups to reduce stigma across cultures. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Dynamics of attentional bias to threat in anxious adults: bias towards and/or away?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zvielli, Ariel; Bernstein, Amit; Koster, Ernst H W

    2014-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to question untested assumptions about the nature of the expression of Attentional Bias (AB) towards and away from threat stimuli. We tested the idea that high trait anxious individuals (N = 106; M(SD)age = 23.9(3.2) years; 68% women) show a stable AB towards multiple categories of threatening information using the emotional visual dot probe task. AB with respect to five categories of threat stimuli (i.e., angry faces, attacking dogs, attacking snakes, pointed weapons, violent scenes) was evaluated. In contrast with current theories, we found that 34% of participants expressed AB towards threat stimuli, 20.8% AB away from threat stimuli, and 34% AB towards some categories of threat stimuli and away from others. The multiple observed expressions of AB were not an artifact of a specific criterion AB score cut-off; not specific to certain categories of threat stimuli; not an artifact of differences in within-subject variability in reaction time; nor accounted for by individual differences in anxiety-related variables. Findings are conceptualized as reflecting the understudied dynamics of AB expression, with implications for AB measurement and quantification, etiology, relations, and intervention research.

  9. Sensor-guided threat countermeasure system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stuart, Brent C.; Hackel, Lloyd A.; Hermann, Mark R.; Armstrong, James P.

    2012-12-25

    A countermeasure system for use by a target to protect against an incoming sensor-guided threat. The system includes a laser system for producing a broadband beam and means for directing the broadband beam from the target to the threat. The countermeasure system comprises the steps of producing a broadband beam and directing the broad band beam from the target to blind or confuse the incoming sensor-guided threat.

  10. Cyber terrorism and cyber-crime – threats for cyber security

    OpenAIRE

    Ackoski, Jugoslav; Dojcinovski, Metodija

    2012-01-01

    This paper has aim to give contribution in supporting efforts against cyber threats recognized as a cyber terrorism and cyber crime. Also, it has aim to show future challenges related to cyber security and their emerging threats – cyber war, cyber terrorism and cyber crime. Accelerate weapon development called ICT (Information Communication Technology) which is developed every day faster and faster, and development of human conscious on higher level about consequences of ICT enormous pene...

  11. Nuclear Threats and Security

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Garry Jacobs

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available This article presents highlights and insights from the International Conference on “Nuclear Threats and Security” organized by the World Academy of Art and Science in association with the European Leadership Network and the Dag Hammarskjöld University College of International Relations and Diplomacy and sponsored by NATO at the Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik on September 14-16, 2012. The conference examined important issues related to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, the legality of nuclear weapons and their use, illicit trade in nuclear materials, the dangers of nuclear terrorism, nuclear- and cyber-security. Papers and video recordings of the major presentations and session summaries can be found here.

  12. Autobiographical memory sources of threats in dreams.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lafrenière, Alexandre; Lortie-Lussier, Monique; Dale, Allyson; Robidoux, Raphaëlle; De Koninck, Joseph

    2018-02-01

    Temporal sources of dream threats were examined through the paradigm of the Threat Simulation Theory. Two groups of young adults (18-24 years old), who did not experience severe threatening events in the year preceding their dream and reported a dream either with or without threats, were included. Participants (N = 119) kept a log of daily activities and a dream diary, indicating whether dream components referred to past experiences. The occurrence of oneiric threats correlated with the reporting of threats in the daily logs, their average severity, and the stress level experienced the day preceding the dream. The group whose dreams contained threats had significantly more references to temporal categories beyond one year than the group with dreams without threats. Our findings suggest that in the absence of recent highly negative emotional experiences, the threat simulation system selects memory traces of threatening events experienced in the past. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Game theory of pre-emptive vaccination before bioterrorism or accidental release of smallpox.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molina, Chai; Earn, David J D

    2015-06-06

    Smallpox was eradicated in the 1970s, but new outbreaks could be seeded by bioterrorism or accidental release. Substantial vaccine-induced morbidity and mortality make pre-emptive mass vaccination controversial, and if vaccination is voluntary, then there is a conflict between self- and group interests. This conflict can be framed as a tragedy of the commons, in which herd immunity plays the role of the commons, and free-riding (i.e. not vaccinating pre-emptively) is analogous to exploiting the commons. This game has been analysed previously for a particular post-outbreak vaccination scenario. We consider several post-outbreak vaccination scenarios and compare the expected increase in mortality that results from voluntary versus imposed vaccination. Below a threshold level of post-outbreak vaccination effort, expected mortality is independent of the level of response effort. A lag between an outbreak starting and a response being initiated increases the post-outbreak vaccination effort necessary to reduce mortality. For some post-outbreak vaccination scenarios, even modest response lags make it impractical to reduce mortality by increasing post-outbreak vaccination effort. In such situations, if decreasing the response lag is impossible, the only practical way to reduce mortality is to make the vaccine safer (greater post-outbreak vaccination effort leads only to fewer people vaccinating pre-emptively). © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  14. Age Differences in Selective Memory of Goal-Relevant Stimuli Under Threat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durbin, Kelly A; Clewett, David; Huang, Ringo; Mather, Mara

    2018-02-01

    When faced with threat, people often selectively focus on and remember the most pertinent information while simultaneously ignoring any irrelevant information. Filtering distractors under arousal requires inhibitory mechanisms, which take time to recruit and often decline in older age. Despite the adaptive nature of this ability, relatively little research has examined how both threat and time spent preparing these inhibitory mechanisms affect selective memory for goal-relevant information across the life span. In this study, 32 younger and 31 older adults were asked to encode task-relevant scenes, while ignoring transparent task-irrelevant objects superimposed onto them. Threat levels were increased on some trials by threatening participants with monetary deductions if they later forgot scenes that followed threat cues. We also varied the time between threat induction and a to-be-encoded scene (i.e., 2 s, 4 s, 6 s) to determine whether both threat and timing effects on memory selectivity differ by age. We found that age differences in memory selectivity only emerged after participants spent a long time (i.e., 6 s) preparing for selective encoding. Critically, this time-dependent age difference occurred under threatening, but not neutral, conditions. Under threat, longer preparation time led to enhanced memory for task-relevant scenes and greater memory suppression of task-irrelevant objects in younger adults. In contrast, increased preparation time after threat induction had no effect on older adults' scene memory and actually worsened memory suppression of task-irrelevant objects. These findings suggest that increased time to prepare top-down encoding processes benefits younger, but not older, adults' selective memory for goal-relevant information under threat. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  15. Using Motivational Interviewing to reduce threats in conversations about environmental behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florian Erik Klonek

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Human behavior contributes to a waste of environmental resources and our society is looking for ways to reduce this problem. However, humans may perceive feedback about their environmental behavior as threatening. According to self-determination theory (SDT, threats decrease intrinsic motivation for behavior change. According to self-affirmation theory (SAT, threats can harm individuals’ self-integrity. Therefore, individuals should show self-defensive biases, e.g., in terms of presenting counter-arguments when presented with environmental behavior change. The current study examines how change recipients respond to threats from change agents in interactions about environmental behavior change. Moreover, we investigate how Motivational Interviewing (MI—an intervention aimed at increasing intrinsic motivation—can reduce threats at both the social and cognitive level. We videotaped 68 dyadic interactions with change agents who either did or did not use MI (control group. We coded agents verbal threats and recipients’ verbal expressions of motivation. Recipients also rated agents’ level of confrontation and empathy (i.e., cognitive reactions. As hypothesized, threats were significantly lower when change agents used MI. Perceived confrontations converged with observable social behavior of change agents in both groups. Moreover, behavioral threats showed a negative association with change recipients’ expressed motivation (i.e., reasons to change. Contrary to our expectations, we found no relation between change agents’ verbal threats and change recipients’ verbally expressed self-defenses (i.e., sustain talk. Our results imply that MI reduces the adverse impact of threats in conversations about environmental behavior change on both the social and cognitive level. We discuss theoretical implications of our study in the context of SAT and SDT and suggest practical implications for environmental change agents in organizations.

  16. Using Motivational Interviewing to reduce threats in conversations about environmental behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klonek, Florian E; Güntner, Amelie V; Lehmann-Willenbrock, Nale; Kauffeld, Simone

    2015-01-01

    Human behavior contributes to a waste of environmental resources and our society is looking for ways to reduce this problem. However, humans may perceive feedback about their environmental behavior as threatening. According to self-determination theory (SDT), threats decrease intrinsic motivation for behavior change. According to self-affirmation theory (SAT), threats can harm individuals' self-integrity. Therefore, individuals should show self-defensive biases, e.g., in terms of presenting counter-arguments when presented with environmental behavior change. The current study examines how change recipients respond to threats from change agents in interactions about environmental behavior change. Moreover, we investigate how Motivational Interviewing (MI) - an intervention aimed at increasing intrinsic motivation - can reduce threats at both the social and cognitive level. We videotaped 68 dyadic interactions with change agents who either did or did not use MI (control group). We coded agents verbal threats and recipients' verbal expressions of motivation. Recipients also rated agents' level of confrontation and empathy (i.e., cognitive reactions). As hypothesized, threats were significantly lower when change agents used MI. Perceived confrontations converged with observable social behavior of change agents in both groups. Moreover, behavioral threats showed a negative association with change recipients' expressed motivation (i.e., reasons to change). Contrary to our expectations, we found no relation between change agents' verbal threats and change recipients' verbally expressed self-defenses (i.e., sustain talk). Our results imply that MI reduces the adverse impact of threats in conversations about environmental behavior change on both the social and cognitive level. We discuss theoretical implications of our study in the context of SAT and SDT and suggest practical implications for environmental change agents in organizations.

  17. Maritime Threat Detection using Plan Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-01

    operate in close proximity to large but much less maneuverable vessels. Various approaches for automated threat and anomaly detection have been...version space techniques, and other closed -world reasoning algorithms, while probabilistic algorithms include those that use stochastic grammars and...differ along many dimensions, such as their agent relation (e.g., keyhole , intention, adversarial), what they infer (e.g., action, plan, goal

  18. Threat and efficacy in Malaysia’s cancer news coverage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Collin Jerome

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: The news media plays important roles not only in creating and disseminating health messages, but also in influencing people’s perceptions of health and their health behaviours. However, much more needs to be known about the creation process, particularly how health messages are created with the goal of raising awareness and knowledge, and changing people’s attitudes and behaviours. This paper presents a study aimed at examining cancer risk messages in Malaysia’s leading newspapers. Methods: Our search identified count the total 73 articles related to cancer which were published in three leading Malaysian English dailies in 2012 – September 2017. Of these, 10 were selected for a content analysis using the Extended Parallel Process (EPPM Model. The analysis focused on the presence and the levels of two important components required for designing effective health risk message: threat (severity and susceptibility and efficacy (responses efficacy and self-efficacy. The language used in the news articles was also analysed to see whether it helped enhance the threat-efficacy levels which are crucial for increasing message acceptance and yielding behaviour change. Results: Present study shows that the varying presence of threat and efficacy in the articles as evidenced by messages that focused on threat alone with no efficacy and messages that highlighted both threat and efficacy. Results also show contrasting levels of threat and efficacy as evidenced by messages that possessed high levels of threat and efficacy and messages that revealed a high level of threat and a low level of efficacy. Furthermore, the contents were composed differently in terms of language use: some articles used neutral language while others used vivid and descriptive language in addressing the topic and target audience. These have implication on message acceptance and behaviour change where high levels of threat and efficacy, and the ways in which vivid

  19. Within-subject neural reactivity to reward and threat is inverted in young adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomason, M E; Marusak, H A

    2017-07-01

    As children mature, they become increasingly independent and less reliant on caregiver support. Changes in brain systems are likely to stimulate and guide this process. One mechanistic hypothesis suggests that changes in neural systems that process reward and threat support the increase in exploratory behavior observed in the transition to adolescence. This study examines the basic tenets of this hypothesis by performing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during well-established reward and threat processing tasks in 40 children and adolescents, aged 9-15 years. fMRI responses in the striatum and amygdala are fit to a model predicting that striatal reward and amygdala threat-responses will be unrelated in younger participants (aged 9-12 years), while older participants (aged 13-15 years) will differentially engage these structures. Our data are consistent with this model. Activity in the striatum and amygdala are comparable in younger children, but in older children, they are inversely related; those more responsive to reward show a reduced threat-response. Analyses testing age as a continuous variable yield consistent results. In addition, the proportion of threat to reward-response relates to self-reported approach behavior in older but not younger youth, exposing behavioral relevance in the relative level of activity in these structures. Results are consistent with the notion that both individual and developmental differences drive reward-seeking behavior in adolescence. While these response patterns may serve adaptive functions in the shift to independence, skew in these systems may relate to increased rates of emotional psychopathology and risk-taking observed in adolescence.

  20. Stereotype threat as a determinant of burnout or work engagement. Mediating role of positive and negative emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bedyńska, Sylwia; Żołnierczyk-Zreda, Dorota

    2015-01-01

    Stereotype threat as an example of serious interpersonal strain at workplace can lead either to impaired work engagement or it can motivate workers to strengthen their efforts to disconfirm a stereotype and can result in excessive work engagement. Thus, the basic aim of the study was to examine whether stereotype threat is related to burnout or to work engagement. The mediating role of the negative and positive emotions were also tested in the classical approach. Mediational analysis revealed a linear relation of stereotype threat and burnout, mediated by negative emotions and a quadratic relationship between stereotype threat and work engagement. In the latter analysis none of the mediators were significant. Therefore, the results showed that both burnout and work engagement are associated with stereotype threat at the workplace, probably depending on the stage of response to the stereotype threat. Further research should confirm these associations in a longitudinal study.

  1. When nasty breeds nice: threats of violence amplify agreeableness at national, individual, and situational levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Andrew Edward; Kenrick, Douglas T; Li, Yexin Jessica; Mortensen, Chad R; Neuberg, Steven L; Cohen, Adam B

    2012-10-01

    Humans have perennially faced threats of violence from other humans and have developed functional strategies for surviving those threats. Five studies examined the relation between threats of violence and agreeableness at the level of nations, individuals, and situations. People living in countries with higher military spending (Study 1) and those who chronically perceive threats from others (Study 2) were more agreeable. However, this threat-linked agreeableness was selective (Studies 3-5). Participants primed with threat were more agreeable and willing to help familiar others but were less agreeable and willing to help unfamiliar others. Additionally, people from large families, for whom affiliation may be a salient response to threat, were more likely than people from small families to shift in agreeableness. Returning to the national level, military spending was associated with increased trust in ingroup members but decreased trust in outgroups. Together, these findings demonstrate that agreeableness is selectively modulated by threats of violence.

  2. The effect of stereotype threat on performance of a rhythmic motor skill.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huber, Meghan E; Seitchik, Allison E; Brown, Adam J; Sternad, Dagmar; Harkins, Stephen G

    2015-04-01

    Many studies using cognitive tasks have found that stereotype threat, or concern about confirming a negative stereotype about one's group, debilitates performance. The few studies that documented similar effects on sensorimotor performance have used only relatively coarse measures to quantify performance. This study tested the effect of stereotype threat on a rhythmic ball bouncing task, where previous analyses of the task dynamics afforded more detailed quantification of the effect of threat on motor control. In this task, novices hit the ball with positive racket acceleration, indicative of unstable performance. With practice, they learn to stabilize error by changing their ball-racket impact from positive to negative acceleration. Results showed that for novices, stereotype threat potentiated hitting the ball with positive racket acceleration, leading to poorer performance of stigmatized females. However, when the threat manipulation was delivered after having acquired some skill, reflected by negative racket acceleration, the stigmatized females performed better. These findings are consistent with the mere effort account that argues that stereotype threat potentiates the most likely response on the given task. The study also demonstrates the value of identifying the control mechanisms through which stereotype threat has its effects on outcome measures. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

  3. Inclusion of Premeditated Threats in the Safety Methodology for NPPs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Levanon, I.

    2014-01-01

    During the last decade the global effort to prevent terrorism or to mitigate its harm, if prevention fails, has increased. The nuclear power community was involved in this effort trying to prevent terrorist attacks on NPPs (Nuclear Power Plants). A natural extension of terror restraining is the prevention of any premeditated damage to the plant, including acts of state. The pre-feasibility study of an Israeli NPP, conducted by the Ministry of National Infrastructures, has identified the risk of hostile damage to the NPP as a major obstacle to the establishment of nuclear power in Israel, second only to the refusal of nuclear exporting nations to sell an NPP to Israelv. The General Director of the Ministry and the Head of the IAEC (Israeli Atomic Energy Commission) have approved continuation of the pre-feasibility study. This synopsis presents a study, regarding premeditated threats to NPPs, commissioned by the Ministry of National Infrastructures as part of the continuation. It focuses on the safety aspect of premeditated threats originating outside the plant, although a significant part of the analysis can be extended to other subjects such as theft or diversion of strategic materials. The study deals only with methodology and does not encompass specific threats or protection measures. Conclusions and recommendations and marked by bold italics Arial font. The theory of nuclear safety regarding non-premeditated safety events (equipment failures, human errors, natural events, etc.) is well developed. The study refers to these events and the theory attached to them as c lassical , distinguishing them from premeditated events. The study defines two postulates, related to premeditated threats: Correspondence – We should adopt the classical methodology whenever possible. Regulation – The safety of an NPP from premeditated threats requires examination, approval and inspection by a regulator. Key issues of the methodology with substantial differences from the

  4. When sexual threat cues shape attitudes toward immigrants: The role of insecurity and benevolent sexism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oriane eSarrasin

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Drawing on psychological and political science research on individuals’ sensitivity to threat cues, the present study examines reactions to political posters that depict male immigrants as a sexual danger. We expect anti-immigrant attitudes to be more strongly predicted by feelings of insecurity or representations of men and women as strong and fragile, when individuals are exposed to sexual threat cues than when they are not. Results from two online experiments conducted in Switzerland and Germany largely confirmed these assumptions. Comparing two anti-immigrant posters (general and non-sexual threat vs. sexual threat, Experiment 1 (n = 142 showed that feelings of insecurity were related to an increased support for expelling immigrants from the host country in both cases. However, only in the sexual threat cues condition and among female participants, were perceptions of women as fragile—as measured with benevolent sexism items—related to support for expelling immigrants. Further distinguishing between different forms of violence threat cues, Experiment 2 (n = 181 showed that collective feelings of insecurity were most strongly related to support for expelling immigrants when a male immigrant was presented as a violent criminal. In contrast, benevolent sexist beliefs were related to anti-immigrant stances only when participants were exposed to a depiction of a male immigrant as a rapist. In both cases attitudes were polarized: On the one hand, representations of immigrants as criminals provoked reactance reactions—that is, more positive attitudes—among participants scoring low in insecurity feelings or benevolent sexism. On the other hand, those scoring high in these dimensions expressed slightly more negative attitudes. Overall, by applying social psychological concepts to the study of anti-immigrant political campaigning, the present study demonstrated that individuals are sensitive to specific threat cues in posters.

  5. When sexual threat cues shape attitudes toward immigrants: the role of insecurity and benevolent sexism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarrasin, Oriane; Fasel, Nicole; Green, Eva G T; Helbling, Marc

    2015-01-01

    Drawing on psychological and political science research on individuals' sensitivity to threat cues, the present study examines reactions to political posters that depict male immigrants as a sexual danger. We expect anti-immigrant attitudes to be more strongly predicted by feelings of insecurity or representations of men and women as strong and fragile when individuals are exposed to sexual threat cues than when they are not. Results from two online experiments conducted in Switzerland and Germany largely confirmed these assumptions. Comparing two anti-immigrant posters (general and non-sexual threat vs. sexual threat), Experiment 1 (n = 142) showed that feelings of insecurity were related to an increased support for expelling immigrants from the host country in both cases. However, only in the sexual threat cues condition and among female participants, were perceptions of women as fragile-as measured with benevolent sexism items-related to support for expelling immigrants. Further distinguishing between different forms of violence threat cues, Experiment 2 (n = 181) showed that collective feelings of insecurity were most strongly related to support for expelling immigrants when a male immigrant was presented as a violent criminal. In contrast, benevolent sexist beliefs were related to anti-immigrant stances only when participants were exposed to a depiction of a male immigrant as a rapist. In both cases attitudes were polarized: on the one hand, representations of immigrants as criminals provoked reactance reactions-that is, more positive attitudes-among participants scoring low in insecurity feelings or benevolent sexism. On the other hand, those scoring high in these dimensions expressed slightly more negative attitudes. Overall, by applying social psychological concepts to the study of anti-immigrant political campaigning, the present study demonstrated that individuals are sensitive to specific threat cues in posters.

  6. Reactivity to unpredictable threat as a treatment target for fear-based anxiety disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorka, S M; Lieberman, L; Klumpp, H; Kinney, K L; Kennedy, A E; Ajilore, O; Francis, J; Duffecy, J; Craske, M G; Nathan, J; Langenecker, S; Shankman, S A; Phan, K L

    2017-10-01

    Heightened reactivity to unpredictable threat (U-threat) is a core individual difference factor underlying fear-based psychopathology. Little is known, however, about whether reactivity to U-threat is a stable marker of fear-based psychopathology or if it is malleable to treatment. The aim of the current study was to address this question by examining differences in reactivity to U-threat within patients before and after 12-weeks of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Participants included patients with principal fear (n = 22) and distress/misery disorders (n = 29), and a group of healthy controls (n = 21) assessed 12-weeks apart. A well-validated threat-of-shock task was used to probe reactivity to predictable (P-) and U-threat and startle eyeblink magnitude was recorded as an index of defensive responding. Across both assessments, individuals with fear-based disorders displayed greater startle magnitude to U-threat relative to healthy controls and distress/misery patients (who did not differ). From pre- to post-treatment, startle magnitude during U-threat decreased only within the fear patients who received CBT. Moreover, within fear patients, the magnitude of decline in startle to U-threat correlated with the magnitude of decline in fear symptoms. For the healthy controls, startle to U-threat across the two time points was highly reliable and stable. Together, these results indicate that startle to U-threat characterizes fear disorder patients and is malleable to treatment with CBT but not SSRIs within fear patients. Startle to U-threat may therefore reflect an objective, psychophysiological indicator of fear disorder status and CBT treatment response.

  7. Threats: power, family mealtimes, and social influence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hepburn, Alexa; Potter, Jonathan

    2011-03-01

    One of the most basic topics in social psychology is the way one agent influences the behaviour of another. This paper will focus on threats, which are an intensified form of attempted behavioural influence. Despite the centrality to the project of social psychology, little attention has been paid to threats. This paper will start to rectify this oversight. It reviews early examples of the way social psychology handles threats and highlights key limitations and presuppositions about the nature and role of threats. By contrast, we subject them to a programme of empirical research. Data comprise video records of a collection of family mealtimes that include preschool children. Threats are recurrent in this material. A preliminary conceptualization of features of candidate threats from this corpus will be used as an analytic start point. A series of examples are used to explicate basic features and dimensions that build the action of threatening. The basic structure of the threats uses a conditional logic: if the recipient continues problem action/does not initiate required action then negative consequences will be produced by the speaker. Further analysis clarifies how threats differ from warnings and admonishments. Sequential analysis suggests threats set up basic response options of compliance or defiance. However, recipients of threats can evade these options by, for example, reworking the unpleasant upshot specified in the threat, or producing barely minimal compliance. The implications for broader social psychological concerns are explored in a discussion of power, resistance, and asymmetry; the paper ends by reconsidering the way social influence can be studied in social psychology. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

  8. Fear, threat and efficacy in threat appeals: Message involvement as a key mediator to message acceptance

    OpenAIRE

    Cauberghe, Verolien; De Pelsmacker, Patrick; JANSSENS, Wim; Dens, Nathalie

    2009-01-01

    In a sample of 170 youngsters, the effect of two versions of a public service announcement (PSA) threat appeal against speeding, placed in four different contexts. on evoked fear, perceived threat (severity and probability of occurrence), perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy, message involvement and anti-speeding attitude and anti-speeding intention is investigated. Evoked fear and perceived threat and efficacy independently influence message involvement...

  9. Narcissism and other-derogation in the absence of ego threat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Sun W; Colvin, C Randall

    2015-06-01

    The relation between narcissism and other-derogation has been examined primarily in the context of ego threat. In three studies, we investigated whether narcissistic individuals derogate others in the absence of ego threat. In Study 1, 79 judges watched four videotaped dyadic interactions and rated the personality of the same four people. In Study 2, 66 judges rated the personality of a friend. In Study 3, 72 judges considered the average Northeastern University student and rated the personality of this hypothetical person. Across the three studies, targets' personality characteristics were described on the 100-item California Adult Q-Sort (CAQ; Block, 2008). Judges' ratings of targets were compared to a CAQ prototype of the optimally adjusted person to assess target-derogation. Judges' narcissism and other-derogation were positively related in Studies 1 and 2. Narcissism positively predicted and self-esteem negatively predicted target-derogation after controlling for each other in Study 3. Narcissistic individuals derogate others more than non-narcissistic individuals regardless of whether ego threat is present or absent. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. Cyber threats to health information systems: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luna, Raul; Rhine, Emily; Myhra, Matthew; Sullivan, Ross; Kruse, Clemens Scott

    2016-01-01

    Recent legislation empowering providers to embrace the electronic exchange of health information leaves the healthcare industry increasingly vulnerable to cybercrime. The objective of this systematic review is to identify the biggest threats to healthcare via cybercrime. The rationale behind this systematic review is to provide a framework for future research by identifying themes and trends of cybercrime in the healthcare industry. The authors conducted a systematic search through the CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, PubMed, and ScienceDirect databases to gather literature relative to cyber threats in healthcare. All authors reviewed the articles collected and excluded literature that did not focus on the objective. Researchers selected and examined 19 articles for common themes. The most prevalent cyber-criminal activity in healthcare is identity theft through data breach. Other concepts identified are internal threats, external threats, cyber-squatting, and cyberterrorism. The industry has now come to rely heavily on digital technologies, which increase risks such as denial of service and data breaches. Current healthcare cyber-security systems do not rival the capabilities of cyber criminals. Security of information is a costly resource and therefore many HCOs may hesitate to invest what is required to protect sensitive information.

  11. Threats to Feminist Identity and Reactions to Gender Discrimination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cichocka, Aleksandra; Golec de Zavala, Agnieszka; Kofta, Mirek; Rozum, Joanna

    2013-05-01

    The aim of this research was to examine conditions that modify feminists' support for women as targets of gender discrimination. In an experimental study we tested a hypothesis that threatened feminist identity will lead to greater differentiation between feminists and conservative women as victims of discrimination and, in turn, a decrease in support for non-feminist victims. The study was conducted among 96 young Polish female professionals and graduate students from Gender Studies programs in Warsaw who self-identified as feminists ( M age  = 22.23). Participants were presented with a case of workplace gender discrimination. Threat to feminist identity and worldview of the discrimination victim (feminist vs. conservative) were varied between research conditions. Results indicate that identity threat caused feminists to show conditional reactions to discrimination. Under identity threat, feminists perceived the situation as less discriminatory when the target held conservative views on gender relations than when the target was presented as feminist. This effect was not observed under conditions of no threat. Moreover, feminists showed an increase in compassion for the victim when she was portrayed as a feminist compared to when she was portrayed as conservative. Implications for the feminist movement are discussed.

  12. Study on a Threat-Countermeasure Model Based on International Standard Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guillermo Horacio Ramirez Caceres

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Many international standards exist in the field of IT security. This research is based on the ISO/IEC 15408, 15446, 19791, 13335 and 17799 standards. In this paper, we propose a knowledge base comprising a threat countermeasure model based on international standards for identifying and specifying threats which affect IT environments. In addition, the proposed knowledge base system aims at fusing similar security control policies and objectives in order to create effective security guidelines for specific IT environments. As a result, a knowledge base of security objectives was developed on the basis of the relationships inside the standards as well as the relationships between different standards. In addition, a web application was developed which displays details about the most common threats to information systems, and for each threat presents a set of related security control policies from different international standards, including ISO/IEC 27002.

  13. Effect of evaluation threat on procrastination behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bui, Ngoc H

    2007-06-01

    The author evaluated the effects of evaluation apprehension and trait procrastination on behaviors. The author examined private university students from southern California (N = 72) on two independent variables: evaluation threat (manipulated) and trait procrastination (nonmanipulated). The author found a significant interaction effect between type of evaluation threat and level of trait procrastination on the number of days to complete an assigned essay. Post hoc analyses showed high trait procrastinators in the high evaluation threat group significantly delayed returning essays compared with those in the low evaluation threat group. Also, in the low evaluation threat group, low trait procrastinators delayed more than did high trait procrastinators. These results suggest that educators can reduce behavioral delays by increasing evaluation threat, depending on a student's level of trait procrastination.

  14. Does imminent threat capture and hold attention?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koster, Ernst H W; Crombez, Geert; Van Damme, Stefaan; Verschuere, Bruno; De Houwer, Jan

    2004-09-01

    According to models of attention and emotion, threat captures and holds attention. In behavioral tasks, robust evidence has been found for attentional holding but not for attentional capture by threat. An important explanation for the absence of attentional capture effects is that the visual stimuli used posed no genuine threat. The present study investigated whether visual cues that signal an aversive white noise can elicit attentional capture and holding effects. Cues presented in an attentional task were simultaneously provided with a threat value through an aversive conditioning procedure. Response latencies showed that threatening cues captured and held attention. These results support recent views on attention to threat, proposing that imminent threat captures attention in everyone. (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved

  15. Inferring the nature of anthropogenic threats from long-term abundance records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shoemaker, Kevin T; Akçakaya, H Resit

    2015-02-01

    Diagnosing the processes that threaten species persistence is critical for recovery planning and risk forecasting. Dominant threats are typically inferred by experts on the basis of a patchwork of informal methods. Transparent, quantitative diagnostic tools would contribute much-needed consistency, objectivity, and rigor to the process of diagnosing anthropogenic threats. Long-term census records, available for an increasingly large and diverse set of taxa, may exhibit characteristic signatures of specific threatening processes and thereby provide information for threat diagnosis. We developed a flexible Bayesian framework for diagnosing threats on the basis of long-term census records and diverse ancillary sources of information. We tested this framework with simulated data from artificial populations subjected to varying degrees of exploitation and habitat loss and several real-world abundance time series for which threatening processes are relatively well understood: bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) (exploitation) and Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica) and Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis) (habitat loss). Our method correctly identified the process driving population decline for over 90% of time series simulated under moderate to severe threat scenarios. Successful identification of threats approached 100% for severe exploitation and habitat loss scenarios. Our method identified threats less successfully when threatening processes were weak and when populations were simultaneously affected by multiple threats. Our method selected the presumed true threat model for all real-world case studies, although results were somewhat ambiguous in the case of the Eurasian Skylark. In the latter case, incorporation of an ancillary source of information (records of land-use change) increased the weight assigned to the presumed true model from 70% to 92%, illustrating the value of the proposed framework in bringing diverse sources of

  16. Insider Threat to Computer Security at Nuclear Facilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    West, Rebecca Lynn [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2018-01-29

    After completing this session, you should be able to: Describe the Insider Threat; Characterize the cyber insider threat; Describe preventive measures against the insider threat; Describe protective measures against the insider threat.

  17. EMP Threats to US National Security: Congressional Responses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huessy, Peter

    2011-04-01

    The US Congress is considering how best to respond to concerns that EMP is a real and present danger to US security. The threats come from a variety of areas: solar storms, non-nuclear EMP from man-made machines and devices; and nuclear EMP from a nuclear device exploded above CONUS or other critical areas important to the United States and its allies. Responses have to date included passage in the House of legislation to protect the electrical grid in the United States from such threats and hearings before the Homeland Security Committee. Additional efforts include examining missile defense responses, protection of the maritime domain, and hardening of US military and related civilian infrastructure. The House of Representatives has also examined what Europe, the European Union and NATO, both government and private industry, have done in these areas. Complicating matters are related issues of cyber-security and overall homeland security priorities.

  18. The Effect Of Non-Audit Services And Related Threats On Investors' Perceptions Of Auditor Independence: An Experiment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Warming-Rasmussen, Bent; Quick, Reiner

    2011-01-01

    The provision of non-audit services by the statutory auditor may have a negative impact on independence in mind as well as on independence in appearance. Prior research revealed that different advisory services have a different effect on perceived auditor independence. This could be caused...... impair auditor independence disregarding their size. Furthermore, it was found that a higher self-review threat increases the negative impact on independence perceptions. an advocacy threat, however, seens to be irrelevant. Manipulation checks disclose that the manipulation of the familiarity chedk...

  19. Activity alterations in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and amygdala during threat anticipation in generalized anxiety disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buff, Christine; Brinkmann, Leonie; Bruchmann, Maximilian; Becker, Michael P I; Tupak, Sara; Herrmann, Martin J; Straube, Thomas

    2017-11-01

    Sustained anticipatory anxiety is central to Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). During anticipatory anxiety, phasic threat responding appears to be mediated by the amygdala, while sustained threat responding seems related to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). Although sustained anticipatory anxiety in GAD patients was proposed to be associated with BNST activity alterations, firm evidence is lacking. We aimed to explore temporal characteristics of BNST and amygdala activity during threat anticipation in GAD patients. Nineteen GAD patients and nineteen healthy controls (HC) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a temporally unpredictable threat anticipation paradigm. We defined phasic and a systematic variation of sustained response models for blood oxygen level-dependent responses during threat anticipation, to disentangle temporally dissociable involvement of the BNST and the amygdala. GAD patients relative to HC responded with increased phasic amygdala activity to onset of threat anticipation and with elevated sustained BNST activity that was delayed relative to the onset of threat anticipation. Both the amygdala and the BNST displayed altered responses during threat anticipation in GAD patients, albeit with different time courses. The results for the BNST activation hint towards its role in sustained threat responding, and contribute to a deeper understanding of pathological sustained anticipatory anxiety in GAD. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

  20. Workplace threats to health and job turnover among women workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gucer, Patricia W; Oliver, Marc; McDiarmid, Melissa

    2003-07-01

    Is job turnover related to concern about workplace health risks? Using data from a national sample of working women, we examined the relationships among workplace risk communications, worker concerns about workplace threats from hazardous substances, indoor air quality, and job change. Eight percent reported changing a job as a result of concern over workplace threats to health. Previous workplace injury predicted concern about hazardous materials and indoor air quality as well as job change, but employer communication about workplace health risks was associated with less job change and less concern about indoor air quality. Women worry about workplace threats to their health enough to change their jobs, but employers may have the power to cut turnover costs and reduce disruption to workers' lives through the use of risk communication programs.

  1. Raising consciousness about the nuclear threat through music

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ungerleider, J.H.

    1987-01-01

    This dissertation examines the use of music, in particular topical collaborative group song writing, as a tool for raising consciousness about the threat of nuclear war. Consciousness raising is one way to overcome the phenomenon of denial and to increase discussion and social action in response to the nuclear threat. This dissertation measures the impact of a group song writing workshop on developing critical problem-solving in adult groups; it reviews how music is applied in psychological research and clinical work, has been used historically as a tool in social-change movements in America, and is used in the contemporary field of peace education. The perspectives of several theorists who discuss the potential of music to contribute to social change are presented. It is concluded that consciousness about the nuclear threat - in terms of naming and analyzing - can be raised by working with music's potential for developing affective, expressive, and collaborative capabilities in individuals and groups. Potential applications of the group song writing workshop are in schools, with peace organizations, music groups, and in relation to other social issues.

  2. Stereotype threat spillover: how coping with threats to social identity affects aggression, eating, decision making, and attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inzlicht, Michael; Kang, Sonia K

    2010-09-01

    Stereotype threat spillover is a situational predicament in which coping with the stress of stereotype confirmation leaves one in a depleted volitional state and thus less likely to engage in effortful self-control in a variety of domains. We examined this phenomenon in 4 studies in which we had participants cope with stereotype and social identity threat and then measured their performance in domains in which stereotypes were not "in the air." In Study 1 we examined whether taking a threatening math test could lead women to respond aggressively. In Study 2 we investigated whether coping with a threatening math test could lead women to indulge themselves with unhealthy food later on and examined the moderation of this effect by personal characteristics that contribute to identity-threat appraisals. In Study 3 we investigated whether vividly remembering an experience of social identity threat results in risky decision making. Finally, in Study 4 we asked whether coping with threat could directly influence attentional control and whether the effect was implemented by inefficient performance monitoring, as assessed by electroencephalography. Our results indicate that stereotype threat can spill over and impact self-control in a diverse array of nonstereotyped domains. These results reveal the potency of stereotype threat and that its negative consequences might extend further than was previously thought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

  3. Power and threat in intergroup conflict : How emotional and behavioral responses depend on amount and content of threat

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kamans, Elanor; Otten, Sabine; Gordijn, Ernestine H.

    We propose that in intergroup conflict threat content is important in understanding the reactions of those who experience threats the most: the powerless. Studies 1 and 2 show that powerless groups experience more threat than powerful groups, resulting in the experience of both more anger and fear.

  4. The influence of hallucination proneness and social threat on time perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coy, Abbie L; Hutton, Samuel B

    2013-01-01

    Individuals with schizophrenia frequently report disturbances in time perception, but the precise nature of such deficits and their relation to specific symptoms of the disorder is unclear. We sought to determine the relationship between hallucination proneness and time perception in healthy individuals, and whether this relationship is moderated by hypervigilance to threat-related stimuli. 206 participants completed the Revised Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale (LSHS-R) and a time reproduction task in which, on each trial, participants viewed a face (happy, angry, neutral, or fearful) for between 1 and 5 s and then reproduced the time period with a spacebar press. High LSHS-R scores were associated with longer time estimates, but only during exposure to angry faces. A factor analysis of LSHS-R scores identified a factor comprising items related to reality monitoring, and this factor was most associated with the longer time estimates. During exposure to potential threat in the environment, duration estimates increase with hallucination proneness. The experience of feeling exposed to threat for longer may serve to maintain a state of hypervigilance which has been shown previously to be associated with positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

  5. Predictive Validity of Explicit and Implicit Threat Overestimation in Contamination Fear

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Jennifer S.; Teachman, Bethany A.

    2012-01-01

    We examined the predictive validity of explicit and implicit measures of threat overestimation in relation to contamination-fear outcomes using structural equation modeling. Undergraduate students high in contamination fear (N = 56) completed explicit measures of contamination threat likelihood and severity, as well as looming vulnerability cognitions, in addition to an implicit measure of danger associations with potential contaminants. Participants also completed measures of contamination-fear symptoms, as well as subjective distress and avoidance during a behavioral avoidance task, and state looming vulnerability cognitions during an exposure task. The latent explicit (but not implicit) threat overestimation variable was a significant and unique predictor of contamination fear symptoms and self-reported affective and cognitive facets of contamination fear. On the contrary, the implicit (but not explicit) latent measure predicted behavioral avoidance (at the level of a trend). Results are discussed in terms of differential predictive validity of implicit versus explicit markers of threat processing and multiple fear response systems. PMID:24073390

  6. Forecasting Lightning Threat Using WRF Proxy Fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCaul, E. W., Jr.

    2010-01-01

    Objectives: Given that high-resolution WRF forecasts can capture the character of convective outbreaks, we seek to: 1. Create WRF forecasts of LTG threat (1-24 h), based on 2 proxy fields from explicitly simulated convection: - graupel flux near -15 C (captures LTG time variability) - vertically integrated ice (captures LTG threat area). 2. Calibrate each threat to yield accurate quantitative peak flash rate densities. 3. Also evaluate threats for areal coverage, time variability. 4. Blend threats to optimize results. 5. Examine sensitivity to model mesh, microphysics. Methods: 1. Use high-resolution 2-km WRF simulations to prognose convection for a diverse series of selected case studies. 2. Evaluate graupel fluxes; vertically integrated ice (VII). 3. Calibrate WRF LTG proxies using peak total LTG flash rate densities from NALMA; relationships look linear, with regression line passing through origin. 4. Truncate low threat values to make threat areal coverage match NALMA flash extent density obs. 5. Blend proxies to achieve optimal performance 6. Study CAPS 4-km ensembles to evaluate sensitivities.

  7. L1R, A27L, A33R and B5R vaccinia virus genes expressed by fowlpox recombinants as putative novel orthopoxvirus vaccines

    OpenAIRE

    Pacchioni, Sole Maria; Bissa, Massimiliano; Zanotto, Carlo; Morghen, Carlo De Giuli; Illiano, Elena; Radaelli, Antonia

    2013-01-01

    Background The traditional smallpox vaccine, administered by scarification, was discontinued in the general population from 1980, because of the absence of new smallpox cases. However, the development of an effective prophylactic vaccine against smallpox is still necessary, to protect from the threat of deliberate release of the variola virus for bioterrorism and from new zoonotic infections, and to improve the safety of the traditional vaccine. Preventive vaccination still remains the most e...

  8. Crystal structure of the receptor-binding domain of botulinum neurotoxin type HA, also known as type FA or H

    OpenAIRE

    Yao, G; Lam, KH; Perry, K; Weisemann, J; Rummel, A; Jin, R

    2017-01-01

    © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), which have been exploited as cosmetics and muscle-disorder treatment medicines for decades, are well known for their extreme neurotoxicity to humans. They pose a potential bioterrorism threat because they cause botulism, a flaccid muscular paralysis-associated disease that requires immediate antitoxin treatment and intensive care over a long period of time. In addition to the existing seven established Bo...

  9. Harmonization of European laboratory response networks by implementing CWA 15793: use of a gap analysis and an "insider" exercise as tools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sundqvist, Bo; Bengtsson, Ulrika Allard; Wisselink, Henk J; Peeters, Ben P H; van Rotterdam, Bart; Kampert, Evelien; Bereczky, Sándor; Johan Olsson, N G; Szekely Björndal, Asa; Zini, Sylvie; Allix, Sébastien; Knutsson, Rickard

    2013-09-01

    Laboratory response networks (LRNs) have been established for security reasons in several countries including the Netherlands, France, and Sweden. LRNs function in these countries as a preparedness measure for a coordinated diagnostic response capability in case of a bioterrorism incident or other biocrimes. Generally, these LRNs are organized on a national level. The EU project AniBioThreat has identified the need for an integrated European LRN to strengthen preparedness against animal bioterrorism. One task of the AniBioThreat project is to suggest a plan to implement laboratory biorisk management CWA 15793:2011 (CWA 15793), a management system built on the principle of continual improvement through the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle. The implementation of CWA 15793 can facilitate trust and credibility in a future European LRN and is an assurance that the work done at the laboratories is performed in a structured way with continuous improvements. As a first step, a gap analysis was performed to establish the current compliance status of biosafety and laboratory biosecurity management with CWA 15793 in 5 AniBioThreat partner institutes in France (ANSES), the Netherlands (CVI and RIVM), and Sweden (SMI and SVA). All 5 partners are national and/or international laboratory reference institutes in the field of public or animal health and possess high-containment laboratories and animal facilities. The gap analysis showed that the participating institutes already have robust biorisk management programs in place, but several gaps were identified that need to be addressed. Despite differences between the participating institutes in their compliance status, these variations are not significant. Biorisk management exercises also have been identified as a useful tool to control compliance status and thereby implementation of CWA 15793. An exercise concerning an insider threat and loss of a biological agent was performed at SVA in the AniBioThreat project to evaluate

  10. Opportunities and threats of the MOOC movement for higher education: the European perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schuwer, Robert; Gil-Jaurena, Ines; Hakan Aydin, Cengiz

    2015-01-01

    to identify opportunities and threats of the MOOC movement on the European institutions of higher education. Three sources of data were gathered and analysed. Opportunities and threats were categorized in two levels. The macro level comprises issues related to the higher education system, European context......, historical period and institutional level. The micro level covers aspects related to faculty, professors and courses, thus to the operational level. The main opportunities mentioned were the ECTS system as being a sound base for formal recognition of accomplishments in MOOCs, the tendency to cooperate...... between institutions, stimulated by EU funded programs and the many innovative pedagogical models used in MOOCs published in Europe. The main threats mentioned were a lacking implementation of the ECTS system, hindering bridging non/formal and formal education and too much regulation, hindering...

  11. Acute effects of caffeine on threat-selective attention: moderation by anxiety and EEG theta/beta ratio.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Son, Dana; Schalbroeck, Rik; Angelidis, Angelos; van der Wee, Nic J A; van der Does, Willem; Putman, Peter

    2018-05-21

    Spontaneous EEG theta/beta ratio (TBR) probably marks prefrontal cortical (PFC) executive control, and its regulation of attentional threat-bias. Caffeine at moderate doses may strengthen executive control through increased PFC catecholamine action, dependent on basal PFC function. To test if caffeine affects threat-bias, moderated by baseline frontal TBR and trait-anxiety. A pictorial emotional Stroop task was used to assess threat-bias in forty female participants in a cross-over, double-blind study after placebo and 200 mg caffeine. At baseline and after placebo, comparable relations were observed for negative pictures: high TBR was related to low threat-bias in low trait-anxious people. Caffeine had opposite effects on threat-bias in low trait-anxious people with low and high TBR. This further supports TBR as a marker of executive control and highlights the importance of taking baseline executive function into consideration when studying effects of caffeine on executive functions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Threat engagement, disengagement, and sensitivity bias in worry-prone individuals as measured by an emotional go/no-go task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gole, Markus; Köchel, Angelika; Schäfer, Axel; Schienle, Anne

    2012-03-01

    The goal of the present study was to investigate a threat engagement, disengagement, and sensitivity bias in individuals suffering from pathological worry. Twenty participants high in worry proneness and 16 control participants low in worry proneness completed an emotional go/no-go task with worry-related threat words and neutral words. Shorter reaction times (i.e., threat engagement bias), smaller omission error rates (i.e., threat sensitivity bias), and larger commission error rates (i.e., threat disengagement bias) emerged only in the high worry group when worry-related words constituted the go-stimuli and neutral words the no-go stimuli. Also, smaller omission error rates as well as larger commission error rates were observed in the high worry group relative to the low worry group when worry-related go stimuli and neutral no-go stimuli were used. The obtained results await further replication within a generalized anxiety disorder sample. Also, further samples should include men as well. Our data suggest that worry-prone individuals are threat-sensitive, engage more rapidly with aversion, and disengage harder. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Establishing 'design basis threat' in Norway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maerli, M.B.; Naadland, E.; Reistad, O.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: INFCIRC 225 (Rev. 4) assumes that a state's physical protection system should be based on the state's evaluation of the threat, and that this should be reflected in the relevant legislation. Other factors should also be considered, including the state's emergency response capabilities and the existing and relevant measures of the state's system of accounting for and control of nuclear material. A design basis threat developed from an evaluation by the state of the threat of unauthorized removal of nuclear material and of sabotage of nuclear material and nuclear facilities is an essential element of a state's system of physical protection. The state should continuously review the threat, and evaluate the implications of any changes in that threat for the required levels and the methods of physical protection. As part of a national design basis threat assessment, this paper evaluates the risk of nuclear or radiological terrorism and sabotage in Norway. Possible scenarios are presented and plausible consequences are discussed with a view to characterize the risks. The need for more stringent regulatory requirements will be discussed, together with the (positive) impact of improved systems and procedures of physical protection on nuclear emergency planning. Special emphasis is placed on discussing the design basis threat for different scenarios in order to systemize regulatory efforts to update the current legislation, requirement for operators' contingency planning, response efforts and the need for emergency exercises. (author)

  14. Transmitting the sum of all fears: Iranian nuclear threat salience among offspring of Holocaust survivors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shrira, Amit

    2015-07-01

    Many Israelis are preoccupied with the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran, frequently associating it with the danger of annihilation that existed during the Holocaust. The current article examined whether offspring of Holocaust survivors (OHS) are especially preoccupied and sensitive to the Iranian threat, and whether this susceptibility is a part of their increased general image of actual and potential threats, defined as the hostile world scenario (HWS). Study 1 (N = 106) showed that relative to comparisons, OHS reported more preoccupation with the Iranian nuclear threat. Moreover, the positive relationship between the salience of the Iranian threat and symptoms of anxiety was stronger among OHS. Study 2 (N = 450) replicated these findings, while focusing on the Iranian nuclear threat salience and symptoms of psychological distress. It further showed that OHS reported more negative engagement with the HWS (i.e., feeling that surrounding threats decrease one's sense of competence), which in turn mediated their increased preoccupation with the Iranian threat. The results suggest that intergenerational transmission of the Holocaust trauma includes heightened preoccupation with and sensitivity to potential threats of annihilation, and that the specific preoccupation with threats of annihilation reflects a part of a more general preoccupation with surrounding threats. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  15. Insider Threat Mitigation Workshop Instructional Materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gibbs, Philip [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Larsen, Robert [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); O' Brien, Mike [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Rodriquez, Jose [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2008-01-01

    Insiders represent a formidable threat to nuclear facilities. This set of workshop materials covers methodologies to analyze and approaches to mitigate the threat of an insider attempting abrupt theft of nuclear materials. This report is a compilation of workshop materials consisting of lectures on technical and administrative measures used in Physical Protection (PP) and Material Control and Accounting (MC&A) and methods for analyzing their effectiveness against a postulated insider threat.

  16. Linking terrestrial and marine conservation planning and threats analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tallis, Heather; Ferdaña, Zach; Gray, Elizabeth

    2008-02-01

    The existence of the Gulf of Mexico dead zone makes it clear that marine ecosystems can be damaged by terrestrial inputs. Marine and terrestrial conservation planning need to be aligned in an explicit fashion to fully represent threats to marine systems. To integrate conservation planning for terrestrial and marine systems, we used a novel threats assessment that included 5 cross-system threats in a site-prioritization exercise for the Pacific Northwest coast ecoregion (U.S.A.). Cross-system threats are actions or features in one ecological realm that have effects on species in another realm. We considered bulkheads and other forms of shoreline hardening threats to terrestrial systems and roads, logging, agriculture, and urban areas threats to marine systems. We used 2 proxies of freshwater influence on marine environments, validated against a mechanistic model and field observations, to propagate land-based threats into marine sites. We evaluated the influence of cross-system threats on conservation priorities by comparing MARXAN outputs for 3 scenarios that identified terrestrial and marine priorities simultaneously: (1) no threats, (2) single-system threats, and (3) single- and cross-system threats. Including cross-system threats changed the threat landscape dramatically. As a result the best plan that included only single-system threats identified 323 sites (161,500 ha) at risk from cross-system threats. Including these threats changed the location of best sites. By comparing the best and sum solutions of the single- and cross-system scenarios, we identified areas ideal for preservation or restoration through integrated management. Our findings lend quantitative support to the call for explicitly integrated decision making and management action in terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

  17. Bomb Threat Assessments. Fact Sheet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tunkel, Ronald F.

    2010-01-01

    This information provides a brief, summary outline of how investigators should assess anonymous bomb threats at schools. Applying these principles may help administrators and law enforcement personnel accurately assess the viability and credibility of a threat and appropriately gauge their response. Any credible evidence provided by teachers or…

  18. Stereotype threat in classroom settings: the interactive effect of domain identification, task difficulty and stereotype threat on female students' maths performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Johannes

    2007-06-01

    Stereotype threat research revealed that negative stereotypes can disrupt the performance of persons targeted by such stereotypes. This paper contributes to stereotype threat research by providing evidence that domain identification and the difficulty level of test items moderate stereotype threat effects on female students' maths performance. The study was designed to test theoretical ideas derived from stereotype threat theory and assumptions outlined in the Yerkes-Dodson law proposing a nonlinear relationship between arousal, task difficulty and performance. Participants were 108 high school students attending secondary schools. Participants worked on a test comprising maths problems of different difficulty levels. Half of the participants learned that the test had been shown to produce gender differences (stereotype threat). The other half learned that the test had been shown not to produce gender differences (no threat). The degree to which participants identify with the domain of maths was included as a quasi-experimental factor. Maths-identified female students showed performance decrements under conditions of stereotype threat. Moreover, the stereotype threat manipulation had different effects on low and high domain identifiers' performance depending on test item difficulty. On difficult items, low identifiers showed higher performance under threat (vs. no threat) whereas the reverse was true in high identifiers. This interaction effect did not emerge on easy items. Domain identification and test item difficulty are two important factors that need to be considered in the attempt to understand the impact of stereotype threat on performance.

  19. Threats Management Throughout the Software Service Life-Cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erlend Andreas Gjære

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Software services are inevitably exposed to a fluctuating threat picture. Unfortunately, not all threats can be handled only with preventive measures during design and development, but also require adaptive mitigations at runtime. In this paper we describe an approach where we model composite services and threats together, which allows us to create preventive measures at design-time. At runtime, our specification also allows the service runtime environment (SRE to receive alerts about active threats that we have not handled, and react to these automatically through adaptation of the composite service. A goal-oriented security requirements modelling tool is used to model business-level threats and analyse how they may impact goals. A process flow modelling tool, utilising Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN and standard error boundary events, allows us to define how threats should be responded to during service execution on a technical level. Throughout the software life-cycle, we maintain threats in a centralised threat repository. Re-use of these threats extends further into monitoring alerts being distributed through a cloud-based messaging service. To demonstrate our approach in practice, we have developed a proof-of-concept service for the Air Traffic Management (ATM domain. In addition to the design-time activities, we show how this composite service duly adapts itself when a service component is exposed to a threat at runtime.

  20. Stereotype threat can reduce older adults' memory errors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barber, Sarah J; Mather, Mara

    2013-01-01

    Stereotype threat often incurs the cost of reducing the amount of information that older adults accurately recall. In the current research, we tested whether stereotype threat can also benefit memory. According to the regulatory focus account of stereotype threat, threat induces a prevention focus in which people become concerned with avoiding errors of commission and are sensitive to the presence or absence of losses within their environment. Because of this, we predicted that stereotype threat might reduce older adults' memory errors. Results were consistent with this prediction. Older adults under stereotype threat had lower intrusion rates during free-recall tests (Experiments 1 and 2). They also reduced their false alarms and adopted more conservative response criteria during a recognition test (Experiment 2). Thus, stereotype threat can decrease older adults' false memories, albeit at the cost of fewer veridical memories, as well.

  1. Conceptual framework for improved wind-related forest threat assessment in the Southeastern United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott L. Goodrick; John A. Stanturf

    2010-01-01

    In the Southeastern United States, forests are subject to a variety of damage-causing wind phenomena that range in scale from very localized (downbursts and tornadoes) to broad spatial scales (hurricanes). Incorporating the threat of wind damage into forest management plans requires tools capable of assessing risk across this range of scales. Our conceptual approach...

  2. Stereotype Threat, Test Anxiety, and Mathematics Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tempel, Tobias; Neumann, Roland

    2014-01-01

    We investigated the combined effects of stereotype threat and trait test anxiety on mathematics test performance. Stereotype threat and test anxiety interacted with each other in affecting performance. Trait test anxiety predicted performance only in a diagnostic condition that prevented stereotype threat by stereotype denial. A state measure of…

  3. Al-Qaida threats and strategies : the religious justification for targeting the international energy economy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Williams, J.F.

    2008-03-15

    Methods of analyzing threats generated by terrorists against the energy industry were discussed. Threat was defined as the product of an adversary's capability, intent, and authority to engage a target using a specific attack mode. The paper argued that robust models for threat must demonstrate a cultural awareness of the adversary in question. The study used an al-Qaida attack to develop and critique the religious justification offered by Salafi-Jihadi religious scholars for attacking the energy industry. The importance of the fatawa's religious authority was evaluated, and cultural drivers for al-Qaida were explored in relation to the threat model. An assessment of past terrorist acts against energy industry infrastructure was conducted. Various relevant fatawa issued by religious scholars were discussed. Socio-political and religious attributes of the al-Qaida movement were outlined using the Combating Terrorism Center's militant ideology atlas. The threat equation was expanded to include authority and cultural influences. The threat model was developed by assigning information to bins of capability, intent, and authority in order to assess and evaluate data. The Kalman filter technique was used to determine threat drivers. 98 refs., 20 figs.

  4. CLASSIFICATION OF THREATS OF ECONOMIC SECURITY OF TAJIKISTAN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Blinichkina N. Yu.

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Ensuring of the state economic security suggests the fight against threats to such security. At the same time it is extremely important, firstly, to understand the essence of a threat to economic security and, secondly, to identify the common characteristics of threats allowing to systematize them and to determine the necessary measures to neutralize them on this basis. The traditional approach offers a classification of economic security threats depending on areas of their origin but it is impossible to determine the gravity of the threat to the economy and ways of neutralizing it.In this context we propose allocation of the economic threats to five groups depends on a number of characteristics that determine the level of their negative impact to the economy. Such classification of threats to economic security of Tajikistan helped to determine neutralization of which of them requires outside support, what requires priority within the framework of the strategy of economic security and national economic policy, and what does not require serious government efforts and may be neutralized automatically during neutralization of the other threats.

  5. The role of prevention focus under stereotype threat: Initial cognitive mobilization is followed by depletion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ståhl, Tomas; Van Laar, Colette; Ellemers, Naomi

    2012-06-01

    Previous research has demonstrated that stereotype threat induces a prevention focus and impairs central executive functions. The present research examines how these 2 consequences of stereotype threat are related. The authors argue that the prevention focus is responsible for the effects of stereotype threat on executive functions and cognitive performance. However, because the prevention focus is adapted to deal with threatening situations, the authors propose that it also leads to some beneficial responses to stereotype threat. Specifically, because stereotype threat signals a high risk of failure, a prevention focus initiates immediate recruitment of cognitive control resources. The authors further argue that this response initially facilitates cognitive performance but that the additional cognitive demands associated with working under threat lead to cognitive depletion over time. Study 1 demonstrates that stereotype threat (vs. control) facilitates immediate cognitive control capacity during a stereotype-relevant task. Study 2 experimentally demonstrates the process by showing that stereotype threat (vs. control) facilitates cognitive control as a default, as well as when a prevention focus has been experimentally induced, but not when a promotion focus has been induced. Study 3 shows that stereotype threat facilitates initial math performance under a prevention focus, whereas no effect is found under a promotion focus. Consistent with previous research, however, stereotype threat impaired math performance over time under a prevention focus, but not under a promotion focus. 2012 APA, all rights reserved

  6. Threat/reward-sensitivity and hypomanic-personality modulate cognitive-control and attentional neural processes to emotional stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pornpattananangkul, Narun; Hu, Xiaoqing; Nusslock, Robin

    2015-11-01

    Temperamental-traits (e.g. threat/reward-sensitivity) are found to modulate cognitive-control and attentional-processes. Yet, it is unclear exactly how these traits interact with emotional-stimuli in the modulation of cognitive-control, as reflected by the N2 event-related potential (ERP), and attentional-processes, as reflected by the P2 and P3 ERPs. Here in an ERP emotional-Go/NoGo task, 36 participants were instructed to inhibit their response to Fearful- and Happy-faces. Individual-differences in threat-sensitivity, reward-sensitivity and hypomanic-personality were assessed through self-report. Hypomanic-personality was assessed, given its relationship with reward-sensitivity and relevance to mood-disorder symptoms. Concerning cognitive-control, individuals with elevated threat-sensitivity displayed more-negative N2s to Happy-NoGo (relative to Fearful-NoGo) faces, whereas both individuals with elevated reward-sensitivity and hypomanic-personality displayed more-negative N2s to Fearful-NoGo (relative to Happy-NoGo) faces. Accordingly, when cognitive-control is required (during Go/NoGo), a mismatch between one's temperament and the valence of the NoGo-stimulus elevates detection of the need for cognitive-control. Conversely, the modulation of attentional-processing was specific to threat-sensitivity, as there was no relationship between either reward-sensitivity or hypomanic-personality and attentional-processing. Elevated threat-sensitivity was associated with enhanced early (P2s) and later (P3s) attentional-processing to Fearful-NoGo (relative to Happy-NoGo) faces. These latter findings support the negative attentional-bias model relating elevated threat-sensitivity with attentional-biases toward negative-stimuli and away from positive-stimuli. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  7. 49 CFR 1544.303 - Bomb or air piracy threats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Bomb or air piracy threats. 1544.303 Section 1544... AND COMMERCIAL OPERATORS Threat and Threat Response § 1544.303 Bomb or air piracy threats. (a) Flight.... (d) Notification. Upon receipt of any bomb threat against the security of a flight or facility, or...

  8. Stereotype threat affects financial decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carr, Priyanka B; Steele, Claude M

    2010-10-01

    The research presented in this article provides the first evidence that one's decision making can be influenced by concerns about stereotypes and the devaluation of one's identity. Many studies document gender differences in decision making, and often attribute these differences to innate and stable factors, such as biological and hormonal differences. In three studies, we found that stereotype threat affected decision making and led to gender differences in loss-aversion and risk-aversion behaviors. In Study 1, women subjected to stereotype threat in academic and business settings were more loss averse than both men and women who were not facing the threat of being viewed in light of negative stereotypes. We found no gender differences in loss-aversion behavior in the absence of stereotype threat. In Studies 2a and 2b, we found the same pattern of effects for risk-aversion behavior that we had observed for loss-aversion behavior. In addition, in Study 2b, ego depletion mediated the effects of stereotype threat on women's decision making. These results suggest that individuals' decision making can be influenced by stereotype concerns.

  9. Recall of threat material is modulated by self or other referencing in people with high or low levels of non-clinical paranoia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greer, J; Smailes, D; Spencer, H; Freeston, M; Dudley, R

    2016-03-01

    Biased processing of negatively valenced, and particularly threat-related material plays an important role in the development of paranoid thinking. This has been demonstrated by superior memory for threat-related information in patients with persecutory delusions and in non-clinical paranoia-prone participants. This study examined how emotional material was recalled having been encoded in relation to one self or to another person, in people high or low in paranoid ideation. It was predicted that people high in paranoia would recall more threat related material about others than people low in paranoia owing to being particularly alert to threats from other people. Participants who reported high (N = 30) or low (N = 30) levels of sub-clinical paranoid thinking were presented with a series of threat-related and positive words and were asked to process them in terms of the self, or in terms of a fictional character. As predicted, when words were processed in terms of another person, the high paranoia group recalled more threat-related words than positive words, but when words had been processed in terms of the self, recall of threat-related and positive words did not differ. In contrast, there was no interaction between word-valence and referent in the low paranoia group. These findings are drawn from an analogue sample. Replication in a sample of clinical participants who report persecutory delusions is required. People high in sub-clinical paranoid ideation recalled threat preferentially in relation to other people. Such information processing biases may help understand the development and maintenance of persecutory beliefs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Cyber threats within civil aviation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heitner, Kerri A.

    Existing security policies in civil aviation do not adequately protect against evolving cyber threats. Cybersecurity has been recognized as a top priority among some aviation industry leaders. Heightened concerns regarding cyber threats and vulnerabilities surround components utilized in compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Next Generation Air Transportation (NextGen) implementation. Automated Dependent Surveillance-B (ADS-B) and Electronic Flight Bags (EFB) have both been exploited through the research of experienced computer security professionals. Civil aviation is essential to international infrastructure and if its critical assets were compromised, it could pose a great risk to public safety and financial infrastructure. The purpose of this research was to raise awareness of aircraft system vulnerabilities in order to provoke change among current national and international cybersecurity policies, procedures and standards. Although the education of cyber threats is increasing in the aviation industry, there is not enough urgency when creating cybersecurity policies. This project intended to answer the following questions: What are the cyber threats to ADS-B of an aircraft in-flight? What are the cyber threats to EFB? What is the aviation industry's response to the issue of cybersecurity and in-flight safety? ADS-B remains unencrypted while the FAA's mandate to implement this system is rapidly approaching. The cyber threat of both portable and non-portable EFB's have received increased publicity, however, airlines are not responding quick enough (if at all) to create policies for the use of these devices. Collectively, the aviation industry is not being proactive enough to protect its aircraft or airport network systems. That is not to say there are not leaders in cybersecurity advancement. These proactive organizations must set the standard for the future to better protect society and it's most reliable form of transportation.

  11. Descriptive Analysis and Strategic Options to Defeat Commodity-Based Threat Financing Methodologies Related to Gold

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-09-01

    auditing firms. 14. SUBJECT TERMS Counter threat finance, commodity-based money laundering , terrorist financing, social network analysis, bright...51 2. Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering ................................52 3. Caribbean Financial Action Task Force...53 4. Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism

  12. Authoritarian reactions to terrorist threat: who is being threatened, the Me or the We?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asbrock, Frank; Fritsche, Immo

    2013-01-01

    Endorsement of authoritarian attitudes has been observed to increase under conditions of terrorist threat. However, it is not clear whether this effect is a genuine response to perceptions of personal or collective threat. We investigated this question in two experiments using German samples. In the first experiment (N = 144), both general and specific authoritarian tendencies increased after asking people to imagine that they were personally affected by terrorism. No such effect occurred when they were made to think about Germany as a whole being affected by terrorism. This finding was replicated and extended in a second experiment (N = 99), in which personal and collective threat were manipulated orthogonally. Authoritarian and ethnocentric (ingroup bias) reactions occurred only for people highly identified with their national ingroup under personal threat, indicating that authoritarian responses may operate as a group-level coping strategy for a threat to the personal self. Again, we found no effects for collective threat. In both studies, authoritarianism mediated the effects of personal threat on more specific authoritarian and ethnocentric reactions. These results suggest that the effects of terrorist threat on authoritarianism can, at least in part, be attributed to a sense of personal insecurity, raised under conditions of terrorist threat. We discuss the present findings with regard to basic sociomotivational processes (e.g., group-based control restoration, terror management) and how these may relate to recent models of authoritarianism.

  13. Crystal Structure of the Receptor-Binding Domain of Botulinum Neurotoxin Type HA, Also Known as Type FA or H

    OpenAIRE

    Yao, Guorui; Lam, Kwok-ho; Perry, Kay; Weisemann, Jasmin; Rummel, Andreas; Jin, Rongsheng

    2017-01-01

    Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), which have been exploited as cosmetics and muscle-disorder treatment medicines for decades, are well known for their extreme neurotoxicity to humans. They pose a potential bioterrorism threat because they cause botulism, a flaccid muscular paralysis-associated disease that requires immediate antitoxin treatment and intensive care over a long period of time. In addition to the existing seven established BoNT serotypes (BoNT/A–G), a new mosaic toxin type termed Bo...

  14. Threat Assessment in College Settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornell, Dewey

    2010-01-01

    In 2007, the landscape of campus safety changed abruptly with the Virginia Tech shooting and the subsequent wave of anonymous threats in colleges across the country. In response to the tragedy, the Virginia state legislature mandated that every public institution of higher education establish a "threat assessment team." Both the FBI and the U.S.…

  15. Emotionality and self-regulation, threat appraisal, and coping in children of divorce.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lengua, L J; Sandler, I N; West, S G; Wolchik, S A; Curran, P J

    1999-01-01

    A model of the effects of children's temperament (negative and positive emotionality, impulsivity and attention focusing) on post-divorce threat appraisals, coping (active and avoidant), and psychological symptoms (depression and conduct problems) was investigated. The study utilized a sample of 223 mothers and children (ages 9 to 12 years) who had experienced divorce within the last two years. Evidence was found of direct effects of child-report negative emotionality on children's threat perceptions and of child-report positive emotionality and impulsivity on children's coping. Indirect effects of negative emotionality on active and avoidant coping through threat appraisal were found. Direct effects of the temperament variables on symptoms were also found. Cross group analyses indicated that the models were robust to age differences, but gender differences were found in the relation between negative emotionality and depression. The results of this study indicate that temperament and threat appraisals are important predictors of children's post-divorce symptoms, and that temperament is a predictor of children's appraisal and coping process.

  16. How you perceive threat determines your behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orlando Fernandes Junior

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The prioritization of processing emotional stimuli usually produces deleterious effects on task performance when it distracts from a task. One common explanation is that brain resources are consumed by emotional stimuli, diverting resources away from executing the task. Viewing unpleasant stimuli also generates defensive reactions, and these responses may be at least partially responsible for the effect of the emotional modulation observed in various reaction time (RT paradigms. We investigated whether modulatory effects on RT vary if we presented threat stimuli to prompt different defensive responses. To trigger different responses, we manipulated threat perception by moving the direction of threatening stimuli. Threatening or neutral stimuli were presented as distractors during a bar orientation discrimination task. The results demonstrated that threat stimuli directed towards the observer produced a decrease in RT; in contrast, threat stimuli directed away from the observer produced an increase in RT, when compared to neutral stimuli. Accelerated RT during direct threat stimuli was attributed to increased motor preparation resulting from strong activation of the defense response cascade. In contrast, no direct threat stimuli likely activated the defense cascade, but less intensively, prompting immobility. Different threat stimuli produced varying effects, which was interpreted as evidence that the modulation of RT by emotional stimuli represents the summation of attentional and motivational effects. Additionally, participants who had been previously exposed to diverse types of violent crime were more strongly influenced by direct threat stimuli. In sum, our data support the concept that emotions are indeed action tendencies.

  17. The neurobiology of safety and threat learning in infancy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Debiec, Jacek; Sullivan, Regina M

    2017-09-01

    What an animal needs to learn to survive is altered dramatically as they change from dependence on the parent for protection to independence and reliance on self-defense. This transition occurs in most altricial animals, but our understanding of the behavioral neurobiology has mostly relied on the infant rat. The transformation from dependence to independence occurs over three weeks in pups and is accompanied by complex changes in responses to both natural and learned threats and the supporting neural circuitry. Overall, in early life, the threat system is quiescent and learning is biased towards acquiring attachment related behaviors to support attachment to the caregiver and proximity seeking. Caregiver-associated cues learned in infancy have the ability to provide a sense of safety throughout lifetime. This attachment/safety system is activated by learning involving presumably pleasurable stimuli (food, warmth) but also painful stimuli (tailpinch, moderate shock). At about the midway point to independence, pups begin to have access to the adult-like amygdala-dependent threat system and amygdala-dependent responses to natural dangers such as predator odors. However, pups have the ability to switch between the infant and adult-like system, which is controlled by maternal presence and modification of stress hormones. Specifically, if the pup is alone, it will learn fear but if with the mother it will learn attachment (10-15days of age). As pups begin to approach weaning, pups lose access to the attachment system and rely only on the amygdala-dependent threat system. However, pups learning system is complex and exhibits flexibility that enables the mother to override the control of the attachment circuit, since newborn pups may acquire threat responses from the mother expressing fear in their presence. Together, these data suggest that the development of pups' threat learning system is not only dependent upon maturation of the amygdala, but it is also exquisitely

  18. Bioterrorism and radiation. What to do? What research is needed?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coleman, C.N.; Tofilon, P.

    2003-01-01

    Radiological and nuclear terrorism has emerged as a major concern. Often included within the broad category of bioterrorism, the response to the intentional exposure of populations to radiation requires governmental agencies, law enforcement agencies, policy-makers, experts in radiation medicine and radiation biology and an educated citizenry. Emerging knowledge of normal tissue injury following radiation will provide important areas for research, as outlined in a recent Radiation Research Program (RRP) Workshop from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) (Stone HB, Rad Res 157:204- 223, 2002). Such research involves radiation biology and wound healing and may ultimately provide strategies for pre-exposure radioprotectors as well as post-exposure strategies to prevent serious normal tissue damage. Radiation in the Moderate Dose range, defined as 1-10 Gy, applies to radiological and nuclear terrorism and also to clinical radiation therapy. (RRP Moderate Dose Radiation Workshop, Coleman CN, Rad Res, in press 2003). New approaches such as Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) will expose more tissues to low doses of radiation. Strategies for developing agents for normal tissue targets (Tofilon). The successful application of radiotherapy as a cancer treatment modality is severely constrained by the risk for normal tissue injury. Because approximately half of all cancer patients receive radiation treatment, the ability to selectively protect normal tissue would be of obvious clinical benefit. In addition to cancer therapy, current geopolitical circumstances reinforce the need for generating agents that protect against the consequences of environmental radiation exposure, accidental or intentional. Currently, there are relatively few available agents with the potential to reduce or eliminate radiation-induced normal tissue injury after clinical and/or environmental exposure. A goal of the Radiation Research Program is to identify and develop novel radioprotectors

  19. Self-esteem modulates amygdala-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex connectivity in response to mortality threats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yanagisawa, Kuniaki; Abe, Nobuhito; Kashima, Emiko S; Nomura, Michio

    2016-03-01

    Reminders of death often elicit defensive responses in individuals, especially among those with low self-esteem. Although empirical evidence indicates that self-esteem serves as a buffer against mortality threats, the precise neural mechanism underlying this effect remains unknown. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test the hypothesis that self-esteem modulates neural responses to death-related stimuli, especially functional connectivity within the limbic-frontal circuitry, thereby affecting subsequent defensive reactions. As predicted, individuals with high self-esteem subjected to a mortality threat exhibited increased amygdala-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) connectivity during the processing of death-related stimuli compared with individuals who have low self-esteem. Further analysis revealed that stronger functional connectivity between the amygdala and the VLPFC predicted a subsequent decline in responding defensively to those who threaten one's beliefs. These results suggest that the amygdala-VLPFC interaction, which is modulated by self-esteem, can reduce the defensiveness caused by death-related stimuli, thereby providing a neural explanation for why individuals with high self-esteem exhibit less defensive reactions to mortality threats. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  20. The Psychosocial Experience of High School Girls Highly Susceptible to Stereotype Threat: A Phenomenological Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Picho, Katherine

    2016-01-01

    The author used phenomenology to explore the subjective experience of ninth-grade girls susceptible to mathematics-related stereotype threat in their authentic learning environments. The sample constituted students categorized as either having low or high susceptibility to stereotype threat (SST) enrolled in Honors mathematics classes at an urban…

  1. Information security practices emerging threats and perspectives

    CERN Document Server

    Awad, Ahmed; Woungang, Isaac

    2017-01-01

    This book introduces novel research targeting technical aspects of protecting information security and establishing trust in the digital space. New paradigms, and emerging threats and solutions are presented in topics such as application security and threat management; modern authentication paradigms; digital fraud detection; social engineering and insider threats; cyber threat intelligence; intrusion detection; behavioral biometrics recognition; hardware security analysis. The book presents both the important core and the specialized issues in the areas of protection, assurance, and trust in information security practice. It is intended to be a valuable resource and reference for researchers, instructors, students, scientists, engineers, managers, and industry practitioners. .

  2. Short-term serotonergic but not noradrenergic antidepressant administration reduces attentional vigilance to threat in healthy volunteers

    OpenAIRE

    Murphy, Susannah E; Yiend, Jenny; Lester, Kathryn J; Cowen, Philip J; Harmer, Catherine J

    2009-01-01

    Anxiety is associated with threat-related biases in information processing such as heightened attentional vigilance to potential threat. Such biases are an important focus of psychological treatments for anxiety disorders. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are effective in the treatment of a range of anxiety disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of an SSRI on the processing of threat in healthy volunteers. A selective noradrenergic reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), ...

  3. SIP threats detection system

    OpenAIRE

    Vozňák, Miroslav; Řezáč, Filip

    2010-01-01

    The paper deals with detection of threats in IP telephony, the authors developed a penetration testing system that is able to check up the level of protection from security threats in IP telephony. The SIP server is a key komponent of VoIP infrastructure and often becomes the aim of attacks and providers have to ensure the appropriate level of security. We have developed web-based penetration system which is able to check the SIP server if can face to the most common attacks.The d...

  4. Failure causes fear: the effect of self-esteem threat on death-anxiety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Routledge, Clay

    2012-01-01

    According to terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, 1986), self-esteem protects people from anxiety associated with the knowledge of certain mortality. A number of studies provide evidence consistent with this assertion, but no studies have experimentally examined the effect of threatened self-esteem on death-anxiety. In the current study, self-esteem was manipulated and death-anxiety measured. A self-esteem threat increased death-anxiety relative to a self-esteem boost and non-self threat control condition.

  5. Threats to information security in a highly organized system of the “Smart city”

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurcheeva, G. I.; Denisov, V. V.; Khvorostov, V. A.

    2017-01-01

    The article discusses issues related to comprehensive development and introduction of technologies such as “Smart city”. The urgency of accelerating the development of such highly organized systems, primarily in terms of reducing threats to information security, is emphasized in the paper. In accordance with authors’ analysis of the composition and structure of the threats to information security, “Accessibility”, “Integrity” and “Confidentiality” are highlighted. Violation of any of them leads to harmful effects on the information and other system resources. The protection of “Accessibility” mobilizes one third of all efforts to ensure information security that must be taken into account when allocating protective actions. The threats associated with failure of the supporting infrastructure are also significantly reduced. But the threats associated with failures of the system itself and failures of users are clearly increasing. There is a high level of society and production informatization, and the threats to information security are changing accordingly.

  6. Altered brain activation and connectivity during anticipation of uncertain threat in trait anxiety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geng, Haiyang; Wang, Yi; Gu, Ruolei; Luo, Yue-Jia; Xu, Pengfei; Huang, Yuxia; Li, Xuebing

    2018-06-08

    In the research field of anxiety, previous studies generally focus on emotional responses following threat. A recent model of anxiety proposes that altered anticipation prior to uncertain threat is related with the development of anxiety. Behavioral findings have built the relationship between anxiety and distinct anticipatory processes including attention, estimation of threat, and emotional responses. However, few studies have characterized the brain organization underlying anticipation of uncertain threat and its role in anxiety. In the present study, we used an emotional anticipation paradigm with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the aforementioned topics by employing brain activation and general psychophysiological interactions (gPPI) analysis. In the activation analysis, we found that high trait anxious individuals showed significantly increased activation in the thalamus, middle temporal gyrus (MTG), and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), as well as decreased activation in the precuneus, during anticipation of uncertain threat compared to the certain condition. In the gPPI analysis, the key regions including the amygdala, dmPFC, and precuneus showed altered connections with distributed brain areas including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), inferior parietal sulcus (IPS), insula, para-hippocampus gyrus (PHA), thalamus, and MTG involved in anticipation of uncertain threat in anxious individuals. Taken together, our findings indicate that during the anticipation of uncertain threat, anxious individuals showed altered activations and functional connectivity in widely distributed brain areas, which may be critical for abnormal perception, estimation, and emotion reactions during the anticipation of uncertain threat. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. The nuclear threat and the Nuclear Threat Initiative

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Curtis, Charles

    2001-01-01

    Full text: President and chief operating officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), was invited by the IAEA Director General to speak about NTI and its mission at the IAEA Safeguards Symposium. Established by CNN founder Ted Turner and former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, NTI is a charitable organization working to strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. The foundation is global, concentrating not just on the United States, Russia, and other nations of the former Soviet Union, but also on those regions of greatest proliferation concern in Asia and the Middle East. NTI is working to close what it perceives as an increasingly dangerous gap between the threat from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and the global response. NTI is supported by a pledge from Mr. Turner of at least $250 million over five years, among the largest sums any private individual has ever invested in these security issues. NTI's Board of Directors, an international team of experienced and knowledgeable experts, determines the overall direction of the foundation. (author)

  8. Airborne Particulate Threat Assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Patrick Treado; Oksana Klueva; Jeffrey Beckstead

    2008-12-31

    Aerosol threat detection requires the ability to discern between threat agents and ambient background particulate matter (PM) encountered in the environment. To date, Raman imaging technology has been demonstrated as an effective strategy for the assessment of threat agents in the presence of specific, complex backgrounds. Expanding our understanding of the composition of ambient particulate matter background will improve the overall performance of Raman Chemical Imaging (RCI) detection strategies for the autonomous detection of airborne chemical and biological hazards. Improving RCI detection performance is strategic due to its potential to become a widely exploited detection approach by several U.S. government agencies. To improve the understanding of the ambient PM background with subsequent improvement in Raman threat detection capability, ChemImage undertook the Airborne Particulate Threat Assessment (APTA) Project in 2005-2008 through a collaborative effort with the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), under cooperative agreement number DE-FC26-05NT42594. During Phase 1 of the program, a novel PM classification based on molecular composition was developed based on a comprehensive review of the scientific literature. In addition, testing protocols were developed for ambient PM characterization. A signature database was developed based on a variety of microanalytical techniques, including scanning electron microscopy, FT-IR microspectroscopy, optical microscopy, fluorescence and Raman chemical imaging techniques. An automated particle integrated collector and detector (APICD) prototype was developed for automated collection, deposition and detection of biothreat agents in background PM. During Phase 2 of the program, ChemImage continued to refine the understanding of ambient background composition. Additionally, ChemImage enhanced the APICD to provide improved autonomy, sensitivity and specificity. Deliverables included a Final Report detailing our

  9. Spatial Pattern Determination of Biodiversity Threats at Landscape Level (Case Study: Golestan Province

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Mirzaei

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Mapping spatial patterns of potential biodiversity threats is one of the important steps for effective conservation planning and activities. To determine the spatial patterns of threats in Golestan province, 12 criteria in four main groups including structural (fractal coefficient of perimeter, circularity ratio of area, average slope, compositional aspects of biodiversity (presence of species at risk, non-biological threats (distance to city, distance to village, distance to road, distance to infrastructure, distance to agricultural land, soil pollution, risk of fire and isolation (Nearest Neighbor Index were used. These data layers were digitized in GIS environment and were weighted through Analytical Hierarchy Process. A weighted linear combination was then used to map the spatial pattern of biodiversity threats in the province. Compositional aspect (0.59, non-biological threats (0.23, isolation (0.11, and structural aspect (0.07 were relatively weighted in the order of importance. Central parts of the province and patches in the northern and southern parts were recognized to be more exposed to biodiversity threats. The central parts of the province were mostly threatened by urban, industrial, road and agricultural development, whereas the northern and southern parts were recognized as areas of conservation importance having a variety of threatened birds.

  10. Legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang Yenchiang

    2009-01-01

    This paper examines international treaties in relation to the threat or use of nuclear weapons including the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. It can be concluded that the effect of the aforesaid international treaties is still in doubt without explicit enforcement mechanisms and penalty for non-compliance. This paper also reviews the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion on the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons and comments that a clear explanation on the legality of use of nuclear weapons in 'extreme circumstances of self-defence' is required. Examples from current state practice in relation to nuclear non-proliferation efforts are also provided, with special attention to China, North Korea and Iran. This paper suggests that China as a leader of developing countries should extend its efforts on nuclear non-proliferation and conduct communication between North Korea and Iran and other nuclear weapons states to reduce or prohibit nuclear weapons.

  11. Microbial Threats to Health. Emerging Infections: Microbial Threats to Health in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-10-01

    and HIV in- fection. Although in the United States, HIV infection occurs predominately in male homosexuals and intravenous substance abusers, the rate...Davis. W. A., J. G. Kane, and V. G. Garagusi. 1978. Human Aerononas infections : a review of the literature and a case report of endocarditis ...AD-A257 841 AD____ GRANT NO: DAMD17-90-Z-0047 TITLE: MICROBIAL THREATS TO HEALTH SUBTITLE: REmerging Infections - Microbial Threats to Health in the

  12. Perceived primal threat of mental illness and recovery: The mediating role of self-stigma and self-empowerment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ruirui; Mak, Winnie W S; Chan, Randolph C H

    2017-01-01

    Although people in recovery from mental illness can continue to live a personally meaningful life despite their mental illness, their perception of mental illness as being a threat to their basic needs may influence the way they view themselves as a person with mental illness and their sense of mastery over their condition. The present study explored the effects of perceived primal threat on the recovery of people with mental illness, considering the mediating roles of self-stigma and self-empowerment. Latent variable structural equation modeling was conducted among 376 individuals with mental illness in Hong Kong. The model had excellent fit to the data (χ2 = 123.96, df = 60, χ2/df = 2.07, comparative fit index [CFI] = .98, Tucker-Lewis index [TLI] = .97, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .05, standardized root mean squared residual [SRMR] = .04). The influence of perceived primal threat on recovery was mediated by self-stigma and self-empowerment. Specifically, perceived primal threat was associated positively with self-stigma, which was negatively related to recovery; in contrast, it was negatively related to self-empowerment, which was positively related to recovery. This study adds to the understanding of the mechanism underlying the influence of perceived primal threat on recovery and suggests that perceived primal threat should be considered in the recovery process among people with mental illness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  13. The DANGERTOME Personal Risk Threat Assessment Scale: An Instrument to Help Aid Immediate Threat Assessment for Counselors, Faculty, and Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juhnke, Gerald A.

    2010-01-01

    Threats of violence are not uncommon to counselors, faculty, or teachers. Each must be taken seriously, quickly analyzed, and safety procedures implemented. Yet, there exists a paucity of brief, face-to-face, assessments designed to aid threat assessment. To address this paucity, the author created The DANGERTOME Personal Risk Threat Assessment…

  14. Hypersonic Threats to the Homeland

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-03-28

    ADAM) system . This ground based system protects 7 soldiers against rocket threats and utilizes a 10 kW laser with an effective range out to...early warning systems for response to hypersonic threats . The integration of directed energy defensive systems with Space Based Infrared Sensors (SBIRS...and early warning radars already in operation will save costs. By capitalizing on Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system capabilities

  15. Evaluative threat and ambulatory blood pressure: cardiovascular effects of social stress in daily experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Timothy W; Birmingham, Wendy; Uchino, Bert N

    2012-11-01

    Physiological effects of social evaluation are central in models of psychosocial influences on physical health. Experimental manipulations of evaluative threat evoke substantial cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses in laboratory studies, but only preliminary evidence is available regarding naturally occurring evaluative threats in daily life. In such nonexperimental ambulatory studies, it is essential to distinguish effects of evaluative threat from related constructs known to alter stress, such as ability perceptions and concerns about appearance. 94 married, working couples (mean age 29.2 years) completed a 1-day (8 a.m. to 10 p.m.) ambulatory blood pressure protocol with random interval-contingent measurements using a Suntech monitor and Palm Pilot-based measures of control variables and momentary experiences of social-evaluative threat, concerns about appearance, and perceived ability. In hierarchical analyses for couples and multiple measurement occasions (Proc Mixed; SAS) and controlling individual differences (BMI, age, income) and potential confounds (e.g., posture, activity), higher reports of social-evaluative threat were associated with higher concurrent systolic (estimate = .87, SE = .34) and diastolic blood pressure (estimate = 1.06; SE = .26), both p social-evaluative threat remained significant when perceived ability and appearance concerns were controlled. Naturally occurring social-evaluative threat during daily activity is associated with increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Given associations between ambulatory blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease, the findings support conceptual models of threats to the social self as a potentially important influence on physical health.

  16. Gender, Stereotype Threat and Mathematics Test Scores

    OpenAIRE

    Ming Tsui; Xiao Y. Xu; Edmond Venator

    2011-01-01

    Problem statement: Stereotype threat has repeatedly been shown to depress womens scores on difficult math tests. An attempt to replicate these findings in China found no support for the stereotype threat hypothesis. Our math test was characterized as being personally important for the student participants, an atypical condition in most stereotype threat laboratory research. Approach: To evaluate the effects of this personal demand, we conducted three experiments. Results: ...

  17. Dysfunctional freezing responses to approaching stimuli in persons with a looming cognitive style for physical threats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John H. Riskind

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Immobilizing freezing responses are associated with anxiety and may be etiologically related to several anxiety disorders. Although recent studies have sought to investigate the underlying mechanisms in freezing responses that are so problematic in many forms of anxiety, cognitive factors related to anxiety have not been investigated. This study was designed to investigate the potential moderating role of a well-documented cognitive vulnerability to anxiety, the Looming Cognitive Style (i.e., LCS; Riskind et al., 2000, which assesses the extent to which individuals tend to routinely interpret ambiguous threats (e.g., physical or social threats in a biased manner as approaching. We assessed participants’ Reaction Times (RTs when they made judgments about images of animals that differed in threat valence (threat or neutral and motion direction (approach or recede. As expected, LCS for concerns about the approach of physical dangers appeared to moderate freeze reactions. Individuals who were high on this LCS factor tended to generally exhibit a freeze-response (slower RTs and this was independent of the threat valence or motion direction of the animals. These general freezing reactions were in stark contrast to those of individuals who were low on the LCS factor for concerns about the approach of physical dangers. These participants tended to exhibit more selective and functional freezing responses that occurred only to threatening animals with approach motion; they did not exhibit freezing to neutral stimuli or any stimuli with receding motion. These findings did not appear to be explicable by a general slowing of RTs for the participants with high LCS. Moreover, the LCS factor for concerns about social threats (such as rejection or embarrassment was not related to differences in freezing; there was also no additional relationship of freezing to behavioral inhibition scores on the Behavioral Inhibition System and the Behavioral Activation System

  18. Conservatism and the neural circuitry of threat: economic conservatism predicts greater amygdala–BNST connectivity during periods of threat vs safety

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muftuler, L Tugan; Larson, Christine L

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Political conservatism is associated with an increased negativity bias, including increased attention and reactivity toward negative and threatening stimuli. Although the human amygdala has been implicated in the response to threatening stimuli, no studies to date have investigated whether conservatism is associated with altered amygdala function toward threat. Furthermore, although an influential theory posits that connectivity between the amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is important in initiating the response to sustained or uncertain threat, whether individual differences in conservatism modulate this connectivity is unknown. To test whether conservatism is associated with increased reactivity in neural threat circuitry, we measured participants’ self-reported social and economic conservatism and asked them to complete high-resolution fMRI scans while under threat of an unpredictable shock and while safe. We found that economic conservatism predicted greater connectivity between the BNST and a cluster of voxels in the left amygdala during threat vs safety. These results suggest that increased amygdala–BNST connectivity during threat may be a key neural correlate of the enhanced negativity bias found in conservatism. PMID:29126127

  19. Balance of threat: The domestic insecurity of Vladimir Putin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Person

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available During the 17 years that Vladimir Putin has ruled Russia, the country has become increasingly authoritarian. However, I argue that this rollback of democracy has not been motivated by Putin's blind desire to maximize his political power, as many have assumed. Rather, his anti-democratic policies have responded to perceived specific threats to his control. In applying theories originally developed in the field of international relations to individual leaders, we can understand Putin as a “defensive realist” who balances against threats in order to maintain security rather than maximize power. This is an essential distinction that produces important conclusions about what motives lie behind the increasingly authoritarian character of the Russian state and gives insights into the possible future trajectory of the regime.

  20. Nuclear Smuggling and Threats to Lithuanian Security

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Murauskaitė Eglė

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The article explores threats related to illicit trafficking of radioactive materials and dual-use goods applicable in state level nuclear programs, actualizing the global trends for the Baltic region. The article points to Eastern Europe’s changing risk profile in this respect, as increasing penetration of Russian criminal groups inside Ukraine and the destabilized situations in neighboring countries create an environment where the risk of nuclear smuggling is on the rise. Criminal entities can be seen forming new bonds, with trafficking routes intersecting and zones of influence shifting - consequently, an unusual level of criminal involvement in nuclear smuggling is observed, alongside a geographic shift of smuggling patterns. In addition, states seeking materials and technologies for their military programs have taken a notable interest in this region as a way of circumventing international transit regulations. The article looks at the likely implications of these new nuclear smuggling trends for the security of the Baltic states. It suggests that Lithuania may soon be facing a relatively new threat, and one that it is ill-prepared to counter. The article discusses the risk factors and indicators to watch before that risk becomes reality, and offers ways for Lithuania to contribute to addressing these increasingly acute problems on a regional level.

  1. Threats and opportunities for post-closure development in dolomitic ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Mining-related impacts such as large-scale land degradation associated with dewatering of karstic aquifers and widespread pollution of surface water and groundwater systems are discussed. Based on this, potential threats and opportunities for post-mining scenarios are identified in a series of 3 papers. Part 1 of this series ...

  2. Motivational indicators of protective behaviour in response to urban water shortage threat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mankad, Aditi; Greenhill, Murni; Tucker, David; Tapsuwan, Sorada

    2013-05-01

    The present study examined the role of protection motivation variables in predicting rainwater tank adoption among urban householders. A regression analysis found that subjective knowledge, threat appraisal, response efficacy, response costs, subjective norms and social norms significantly predicted adaptive behavioural intentions (F(6, 399) = 50.769, p accounted for 43% of the variance in intentions to install a rainwater tank as a protective measure against future water shortages. Results further indicated that several variables uniquely contributed to the prediction of rainwater tank adoption (listed in order of relative contribution: response efficacy, threat appraisal, response costs, subjective knowledge and subjective norms). This suggests that people who perceive there is a real water shortage threat, and believe that rainwater tanks are effective in relieving the threat and require minimal or manageable effort to obtain, are more likely to install a tank on their property as a protective measure. Implications of these results are discussed from a research and policy perspective. Recommendations for future motivational research in the area of urban decentralised system acceptance and adoption are presented.

  3. 49 CFR 1546.301 - Bomb or air piracy threats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Bomb or air piracy threats. 1546.301 Section 1546... Threat Response § 1546.301 Bomb or air piracy threats. No foreign air carrier may land or take off an airplane in the United States after receiving a bomb or air piracy threat against that airplane, unless the...

  4. Workplace violence investigations and activation of the threat management teams in a multinational corporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peek-Asa, Corinne; Casteel, Carri; Rugala, Eugene; Romano, Steve; Ramirez, Marizen

    2013-11-01

    We examined threat management investigations conducted by a large multinational company. The company provided a database, removing any identifiers, of investigations by the corporate Threat Management Teams in 2009 and 2010. Rates were calculated using worker population data. During the 2-year study period, the company investigated threat management cases at a rate of 13.9 per 10,000 employees per year. Cases that activated a Threat Management Team were more likely to lead to corrective action (odds ratio = 2.0; 95% confidence interval = 1.08 to 3.87) and referral to the Employee Assistance Program (odds ratio = 4.8; 95% confidence interval = 3.00 to 7.77), but were not related to likelihood of termination. When the multidisciplinary teams were involved, cases were more likely to result in some type of action but were not more likely to lead to termination.

  5. Epidemic typhus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bechah, Yassina; Capo, Christian; Mege, Jean-Louis; Raoult, Didier

    2008-07-01

    Epidemic typhus is transmitted to human beings by the body louse Pediculus humanus corporis. The disease is still considered a major threat by public-health authorities, despite the efficacy of antibiotics, because poor sanitary conditions are conducive to louse proliferation. Until recently, Rickettsia prowazekii, the causal agent, was thought to be confined to human beings and their body lice. Since 1975, R prowazekii infection in human beings has been related to contact with the flying squirrel Glaucomys volans in the USA. Moreover, Brill-Zinsser disease, a relapsed form of epidemic typhus that appears as sporadic cases many years after the initial infection, is unrelated to louse infestation. Stress or a waning immune system are likely to reactivate this earlier persistent infection, which could be the source of new epidemics when conditions facilitate louse infestation. Finally, R prowazekii is a potential category B bioterrorism agent, because it is stable in dried louse faeces and can be transmitted through aerosols. An increased understanding of the pathogenesis of epidemic typhus may be useful for protection against this bacterial threat.

  6. The emerging threat of domestic terrorism: a systematic review of evolving needs, threats, and opportunities

    OpenAIRE

    Wright, Lynn M.

    2014-01-01

    Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited The domestic terrorist threat in the United States is active and complex, with ongoing threats from violent left- and right-wing extremist groups, and radicalization and recruitment efforts by international terrorist groups. In response, domestic intelligence agencies, at all levels of government, have instituted reforms and improvements since 9/11, but there are still gaps in information-sharing and community engagement. For example, ...

  7. THE THREATS TO THE ECONOMIC SAFETY OF STAVROPOL REGION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I.V. Novikova

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with defining of threats to the economic safety of Stavropol region in food, manufacturing, infrastructural, financial, social and innovative industries of the region. Among these threats besides those relating to the Russian Federation on the whole there are also specific regional threats. They are: extremis; resource depletion; uncivilized redistribution of property; the reduction of tax potential; the destruction of the regional agro-industrial sector; the depletion of agricultural (arable land; the low level of competitiveness of processing industries; the breakdown of social welfare in rural areas; the price and tariff increases exceeding the population income growth; the increasing differentiation of population income and its poverty level; the high level of unemployment; the decline in material and technical and financial opportunities of businesses in procedure implementation and innovation mastering; the drain on workers from the region and the dismantling of sector research; the drop in all kinds of financing; the decline of research and development activities efficiency; regular lowering of domestic innovative markets; the low level of innovative infrastructure development; the availability of high investment risks; low effectiveness of carried out scientific and technological programmers and projects.

  8. Neural correlates of threat perception: neural equivalence of conspecific and heterospecific mobbing calls is learned.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marc T Avey

    Full Text Available Songbird auditory areas (i.e., CMM and NCM are preferentially activated to playback of conspecific vocalizations relative to heterospecific and arbitrary noise. Here, we asked if the neural response to auditory stimulation is not simply preferential for conspecific vocalizations but also for the information conveyed by the vocalization. Black-capped chickadees use their chick-a-dee mobbing call to recruit conspecifics and other avian species to mob perched predators. Mobbing calls produced in response to smaller, higher-threat predators contain more "D" notes compared to those produced in response to larger, lower-threat predators and thus convey the degree of threat of predators. We specifically asked whether the neural response varies with the degree of threat conveyed by the mobbing calls of chickadees and whether the neural response is the same for actual predator calls that correspond to the degree of threat of the chickadee mobbing calls. Our results demonstrate that, as degree of threat increases in conspecific chickadee mobbing calls, there is a corresponding increase in immediate early gene (IEG expression in telencephalic auditory areas. We also demonstrate that as the degree of threat increases for the heterospecific predator, there is a corresponding increase in IEG expression in the auditory areas. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the amount IEG expression between conspecific mobbing calls or heterospecific predator calls that were the same degree of threat. In a second experiment, using hand-reared chickadees without predator experience, we found more IEG expression in response to mobbing calls than corresponding predator calls, indicating that degree of threat is learned. Our results demonstrate that degree of threat corresponds to neural activity in the auditory areas and that threat can be conveyed by different species signals and that these signals must be learned.

  9. Neural Correlates of Threat Perception: Neural Equivalence of Conspecific and Heterospecific Mobbing Calls Is Learned

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avey, Marc T.; Hoeschele, Marisa; Moscicki, Michele K.; Bloomfield, Laurie L.; Sturdy, Christopher B.

    2011-01-01

    Songbird auditory areas (i.e., CMM and NCM) are preferentially activated to playback of conspecific vocalizations relative to heterospecific and arbitrary noise [1]–[2]. Here, we asked if the neural response to auditory stimulation is not simply preferential for conspecific vocalizations but also for the information conveyed by the vocalization. Black-capped chickadees use their chick-a-dee mobbing call to recruit conspecifics and other avian species to mob perched predators [3]. Mobbing calls produced in response to smaller, higher-threat predators contain more “D” notes compared to those produced in response to larger, lower-threat predators and thus convey the degree of threat of predators [4]. We specifically asked whether the neural response varies with the degree of threat conveyed by the mobbing calls of chickadees and whether the neural response is the same for actual predator calls that correspond to the degree of threat of the chickadee mobbing calls. Our results demonstrate that, as degree of threat increases in conspecific chickadee mobbing calls, there is a corresponding increase in immediate early gene (IEG) expression in telencephalic auditory areas. We also demonstrate that as the degree of threat increases for the heterospecific predator, there is a corresponding increase in IEG expression in the auditory areas. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the amount IEG expression between conspecific mobbing calls or heterospecific predator calls that were the same degree of threat. In a second experiment, using hand-reared chickadees without predator experience, we found more IEG expression in response to mobbing calls than corresponding predator calls, indicating that degree of threat is learned. Our results demonstrate that degree of threat corresponds to neural activity in the auditory areas and that threat can be conveyed by different species signals and that these signals must be learned. PMID:21909363

  10. Neural correlates of threat perception: neural equivalence of conspecific and heterospecific mobbing calls is learned.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avey, Marc T; Hoeschele, Marisa; Moscicki, Michele K; Bloomfield, Laurie L; Sturdy, Christopher B

    2011-01-01

    Songbird auditory areas (i.e., CMM and NCM) are preferentially activated to playback of conspecific vocalizations relative to heterospecific and arbitrary noise. Here, we asked if the neural response to auditory stimulation is not simply preferential for conspecific vocalizations but also for the information conveyed by the vocalization. Black-capped chickadees use their chick-a-dee mobbing call to recruit conspecifics and other avian species to mob perched predators. Mobbing calls produced in response to smaller, higher-threat predators contain more "D" notes compared to those produced in response to larger, lower-threat predators and thus convey the degree of threat of predators. We specifically asked whether the neural response varies with the degree of threat conveyed by the mobbing calls of chickadees and whether the neural response is the same for actual predator calls that correspond to the degree of threat of the chickadee mobbing calls. Our results demonstrate that, as degree of threat increases in conspecific chickadee mobbing calls, there is a corresponding increase in immediate early gene (IEG) expression in telencephalic auditory areas. We also demonstrate that as the degree of threat increases for the heterospecific predator, there is a corresponding increase in IEG expression in the auditory areas. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the amount IEG expression between conspecific mobbing calls or heterospecific predator calls that were the same degree of threat. In a second experiment, using hand-reared chickadees without predator experience, we found more IEG expression in response to mobbing calls than corresponding predator calls, indicating that degree of threat is learned. Our results demonstrate that degree of threat corresponds to neural activity in the auditory areas and that threat can be conveyed by different species signals and that these signals must be learned.

  11. Persistent and novel threats to the biodiversity of Kazakhstan’s steppes and semi-deserts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamp, Johannes; Koshkin, Maxim A; Bragina, Tatyana M; Katzner, Todd E.; Milner-Gulland, E J; Schreiber, Dagmar; Sheldon, Robert; Shmalenko, Alyona; Smelansky, Ilya; Terraube, Julien; Urazaliev, Ruslan

    2016-01-01

    Temperate grasslands have suffered disproportionally from conversion to cropland, degradation and fragmentation. A large proportion of the world’s remaining near-natural grassland is situated in Kazakhstan. We aimed to assess current and emerging threats to steppe and semi-desert biodiversity in Kazakhstan and evaluate conservation research priorities. We conducted a horizon-scanning exercise among conservationists from academia and practice. We first compiled a list of 45 potential threats. These were then ranked by the survey participants according to their perceived severity, the need for research on them, and their novelty. The highest-ranked threats were related to changes in land use (leading to habitat loss and deterioration), direct persecution of wildlife, and rapid infrastructure development due to economic and population growth. Research needs were identified largely in the same areas, and the mean scores of threat severity and research need were highly correlated. Novel threats comprised habitat loss by photovoltaic and wind power stations, climate change and changes in agriculture such as the introduction of biofuels. However, novelty was not correlated with threat severity or research priority, suggesting that the most severe threats are the established ones. Important goals towards more effective steppe and semi-desert conservation in Kazakhstan include more cross-sector collaboration (e.g. by involving stakeholders in conservation and agriculture), greater allocation of funds to under-staffed areas (e.g. protected area management), better representativeness and complementarity in the protected area system and enhanced data collection for wildlife monitoring and threat assessments (including the use of citizen-science databases).

  12. Conservatism and the neural circuitry of threat: economic conservatism predicts greater amygdala-BNST connectivity during periods of threat vs safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedersen, Walker S; Muftuler, L Tugan; Larson, Christine L

    2018-01-01

    Political conservatism is associated with an increased negativity bias, including increased attention and reactivity toward negative and threatening stimuli. Although the human amygdala has been implicated in the response to threatening stimuli, no studies to date have investigated whether conservatism is associated with altered amygdala function toward threat. Furthermore, although an influential theory posits that connectivity between the amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is important in initiating the response to sustained or uncertain threat, whether individual differences in conservatism modulate this connectivity is unknown. To test whether conservatism is associated with increased reactivity in neural threat circuitry, we measured participants' self-reported social and economic conservatism and asked them to complete high-resolution fMRI scans while under threat of an unpredictable shock and while safe. We found that economic conservatism predicted greater connectivity between the BNST and a cluster of voxels in the left amygdala during threat vs safety. These results suggest that increased amygdala-BNST connectivity during threat may be a key neural correlate of the enhanced negativity bias found in conservatism. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

  13. Patterns and biases of climate change threats in the IUCN Red List.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trull, Nicholas; Böhm, Monika; Carr, Jamie

    2018-02-01

    International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments rely on published data and expert inputs, and biases can be introduced where underlying definitions and concepts are ambiguous. Consideration of climate change threat is no exception, and recently numerous approaches to assessing the threat of climate change to species have been developed. We explored IUCN Red List assessments of amphibians and birds to determine whether species listed as threatened by climate change display distinct patterns in terms of habitat occupied and additional nonclimatic threats faced. We compared IUCN Red List data with a published data set of species' biological and ecological traits believed to infer high vulnerability to climate change and determined whether distributions of climate change-threatened species on the IUCN Red List concur with those of climate change-threatened species identified with the trait-based approach and whether species possessing these traits are more likely to have climate change listed as a threat on the IUCN Red List. Species in some ecosystems (e.g., grassland, shrubland) and subject to particular threats (e.g., invasive species) were more likely to have climate change as a listed threat. Geographical patterns of climate change-threatened amphibians and birds on the IUCN Red List were incongruent with patterns of global species richness and patterns identified using trait-based approaches. Certain traits were linked to increases or decreases in the likelihood of a species being threatened by climate change. Broad temperature tolerance of a species was consistently related to an increased likelihood of climate change threat, indicating counterintuitive relationships in IUCN assessments. To improve the robustness of species assessments of the vulnerability or extinction risk associated with climate change, we suggest IUCN adopt a more cohesive approach whereby specific traits highlighted by our results are considered in Red List

  14. Affirmative Action and Stereotype Threat

    OpenAIRE

    Cohen, Alma

    2015-01-01

    This paper provides experimental evidence on the effect of affirmative action (AA). In particular, we investigate whether affirmative action has a ”stereotype threat effect” – that is, whether AA cues a negative stereotype that leads individuals to conform to the stereotype and adversely affects their performance. Stereotype threat has been shown in the literature to be potentially significant for individuals who identify strongly with the domain of the stereotype and who engage in complex st...

  15. Climatic threats on the worldwide peace

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valantin, J.M.

    2005-06-01

    This book approaches the climatic change under the international relation aspect. It recalls the progressive growth of the collective awareness about the threats of human activities on Earth's climate and analyzes more particularly the policies adopted by the US, UK and the European Union. It evokes also the problems encountered by the developing countries, the energy needs of which are continuously increasing. Finally, it puts the question of the capacity of the international community to solve, by negotiations and not by conflicts, the tensions generated by environmental crises. (J.S.)

  16. Threats to the National Economic Security of Ukraine at the Current Stage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuharskaya Natalia A.

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available It is substantiated that the most important factor of the national economic security of the country is to match both the economic and the industrial relations systems to the economic development of the country. The article provides detailed consideration of the particularities of occurrence of threats to the national economic security of Ukraine by allocating seven major structural blocks, in which threats were not overcome during the years of independence, and some of them even became intensified: 1 institutional sphere; 2 social sphere; 3 financial sphere; 4 shadowing and corruptness of economy; 5 a high level of physical wear and tear of fixed assets and of the production infrastructure; 6 de-industrialization of economy; 7 innovative development. The main components of the national economic security, which would assist in overcoming these threats, have been developed.

  17. Assessing loss event frequencies of smart grid cyber threats: Encoding flexibility into FAIR using Bayesian network approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Le, Anhtuan; Chen, Yue; Chai, Kok Keong; Vasenev, Alexandr; Montoya, L.

    Assessing loss event frequencies (LEF) of smart grid cyber threats is essential for planning cost-effective countermeasures. Factor Analysis of Information Risk (FAIR) is a well-known framework that can be applied to consider threats in a structured manner by using look-up tables related to a

  18. A Closer Look at Intergroup Threat Within the Dual Process Model Framework: The Mediating Role of Moral Foundations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Márton Hadarics

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available In our study we investigated how right-wing authoritarianism (RWA and social dominance orientation (SDO are related to perceived intergroup threat, and also tested the potential mediating role of individualizing and binding moral foundations within this relationship pattern. According to our results, both RWA and SDO enhanced the perceived threat related to immigration. Furthermore, the effect of SDO was partly mediated by individualizing moral foundations, while the effect of RWA was partly mediated by both kinds of moral foundations. It seems that perceived intergroup threat, at least to some extent, is influenced by personal moral preferences that can be derived from individual dispositions and motivations.

  19. Psychoneurometric operationalization of threat sensitivity: Relations with clinical symptom and physiological response criteria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yancey, James R; Venables, Noah C; Patrick, Christopher J

    2016-03-01

    The National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative calls for the incorporation of neurobiological approaches and findings into conceptions of mental health problems through a focus on biobehavioral constructs investigated across multiple domains of measurement (units of analysis). Although the constructs in the RDoC system are characterized in "process terms" (i.e., as functional concepts with brain and behavioral referents), these constructs can also be framed as dispositions (i.e., as dimensions of variation in biobehavioral functioning across individuals). Focusing on one key RDoC construct, acute threat or "fear," the current article illustrates a construct-oriented psychoneurometric strategy for operationalizing this construct in individual difference terms-as threat sensitivity (THT+). Utilizing data from 454 adult participants, we demonstrate empirically that (a) a scale measure of THT+ designed to tap general fear/fearlessness predicts effectively to relevant clinical problems (i.e., fear disorder symptoms), (b) this scale measure shows reliable associations with physiological indices of acute reactivity to aversive visual stimuli, and (c) a cross-domain factor reflecting the intersection of scale and physiological indicators of THT+ predicts effectively to both clinical and neurophysiological criterion measures. Results illustrate how the psychoneurometric approach can be used to create a dimensional index of a biobehavioral trait construct, in this case THT+, which can serve as a bridge between phenomena in domains of psychopathology and neurobiology. Implications and future directions are discussed with reference to the RDoC initiative and existing report-based conceptions of psychological traits. © 2016 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

  20. Eastern forest environmental threat assessment center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Southern Research Station. USDA Forest Service

    2010-01-01

    The Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (EFETAC) provides the latest research and expertise concerning threats to healthy forests – such as insects and disease, wildland loss, invasive species, wildland fire, and climate change – to assist forest landowners, managers and scientists throughout the East. Established in 2005, EFETAC is a joint effort of...

  1. Bomb Threats and Bomb Search Techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC.

    This pamphlet explains how to be prepared and plan for bomb threats and describes procedures to follow once a call has been received. The content covers (1) preparation for bomb threats, (2) evacuation procedures, (3) room search methods, (4) procedures to follow once a bomb has been located, and (5) typical problems that search teams will…

  2. Self-Construal Priming Modulates Self-Evaluation under Social Threat

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tianyang Zhang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies have shown that Westerners evaluate themselves in an especially flattering way when faced with a social-evaluative threat. The current study first investigated whether East Asians also have a similar pattern by recruiting Chinese participants and using social-evaluative threat manipulations in which participants perform self-evaluation tasks while adopting different social-evaluative feedbacks (Experiment 1. Then further examined whether the different response patterns can be modulated by different types of self-construal by using social-evaluative threat manipulations in conjunction with a self-construal priming task (Experiment 2. The results showed that, as opposed to Westerners' pattern, Chinese participants rated themselves as having significantly greater above-average effect only when faced with the nonthreatening feedback but not the social-evaluative threat. More importantly, we found that self-construal modulated the self-evaluation under social-evaluative threat: following independent self-construal priming, participants tended to show a greater above-average effect when faced with a social-evaluative threat. However, this pattern in conjunction with a social threat disappeared after participants received interdependent self-construal priming or neutral priming. These findings suggest that the effects of social-evaluative threat on self-evaluation are not culturally universal and is strongly modulated by self-construal priming.

  3. School Shooting : Threat Detection and Classification in Textual Leakage

    OpenAIRE

    Khan, Ajmal

    2013-01-01

    The continual occurrence of school shooting incidents underscores the need of taking preventive measures. Inductive measures of threat assessment have proved to be a bad strategy to solve the problem and new research is focusing on deductive approaches. Deductive threat assessment approaches are gaining ground and efforts are underway to mine text for automatic detection of threats in written text. Automatic detection and classification of threats in the digital world can help the decision ma...

  4. Nationwide assessment of nonpoint source threats to water quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas C. Brown; Pamela Froemke

    2012-01-01

    Water quality is a continuing national concern, in part because the containment of pollution from nonpoint (diffuse) sources remains a challenge. We examine the spatial distribution of nonpoint-source threats to water quality. On the basis of comprehensive data sets for a series of watershed stressors, the relative risk of water-quality impairment was estimated for the...

  5. The fear of others: a qualitative analysis of interpersonal threat in social phobia and paranoia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stopa, Luisa; Denton, Ruth; Wingfield, Megan; Taylor, Katherine Newman

    2013-03-01

    The cognitive models indicate that people with social phobia and paranoia share a common fear of others. While we recognize clinical differences, it is likely that some of the same psychological processes contribute to the maintenance of both presentations, yet the nature and extent of these similarities and differences are not yet clearly understood. This study explored threat experiences in people with social phobia and persecutory delusions in order to elucidate these aspects of the respective cognitive models. Accounts of interpersonal threat experiences were examined in nine people with social phobia and nine people with persecutory delusions. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three major themes emerged from the data: participants' experience of threat, reactions while under threat, and subsequent reflections. Narrative coherence emerged as a superordinate theme. Typical fear responses were found in both groups, particularly in their reactions to threat. The key differences were in participants' perceptual experiences, ability to stand back from the threat following the event, and narrative coherence. The findings are discussed in relation to current cognitive models of social phobia and paranoia. Theoretical and clinical implications are drawn out, and highlight the need to examine attentional and metacognitive processes more closely if we are to understand the maintenance of perceived threat in these groups, and means of alleviating associated distress.

  6. Modeling and simulation of botnet based cyber-threats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kasprzyk Rafał

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents an analysis of cyber-threats, with particular emphasis on the threats resulting from botnet activity. Botnets are the most common types of threats and often perceived as crucial in terms of national security. Their classification and methods of spreading are the basis for creating cyberspace model including the presence of different types of cyber-threats. A well-designed cyberspace model enables to construct an experimental environment that allows for the analysis of botnet characteristics, testing its resistance to various events and simulation of the spread and evolution. For this purpose, dedicated platforms with capabilities and functional characteristics to meet these requirements have been proposed.

  7. Distance Measurement Methods for Improved Insider Threat Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Owen Lo

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Insider threats are a considerable problem within cyber security and it is often difficult to detect these threats using signature detection. Increasing machine learning can provide a solution, but these methods often fail to take into account changes of behaviour of users. This work builds on a published method of detecting insider threats and applies Hidden Markov method on a CERT data set (CERT r4.2 and analyses a number of distance vector methods (Damerau–Levenshtein Distance, Cosine Distance, and Jaccard Distance in order to detect changes of behaviour, which are shown to have success in determining different insider threats.

  8. Hantaviruses: an emerging public health threat in India? A review

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    PRAKASH KUMAR

    is to increase awareness of these emerging pathogens and the threats they pose to the public health system. [Chandy S, Abraham P and ..... distribution of the hosts through international shipping routes. The majority of SEOV-related .... Dalrymple J M 1994 Serological relationships among viruses in the Hantavirus genus, ...

  9. The opportunity-threat theory of decision-making under risk

    OpenAIRE

    Mohan Pandey

    2018-01-01

    A new theory of decision-making under risk, the Opportunity-Threat Theory is proposed. Analysis of risk into opportunity and threat components allows description of behavior as a combination of opportunity seeking and threat aversion. Expected utility is a special case of this model. The final evaluation is an integration of the impacts of opportunity and threat with this expectation. The model can account for basic results as well as several ``new paradoxes'' that refuted c...

  10. Gerald L. Epstein, PhD: director, center for science, technology, and security policy, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Interview by Madeline Drexler.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Epstein, Gerald L

    2009-12-01

    Over his entire career, Gerald Epstein has toiled at the nexus of science, technology, and security. From 2003 to 2009, he was Senior Fellow for Science and Security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Homeland Security Program, where he worked on reducing biological weapons threats, improving national preparedness, and easing potential tensions between the scientific research and national security communities. Epstein came to CSIS from the Institute for Defense Analyses. From 1996 to 2001, he served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. And from 1983 to 1989, and again from 1991 until its demise in 1995, Epstein worked at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, where he directed a study on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, alongside research on other global security topics. A recognized expert in biological risk reduction, Epstein was actually trained as a physicist, having received SB degrees in physics and electrical engineering from MIT, and a PhD in physics from the University of California at Berkeley. How, then, did he come to study the evolving threat from bioterrorism? "What compelled me about bioterrorism was that it was a stellar example of a topic that would lead to a train wreck between the scientific community and the security community unless they figured out how to work together," he said. "The distance between a laboratory and a very large consequence event is a lot shorter in biology than in any other field. I got into bioterrorism to help make sure that the security community doesn't get so scared of the science that it shuts it down, and that the science community isn't so oblivious of security concerns that it pays no attention to them." Epstein spoke on November 6, 2009, with contributing writer Madeline Drexler, author of Emerging Epidemics: The Menace of New Infections (Penguin, 2009), an updated version of an earlier volume. Drexler holds a visiting appointment at the

  11. Military Leadership in the Context of Challenges and Threats Existing in Information Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomasz Kacała

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to present the role of a military leader in engaging the challenges and threats existing in the I nformation Environment (IE. Military leadership is crucial for the functioning of a particular form of hierarchical institution, namely the armed forces, in their external surrounding called O perational Environment (OE. A specific type of O E is I nformation Environment (IE characterized by the three dimensions: physical, informational and cognitive. Moreover, its characteristics include the occurrence of a number of challenges and threats. The most important challenges include: overabundance of information, unstructured information, problematic value of information and low information-related competences of its users. I n turn, the most important of the threats identified in the I E are disinformation and propaganda. The role of an effective leader is to prevent, and if it is impossible, to alleviate the consequences of the challenges and threats that may disrupt or even prevent the achievement of the objectives set by an organisation.

  12. Pervasive competition between threat and reward in the brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Jong Moon; Padmala, Srikanth; Spechler, Philip; Pessoa, Luiz

    2014-06-01

    In the current functional MRI study, we investigated interactions between reward and threat processing. Visual cues at the start of each trial informed participants about the chance of winning monetary reward and/or receiving a mild aversive shock. We tested two competing hypothesis: according to the 'salience hypothesis', in the condition involving both reward and threat, enhanced activation would be observed because of increased salience; according to the 'competition hypothesis', the processing of reward and threat would trade-off against each other, leading to reduced activation. Analysis of skin conductance data during a delay phase revealed an interaction between reward and threat processing, such that the effect of reward was reduced during threat and the effect of threat was reduced during reward. Analysis of imaging data during the same task phase revealed interactions between reward and threat processing in several regions, including the midbrain/ventral tegmental area, caudate, putamen, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, anterior insula, middle frontal gyrus and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Taken together, our findings reveal conditions during which reward and threat trade-off against each other across multiple sites. Such interactions are suggestive of competitive processes and may reflect the organization of opponent systems in the brain. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. Stereotype threat in salary negotiations is mediated by reservation salary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tellhed, Una; Björklund, Fredrik

    2011-04-01

    Women are stereotypically perceived as worse negotiators than men, which may make them ask for less salary than men when under stereotype threat (Kray et al., 2001). However, the mechanisms of stereotype threat are not yet properly understood. The current study investigated whether stereotype threat effects in salary negotiations can be explained by motivational factors. A total of 116 business students negotiated salary with a confederate and were either told that this was diagnostic of negotiating ability (threat manipulation) or not. Measures of minimum (reservation) and ideal (aspiration) salary goals and regulatory focus were collected. The finding (Kray et al., 2001) that women make lower salary requests than men when under stereotype threat was replicated. Women in the threat condition further reported lower aspiration salary, marginally significantly lower reservation salary and less eagerness/more vigilance than men. Reservation salary mediated the stereotype threat effect, and there was a trend for regulatory focus to mediate the effect. Thus, reservation salary partly explains why women ask for less salary than men under stereotype threat. Female negotiators may benefit from learning that stereotype threat causes sex-differences in motivation. © 2010 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2010 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

  14. Avoidance of a moving threat in the common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon): rapid tracking by body motion and eye use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lev-Ari, Tidhar; Lustig, Avichai; Ketter-Katz, Hadas; Baydach, Yossi; Katzir, Gadi

    2016-08-01

    A chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) on a perch responds to a nearby threat by moving to the side of the perch opposite the threat, while bilaterally compressing its abdomen, thus minimizing its exposure to the threat. If the threat moves, the chameleon pivots around the perch to maintain its hidden position. How precise is the body rotation and what are the patterns of eye movement during avoidance? Just-hatched chameleons, placed on a vertical perch, on the side roughly opposite to a visual threat, adjusted their position to precisely opposite the threat. If the threat were moved on a horizontal arc at angular velocities of up to 85°/s, the chameleons co-rotated smoothly so that (1) the angle of the sagittal plane of the head relative to the threat and (2) the direction of monocular gaze, were positively and significantly correlated with threat angular position. Eye movements were role-dependent: the eye toward which the threat moved maintained a stable gaze on it, while the contralateral eye scanned the surroundings. This is the first description, to our knowledge, of such a response in a non-flying terrestrial vertebrate, and it is discussed in terms of possible underlying control systems.

  15. A combined emitter threat assessment method based on ICW-RCM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ying; Wang, Hongwei; Guo, Xiaotao; Wang, Yubing

    2017-08-01

    Considering that the tradition al emitter threat assessment methods are difficult to intuitively reflect the degree of target threaten and the deficiency of real-time and complexity, on the basis of radar chart method(RCM), an algorithm of emitter combined threat assessment based on ICW-RCM (improved combination weighting method, ICW) is proposed. The coarse sorting is integrated with fine sorting in emitter combined threat assessment, sequencing the emitter threat level roughly accordance to radar operation mode, and reducing task priority of the low-threat emitter; On the basis of ICW-RCM, sequencing the same radar operation mode emitter roughly, finally, obtain the results of emitter threat assessment through coarse and fine sorting. Simulation analyses show the correctness and effectiveness of this algorithm. Comparing with classical method of emitter threat assessment based on CW-RCM, the algorithm is visual in image and can work quickly with lower complexity.

  16. Attentional Bias to Threat-Related Information Among Individuals With Dental Complaints: The Role of Pain Expectancy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dehghani, Mohsen; Mohammadi, Somayyeh; Sharpe, Louise; Khatibi, Ali

    2018-01-01

    Expecting pain can be perceived as a threat may involve recruitment of cognitive strategies (such as attentional avoidance) which might help the person to reduce distress. The ecological validity of the paradigms aiming to study the attentional biases toward or away from threatening stimuli by manipulating the perception of threat in experimental settings has been questioned. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the attentional bias toward or away from the threat when a confrontation with a real threatening and painful condition would be expected (i.e., dental treatment). One hundred and twenty-seven patients referred to three dentistry clinics for a dental treatment (experiment participants) and 30 individuals with no dental complaints (control participants) completed this study. Patients were randomly allocated to a high pain expectancy (HPE: n = 65) or a low pain expectancy (LPE: n = 62) expectancy condition. All participants completed questionnaires of distress, fear of pain, and fear of dental pain. Furthermore, they participated in a dot-probe task that assessed their attention to painful faces, dental pictures, and happy faces. In addition, before the treatment, participants reported their anticipated pain intensity and after the treatment, they reported the pain intensity that they perceived during the treatment using two separate visual analog scales. Patients in the HPE group showed a bias away from dental pictures compared to LPE and control group participants. HPE group patients also reported greater pain intensity during the treatment compared to LPE patients. Greater attentional bias away from dental pictures among HPE patients was associated with higher levels of fear of pain, fear of dental pain, and stress. Avoidance of highly salient threatening images can be seen as an unhelpful emotion-regulation strategy that individuals use to manage their fears. However, in this study, avoidance was associated with poorer outcomes.

  17. Attentional Bias to Threat-Related Information Among Individuals With Dental Complaints: The Role of Pain Expectancy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Dehghani

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Expecting pain can be perceived as a threat may involve recruitment of cognitive strategies (such as attentional avoidance which might help the person to reduce distress. The ecological validity of the paradigms aiming to study the attentional biases toward or away from threatening stimuli by manipulating the perception of threat in experimental settings has been questioned. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the attentional bias toward or away from the threat when a confrontation with a real threatening and painful condition would be expected (i.e., dental treatment. One hundred and twenty-seven patients referred to three dentistry clinics for a dental treatment (experiment participants and 30 individuals with no dental complaints (control participants completed this study. Patients were randomly allocated to a high pain expectancy (HPE: n = 65 or a low pain expectancy (LPE: n = 62 expectancy condition. All participants completed questionnaires of distress, fear of pain, and fear of dental pain. Furthermore, they participated in a dot-probe task that assessed their attention to painful faces, dental pictures, and happy faces. In addition, before the treatment, participants reported their anticipated pain intensity and after the treatment, they reported the pain intensity that they perceived during the treatment using two separate visual analog scales. Patients in the HPE group showed a bias away from dental pictures compared to LPE and control group participants. HPE group patients also reported greater pain intensity during the treatment compared to LPE patients. Greater attentional bias away from dental pictures among HPE patients was associated with higher levels of fear of pain, fear of dental pain, and stress. Avoidance of highly salient threatening images can be seen as an unhelpful emotion-regulation strategy that individuals use to manage their fears. However, in this study, avoidance was associated with poorer outcomes.

  18. The relation between electroencephalogram asymmetry and attention biases to threat at baseline and under stress

    OpenAIRE

    Pérez-Edgar, Koraly; Kujawa, Autumn; Nelson, S. Katherine; Cole, Claire; Zapp, Daniel J.

    2013-01-01

    Electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry in the alpha frequency band has been implicated in emotion processing and broad approach-withdrawal motivation systems. Questions remain regarding the cognitive mechanisms that may help elucidate the observed links between EEG asymmetry and patterns of socioemotional functioning. The current study observed frontal EEG asymmetry patterns at rest and under social threat among young adults (N=45, M=21.1 years). Asymmetries were, in turn, associated with perfo...

  19. Left-Wing Extremism: The Current Threat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karl A. Seger

    2001-04-30

    Left-wing extremism is ''alive and well'' both in the US and internationally. Although the current domestic terrorist threat within the U. S. is focused on right-wing extremists, left-wing extremists are also active and have several objectives. Leftist extremists also pose an espionage threat to U.S. interests. While the threat to the U.S. government from leftist extremists has decreased in the past decade, it has not disappeared. There are individuals and organizations within the U.S. who maintain the same ideology that resulted in the growth of left-wing terrorism in this country in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the leaders from that era are still communicating from Cuba with their followers in the U.S., and new leaders and groups are emerging.

  20. Emerging and Future Cyber Threats to Critical Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Djambazova , Edita; Almgren , Magnus; Dimitrov , Kiril; Jonsson , Erland

    2010-01-01

    Part 2: Adversaries; International audience; This paper discusses the emerging and future cyber threats to critical systems identified during the EU/FP7 project ICT-FORWARD. Threats were identified after extensive discussions with both domain experts and IT security professionals from academia, industry, and government organizations. The ultimate goal of the work was to identify the areas in which cyber threats could occur and cause serious and undesirable consequences, based on the character...

  1. Game Theoretic Risk Analysis of Security Threats

    CERN Document Server

    Bier, Vicki M

    2008-01-01

    Introduces reliability and risk analysis in the face of threats by intelligent agents. This book covers applications to networks, including problems in both telecommunications and transportation. It provides a set of tools for applying game theory TO reliability problems in the presence of intentional, intelligent threats

  2. Advanced Insider Threat Mitigation Workshop Instructional Materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gibbs, Philip [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Larsen, Robert [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); O' Brien, Mike [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Edmunds, Tom [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2009-02-01

    Insiders represent a formidable threat to nuclear facilities. This set of workshop materials covers methodologies to analyze and approaches to mitigate the threat of an insider attempting abrupt and protracted theft of nuclear materials. This particular set of materials is an update of a January 2008 version to add increased emphasis on Material Control and Accounting and its role with respect to protracted insider nuclear material theft scenarios. This report is a compilation of workshop materials consisting of lectures on technical and administrative measures used in Physical Protection (PP) and Material Control and Accounting (MC&A) and methods for analyzing their effectiveness against a postulated insider threat. The postulated threat includes both abrupt and protracted theft scenarios. Presentation is envisioned to be through classroom instruction and discussion. Several practical and group exercises are included for demonstration and application of the analysis approach contained in the lecture/discussion sessions as applied to a hypothetical nuclear facility.

  3. Implicit self-esteem compensation: automatic threat defense.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rudman, Laurie A; Dohn, Matthew C; Fairchild, Kimberly

    2007-11-01

    Four experiments demonstrated implicit self-esteem compensation (ISEC) in response to threats involving gender identity (Experiment 1), implicit racism (Experiment 2), and social rejection (Experiments 3-4). Under conditions in which people might be expected to suffer a blow to self-worth, they instead showed high scores on 2 implicit self-esteem measures. There was no comparable effect on explicit self-esteem. However, ISEC was eliminated following self-affirmation (Experiment 3). Furthermore, threat manipulations increased automatic intergroup bias, but ISEC mediated these relationships (Experiments 2-3). Thus, a process that serves as damage control for the self may have negative social consequences. Finally, pretest anxiety mediated the relationship between threat and ISEC (Experiment 3), whereas ISEC negatively predicted anxiety among high-threat participants (Experiment 4), suggesting that ISEC may function to regulate anxiety. The implications of these findings for automatic emotion regulation, intergroup bias, and implicit self-esteem measures are discussed. (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved.

  4. Technologies to counter aviation security threats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karoly, Steve

    2017-11-01

    The Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) makes TSA responsible for security in all modes of transportation, and requires that TSA assess threats to transportation, enforce security-related regulations and requirements, and ensure the adequacy of security measures at airports and other transportation facilities. Today, TSA faces a significant challenge and must address a wide range of commercial, military grade, and homemade explosives and these can be presented in an infinite number of configurations and from multiple vectors. TSA screens 2 million passengers and crew, and screens almost 5 million carry-on items and 1.2 million checked bags daily. As TSA explores new technologies for improving efficiency and security, those on the forefront of research and development can help identify unique and advanced methods to combat terrorism. Research and Development (R&D) drives the development of future technology investments that can address an evolving adversary and aviation threat. The goal is to rethink the aviation security regime in its entirety, and rather than focusing security at particular points in the enterprise, distribute security from the time a reservation is made to the time a passenger boards the aircraft. The ultimate objective is to reengineer aviation security from top to bottom with a continued focus on increasing security throughout the system.

  5. The consequences of chronic stereotype threat: domain disidentification and abandonment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodcock, Anna; Hernandez, Paul R; Estrada, Mica; Schultz, P Wesley

    2012-10-01

    Stereotype threat impairs performance across many domains. Despite a wealth of research, the long-term consequences of chronic stereotype threat have received little empirical attention. Beyond the immediate impact on performance, the experience of chronic stereotype threat is hypothesized to lead to domain disidentification and eventual domain abandonment. Stereotype threat is 1 explanation why African Americans and Hispanic/Latino(a)s "leak" from each juncture of the academic scientific pipeline in disproportionately greater numbers than their White and Asian counterparts. Using structural equation modeling, we tested the stereotype threat-disidentification hypothesis across 3 academic years with a national longitudinal panel of undergraduate minority science students. Experience of stereotype threat was associated with scientific disidentification, which in turn predicted a significant decline in the intention to pursue a scientific career. Race/ethnicity moderated this effect, whereby the effect was evident for Hispanic/Latino(a) students but not for all African American students. We discuss findings in terms of understanding chronic stereotype threat.

  6. 41 CFR 60-741.22 - Direct threat defense.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES Discrimination Prohibited § 60-741.22 Direct threat defense. The contractor may... individual or others in the workplace. (See § 60-741.2(y) defining direct threat.) ...

  7. Self-esteem, authoritarianism, and democratic values in the face of threat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaffer, Barbara A; Hastings, Brad M

    2004-08-01

    This study investigated the associations among terrorist threat, right-wing authoritarianism, self-esteem, and their relations in support for democratic values. Students (n = 140) completed Altemeyer's Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale, and the Democratic Values Scale. The participants also read an editorial regarding the events of 9/11/01 and completed two mortality-salience questions to induce a sense of threat. Results showed that self-esteem was a significant contributor to the prediction of scores on the Democratic Values Scale. Furthermore, the interaction between self-esteem and right-wing authoritarianism explained significant variance in the Democratic Values Scale scores. The results are interpreted in light of theories addressing authoritarianism and self-esteem.

  8. Stereotype threat's effect on women's achievement in chemistry: The interaction of achievement goal orientation for women in science majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conway-Klaassen, Janice Marjorie

    "Stereotype threat is being at risk of confirming, as a self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group" (C. M. Steele & Aronson, 1995, p. 797). A stereotype threat effect then is described as the detrimental impact on a person's performance or achievement measurements when they are placed in a stereotype threat environment. For women, the negative stereotype that exists in our culture states that women are typically not as capable as men in mathematics or science subjects. This study specifically explored the potential impact of stereotype threat on women who have chosen a science-based college major. They were tested in the domain of chemistry, which is related to mathematics and often involves high level of mathematics skills. I attempted to generate a stereotype threat in the participants through describing a chemistry challenge exam as either one that had consistently shown a gender bias against women and to create a nullification effect by describing the exam as one that had shown no gender bias in the past. In the third experimental condition acting as a control, participants received only generic instructions related to taking the test itself. The second part of this study investigated whether stereotype threat effects could impact women's achievement goal orientations. In previous studies performance avoidance goal orientations have been associated with individuals placed in a stereotype threat environment. The findings on the stereotype threat effect were not significant for the chemistry challenge test achievement scores. This may be due to several factors. One factor may be the design of the chemistry challenge test and the instructions for the test. The other factor may be the women in this study. As individuals who have chosen a science based major, they may have developed coping skills and strategies that reduced the impact of a stereotype threat. It is also possible that the testing environment itself generated an implicit stereotype

  9. At a global scale, do climate change threatened species also face a greater number of non-climatic threats?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucas B. Fortini

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available For many species the threats of climate change occur in a context of multiple existing threats. Given the current focus of global change ecology in identifying and understanding species vulnerable to climate change, we performed a global analysis to characterize the multi-threat context for species threatened by climate change. Utilizing 30,053 species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, we sought to evaluate if species threatened by climate change are more likely threatened by a greater number of non-climatic threats than species not threatened by climate change. Our results show that species threatened by climate change are generally impacted by 21% more non-climatic threats than species not threatened by climate change. Across all species, this pattern is related to IUCN risk status, where endangered species threatened by climate change face 33% more non-climatic threats than endangered species not threatened by climate change. With the clear challenges of assessing current and projected impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems, research often requires reductionist approaches that result in downplaying this multi-threat context. This cautionary note bears relevance beyond climate change threatened species as we also found other (but not all anthropogenic threats are also similarly associated with more threats. Our findings serve as a reminder that ecological research should seriously consider these potential threat interactions, especially for species under elevated conservation concern.

  10. Probabilistic risk analysis and terrorism risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ezell, Barry Charles; Bennett, Steven P; von Winterfeldt, Detlof; Sokolowski, John; Collins, Andrew J

    2010-04-01

    Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), considerable efforts have been made to estimate the risks of terrorism and the cost effectiveness of security policies to reduce these risks. DHS, industry, and the academic risk analysis communities have all invested heavily in the development of tools and approaches that can assist decisionmakers in effectively allocating limited resources across the vast array of potential investments that could mitigate risks from terrorism and other threats to the homeland. Decisionmakers demand models, analyses, and decision support that are useful for this task and based on the state of the art. Since terrorism risk analysis is new, no single method is likely to meet this challenge. In this article we explore a number of existing and potential approaches for terrorism risk analysis, focusing particularly on recent discussions regarding the applicability of probabilistic and decision analytic approaches to bioterrorism risks and the Bioterrorism Risk Assessment methodology used by the DHS and criticized by the National Academies and others.

  11. Status and threats analysis for the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), 2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Runge, Michael C.; Langtimm, Catherine A.; Martin, Julien; Fonnesbeck, Christopher J.

    2015-01-01

    The endangered West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), especially the Florida subspecies (T. m. latirostris), has been the focus of conservation efforts and extensive research since its listing under the Endangered Species Act. On the basis of the best information available as of December 2012, the threats facing the Florida manatee were determined to be less severe than previously thought, either because the conservation efforts have been successful, or because our knowledge of the demographic effects of those threats is increased, or both. Using the manatee Core Biological Model, we estimated the probability of the Florida manatee population on either the Atlantic or Gulf coast falling below 500 adults in the next 150 years to be 0.92 percent. The primary threats remain watercraft-related mortality and long-term loss of warm-water habitat. Since 2009, however, there have been a number of unusual events that have not yet been incorporated into this analysis, including several severely cold winters, a severe red-tide die off, and substantial loss of seagrass habitat in Brevard County, Fla. Further, the version of the Core Biological Model used in 2012 makes a number of assumptions that are under investigation. A revision of the Core Biological Model and an update of this quantitative threats analysis are underway as of 2015.

  12. Cyber Threat and Vulnerability Analysis of the U.S. Electric Sector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Glenn, Colleen [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States). Mission Support Center; Sterbentz, Dane [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States). Mission Support Center; Wright, Aaron [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States). Mission Support Center

    2016-12-20

    With utilities in the U.S. and around the world increasingly moving toward smart grid technology and other upgrades with inherent cyber vulnerabilities, correlative threats from malicious cyber attacks on the North American electric grid continue to grow in frequency and sophistication. The potential for malicious actors to access and adversely affect physical electricity assets of U.S. electricity generation, transmission, or distribution systems via cyber means is a primary concern for utilities contributing to the bulk electric system. This paper seeks to illustrate the current cyber-physical landscape of the U.S. electric sector in the context of its vulnerabilities to cyber attacks, the likelihood of cyber attacks, and the impacts cyber events and threat actors can achieve on the power grid. In addition, this paper highlights utility perspectives, perceived challenges, and requests for assistance in addressing cyber threats to the electric sector. There have been no reported targeted cyber attacks carried out against utilities in the U.S. that have resulted in permanent or long term damage to power system operations thus far, yet electric utilities throughout the U.S. have seen a steady rise in cyber and physical security related events that continue to raise concern. Asset owners and operators understand that the effects of a coordinated cyber and physical attack on a utility’s operations would threaten electric system reliability–and potentially result in large scale power outages. Utilities are routinely faced with new challenges for dealing with these cyber threats to the grid and consequently maintain a set of best practices to keep systems secure and up to date. Among the greatest challenges is a lack of knowledge or strategy to mitigate new risks that emerge as a result of an exponential rise in complexity of modern control systems. This paper compiles an open-source analysis of cyber threats and risks to the electric grid, utility best practices

  13. Age Differences in Neural Response to Stereotype Threat and Resiliency for Self-Referenced Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriel eColton

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available To investigate the contribution of cortical midline regions to stereotype threat and resiliency, we compared age groups in an event-related functional MRI study. During scanning, seventeen younger and sixteen older adults judged whether words stereotypical of aging and control words described them. Judging stereotype words versus control words revealed higher activations in posterior midline regions associated with self-referencing, including the precuneus, for older adults compared to younger adults. While heightening salience of stereotypes can evoke a threat response, detrimentally affecting performance, invoking stereotypes can also lead to a phenomenon called resilience, where older adults use those stereotypes to create downward social comparisons to other older adults and elevate their own self-perception. In an exploration of brain regions underlying stereotype threat responses as well as resilience responses, we found significant activation in older adults for threat over resilient responses in posterior midline regions including the precuneus, associated with self-reflective thought, and parahippocampal gyrus, implicated in autobiographical memory. These findings have implications for understanding how aging stereotypes may affect the engagement of regions associated with contextual and social processing of self-relevant information, indicating ways in which stereotype threat can affect the engagement of neural resources with age.

  14. Effects of threat management interactions on conservation priorities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Auerbach, Nancy A; Wilson, Kerrie A; Tulloch, Ayesha I T; Rhodes, Jonathan R; Hanson, Jeffrey O; Possingham, Hugh P

    2015-12-01

    Decisions need to be made about which biodiversity management actions are undertaken to mitigate threats and about where these actions are implemented. However, management actions can interact; that is, the cost, benefit, and feasibility of one action can change when another action is undertaken. There is little guidance on how to explicitly and efficiently prioritize management for multiple threats, including deciding where to act. Integrated management could focus on one management action to abate a dominant threat or on a strategy comprising multiple actions to abate multiple threats. Furthermore management could be undertaken at sites that are in close proximity to reduce costs. We used cost-effectiveness analysis to prioritize investments in fire management, controlling invasive predators, and reducing grazing pressure in a bio-diverse region of southeastern Queensland, Australia. We compared outcomes of 5 management approaches based on different assumptions about interactions and quantified how investment needed, benefits expected, and the locations prioritized for implementation differed when interactions were taken into account. Managing for interactions altered decisions about where to invest and in which actions to invest and had the potential to deliver increased investment efficiency. Differences in high priority locations and actions were greatest between the approaches when we made different assumptions about how management actions deliver benefits through threat abatement: either all threats must be managed to conserve species or only one management action may be required. Threatened species management that does not consider interactions between actions may result in misplaced investments or misguided expectations of the effort required to mitigate threats to species. © 2015 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  15. The Consequences of Chronic Stereotype Threat: Domain Disidentification and Abandonment

    OpenAIRE

    Woodcock, Anna; Hernandez, Paul R.; Estrada, Mica; Schultz, P. Wesley

    2012-01-01

    Stereotype threat impairs performance across many domains. Despite a wealth of research, the long-term consequences of chronic stereotype threat have received little empirical attention. Beyond the immediate impact on performance, the experience of chronic stereotype threat is hypothesized to lead to domain disidentification and eventual domain abandonment. Stereotype threat is 1 explanation why African Americans and Hispanic/Latino(a)s “leak” from each juncture of the academic scientific pip...

  16. Disease-threat model explains acceptance of genetically modified products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prokop Pavol

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Natural selection favoured survival of individuals who were able to avoid disease. The behavioural immune system is activated especially when our sensory system comes into contact with disease-connoting cues and/or when these cues resemble disease threat. We investigated whether or not perception of modern risky technologies, risky behaviour, expected reproductive goals and food neophobia are associated with the behavioural immune system related to specific attitudes toward genetically modified (GM products. We found that respondents who felt themselves more vulnerable to infectious diseases had significantly more negative attitudes toward GM products. Females had less positive attitudes toward GM products, but engaging in risky behaviours, the expected reproductive goals of females and food neophobia did not predict attitudes toward GM products. Our results suggest that evolved psychological mechanisms primarily designed to protect us against pathogen threat are activated by modern technologies possessing potential health risks.

  17. Neural predictors and mechanisms of cognitive behavioral therapy on threat processing in social anxiety disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klumpp, Heide; Fitzgerald, Daniel A; Phan, K Luan

    2013-08-01

    Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is "gold standard" psychotherapy for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Cognitive models posit that preferential processing of threat mediates excessive forms of anxiety, which is supported by exaggerated amygdala, insula, and cortical reactivity to threatening socio-emotional signals in SAD. However, little is known about neural predictors of CBT success or the mechanisms by which CBT exerts its therapeutic effects. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted during responses to social signals of threat (fearful/angry faces) against positive signals (happy faces) in 14 patients with SAD before and after 12 weeks of CBT. For comparison, 14 healthy control (HC) participants also underwent two fMRI scans, 12 weeks apart. Whole-brain voxel-wise analyses showed therapeutic success was predicted by enhanced pre-treatment activation to threatening faces in higher-order visual (superior and middle temporal gyrus), cognitive, and emotion processing areas (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex). Moreover, a group by time interaction was revealed in prefrontal regions (dorsomedial, medial gyrus) and insula. The interaction was driven by relatively greater activity during threat processing in SAD, which significantly reduced after CBT but did not significantly predict response to CBT. Therefore, pre-treatment cortical hyperactivity to social threat signals may serve as a prognostic indicator of CBT success in SAD. Collectively, CBT-related brain changes involved a reduction in activity in insula, prefrontal, and extrastriate regions. Results are consistent with cognitive models, which associate decreases in threat processing bias with recovery. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Effects of Aging Stereotype Threat on Working Self-Concepts: An Event-Related Potentials Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Baoshan; Lin, Yao; Gao, Qianyun; Zawisza, Magdalena; Kang, Qian; Chen, Xuhai

    2017-01-01

    Although the influence of stereotype threat (ST) on working self-concepts has been highlighted in recent years, its neural underpinnings are unclear. Notably, the aging ST, which largely influences older adults’ cognitive ability, mental and physical health, did not receive much attention. In order to investigate these issues, electroencephalogram (EEG) data were obtained from older adults during a modified Stroop task using neutral words, positive and negative self-concept words in aging ST vs. neutral control conditions. Results showed longer reaction times (RTs) for identifying colors of words under the aging ST compared to the neutral condition. More importantly, the negative self-concept elicited more positive late P300 amplitudes and enhanced theta band activities compared to the positive self-concept or neutral words under the aging ST condition, whereas no difference was found between these self-concepts and neutral words in the control condition. Furthermore, the aging ST induced smaller theta band synchronization and enhanced alpha band synchronization compared to the control condition. Moreover, we also observed valence differences in self-concepts where the negative self-concept words reduced early P150/N170 complex relative to neutral words. These findings suggest that priming ST could activate negative self-concepts as current working self-concept, and that this influence occurred during a late neural time course. PMID:28747885

  19. Effects of Aging Stereotype Threat on Working Self-Concepts: An Event-Related Potentials Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baoshan Zhang

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Although the influence of stereotype threat (ST on working self-concepts has been highlighted in recent years, its neural underpinnings are unclear. Notably, the aging ST, which largely influences older adults’ cognitive ability, mental and physical health, did not receive much attention. In order to investigate these issues, electroencephalogram (EEG data were obtained from older adults during a modified Stroop task using neutral words, positive and negative self-concept words in aging ST vs. neutral control conditions. Results showed longer reaction times (RTs for identifying colors of words under the aging ST compared to the neutral condition. More importantly, the negative self-concept elicited more positive late P300 amplitudes and enhanced theta band activities compared to the positive self-concept or neutral words under the aging ST condition, whereas no difference was found between these self-concepts and neutral words in the control condition. Furthermore, the aging ST induced smaller theta band synchronization and enhanced alpha band synchronization compared to the control condition. Moreover, we also observed valence differences in self-concepts where the negative self-concept words reduced early P150/N170 complex relative to neutral words. These findings suggest that priming ST could activate negative self-concepts as current working self-concept, and that this influence occurred during a late neural time course.

  20. At a global scale, do climate change threatened species also face a greater number of non-climatic threats?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fortini, Lucas B.; Dye, Kaipo

    2017-01-01

    For many species the threats of climate change occur in a context of multiple existing threats. Given the current focus of global change ecology in identifying and understanding species vulnerable to climate change, we performed a global analysis to characterize the multi-threat context for species threatened by climate change. Utilizing 30,053 species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, we sought to evaluate if species threatened by climate change are more likely threatened by a greater number of non-climatic threats than species not threatened by climate change. Our results show that species threatened by climate change are generally impacted by 21% more non-climatic threats than species not threatened by climate change. Across all species, this pattern is related to IUCN risk status, where endangered species threatened by climate change face 33% more non-climatic threats than endangered species not threatened by climate change. With the clear challenges of assessing current and projected impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems, research often requires reductionist approaches that result in downplaying this multi-threat context. This cautionary note bears relevance beyond climate change threatened species as we also

  1. On the early detection of threats in the real world based on open-source information on the internet

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bouma, H.; Rajadell Rojas, O.; Worm, D.T.H.; Versloot, C.A.; Wedemeijer, H.

    2012-01-01

    Many threats in the real world can be related to activities of persons on the internet. Internet surveillance aims to detect threats in an early stage and to assist in finding suspects based on information from the web. However, the amount of data on the internet rapidly increases and it is time

  2. Movements Indicate Threat Response Phases in Children at Risk for Anxiety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGinnis, Ellen W; McGinnis, Ryan S; Muzik, Maria; Hruschak, Jessica; Lopez-Duran, Nestor L; Perkins, Noel C; Fitzgerald, Kate; Rosenblum, Katherine L

    2017-09-01

    Temporal phases of threat response, including potential threat (anxiety), acute threat (startle, fear), and post-threat response modulation, have been identified as the underlying markers of anxiety disorders. Objective measures of response during these phases may help identify children at risk for anxiety; however, the complexity of current assessment techniques prevent their adoption in many research and clinical contexts. We propose an alternative technology, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), that enables noninvasive measurement of the movements associated with threat response, and test its ability to detect threat response phases in young children at a heightened risk for developing anxiety. We quantified the motion of 18 children (3-7 years old) during an anxiety-/fear-provoking behavioral task using an IMU. Specifically, measurements from a single IMU secured to the child's waist were used to extract root-mean-square acceleration and angular velocity in the horizontal and vertical directions, and tilt and yaw range of motion during each threat response phase. IMU measurements detected expected differences in child motion by threat phase. Additionally, potential threat motion was positively correlated to familial anxiety risk, startle range of motion was positively correlated with child internalizing symptoms, and response modulation motion was negatively correlated to familial anxiety risk. Results suggest differential theory-driven threat response phases and support previous literature connecting maternal child risk to anxiety with behavioral measures using more feasible objective methods. This is the first study demonstrating the utility of an IMU for characterizing the motion of young children to mark the phases of threat response modulation. The technique provides a novel and objective measure of threat response for mental health researchers.

  3. Attention bias for social threat in youth with tic disorders: Links with tic severity and social anxiety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pile, Victoria; Robinson, Sally; Topor, Marta; Hedderly, Tammy; Lau, Jennifer Y F

    2018-06-07

    Many individuals with Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorders (TS/CTDs) report poor social functioning and comorbid social anxiety. Yet limited research has investigated the role of cognitive factors that highlight social threats in youth with TS/CTD, and whether these biases underlie tic severity and co-occurring social anxiety. This study examined whether selective attention to social threat is enhanced young people with TS/CTDs compared to healthy controls, and whether attention biases are associated with tic severity and social anxiety. Twenty seven young people with TS/CTDs and 25 matched control participants completed an experimental measure of attention bias toward/away from threat stimuli. A clinician-rated interview measuring tic severity/impairment (YGTSS Total Score) and questionnaire measures of social anxiety were completed by participants and their parents. Young people with TS/CTD showed an attention bias to social threat words (relative to benign words) compared to controls but no such bias for social threat faces. Attention bias for social threat words was associated with increasing YGTSS Total Score and parent-reported social anxiety in the TS/CTDs group. Mediation analysis revealed a significant indirect path between YGTSS Total Score and social anxiety, via attention to social threat. Tentatively, these associations appeared to be driven by impairment rather than tic severity scores. Preliminary data suggests that youth with TS/CTD have enhanced attention to threat, compared to controls, and this is associated with impairment and social anxiety. Attention to threat could offer a cognitive mechanism connecting impairment and social anxiety, and so be a valuable trans-diagnostic treatment target.

  4. Toxicological Threats of Plastic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plastics pose both physical (e.g., entanglement, gastrointestinal blockage, reef destruction) and chemical threats (e.g., bioaccumulation of the chemical ingredients of plastic or toxic chemicals sorbed to plastics) to wildlife and the marine ecosystem.

  5. Chronic Stereotype Threat Is Associated With Mathematical Achievement on Representative Sample of Secondary Schoolgirls: The Role of Gender Identification, Working Memory, and Intellectual Helplessness

    OpenAIRE

    Sylwia Bedyńska; Izabela Krejtz; Grzegorz Sedek

    2018-01-01

    Stereotype threat affects performance in many different groups across many different domains. Despite a large body of experimental research on situational stereotype threat, little attention has been paid to the consequences of repeated experience of stereotype threat. Using structural equation modeling on data from a representative sample of girls from secondary schools, the current research examined the relations of chronic stereotype threat with mathematical achievement, and effectiveness ...

  6. Political conservatism, authoritarianism, and societal threat: voting for Republican representatives in U.S. Congressional elections from 1946 to 1992.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCann, Stewart J H

    2009-07-01

    The author found that the degree of national societal threat preceding congressional elections from 1946 to 1992 was positively associated with the mean state percentage of people voting for Republican representatives, supporting a conventional threat-authoritarianism hypothesis. However, threat was positively associated with the mean state percentage of people voting for Republican representatives in conservative states but not in liberal states, and the conventional threat-authoritarianism link was entirely driven by the relation in conservative states. The author classified states with a composite measure (alpha = .92) on the basis of state ideological identification, religious fundamentalism, composite policy liberalism, Republican Party elite ideology, and Democratic Party elite ideology. These results offer support to an interactive threat-authoritarianism hypothesis derived from the authoritarian dynamic theory of K. Stenner (2005), which postulates that only authoritarian persons are activated to manifest authoritarian behavior in times of normative threat. Also, the author discusses potential alternative explanations on the basis of system justification, need for closure, and terror-management theories.

  7. Threat affects risk preferences in movement decision making

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Brien, Megan K.; Ahmed, Alaa A.

    2015-01-01

    Emotional states such as sadness, anger, and threat have been shown to play a critical role in decision-making processes. Here we addressed the question of whether risk preferences are influenced by postural threat and whether this influence generalizes across motor tasks. We examined risk attitudes in the context of arm-reaching (ARM) and whole-body (WB) leaning movements, expecting that increased postural threat would lead to proportionally similar changes in risk-sensitivity for each motor task. Healthy young adults were shown a series of two-alternative forced-choice lotteries, where they were asked to choose between a riskier lottery and a safer lottery on each trial. Our lotteries consisted of different monetary rewards and target sizes. Subjects performed each choice task at ground level and atop an elevated platform. In the presence of this postural threat, increased physiological arousal was correlated with decreased movement variability. To determine risk-sensitivity, we quantified the frequency with which a subject chose the riskier lottery and fit lottery responses to a choice model based on cumulative prospect theory (CPT). Subjects exhibited idiosyncratic changes in risk-sensitivity between motor tasks and between elevations. However, we found that overweighting of small probabilities increased with postural threat in the WB task, indicating a more cautious, risk-averse strategy is ascribed to the possibility of a fall. Subjects were also more risk-seeking in the WB movements than in ARM at low elevation; this behavior does not seem to derive from consistent distortions in utility or probability representations but may be explained by subjects' inaccurate estimation of their own motor variability. Overall, our findings suggest that implicit threat can modify risk attitudes in the motor domain, and the threat may induce risk-aversion in salient movement tasks. PMID:26106311

  8. Threat affects risk preferences in movement decision making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Megan K. O'Brien

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Emotional states such as sadness, anger, and threat have been shown to play a critical role in decision-making processes. Here we addressed the question of whether risk preferences are influenced by postural threat and whether this influence generalizes across motor tasks. We examined risk attitudes in the context of arm-reaching and whole-body leaning movements, expecting that increased postural threat would lead to proportionally similar changes in risk-sensitivity for each motor task. Healthy young adults were shown a series of two-alternative forced-choice lotteries, where they were asked to choose between a riskier lottery and a safer lottery on each trial. Our lotteries consisted of different monetary rewards and target sizes. Subjects performed each choice task at ground level and atop an elevated platform. In the presence of this postural threat, increased physiological arousal was correlated with decreased movement variability. To determine risk-sensitivity, we quantified the frequency with which a subject chose the riskier lottery and fit lottery responses to a choice model based on cumulative prospect theory. Subjects exhibited idiosyncratic changes in risk-sensitivity between motor tasks and between elevations. However, we found that overweighting of small probabilities increased with postural threat in the whole-body task, indicating a more cautious, risk-averse strategy is ascribed to the possibility of a fall. Subjects were also more risk-seeking in the whole-body movements than in arm-reaching at low elevation; this behavior does not seem to derive from consistent distortions in utility or probability representations but may be explained by subjects’ inaccurate estimation of their own motor variability. Overall, our findings suggest that implicit threat can modify risk attitudes in the motor domain, and the threat may induce risk-aversion in salient movement tasks.

  9. Threat affects risk preferences in movement decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Brien, Megan K; Ahmed, Alaa A

    2015-01-01

    Emotional states such as sadness, anger, and threat have been shown to play a critical role in decision-making processes. Here we addressed the question of whether risk preferences are influenced by postural threat and whether this influence generalizes across motor tasks. We examined risk attitudes in the context of arm-reaching (ARM) and whole-body (WB) leaning movements, expecting that increased postural threat would lead to proportionally similar changes in risk-sensitivity for each motor task. Healthy young adults were shown a series of two-alternative forced-choice lotteries, where they were asked to choose between a riskier lottery and a safer lottery on each trial. Our lotteries consisted of different monetary rewards and target sizes. Subjects performed each choice task at ground level and atop an elevated platform. In the presence of this postural threat, increased physiological arousal was correlated with decreased movement variability. To determine risk-sensitivity, we quantified the frequency with which a subject chose the riskier lottery and fit lottery responses to a choice model based on cumulative prospect theory (CPT). Subjects exhibited idiosyncratic changes in risk-sensitivity between motor tasks and between elevations. However, we found that overweighting of small probabilities increased with postural threat in the WB task, indicating a more cautious, risk-averse strategy is ascribed to the possibility of a fall. Subjects were also more risk-seeking in the WB movements than in ARM at low elevation; this behavior does not seem to derive from consistent distortions in utility or probability representations but may be explained by subjects' inaccurate estimation of their own motor variability. Overall, our findings suggest that implicit threat can modify risk attitudes in the motor domain, and the threat may induce risk-aversion in salient movement tasks.

  10. Can experience overcome stereotypes in times of terror threat?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mirya R. Holman

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Research on evaluations of leaders has frequently found that female leaders receive lower ratings in times of national security crisis. However, less is known about countervailing factors. We contend that partisanship and leadership experience in relevant domains are two factors that can counteract the negative effects of terrorist threat on evaluations of female political leaders. To test this expectation, we implemented a national study in 2012 containing terrorist threat and non-threat conditions, and then asked participants to evaluate political leaders. The results show that Republican leaders, including women, are unaffected by terrorist threat; in contrast, Democratic leaders are punished during times of terrorist threat, but this negative effect is smaller for then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton compared to Nancy Pelosi, who lacks similar experience. In short, Republican partisanship is a strong countervailing factor, while leadership experience in national security more modestly countervails.

  11. Perceived control qualifies the effects of threat on prejudice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenaway, Katharine H; Louis, Winnifred R; Hornsey, Matthew J; Jones, Janelle M

    2014-09-01

    People sometimes show a tendency to lash out in a prejudiced manner when they feel threatened. This research shows that the relationship between threat and prejudice is moderated by people's levels of perceived control: Threat leads to prejudice only when people feel concurrently low in control. In two studies, terrorist threat was associated with heightened prejudice among people who were low in perceived control over the threat (Study 1; N = 87) or over their lives in general (Study 2; N = 2,394), but was not associated with prejudice among people who were high in perceived control. Study 3 (N = 139) replicated this finding experimentally in the context of the Global Financial Crisis. The research identifies control as an important ingredient in threatening contexts that, if bolstered, can reduce general tendencies to lash out under threat. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

  12. Counteracting effect of threat on reward enhancements during working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Jong Moon; Padmala, Srikanth; Pessoa, Luiz

    2015-01-01

    Cognitive performance has been shown to be enhanced when performance-based rewards are at stake. On the other hand, task-irrelevant threat processing has been shown to have detrimental effects during several cognitive tasks. Crucially, the impact of reward and threat on cognition has been studied largely independently of one another. Hence, our understanding of how reward and threat simultaneously contribute to performance is incomplete. To fill in this gap, the present study investigated how reward and threat interact with one another during a cognitive task. We found that threat of shock counteracted the beneficial effect of reward during a working memory task. Furthermore, individual differences in self-reported reward-sensitivity and anxiety were linked to the extent to which reward and threat interacted during behaviour. Together, the current findings contribute to a limited but growing literature unravelling how positive and negative information processing jointly influence cognition.

  13. Assessment of Containment Structures Against Missile Impact Threats

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LI Q M

    2006-01-01

    In order to ensure the highest safety requirements,nuclear power plant structures (the containment structures,the fuel storages and transportation systems) should be assessed against all possible internal and external impact threats.The internal impact threats include kinetic missiles generated by the failure of high pressure vessels and pipes,the failure of high speed rotating machineries and accidental drops.The external impact threats may come from airborne missiles,aircraft impact,explosion blast and fragments.The impact effects of these threats on concrete and steel structures in a nuclear power plant are discussed.Methods and procedures for the impact assessment of nuclear power plants are introduced.Recent studies on penetration and perforation mechanics as well as progresses on dynamic properties of concrete-like materials are presented to increase the understanding of the impact effects on concrete containment structures.

  14. 29 CFR 458.38 - Deprivation of rights under the CSRA or FSA by violence or threat of violence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Deprivation of rights under the CSRA or FSA by violence or threat of violence. 458.38 Section 458.38 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor OFFICE OF LABOR-MANAGEMENT... by violence or threat of violence. No labor organization or any officer, agent, shop steward, or...

  15. Status and threats analysis for the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Runge, Michael C.; Sanders-Reed, Carol A.; Langtimm, Catherine A.; Hostetler, Jeffrey A.; Martin, Julien; Deutsch, Charles J.; Ward-Geiger, Leslie I.; Mahon, Gary L.

    2017-04-11

    Trichechus manatus (West Indian manatee), especially T. m. latirostris, the Florida subspecies, has been the focus of conservation efforts and extensive research since its listing under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. To determine the status of, and severity of threats to, the Florida manatee, a comprehensive revision and update of the manatee Core Biological Model was completed and used to perform a population viability analysis for the Florida manatee. The probability of the Florida manatee population falling below 500 adults on either the Gulf or East coast within the next 100 years was estimated to be 0.42 percent. This risk of quasi-extinction is low because the estimated adult survival rates are high, the current population size is greater than 2,500 on each coast, and the estimated carrying capacity for manatees is much larger than the current abundance estimates in all four regions of Florida. Three threats contribute in roughly equal measures to the risk of quasi-extinction: watercraft-related mortality, red-tide mortality, and loss of warm-water habitat. Only an increase in watercraft-related mortality has the potential to substantially increase the risk of quasi-extinction at the statewide or coastal level. Expected losses of warm-water habitat are likely to cause a major change in the distribution of the population from the regions where manatees rely heavily on power plant effluents for warmth in winter (Southwest and Atlantic regions) to the regions where manatees primarily use natural springs in winter (Northwest and Upper St. Johns regions). The chances are nearly 50 percent that manatee populations in the Southwest and Atlantic regions will decrease from their 2011 levels by at least 30 percent over the next century.A large number of scenarios were examined to explore the possible effects of potential emerging threats, and in most of them, the risk of quasi-extinction at the coastal scale within 100 years did not rise above 1 percent. The four

  16. Unleashing Latent Ability: Implications of Stereotype Threat for College Admissions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Logel, Christine R.; Walton, Gregory M.; Spencer, Steven J.; Peach, Jennifer; Mark, Zanna P.

    2012-01-01

    Social-psychological research conducted over the past 15 years provides compelling evidence that pervasive psychological threats are present in common academic environments--especially threats that originate in negative intellectual stereotypes--and that these threats undermine the real-world academic performance of non-Asian ethnic minority…

  17. Functional effectiveness of threat appeals in exercise promotion messages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olivier Mairesse

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available As more than 70% of individuals in Western societies can be categorized as sedentary and inactivity has been recognized to lead to a series of serious physical and psychological disorders, the importance of physical activity promotion is ever more emphasized. Many social marketing campaigns use threat (or fear appeals to promote healthy behaviors. Theoretical models, such as the Extended Parallel Process Model integrate concepts as 'perceived threat' and 'perceived efficacy' to explain how such messages operate and can cause diverse behavioral reactions. It is however still not entirely clear how these different aspects are valuated and combined to determine desired versus undesired response behaviors in individuals. In a functional integration task, threat-appeal based exercise promotion messages varying in psychological threat and efficacy content were shown to sedentary employees in order to assess how they affect their intention to engage in physical exercise. Our results show that individuals can be categorized in 4 different clusters depending on the way they valuate threat and efficacy appeals: i.e. individuals sensitive to both types of cues, those sensitive to either the threat or the efficacy component in the message and those insensitive to either one of them. As different segments of receivers of the message react differently to threat and efficacy combinations, it is concluded that different approaches to designing effective mass media campaigns may be required for effective exercise promotion.

  18. Architectural model for crowdsourcing for human security threats ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Journal of Computer Science and Its Application ... Crowdsourcing for Human Security Threats Situation Information and Response System (CHSTSIRS) is proposed in this paper to report Human Security (HS) ... Keywords: Human security, Crowdsourcing, Threats, Situation Information, Agency, Google, Cloud Messaging ...

  19. Astrology Pseudoscience and a Discussion About Its Threats to Society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tevfik UYAR

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Astrology, a pseudoscience, is highly popular in Turkey. Astrologers, who are its practitioners, produce discourses in the scientific field at the media and at their own platforms. Furthermore, it is possible to find some instances of astrology related activities in Turkish universities. In this article, demarcation of science from pseudoscience and the pseudoscientific status of astrology were discussed in a first place. Next, threats of astrological discourse within economic, educational and medical fields and their threats to society were expressed with some examples. Instances of the astrological activities within higher education institutions, such as an astrology-based master degree thesis, the astrology certificate programs, and an astrology column in an official medical school magazine were evaluated, and it was put forward that they contributed to increase the level of threat and it was also claimed that the existence of astrological activities in the universities contradicts the main purpose and principles of the higher education. In conclusion, some regulatory actions like the implementation of the scientific literacy and demarcation problem to each level of educational curriculum, a general policy for excluding the pseudoscience from higher education institutions and a recommended health warning at the top of the astrology were suggested.

  20. Stimulus-Driven Attention, Threat Bias, and Sad Bias in Youth with a History of an Anxiety Disorder or Depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sylvester, Chad M; Hudziak, James J; Gaffrey, Michael S; Barch, Deanna M; Luby, Joan L

    2016-02-01

    Attention biases towards threatening and sad stimuli are associated with pediatric anxiety and depression, respectively. The basic cognitive mechanisms associated with attention biases in youth, however, remain unclear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that threat bias (selective attention for threatening versus neutral stimuli) but not sad bias relies on stimulus-driven attention. We collected measures of stimulus-driven attention, threat bias, sad bias, and current clinical symptoms in youth with a history of an anxiety disorder and/or depression (ANX/DEP; n = 40) as well as healthy controls (HC; n = 33). Stimulus-driven attention was measured with a non-emotional spatial orienting task, while threat bias and sad bias were measured at a short time interval (150 ms) with a spatial orienting task using emotional faces and at a longer time interval (500 ms) using a dot-probe task. In ANX/DEP but not HC, early attention bias towards threat was negatively correlated with later attention bias to threat, suggesting that early threat vigilance was associated with later threat avoidance. Across all subjects, stimulus-driven orienting was not correlated with early threat bias but was negatively correlated with later threat bias, indicating that rapid stimulus-driven orienting is linked to later threat avoidance. No parallel relationships were detected for sad bias. Current symptoms of depression but not anxiety were related to decreased stimulus-driven attention. Together, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that threat bias but not sad bias relies on stimulus-driven attention. These results inform the design of attention bias modification programs that aim to reverse threat biases and reduce symptoms associated with pediatric anxiety and depression.

  1. Stimulus-driven attention, threat bias, and sad bias in youth with a history of an anxiety disorder or depression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sylvester, Chad M.; Hudziak, James J.; Gaffrey, Michael S.; Barch, Deanna M.; Luby, Joan L.

    2015-01-01

    Attention biases towards threatening and sad stimuli are associated with pediatric anxiety and depression, respectively. The basic cognitive mechanisms associated with attention biases in youth, however, remain unclear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that threat bias (selective attention for threatening versus neutral stimuli) but not sad bias relies on stimulus-driven attention. We collected measures of stimulus-driven attention, threat bias, sad bias, and current clinical symptoms in youth with a history of an anxiety disorder and/or depression (ANX/DEP; n=40) as well as healthy controls (HC; n=33). Stimulus-driven attention was measured with a non-emotional spatial orienting task, while threat bias and sad bias were measured at a short time interval (150 ms) with a spatial orienting task using emotional faces and at a longer time interval (500 ms) using a dot-probe task. In ANX/DEP but not HC, early attention bias towards threat was negatively correlated with later attention bias to threat, suggesting that early threat vigilance was associated with later threat avoidance. Across all subjects, stimulus-driven orienting was not correlated with early threat bias but was negatively correlated with later threat bias, indicating that rapid stimulus-driven orienting is linked to later threat avoidance. No parallel relationships were detected for sad bias. Current symptoms of depression but not anxiety were related to decreased stimulus-driven attention. Together, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that threat bias but not sad bias relies on stimulus-driven attention. These results inform the design of attention bias modification programs that aim to reverse threat biases and reduce symptoms associated with pediatric anxiety and depression. PMID:25702927

  2. Kidnapping and abduction minimizing the threat and lessons in survival

    CERN Document Server

    Heard, Brian John

    2014-01-01

    Terrorist groups and organized crime cartels pose an increasing threat of kidnapping throughout many regions in the word. At the same time, international travel has become more commonplace for both business and leisure purposes. Kidnapping and Abduction: Minimizing the Threat and Lessons in Survival provides a practical guide on the precautions travelers can take to avoid being kidnapped or derail a kidnapping attempt in progress. In the event this cannot be avoided, the book supplies advice on how to ensure survival during captivity. Readers will learn: The basic elements of kidnapping and abduction The motivations and mechanisms of kidnappers The hotspots where kidnapping/hostage taking is prevalent Vehicles best suited for avoidance of kidnap threat and proposals for up-armoring an existing vehicle How to recognize immediate threats and precautions to be taken in assessing threat level The types of weapons most favored by kidnappers and their threat level Available bullet-resistant materials and their use ...

  3. The Bright Side of Threatened Narcissism: Improved Performance Following Ego Threat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nevicka, Barbora; Baas, Matthijs; Ten Velden, Femke S

    2016-12-01

    Narcissistic individuals have highly positive self-views and overestimate their abilities. Consequently, they tend to react aggressively whenever they receive information that does not match their high self-views (ego threat). We argue that focusing on aggression merely portrays a one-sided view of narcissistic individuals and the manner in which they counter ego threats. We propose that following ego threat, narcissism can also fuel performance. In four studies, we measured nonclinical narcissism and allocated Dutch undergraduate university students (N 1  = 175, N 2  = 142, N 3  = 159, N 4  = 174) to either an ego threat or a no ego threat condition. Ego threat involved negative feedback (Studies 1-2) or threat to uniqueness (Studies 3-4). We measured participants' intentions to complete a challenging task (Study 1), their creative performance (Studies 2-3), and their performance on an anagram task (Study 4). Across Studies 1-3, we consistently found that following ego threat, higher nonclinical narcissism was associated with greater willingness to perform tasks that enabled demonstration of abilities and enhanced creative performance. These results were confirmed using a meta-analysis. However, anagram performance was not enhanced following ego threat. We provide additional analyses that might help explain this. Our findings thus reveal a more positive side to the way narcissistic individuals manage threats to their self-image. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Personality, threat and affective responses to cultural diversity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van der Zee, K.I.; Van Der Gang, Ineke

    The present study tried to reconcile assumptions from Terror Management Theory that individual differences in openness to diversity are enhanced by existential threat with own recent findings suggesting that individual differences are diminished by threat. A model was supported assuming that it is

  5. Web threat and its implication for E-business in Nigeria ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Web threat is any threat that uses the internet to facilitate identity theft , fraud, espionage and intelligence gathering. Web -based vulnerabilities now outnumber traditional computer security concerns. Such threats use multiple types of malware and fraud, all of which utilize HTTP or HTTPS protocols, but may also employ ...

  6. An Examination of Stereotype Threat Effects on Girls' Mathematics Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganley, Colleen M.; Mingle, Leigh A.; Ryan, Allison M.; Ryan, Katherine; Vasilyeva, Marina; Perry, Michelle

    2013-01-01

    Stereotype threat has been proposed as 1 potential explanation for the gender difference in standardized mathematics test performance among high-performing students. At present, it is not entirely clear how susceptibility to stereotype threat develops, as empirical evidence for stereotype threat effects across the school years is inconsistent. In…

  7. Threat, Pressure, and Communication about Concussion Safety: Implications for Parent Concussion Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kroshus, Emily; Babkes Stellino, Megan; Chrisman, Sara P. D.; Rivara, Frederick P.

    2018-01-01

    Background: Parental communication about the importance of reporting concussion symptoms can influence a child's attitudes about such reporting, and is likely related to perceived threat of concussion. However, parental investment in child sport achievement might impede this communication. Purpose: To examine the relationship between perceived…

  8. Multiple social identities and stereotype threat: imbalance, accessibility, and working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rydell, Robert J; McConnell, Allen R; Beilock, Sian L

    2009-05-01

    In 4 experiments, the authors showed that concurrently making positive and negative self-relevant stereotypes available about performance in the same ability domain can eliminate stereotype threat effects. Replicating past work, the authors demonstrated that introducing negative stereotypes about women's math performance activated participants' female social identity and hurt their math performance (i.e., stereotype threat) by reducing working memory. Moving beyond past work, it was also demonstrated that concomitantly presenting a positive self-relevant stereotype (e.g., college students are good at math) increased the relative accessibility of females' college student identity and inhibited their gender identity, eliminating attendant working memory deficits and contingent math performance decrements. Furthermore, subtle manipulations in questions presented in the demographic section of a math test eliminated stereotype threat effects that result from women reporting their gender before completing the test. This work identifies the motivated processes through which people's social identities became active in situations in which self-relevant stereotypes about a stigmatized group membership and a nonstigmatized group membership were available. In addition, it demonstrates the downstream consequences of this pattern of activation on working memory and performance. Copyright (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

  9. The Influence of Combat Experience on Psychologically Healthy Soldiers' Attentiveness to Environmental Threats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranes, Bethany; Long, Chris P; Traynham, Stephanie; Hayes, Amanda

    2017-07-01

    In contrast to previous research that has primarily examined how psychological disorders (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], anxiety) are affected by and affect individuals' threat perceptions, this study examines the relationship between combat experience and threat-monitoring in psychologically healthy Soldiers. Existing research has established how prolonged or intense experiences with war-related stressors can lead individuals to undergo an unconscious fear-conditioning process that affects the circuitry of the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and anterior cingulate cortex regions of the brain. We predict that the intensity of one's combat experience positively influences Soldiers' attention to environmental threats. Participants included U. S. Army Soldiers with a score of 50 or below on the PTSD Checklist-Military Version. Participants completed the Combat Exposure Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The experimental prediction task we employed assesses the expectation of an intrusively loud white noise sound that occurred on three variable patterns in a pseudorandomized order. Each tone pattern was used 20 times over a total of 60 trials. The experimental prediction task included two neutral tones (700 and 1,300 Hz) that were presented in a repeated pattern along with a 100-dB burst of white noise (0.5-second duration). In each trial, one of three possible tone combinations was presented. To assess their attentiveness to threats, participants were asked to continuously rate their expectancy of the burst of white noise using a visual analogue scale (VAS) ranging from 0 to 100. VAS ratings were collected at controlled points throughout the task. None of the participants reported scores on any of the diagnostic surveys that met standards for clinical significance. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to assess the overall effect of the three prediction conditions on participants' VAS ratings. There was a significant

  10. Examining the Effects of Stereotype Threat on Test-Taking Behaviors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherbaum, Charles A.; Blanshetyn, Victoria; Marshall-Wolp, Elizabeth; McCue, Elizabeth; Strauss, Ross

    2011-01-01

    This study examines the relationship between stereotype threat and individual test-taking behaviors. Previous research has examined the impact of stereotype threat on test scores, but little research has examined the impact of stereotype threat on the test-taking behaviors impacting those scores. Using a pre-post experimental design, stereotype…

  11. 'NRBC' threat: is this concept still valid?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lacronique, J.F.

    2006-01-01

    About 10 years ago, after the Sarin attack in Tokyo, the world discover that terrorists could use again radio-nuclear, chemical or biological agents to launch attacks, just to cause terror and disruption of western economies. This has forged the acronym 'NRBC'. In terms of likelihood, nuclear and radiological attacks could be considered among the most easy to prepare, and some possible acts are listed in this paper. A considerable amount of work has been prepared for the preparedness against radio-nuclear attacks, during the last 3 years, by World Health Organization (WHO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Atomic Energy Agency (AEN) as well as by the International Commission of Radio Protection (ICRP). A series of documents have been issued from international cooperation. These documents shows specificities to the R/N threat in terms of health consequences, that make this threat less prone to international cooperative efforts than biological threats. In addition, the Ministers of Health of the G7 countries have created an 'Global Health Security Initiative' (GHSI) in 2002 to anticipate crisis such as the anthrax problem, or other possible NRBC threats

  12. Power affects performance when the pressure is on: evidence for low-power threat and high-power lift.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Sonia K; Galinsky, Adam D; Kray, Laura J; Shirako, Aiwa

    2015-05-01

    The current research examines how power affects performance in pressure-filled contexts. We present low-power-threat and high-power-lift effects, whereby performance in high-stakes situations suffers or is enhanced depending on one's power; that is, the power inherent to a situational role can produce effects similar to stereotype threat and lift. Three negotiations experiments demonstrate that role-based power affects outcomes but only when the negotiation is diagnostic of ability and, therefore, pressure-filled. We link these outcomes conceptually to threat and lift effects by showing that (a) role power affects performance more strongly when the negotiation is diagnostic of ability and (b) underperformance disappears when the low-power negotiator has an opportunity to self-affirm. These results suggest that stereotype threat and lift effects may represent a more general phenomenon: When the stakes are raised high, relative power can act as either a toxic brew (stereotype/low-power threat) or a beneficial elixir (stereotype/high-power lift) for performance. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  13. The Role of Cognitive Factors in Childhood Social Anxiety: Social Threat Thoughts and Social Skills Perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Niekerk, Rianne E; Klein, Anke M; Allart-van Dam, Esther; Hudson, Jennifer L; Rinck, Mike; Hutschemaekers, Giel J M; Becker, Eni S

    2017-01-01

    Models of cognitive processing in anxiety disorders state that socially anxious children display several distorted cognitive processes that maintain their anxiety. The present study investigated the role of social threat thoughts and social skills perception in relation to childhood trait and state social anxiety. In total, 141 children varying in their levels of social anxiety performed a short speech task in front of a camera and filled out self-reports about their trait social anxiety, state anxiety, social skills perception and social threat thoughts. Results showed that social threat thoughts mediated the relationship between trait social anxiety and state anxiety after the speech task, even when controlling for baseline state anxiety. Furthermore, we found that children with higher trait anxiety and more social threat thoughts had a lower perception of their social skills, but did not display a social skills deficit. These results provide evidence for the applicability of the cognitive social anxiety model to children.

  14. Standoff Methods for the Detection of Threat Agents: A Review of Several Promising Laser-Based Techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Bruce Johnson

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Detection of explosives, explosive precursors, or other threat agents presents a number of technological challenges for optical sensing methods. Certainly detecting trace levels of threat agents against a complex background is chief among these challenges; however, the related issues of multiple target distances (from standoff to proximity and sampling time scales (from passive mines to rapid rate of march convoy protection for different applications make it unlikely that a single technique will be ideal for all sensing situations. A number of methods for spanning the range of optical sensor technologies exist which, when integrated, could produce a fused sensor system possessing a high level of sensitivity to threat agents and a moderate standoff real-time capability appropriate for portal screening of personnel or vehicles. In this work, we focus on several promising, and potentially synergistic, laser-based methods for sensing threat agents. For each method, we have briefly outlined the technique and report on the current level of capability.

  15. Investigating Hypervigilance for Social Threat of Lonely Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qualter, Pamela; Rotenberg, Ken; Barrett, Louise; Henzi, Peter; Barlow, Alexandra; Stylianou, Maria; Harris, Rebecca A.

    2013-01-01

    The hypothesis that lonely children show hypervigilance for social threat was examined in a series of three studies that employed different methods including advanced eye-tracking technology. Hypervigilance for social threat was operationalized as hostility to ambiguously motivated social exclusion in a variation of the hostile attribution…

  16. Towards Formal Analysis of Insider Threats for Auctions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kammueller, Florian; Kerber, Manfred; Probst, Christian W.

    2016-01-01

    is meaningful to prove correctness and scrutinize vulnerability to security and privacy attacks. Surveying the threats in auctions and insider collusions, we present an approach to model and analyze auction protocols for insider threats using the interactive theorem prover Isabelle. As a case study, we use...

  17. SECURITY THREATS IN CENTRAL ASIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Çağla Gül Yesevi

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available This study will analyze main security threats in Central Asia. It is obvious thatsince the end of Cold War, there have been many security threats in Central Asiaas internal weakness of Central Asian states, terrorism, transnational crime,economic insecurity, environmental issues, drug trafficking, ethnic violence,regional instability. This study will propose thatwith increasing interdependence,states need each other to solve these global security problems. In that sense,regional and sub-regional cooperation between Central Asian states and with otherregional actors has been witnessed. It is clear that the withdrawal of NATO fromAfghanistan will destabilize Central Asia. This study will investigate overallsecurity situation in Central Asia and affects andcontributions of regionalorganizations to Eurasian security

  18. Solutions to the new threats to academic freedom?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tooley, Michael

    2014-05-01

    In my commentary on Francesca Minerva's article 'New Threats to Academic Freedom', I agree with her contention that the existence of the Internet has given rise to new and very serious threats to academic freedom. I think that it is crucial that we confront those threats, and find ways to eliminate them, which I believe can be done. The threats in question involve both authors and editors. In the case of authors, I argue that the best solution is not anonymous publication, but publication using pseudonyms, and I describe how that would work. In the case of editors, my proposal is a website that a number of journals would have access to, where papers that editors judge to be clearly worthy of publication, but whose publication seems likely to set off a firestorm of public and media protest, could be published without any indication of the journal that had accepted the paper for publication. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. The threats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brunel, S.; Touchard, P.; Ferrandery, J.L.

    2005-01-01

    Second chapter of the book on the geopolitics of the sustainable development, this chapter deals with the threats of the climatic change on the earth and the humans. the authors analyze the consequences of the climatic change on the developing countries of the South and the necessity of a sustainable development implementation in the North. They inform on the resources depletion, the water problem, the nuclear activities and the public health and the french government policy facing the sustainable management of the territory. (A.L.B.)

  20. Fracking in the UK press: threat dynamics in an unfolding debate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaspal, Rusi; Nerlich, Brigitte

    2014-04-01

    Shale gas is a novel source of fossil fuel which is extracted by induced hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking". This article examines the socio-political dimension of fracking as manifested in the UK press at three key temporal points in the debate on the practice. Three newspaper corpora were analysed qualitatively using Thematic Analysis and Social Representations Theory. Three overarching themes are discussed: "April-May 2011: from Optimism to Scepticism"; "November 2011: (De-) Constructing and Re-Constructing Risk and Danger"; "April 2012: consolidating Social Representations of Fracking". In this article, we examine the emergence of and inter-relations between competing social representations, discuss the dynamics of threat positioning and show how threat can be re-construed in order to serve particular socio-political ends in the debate on fracking.

  1. Biomarkers of threat and reward sensitivity demonstrate unique associations with risk for psychopathology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Brady D; McGowan, Sarah Kate; Sarapas, Casey; Robison-Andrew, E Jenna; Altman, Sarah E; Campbell, Miranda L; Gorka, Stephanie M; Katz, Andrea C; Shankman, Stewart A

    2013-08-01

    Two emotional/motivational constructs that have been posited to underlie anxiety and depressive disorders are heightened sensitivity to threat and reduced sensitivity to reward, respectively. It is unclear, though, whether these constructs are only epiphenomena or also connote risk for these disorders (and relatedly, whether they connote risk for separate disorders). Using family history of psychopathology as an indicator of risk, the present study examined whether biomarkers of sensitivity to threat (startle potentiation) and reward (frontal EEG asymmetry) were associated with similar or different familial liabilities. In addition, the present study examined whether these biomarkers were associated with risk independent of proband DSM-IV diagnosis. One-hundred and seventy-three individuals diagnosed with panic disorder (PD), early onset major depressive disorder (MDD), both (comorbids), or controls completed two laboratory paradigms assessing sensitivity to predictable/unpredictable threat (measured via startle response) and reward (measured via frontal EEG asymmetry during a gambling task). Results indicated that across all participants: (a) startle potentiation to unpredictable threat was associated with family history of PD (but not MDD); and (b) frontal EEG asymmetry while anticipating reward was associated with family history of MDD (but not PD). Additionally, both measures continued to be associated with family history of psychopathology after controlling for proband DSM-IV diagnosis. Results suggest that the proposed biomarkers of sensitivity to unpredictable threat and reward exhibit discriminant validity and may add to the predictive validity of the DSM-IV defined constructs of PD and MDD, respectively. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  2. Distributed micro-releases of bioterror pathogens : threat characterizations and epidemiology from uncertain patient observables.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wolf, Michael M. (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL); Marzouk, Youssef M.; Adams, Brian M.; Devine, Karen Dragon; Ray, Jaideep; Najm, Habib N.

    2008-10-01

    Terrorist attacks using an aerosolized pathogen preparation have gained credibility as a national security concern since the anthrax attacks of 2001. The ability to characterize the parameters of such attacks, i.e., to estimate the number of people infected, the time of infection, the average dose received, and the rate of disease spread in contemporary American society (for contagious diseases), is important when planning a medical response. For non-contagious diseases, we address the characterization problem by formulating a Bayesian inverse problem predicated on a short time-series of diagnosed patients exhibiting symptoms. To keep the approach relevant for response planning, we limit ourselves to 3.5 days of data. In computational tests performed for anthrax, we usually find these observation windows sufficient, especially if the outbreak model employed in the inverse problem is accurate. For contagious diseases, we formulated a Bayesian inversion technique to infer both pathogenic transmissibility and the social network from outbreak observations, ensuring that the two determinants of spreading are identified separately. We tested this technique on data collected from a 1967 smallpox epidemic in Abakaliki, Nigeria. We inferred, probabilistically, different transmissibilities in the structured Abakaliki population, the social network, and the chain of transmission. Finally, we developed an individual-based epidemic model to realistically simulate the spread of a rare (or eradicated) disease in a modern society. This model incorporates the mixing patterns observed in an (American) urban setting and accepts, as model input, pathogenic transmissibilities estimated from historical outbreaks that may have occurred in socio-economic environments with little resemblance to contemporary society. Techniques were also developed to simulate disease spread on static and sampled network reductions of the dynamic social networks originally in the individual-based model, yielding faster, though approximate, network-based epidemic models. These reduced-order models are useful in scenario analysis for medical response planning, as well as in computationally intensive inverse problems.

  3. The threat from creationism to the rational teaching of biology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ATHEL CORNISH-BOWDEN

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Most biologists outside the USA and a few other countries, like Australia and Canada, are under the impression that the threat to the teaching of biology represented by creationism does not concern them directly. This is unfortunately no longer true: the recent growth of creationism, especially in its pseudo-scientific manifestation known as "intelligent design", has been obvious in several countries of Western Europe, especially the UK, Germany and Poland, and it is beginning to be noticeable in Brazil, and maybe elsewhere in Latin America. The problem is complicated by the fact that there are not just two possibilities, evolution and creationism, because creationism comes in various incompatible varieties. Turkey is now a major source of creationist propaganda outside the USA, and is especially significant in relation to its influence on Muslim populations in Europe. The time for biologists to address the creationist threat is now

  4. Striving for Group Agency: Threat to Personal Control Increases the Attractiveness of Agentic Groups

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janine eStollberg

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available When their sense of personal control is threatened people try to restore perceived control through the social self. We propose that it is the perceived agency of ingroups that provides the self with a sense of control. In three experiments, we for the first time tested the hypothesis that threat to personal control increases the attractiveness of being part or joining those groups that are perceived as coherent entities engaging in coordinated group goal pursuit (agentic groups but not of those groups whose agency is perceived to be low. Consistent with this hypothesis we found in Study 1 (N = 93 that threat to personal control increased ingroup identification only with task groups, but not with less agentic types of ingroups that were made salient simultaneously. Furthermore, personal control threat increased a sense of collective control and support within the task group, mediated through task-group identification (indirect effects. Turning to groups people are not (yet part of, Study 2 (N = 47 showed that personal control threat increased relative attractiveness ratings of small groups as possible future ingroups only when the relative agency of small groups was perceived to be high. Perceived group homogeneity or social power did not moderate the effect. Study 3 (N = 78 replicated the moderating role of perceived group agency for attractiveness ratings of entitative groups, whereas perceived group status did not moderate the effect. These findings extend previous research on group-based control, showing that perceived agency accounts for group-based responses to threatened control.

  5. Many Species, Many Threats: A Composite Risk Assessment of Climate Impacts for Salmonids in the Pacific Northwest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graham, M. C.; Greene, C.; Beechie, T. J.; Raymond, C.

    2016-02-01

    The life cycles of salmonid species span freshwater, estuarine, and marine environments, exposing these economically, ecologically, and culturally important species to a wide variety of climate change threats. The diverse life histories of salmonids make them differentially vulnerable to climate change based on their use of different habitat types and the variability in climate change threats across these habitat types. Previous studies have focused mainly on assessing the vulnerability of particular life stages for a few species. Hence, we lack a broad perspective on how multiple climate threats are expected to impact the entire salmonid community, which spend much of their lives in marine waters. This lack of knowledge hampers our ability to prioritize various adaptation strategies for salmonid conservation. In order to conduct a more extensive vulnerability study of salmonids, we performed a life cycle-based risk assessment of climate change threats for nine species of salmonids (species within Oncorhynchus, Salvelinus, and Prosopium genera) inhabiting the Skagit River watershed, which is subject to an array of climate impacts. Our risk assessment integrated projections of impacts from various climate threats in freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems with expert-based assessments of species-specific sensitivity and exposure. We found that projections (multiple global climate models under moderate emission scenarios) of both changes in magnitude and frequency of three flow-related freshwater impacts (flooding, low flows, and suspended sediment pulses) were more severe than threats in estuarine and marine habitats for which we could obtain projections. Combining projections with expert-based sensitivity and exposure scores revealed that these three threats exhibited the highest risk across all species. Of the nine species, the four most vulnerable were Chinook and coho salmon, steelhead, and bull trout. Even though these salmonids spend much of their lives

  6. Adrenocortical responses to offspring-directed threats in two open-nesting birds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, Luke K; Bisson, Isabelle-Anne; Hayden, Timothy J; Wikelski, Martin; Romero, L Michael

    2009-07-01

    Dependent young are often easy targets for predators, so for many parent vertebrates, responding to offspring-directed threats is a fundamental part of reproduction. We tested the parental adrenocortical response of the endangered black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapilla) and the common white-eyed vireo (V. griseus) to acute and chronic threats to their offspring. Like many open-nesting birds, our study species experience high offspring mortality. Parents responded behaviorally to a predator decoy or human 1-2m from their nests, but, in contrast to similar studies of cavity-nesting birds, neither these acute threats nor chronic offspring-directed threats altered plasma corticosterone concentrations of parents. Although parents in this study showed no corticosterone response to offspring-directed threats, they always increased corticosterone concentrations in response to capture. To explain these results, we propose that parents perceive their risk of nest-associated death differently depending on nest type, with cavity-nesting adults perceiving greater risk to themselves than open-nesters that can readily detect and escape from offspring-directed threats. Our results agree with previous studies suggesting that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, a major physiological mechanism for coping with threats to survival, probably plays no role in coping with threats to offspring when risks to parents and offspring are not correlated. We extend that paradigm by demonstrating that nest style may influence how adults perceive the correlation between offspring-directed and self-directed threats.

  7. Advanced insider threat mitigation workshop instructional materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gibbs, Philip [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Larsen, Robert [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); O Brien, Mike [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Edmunds, Tom [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2008-11-01

    Insiders represent a formidable threat to nuclear facilities. This set of workshop materials covers methodologies to analyze and approaches to mitigate the threat of an insider attempting abrupt and protracted theft of nuclear materials. This particular set of materials is a n update of a January 2008 version to add increased emphasis on Material Control and Accounting and its role with respect to protracted insider nuclear material theft scenarios.

  8. A Model for Situation and Threat Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-12-01

    CUBRC , Inc.) 8151 Needwood #T103 Derwood, MD 20855 UNITED STATES steinberg@cubrc.org A model is presented for situation and threat assessment...PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Subject Matter Expert (SME) Calspan-UB Research Center ( CUBRC , Inc.) 8151 Needwood #T103 Derwood, MD...1 A Model for Situation and Threat Assessment Alan Steinberg CUBRC , Inc. steinberg@cubrc.org November, 2005 2 Objectives • Advance the state-of

  9. The space between us: stereotype threat and distance in interracial contexts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goff, Phillip Atiba; Steele, Claude M; Davies, Paul G

    2008-01-01

    Four studies investigate the role that stereotype threat plays in producing racial distancing behavior in an anticipated conversation paradigm. It was hypothesized that the threat of appearing racist may have the ironic effect of causing Whites to distance themselves from Black conversation partners. In Study 1, participants distanced themselves more from Black partners under conditions of threat, and this distance correlated with the activation of a "White racist" stereotype. In Study 2, it was demonstrated that Whites' interracial distancing behavior was not predicted by explicit or implicit prejudice. Study 3 provides evidence that conceiving of interracial interactions as opportunities to learn may attenuate the negative consequences of threat for Whites. Study 4 found that Whites have conscious access to their experience of stereotype threat and that this awareness may mediate the relationship between threat and distance. These results are discussed within a broader discourse of racial distancing and the possibility that certain identity threats may be as important as prejudice in determining the outcomes of interracial interactions. Copyright 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

  10. Improving Insider Threat Training Awareness and Mitigation Programs at Nuclear Facilities.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abbott, Shannon [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2017-06-01

    In recent years, insider threat programs have become an important aspect of nuclear security, and nuclear security training courses. However, many nuclear security insider threat programs fail to address the insider threat attack and monitoring potential that exists on information technology (IT) systems. This failure is critical because of the importance of information technology and networks in today’s world. IT systems offer an opportunity to perpetrate dangerous insider attacks, but they also present an opportunity to monitor for them and prevent them. This paper suggests a number of best practices for monitoring and preventing insider attacks on IT systems, and proposes the development of a new IT insider threat tabletop that can be used to help train nuclear security practitioners on how best to implement IT insider threat prevention best practices. The development of IT insider threat best practices and a practical tabletop exercise will allow nuclear security practitioners to improve nuclear security trainings as it integrates a critical part of insider threat prevention into the broader nuclear security system.

  11. Introduction to Administrative Programs that Mitigate the Insider Threat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gerke, Gretchen K.; Rogers, Erin; Landers, John; DeCastro, Kara

    2012-09-01

    This presentation begins with the reality of the insider threat, then elaborates on these tools to mitigate the insider threat: Human Reliability Program (HRP); Nuclear Security Culture (NSC) Program; Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

  12. Design basis threat analysis and implementation of the physical protection system at Nuclear Facility of BATAN Yogyakarta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Syarip

    2005-01-01

    An analysis to determine the design basis threat (DBT) and its follow-up through the implementation of physical protection system at the nuclear facility of BATAN Yogyakarta has been done. Methodology used for the analysis is based on the IAEA guidance for the development and maintenance of a DBT. Based on the analysis results, it can be concluded that the threat motivation is influenced by political situation (related to the government policy), criminal, sabotage and theft. The characteristics of threats are: not so well organized, terror, theft of materials information, involving insider (collusion), and intimidation to workers. Potential threat could from guests/students who take a practical job or laboratory exercise. Therefore, it is necessary to be anticipated the possibility and its impact of turmoil/demonstrators such as destruction of: lighting, road, fence, sabotage on the electric and communication lines, surrounding the Yogyakarta nuclear facility

  13. Interaction of threat and verbal working memory in adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, Nilam; Vytal, Katherine; Pavletic, Nevia; Stoodley, Catherine; Pine, Daniel S; Grillon, Christian; Ernst, Monique

    2016-04-01

    Threat induces a state of sustained anxiety that can disrupt cognitive processing, and, reciprocally, cognitive processing can modulate an anxiety response to threat. These effects depend on the level of cognitive engagement, which itself varies as a function of task difficulty. In adults, we recently showed that induced anxiety impaired working memory accuracy at low and medium but not high load. Conversely, increasing the task load reduced the physiological correlates of anxiety (anxiety-potentiated startle). The present work examines such threat-cognition interactions as a function of age. We expected threat to more strongly impact working memory in younger individuals by virtue of putatively restricted cognitive resources and weaker emotion regulation. This was tested by examining the influence of age on the interaction of anxiety and working memory in 25 adolescents (10 to 17 years) and 25 adults (22 to 46 years). Working memory load was manipulated using a verbal n-back task. Anxiety was induced using the threat of an aversive loud scream and measured via eyeblink startle. Findings revealed that, in both age groups, accuracy was lower during threat than safe conditions at low and medium but not high load, and reaction times were faster during threat than safe conditions at high load but did not differ at other loads. Additionally, anxiety-potentiated startle was greater during low and medium than high load. Thus, the interactions of anxiety with working memory appear similar in adolescents and adults. Whether these similarities reflect common neural mechanisms would need to be assessed using functional neuroimaging. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  14. Alert but less alarmed: a pooled analysis of terrorism threat perception in Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barr Margo

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous Australian research has highlighted disparities in community perceptions of the threat posed by terrorism. A study with a large sample size is needed to examine reported concerns and anticipated responses of community sub-groups and to determine their consistency with existing Australian and international findings. Methods Representative samples of New South Wales (NSW adults completed terrorism perception questions as part of computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI in 2007 (N = 2081 and 2010 (N = 2038. Responses were weighted against the NSW population. Data sets from the two surveys were pooled and multivariate multilevel analyses conducted to identify health and socio-demographic factors associated with higher perceived risk of terrorism and evacuation response intentions, and to examine changes over time. Results In comparison with 2007, Australians in 2010 were significantly more likely to believe that a terrorist attack would occur in Australia (Adjusted Odd Ratios (AOR = 1.24, 95%CI:1.06-1.45 but felt less concerned that they would be directly affected by such an incident (AOR = 0.65, 95%CI:0.55-0.75. Higher perceived risk of terrorism and related changes in living were associated with middle age, female gender, lower education and higher reported psychological distress. Australians of migrant background reported significantly lower likelihood of terrorism (AOR = 0.52, 95%CI:0.39-0.70 but significantly higher concern that they would be personally affected by such an incident (AOR = 1.57, 95%CI:1.21-2.04 and having made changes in the way they live due to this threat (AOR = 2.47, 95%CI:1.88-3.25. Willingness to evacuate homes and public places in response to potential incidents increased significantly between 2007 and 2010 (AOR = 1.53, 95%CI:1.33-1.76. Conclusion While an increased proportion of Australians believe that the national threat of terrorism remains high, concern about being personally affected

  15. Impact of the threat of war on children in military families.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryan-Wenger, Nancy A

    2002-01-01

    The potential for war is a pervasive threat to the security and family structure of children in military families. This study compared children of active-duty, reserve, and civilian families with respect to their perceptions of war, origin of fears related to war, levels of manifest anxiety, coping strategies, and projection of emotional problems in human figure drawings.

  16. A Category Based Threat Evaluation Model Using Platform Kinematics Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mustafa Çöçelli

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Command and control (C2 systems direct operators to make accurate decisions in the stressful atmosphere of the battlefield at the earliest. There are powerful tools that fuse various instant piece of information and brings summary of those in front of operators. Threat evaluation is one of the important fusion method that provides these assistance to military people. However, C2 systems could be deprived of valuable data source due to the absence of capable equipment. This situation has a bad unfavorable influence on the quality of tactical picture in front of C2 operators. In this paper, we study on the threat evaluation model that take into account these deficiencies. Our method extracts threat level of various targets mostly from their kinematics in two dimensional space. In the meantime, classification of entities around battlefield is unavailable. Only, category of targets are determined as a result of sensors process, which is the information of whether entities belong to air or surface environment. Hereby, threat evaluation model is consist of three fundamental steps that runs on entities belongs to different environment separately: the extraction of threat assessment cues, threat selection based on Bayesian Inference and the calculation of threat assessment rating. We have evaluated performance of proposed model by simulating a set of synthetic scenarios.

  17. Truck bomb and insider threats to nuclear facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirsch, D.

    1987-01-01

    In the nuclear field, two the these weak links in the security chain are the truck bomb threat and the insider threat. The risks associated with terrorist use of vehicular bombs against nuclear targets surfaced (actually, resurfaced) followed the terrorist attacks on the US Embassy annex and the Marine compound in Leb Concern was expressed that similar attacks against nuclear facilities could result in substantial damage and release of radioactivity. Since the current regulations of the NRC require licensees to protect only against attacks on foot (and even then, only against very small attacking forces), shortly after the Lebanon bombings, that agency commenced an urgent rulemaking to require its licensees to protect against truck bombs. Inexplicably, that rulemaking was called off after research results indicated that the truck bomb threat to nuclear facilities was even more serious than previously thought. Even were nuclear facilities adequately protected against external attack, be the aim theft or sabotage, the greatest security risk to these sites - the threat of action by insiders - would remain. The traditional methods of protecting against the insider threat - such as the two-person rule, strict compartmentalization of vital areas, and design features that make damage to two or more redundant systems by one individual difficult - are generally expensive and have encountered substantial resistance from the nuclear industry, which has restrained the NRC from requiring them

  18. NATIONAL SECURITY IMPLICATIONS OF CYBER THREATS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ALEJANDRO AMIGO TOSSI

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Cyber threat is one of the main risks for security in developing countries, as well in States on the development path, such as ours. This phenomena is a challenge to national security, that needs the adoption of a paramount approach in its analysis, that have to consider all the aspects that had transformed the actors and malevolent actions in this environment in one of the most important challenges to the security of governmental as well as private organizations all over the world. States, hackers, cyber activists, and cyber criminals have been main actors in several situations that had shaped a new dimension for international and national security. The purpose of this article is to propose topics that could be included in the national assessment of cyber threats to the Chilean national security, based upon several conceptual definitions, cyber attacks already executed to state and military organization’s in Chile, and lastly, considerations over cyber threats included in the National Security Strategies of some western powers.

  19. Efficiency of Airborne Sample Analysis Platform (ASAP Bioaerosol Sampler for Pathogen Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anurag eSharma

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The threat of bioterrorism and pandemics has highlighted the urgency for rapid and reliable bioaerosol detection in different environments. Safeguarding against such threats requires continuous sampling of the ambient air for pathogen detection. In this study we investigated the efficacy of the Airborne Sample Analysis Platform (ASAP 2800 bioaerosol sampler to collect representative samples of air and identify specific viruses suspended as bioaerosols. To test this concept, we aerosolized an innocuous replication-defective bovine adenovirus serotype 3 (BAdV3 in a controlled laboratory environment. The ASAP efficiently trapped the surrogate virus at 5×10E3 plaque-forming units (p.f.u. [2×10E5 genome copy equivalent] concentrations or more resulting in the successful detection of the virus using quantitative PCR. These results support the further development of ASAP for bioaerosol pathogen detection.

  20. Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats as a Tool for Translating Evidence into Individualized Medical Strategies (I-SWOT).

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Kodolitsch, Yskert; Bernhardt, Alexander M; Robinson, Peter N; Kölbel, Tilo; Reichenspurner, Hermann; Debus, Sebastian; Detter, Christian

    2015-06-01

    It is the physicians' task to translate evidence and guidelines into medical strategies for individual patients. Until today, however, there is no formal tool that is instrumental to perform this translation. We introduce the analysis of strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) related to therapy with opportunities (O) and threats (T) related to individual patients as a tool to establish an individualized (I) medical strategy (I-SWOT). The I-SWOT matrix identifies four fundamental types of strategy. These comprise "SO" maximizing strengths and opportunities, "WT" minimizing weaknesses and threats, "WO" minimizing weaknesses and maximizing opportunities, and "ST" maximizing strengths and minimizing threats. Each distinct type of strategy may be considered for individualized medical strategies. We describe four steps of I-SWOT to establish an individualized medical strategy to treat aortic disease. In the first step, we define the goal of therapy and identify all evidence-based therapeutic options. In a second step, we assess strengths and weaknesses of each therapeutic option in a SW matrix form. In a third step, we assess opportunities and threats related to the individual patient, and in a final step, we use the I-SWOT matrix to establish an individualized medical strategy through matching "SW" with "OT". As an example we present two 30-year-old patients with Marfan syndrome with identical medical history and aortic pathology. As a result of I-SWOT analysis of their individual opportunities and threats, we identified two distinct medical strategies in these patients. I-SWOT is a formal but easy to use tool to translate medical evidence into individualized medical strategies.

  1. Conventional and New Ways of Governing Forest Threats: A Study of Stakeholder Coherence in Sweden

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eriksson, Louise

    2018-01-01

    Based on a framework for analyzing stakeholder coherence horizontally and vertically, the present study examined the governance of forest threats in Sweden. Opinions of forest risk governance in stakeholder groups with and without a connection to private forestry were compared ( n = 2496) and the opinions were analyzed in relation to current governance practices. More specifically, forest threat appraisals, trust in the Swedish Forest Agency (SFA), and the acceptability of forest risk policy measures directed at private forest owners were assessed. Results revealed an overall coherence between different stakeholders in this context. However, the groups differed in, for example, the acceptability of the hypothetical regulative measure aiming to reduce damages threatening the forest long-term (e.g., climate change). Furthermore, an extensive use of advice for a fee may challenge particularly the internal, but also the external, legitimacy of forest risk governance. The forest owner stakeholder group showed lower threat appraisals when evaluating threat to one's own forest rather than to the Swedish forest, except regarding browsing by animals. Regulations were not disapproved of in any of the stakeholder groups, although the forest owner group generally displayed higher acceptability of encouraging measures compared to the general public. Trust in the SFA was furthermore confirmed as an important driver of policy acceptability, and higher threat appraisals of novel threats, such as climate change and fire, resulted in a higher acceptability of measures less central or new in this context. The value of analyzing stakeholder coherence for natural resource management and governance is discussed.

  2. Conventional and New Ways of Governing Forest Threats: A Study of Stakeholder Coherence in Sweden.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eriksson, Louise

    2018-01-01

    Based on a framework for analyzing stakeholder coherence horizontally and vertically, the present study examined the governance of forest threats in Sweden. Opinions of forest risk governance in stakeholder groups with and without a connection to private forestry were compared (n = 2496) and the opinions were analyzed in relation to current governance practices. More specifically, forest threat appraisals, trust in the Swedish Forest Agency (SFA), and the acceptability of forest risk policy measures directed at private forest owners were assessed. Results revealed an overall coherence between different stakeholders in this context. However, the groups differed in, for example, the acceptability of the hypothetical regulative measure aiming to reduce damages threatening the forest long-term (e.g., climate change). Furthermore, an extensive use of advice for a fee may challenge particularly the internal, but also the external, legitimacy of forest risk governance. The forest owner stakeholder group showed lower threat appraisals when evaluating threat to one's own forest rather than to the Swedish forest, except regarding browsing by animals. Regulations were not disapproved of in any of the stakeholder groups, although the forest owner group generally displayed higher acceptability of encouraging measures compared to the general public. Trust in the SFA was furthermore confirmed as an important driver of policy acceptability, and higher threat appraisals of novel threats, such as climate change and fire, resulted in a higher acceptability of measures less central or new in this context. The value of analyzing stakeholder coherence for natural resource management and governance is discussed.

  3. The threat of proliferation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palme, Olof.

    1986-01-01

    The paper on the threat of proliferation, is a keynote speech delivered to the Colloquium on Nuclear War, Nuclear Proliferation and their Consequences, Geneva, 1985. Topics discussed in the address include: nuclear weapons, nuclear war, terrorists, Non-Proliferation Treaty, nuclear disarmament, and leadership in world affairs. (UK)

  4. Defense against Insider Threat: a Framework for Gathering Goal-based Requirements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nunes Leal Franqueira, V.; van Eck, Pascal; Pernici, B; Gulla, J.A.

    2007-01-01

    Insider threat is becoming comparable to outsider threat in frequency of security events. This is a worrying situation, since insider attacks have a high probability of success because insiders have authorized access and legitimate privileges. Despite their importance, insider threats are still not

  5. Scaling range sizes to threats for robust predictions of risks to biodiversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keith, David A; Akçakaya, H Resit; Murray, Nicholas J

    2018-04-01

    Assessments of risk to biodiversity often rely on spatial distributions of species and ecosystems. Range-size metrics used extensively in these assessments, such as area of occupancy (AOO), are sensitive to measurement scale, prompting proposals to measure them at finer scales or at different scales based on the shape of the distribution or ecological characteristics of the biota. Despite its dominant role in red-list assessments for decades, appropriate spatial scales of AOO for predicting risks of species' extinction or ecosystem collapse remain untested and contentious. There are no quantitative evaluations of the scale-sensitivity of AOO as a predictor of risks, the relationship between optimal AOO scale and threat scale, or the effect of grid uncertainty. We used stochastic simulation models to explore risks to ecosystems and species with clustered, dispersed, and linear distribution patterns subject to regimes of threat events with different frequency and spatial extent. Area of occupancy was an accurate predictor of risk (0.81<|r|<0.98) and performed optimally when measured with grid cells 0.1-1.0 times the largest plausible area threatened by an event. Contrary to previous assertions, estimates of AOO at these relatively coarse scales were better predictors of risk than finer-scale estimates of AOO (e.g., when measurement cells are <1% of the area of the largest threat). The optimal scale depended on the spatial scales of threats more than the shape or size of biotic distributions. Although we found appreciable potential for grid-measurement errors, current IUCN guidelines for estimating AOO neutralize geometric uncertainty and incorporate effective scaling procedures for assessing risks posed by landscape-scale threats to species and ecosystems. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  6. Identification of threats using linguistics-based knowledge extraction.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chew, Peter A.

    2008-09-01

    One of the challenges increasingly facing intelligence analysts, along with professionals in many other fields, is the vast amount of data which needs to be reviewed and converted into meaningful information, and ultimately into rational, wise decisions by policy makers. The advent of the world wide web (WWW) has magnified this challenge. A key hypothesis which has guided us is that threats come from ideas (or ideology), and ideas are almost always put into writing before the threats materialize. While in the past the 'writing' might have taken the form of pamphlets or books, today's medium of choice is the WWW, precisely because it is a decentralized, flexible, and low-cost method of reaching a wide audience. However, a factor which complicates matters for the analyst is that material published on the WWW may be in any of a large number of languages. In 'Identification of Threats Using Linguistics-Based Knowledge Extraction', we have sought to use Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) and other similar text analysis techniques to map documents from the WWW, in whatever language they were originally written, to a common language-independent vector-based representation. This then opens up a number of possibilities. First, similar documents can be found across language boundaries. Secondly, a set of documents in multiple languages can be visualized in a graphical representation. These alone offer potentially useful tools and capabilities to the intelligence analyst whose knowledge of foreign languages may be limited. Finally, we can test the over-arching hypothesis--that ideology, and more specifically ideology which represents a threat, can be detected solely from the words which express the ideology--by using the vector-based representation of documents to predict additional features (such as the ideology) within a framework based on supervised learning. In this report, we present the results of a three-year project of the same name. We believe

  7. Increasing Awareness of Insider Information Security Threats in Human Resource Department

    OpenAIRE

    Burcin Cetin Karabat; Cagatay Karabat

    2012-01-01

    An insider threat for companies is defined as a threat caused by malicious user who is an employee company. In recent years, there are number of work on insider threats in information security technologies. These works shows that companies should increasingly and seriously should take into account these threats. Human factors in companies constitute one of the weakest links in information security technology and its products used in human resource (HR) management departments. In the literatur...

  8. Phishing - A Growing Threat to E-Commerce

    OpenAIRE

    Banday, M. Tariq; Qadri, Jameel A.

    2011-01-01

    In today's business environment, it is difficult to imagine a workplace without access to the web, yet a variety of email born viruses, spyware, adware, Trojan horses, phishing attacks, directory harvest attacks, DoS attacks, and other threats combine to attack businesses and customers. This paper is an attempt to review phishing - a constantly growing and evolving threat to Internet based commercial transactions. Various phishing approaches that include vishing, spear phishng, pharming, keyl...

  9. An integrated approach to adapt physical protection to the new terrorism threats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Steinhaeusler, F.; Braun, C.; Bunn, G.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: New terrorism (NT) differs significantly from the traditional form of terrorism insofar as it has the capability to: train and deploy suicide commandos; use sophisticated logistics; implement transnational terrorist operations; infiltrate security and diplomatic communities; and commit acts of mass disturbance and mass killings. NT does not engage in negotiations: it does not discriminate in its attacks between children, adult civilians or military personnel; and it is willing to deploy weapons of mass destruction. These characteristics require that the conventional approach to physical protection of installations dealing with nuclear and other radioactive materials (e.g., Design Basis Threat (DBT)) be adapted accordingly. This integrated approach should encompass: at the international level: revised legally binding conventions and recommendations which are more specific than current versions, providing practically applicable advice reflecting the new threat scenarios; at the national level: introducing an element of transparency for validating the national threat perception and supra-national review of the effectiveness of the counteractions taken such as regulatory approaches implementing these international agreements; at the operational level: enhancing security-related co-operation at the command and control level between the on-site security forces at nuclear installations, the response force, police and the military, as well as upgrading of the force-on-force training; and at the research level: R and D in physical protection technology and practices to keep abreast of the threats posed by the NT. (author)

  10. Exciting fear in adolescence: Does pubertal development alter threat processing?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffrey M. Spielberg

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Adolescent development encompasses an ostensible paradox in threat processing. Risk taking increases dramatically after the onset of puberty, contributing to a 200% increase in mortality. Yet, pubertal maturation is associated with increased reactivity in threat-avoidance systems. In the first part of this paper we propose a heuristic model of adolescent affective development that may help to reconcile aspects of this paradox, which focuses on hypothesized pubertal increases in the capacity to experience (some fear-evoking experiences as an exciting thrill. In the second part of this paper, we test key features of this model by examining brain activation to threat cues in a longitudinal study that disentangled pubertal and age effects. Pubertal increases in testosterone predicted increased activation to threat cues, not only in regions associated with threat avoidance (i.e., amygdala, but also regions associated with reward pursuit (i.e., nucleus accumbens. These findings are consistent with our hypothesis that puberty is associated with a maturational shift toward more complex processing of threat cues—which may contribute to adolescent tendencies to explore and enjoy some types of risky experiences.

  11. Exciting fear in adolescence: does pubertal development alter threat processing?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spielberg, Jeffrey M; Olino, Thomas M; Forbes, Erika E; Dahl, Ronald E

    2014-04-01

    Adolescent development encompasses an ostensible paradox in threat processing. Risk taking increases dramatically after the onset of puberty, contributing to a 200% increase in mortality. Yet, pubertal maturation is associated with increased reactivity in threat-avoidance systems. In the first part of this paper we propose a heuristic model of adolescent affective development that may help to reconcile aspects of this paradox, which focuses on hypothesized pubertal increases in the capacity to experience (some) fear-evoking experiences as an exciting thrill. In the second part of this paper, we test key features of this model by examining brain activation to threat cues in a longitudinal study that disentangled pubertal and age effects. Pubertal increases in testosterone predicted increased activation to threat cues, not only in regions associated with threat avoidance (i.e., amygdala), but also regions associated with reward pursuit (i.e., nucleus accumbens). These findings are consistent with our hypothesis that puberty is associated with a maturational shift toward more complex processing of threat cues--which may contribute to adolescent tendencies to explore and enjoy some types of risky experiences. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  12. Potential Threats of Information Disclosure in Social Media: a Systematic Literature Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Budi Yulianto

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Along with the growth of social media, a variety of potential threats to users is also increasing. These kinds of threats often occur because the users accidentally or unknowingly disclose their information or identity on social media. Threats resulted from the disclosure of information are needed to be known so that the users can understand the risks that arise and take precautions. This research was aimed to summarize the potential threats arising from the information disclosure in social media. The research method used was a systematic literature review to explore and summarize the literatures that discuss the specific topic. The research results show that the potential threats are mostly social threats and identity theft. 

  13. Performance Assessment of Communication Enhancement Devices TEA HI Threat Headset

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-08-01

    AFRL-RH-WP-TR-2015-0076 Performance Assessment of Communication Enhancement Devices: TEA HI Threat Headset Hilary L. Gallagher...of Communication Enhancement Devices: TEA HI Threat Headset 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER FA8650-14-D-6501 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER...technology in military applications. Objective performance data provided an assessment of the performance of these devices. The TEA HI Threat headset

  14. The Threat Among Us: Insiders Intensify Aviation Terrorism

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Krull, Katie E. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    2016-08-19

    Aviation terrorism is powerful and symbolic, and will likely remain a staple target for terrorists aiming to inflict chaos and cause mass casualties similar to the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. The majority of international and domestic aviation terrorist attacks involves outsiders, or people who do not have direct access to or affiliation with a target through employment. However, several significant attacks and plots against the industry involved malicious employees motivated by suicide or devotion to a terrorist organization. Malicious insiders’ access and knowledge of aviation security, systems, networks, and infrastructure is valuable to terrorists, providing a different pathway for attacking the industry through the insider threat. Indicators and warnings of insider threats in these cases exist, providing insight into how security agencies, such as the Transportation Security Administration, can better predict and identify insider involvement. Understanding previous aviation insider threat events will likely aid in stimulating proactive security measures, rather than reactive responses. However, similar to traditional airport security measures, there are social, political, and economic challenges in protecting against the insider threat, including privacy concerns and cost-benefit analysis.

  15. Assessment of terrorist threats to the Canadian energy sector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shull, A. [Carleton Univ., Ottawa, ON (Canada). Norman Paterson School of International Affairs]|[Ottawa Univ., ON (Canada). Faculty of Law

    2006-03-15

    A critical terrorist threat assessment of Canadian energy systems was presented, as well as an analysis of integrated continental systems. Recent responses to heightened threat levels on the part of the Canadian government have ranged from information sharing to emergency preparedness and disaster mitigation strategies. This paper examined threats that the energy sector has traditionally encountered and argued that response capabilities do not match current threats posed by terrorism. The potential of a terrorist attack on the Canadian energy infrastructure is significant and has been referred to as a possible target by terrorist organizations. Actions taken by the Canadian government in response to heightened threat levels were examined. A review of energy industry security measures included outlines of: the natural gas industry, the electric sector, and nuclear reactors and waste. It was noted that not all elements of the critical energy infrastructure share the same level of risk. Recommendations included increased information sharing between government agencies and the private sector; resiliency standards in densely populated areas; and insulating the energy grid against a cascading blackout through the use of DC rather than AC lines. 59 refs.

  16. Assessment of terrorist threats to the Canadian energy sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shull, A.

    2006-01-01

    A critical terrorist threat assessment of Canadian energy systems was presented, as well as an analysis of integrated continental systems. Recent responses to heightened threat levels on the part of the Canadian government have ranged from information sharing to emergency preparedness and disaster mitigation strategies. This paper examined threats that the energy sector has traditionally encountered and argued that response capabilities do not match current threats posed by terrorism. The potential of a terrorist attack on the Canadian energy infrastructure is significant and has been referred to as a possible target by terrorist organizations. Actions taken by the Canadian government in response to heightened threat levels were examined. A review of energy industry security measures included outlines of: the natural gas industry, the electric sector, and nuclear reactors and waste. It was noted that not all elements of the critical energy infrastructure share the same level of risk. Recommendations included increased information sharing between government agencies and the private sector; resiliency standards in densely populated areas; and insulating the energy grid against a cascading blackout through the use of DC rather than AC lines. 59 refs

  17. Toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) as asymmetric weapons: the design basis threat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skinner, L.

    2009-01-01

    Asymmetric warfare concepts relate well to the use of improvised chemical weapons against urban targets. Sources of information on toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) and lists of high threat chemicals are available that point to likely choices for an attack. Accident investigations can be used as a template for attacks, and to judge the possible effectiveness of an attack using TICs. The results of a chlorine rail car accident in South Carolina, USA and the Russian military assault on a Moscow theater provide many illustrative points for similar incidents that mighty be carried out deliberately. Computer modeling of outdoor releases shows how an attack might take into consideration issues of stand-off distance and dilution. Finally, the preceding may be used to estimate with some accuracy the design basis threat posed by the used of TICs as weapons.(author)

  18. Astrology Pseudoscience and a Discussion About Its Threats to Society

    OpenAIRE

    Tevfik UYAR

    2016-01-01

    Astrology, a pseudoscience, is highly popular in Turkey. Astrologers, who are its practitioners, produce discourses in the scientific field at the media and at their own platforms. Furthermore, it is possible to find some instances of astrology related activities in Turkish universities. In this article, demarcation of science from pseudoscience and the pseudoscientific status of astrology were discussed in a first place. Next, threats of astrological discourse within economic, educational an...

  19. Does stereotype threat influence performance of girls in stereotyped domains? A meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flore, Paulette C; Wicherts, Jelte M

    2015-02-01

    Although the effect of stereotype threat concerning women and mathematics has been subject to various systematic reviews, none of them have been performed on the sub-population of children and adolescents. In this meta-analysis we estimated the effects of stereotype threat on performance of girls on math, science and spatial skills (MSSS) tests. Moreover, we studied publication bias and four moderators: test difficulty, presence of boys, gender equality within countries, and the type of control group that was used in the studies. We selected study samples when the study included girls, samples had a mean age below 18years, the design was (quasi-)experimental, the stereotype threat manipulation was administered between-subjects, and the dependent variable was a MSSS test related to a gender stereotype favoring boys. To analyze the 47 effect sizes, we used random effects and mixed effects models. The estimated mean effect size equaled -0.22 and significantly differed from 0. None of the moderator variables was significant; however, there were several signs for the presence of publication bias. We conclude that publication bias might seriously distort the literature on the effects of stereotype threat among schoolgirls. We propose a large replication study to provide a less biased effect size estimate. Copyright © 2014 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. The Convergence of Virtual Reality and Social Networks: Threats to Privacy and Autonomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Brolcháin, Fiachra; Jacquemard, Tim; Monaghan, David; O'Connor, Noel; Novitzky, Peter; Gordijn, Bert

    2016-02-01

    The rapid evolution of information, communication and entertainment technologies will transform the lives of citizens and ultimately transform society. This paper focuses on ethical issues associated with the likely convergence of virtual realities (VR) and social networks (SNs), hereafter VRSNs. We examine a scenario in which a significant segment of the world's population has a presence in a VRSN. Given the pace of technological development and the popularity of these new forms of social interaction, this scenario is plausible. However, it brings with it ethical problems. Two central ethical issues are addressed: those of privacy and those of autonomy. VRSNs pose threats to both privacy and autonomy. The threats to privacy can be broadly categorized as threats to informational privacy, threats to physical privacy, and threats to associational privacy. Each of these threats is further subdivided. The threats to autonomy can be broadly categorized as threats to freedom, to knowledge and to authenticity. Again, these three threats are divided into subcategories. Having categorized the main threats posed by VRSNs, a number of recommendations are provided so that policy-makers, developers, and users can make the best possible use of VRSNs.

  1. Assessing Local and Surrounding Threats to the Protected Area Network in a Biodiversity Hotspot: The Hengduan Mountains of Southwest China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Xin; Liu, Guohua; Li, Zongshan; Wang, Hao; Zeng, Yuan

    2015-01-01

    Protected areas (PAs) not only serve as refuges of biodiversity conservation but are also part of large ecosystems and are vulnerable to change caused by human activity from surrounding lands, especially in biodiversity hotspots. Assessing threats to PAs and surrounding areas is therefore a critical step in effective conservation planning. We apply a threat framework as a means of quantitatively assessing local and surrounding threats to different types of PAs with gradient buffers, and to main ecoregions in the Hengduan Mountain Hotspot of southwest China. Our findings show that national protected areas (NPAs) have lower and significantly lower threat values (pprotected areas (PPAs) and other protected areas (OPAs), respectively, which indicates that NPAs are lands with a lower threat level and higher levels of protection and management. PAs have clear edge effects, as the proportion of areas with low threat levels decline dramatically in the 5-kilometer buffers just outside the PAs. However, NPAs suffered greater declines (58.3%) than PPAs (34.8%) and OPAs (33.4%) in the 5-kilometer buffers. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was found between the size of PAs and the proportion of areas with low threat levels that they contained in both PAs and PA buffers (p<0.01). To control or mitigate current threats at the regional scale, PA managers often require quantitative information related to threat intensities and spatial distribution. The threat assessment in the Hengduan Mountain Hotspot will be useful to policy makers and managers in their efforts to establish effective plans and target-oriented management strategies.

  2. The impact of globalization on vaccine development and availability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milstien, Julie B; Kaddar, Miloud; Kieny, Marie Paule

    2006-01-01

    Globalization is likely to affect many aspects of public health, one of which is vaccine-preventable communicable diseases. Important forces include increased funding initiatives supporting immunization at the global level; regulatory harmonization; widespread intellectual property rights provisions through the World Trade Organization agreements; the emergence of developing-country manufacturers as major players in vaccine supply; and the appearance of new communicable disease threats, including those potentially linked to bioterrorism. All of these forces can affect, either positively and negatively, the development and availability of vaccines. Harnessing these will be a challenge for policymakers and immunization stakeholders.

  3. Space Station Program threat and vulnerability analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Meter, Steven D.; Veatch, John D.

    1987-01-01

    An examination has been made of the physical security of the Space Station Program at the Kennedy Space Center in a peacetime environment, in order to furnish facility personnel with threat/vulnerability information. A risk-management approach is used to prioritize threat-target combinations that are characterized in terms of 'insiders' and 'outsiders'. Potential targets were identified and analyzed with a view to their attractiveness to an adversary, as well as to the consequentiality of the resulting damage.

  4. Living in the Nuclear Age: Families and the threat of nuclear war

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Demorest, D.M.

    1991-01-01

    The main interest of this research was to add to the body of knowledge about the possible psychological impact of the nuclear threat on the family unit. Data were utilized from the Family Interaction, Stress and Nuclear War study conducted by Jules Riskin, M.D. and Victoria Dickerson, Ph.D. at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California. The sample consisted of ten families who were recruited for this study. In order to examine family-interaction variables and the impact of the threat of nuclear war, a standardized semi-structured family interview was conducted. Topics ranged from ordinary activities to external, non-nuclear stresses such as landslides or hurricanes, to the topic of nuclear war. A distinction is drawn between a family's level of nuclear concern while they discuss nuclear issues and a family's level of nuclear concern when viewed in the context of their overall pattern of family communication. In terms of family coping, family nuclear concern was found to be significantly related to two family-coping strategies. Families who utilized the coping strategies of seeking spiritual support and mobilizing the family to acquire and accept help were significantly less concerned about the threat of nuclear war

  5. Cultural adaptations to the differential threats posed by hot versus cold climates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, Damian R

    2013-10-01

    Hot and cold climates have posed differential threats to human survival throughout history. Cold temperatures can pose direct threats to survival in themselves, whereas hot temperatures may pose threats indirectly through higher prevalence of infectious disease. These differential threats yield convergent predictions for the relationship between more demanding climates and freedom of expression, but divergent predictions for freedom from discrimination.

  6. Analyzing Cyber-Physical Threats on Robotic Platforms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad Yousef, Khalil M; AlMajali, Anas; Ghalyon, Salah Abu; Dweik, Waleed; Mohd, Bassam J

    2018-05-21

    Robots are increasingly involved in our daily lives. Fundamental to robots are the communication link (or stream) and the applications that connect the robots to their clients or users. Such communication link and applications are usually supported through client/server network connection. This networking system is amenable of being attacked and vulnerable to the security threats. Ensuring security and privacy for robotic platforms is thus critical, as failures and attacks could have devastating consequences. In this paper, we examine several cyber-physical security threats that are unique to the robotic platforms; specifically the communication link and the applications. Threats target integrity, availability and confidential security requirements of the robotic platforms, which use MobileEyes/arnlServer client/server applications. A robot attack tool (RAT) was developed to perform specific security attacks. An impact-oriented approach was adopted to analyze the assessment results of the attacks. Tests and experiments of attacks were conducted in simulation environment and physically on the robot. The simulation environment was based on MobileSim; a software tool for simulating, debugging and experimenting on MobileRobots/ActivMedia platforms and their environments. The robot platform PeopleBot TM was used for physical experiments. The analysis and testing results show that certain attacks were successful at breaching the robot security. Integrity attacks modified commands and manipulated the robot behavior. Availability attacks were able to cause Denial-of-Service (DoS) and the robot was not responsive to MobileEyes commands. Integrity and availability attacks caused sensitive information on the robot to be hijacked. To mitigate security threats, we provide possible mitigation techniques and suggestions to raise awareness of threats on the robotic platforms, especially when the robots are involved in critical missions or applications.

  7. Analyzing Cyber-Physical Threats on Robotic Platforms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khalil M. Ahmad Yousef

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Robots are increasingly involved in our daily lives. Fundamental to robots are the communication link (or stream and the applications that connect the robots to their clients or users. Such communication link and applications are usually supported through client/server network connection. This networking system is amenable of being attacked and vulnerable to the security threats. Ensuring security and privacy for robotic platforms is thus critical, as failures and attacks could have devastating consequences. In this paper, we examine several cyber-physical security threats that are unique to the robotic platforms; specifically the communication link and the applications. Threats target integrity, availability and confidential security requirements of the robotic platforms, which use MobileEyes/arnlServer client/server applications. A robot attack tool (RAT was developed to perform specific security attacks. An impact-oriented approach was adopted to analyze the assessment results of the attacks. Tests and experiments of attacks were conducted in simulation environment and physically on the robot. The simulation environment was based on MobileSim; a software tool for simulating, debugging and experimenting on MobileRobots/ActivMedia platforms and their environments. The robot platform PeopleBotTM was used for physical experiments. The analysis and testing results show that certain attacks were successful at breaching the robot security. Integrity attacks modified commands and manipulated the robot behavior. Availability attacks were able to cause Denial-of-Service (DoS and the robot was not responsive to MobileEyes commands. Integrity and availability attacks caused sensitive information on the robot to be hijacked. To mitigate security threats, we provide possible mitigation techniques and suggestions to raise awareness of threats on the robotic platforms, especially when the robots are involved in critical missions or applications.

  8. Benefits of integrating complementarity into priority threat management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chadés, Iadine; Nicol, Sam; van Leeuwen, Stephen; Walters, Belinda; Firn, Jennifer; Reeson, Andrew; Martin, Tara G; Carwardine, Josie

    2015-04-01

    Conservation decision tools based on cost-effectiveness analysis are used to assess threat management strategies for improving species persistence. These approaches rank alternative strategies by their benefit to cost ratio but may fail to identify the optimal sets of strategies to implement under limited budgets because they do not account for redundancies. We devised a multiobjective optimization approach in which the complementarity principle is applied to identify the sets of threat management strategies that protect the most species for any budget. We used our approach to prioritize threat management strategies for 53 species of conservation concern in the Pilbara, Australia. We followed a structured elicitation approach to collect information on the benefits and costs of implementing 17 different conservation strategies during a 3-day workshop with 49 stakeholders and experts in the biodiversity, conservation, and management of the Pilbara. We compared the performance of our complementarity priority threat management approach with a current cost-effectiveness ranking approach. A complementary set of 3 strategies: domestic herbivore management, fire management and research, and sanctuaries provided all species with >50% chance of persistence for $4.7 million/year over 20 years. Achieving the same result cost almost twice as much ($9.71 million/year) when strategies were selected by their cost-effectiveness ranks alone. Our results show that complementarity of management benefits has the potential to double the impact of priority threat management approaches. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  9. The threat from without

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lassi Saressalo

    1987-01-01

    Full Text Available Of greatest importance in ethnic folklore are the recognised and unrecognised elements that are used when founding identity on tradition. For the aim of ethnic identification is to note and know the cultural features that connect me with people like me and separate me from people who are not like me. Every group and each of its members thus needs an opponent, a contact partner in order to identify itself. What about the Lapps? The ethnocentric values of ethnic folklore provide a model for this generalising comparison. 'They' are a potential danger, are unknown, strange, a threat from beyond the fells. They are sufficiently common for the group's ethnic feeling. It is here that we find tradition, folk tales, describing the community's traditional enemies, describing the threat from without, engendering preconceived ideas, conflicts and even war. The Lapps have never had an empire, they have never conquered others' territory, they have never engaged in systematic warfare against other peoples. For this reason Lapp tradition lacks an offensive ethnic folklore proper with emphasis on aggression, power, violence, heroism and an acceptance of the ideology of subordinating others. On the contrary,Lapp folklore is familiar with a tradition in which strangers are always threatening the Lapps' existence, plundering their territories, burning and destroying. The Lapp has always had to fight against alien powers, to give in or to outwit the great and powerful enemy. In the Lapp tradition the staalo represents an outside threat that cannot be directly concretised. If foes are regarded as concrete enemies that may be defeated in physical combat or that can be made to look ridiculous, a staalo is more mythical, more supranormal, more vague. One basic feature of the staalo tradition is that it only appears as one party to a conflict. The stories about the Lapp who succeeds in driving away a staalo threatening the community, to outwit the stupid giant or to kill

  10. Threat driven modeling framework using petri nets for e-learning system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khamparia, Aditya; Pandey, Babita

    2016-01-01

    Vulnerabilities at various levels are main cause of security risks in e-learning system. This paper presents a modified threat driven modeling framework, to identify the threats after risk assessment which requires mitigation and how to mitigate those threats. To model those threat mitigations aspects oriented stochastic petri nets are used. This paper included security metrics based on vulnerabilities present in e-learning system. The Common Vulnerability Scoring System designed to provide a normalized method for rating vulnerabilities which will be used as basis in metric definitions and calculations. A case study has been also proposed which shows the need and feasibility of using aspect oriented stochastic petri net models for threat modeling which improves reliability, consistency and robustness of the e-learning system.

  11. Strategic threat management: an exploration of nursing strategies in the pediatric intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durso, Francis T; Ferguson, Ashley N; Kazi, Sadaf; Cunningham, Charlene; Ryan, Christina

    2015-03-01

    Part of the work of a critical care nurse is to manage the threats that arise that could impede efficient and effective job performance. Nurses manage threats by employing various strategies to keep performance high and workload manageable. We investigated strategic threat management by using the Threat-Strategy Interview. Threats frequently involved technology, staff, or organizational components. The threats were managed by a toolbox of multifaceted strategies, the most frequent of which involved staff-, treatment- (patient + technology), examination- (patient + clinician), and patient-oriented strategies. The profile of strategies for a particular threat often leveraged work facets similar to the work facet that characterized the threat. In such cases, the nurse's strategy was directed at eliminating the threat (not working around it). A description at both a domain invariant level - useful for understanding strategic threat management generally - and a description at an operational, specific level - useful for guiding interventions-- are presented. A structural description of the relationship among threats, strategies, and the cues that trigger them is presented in the form of an evidence accumulation framework of strategic threat management. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  12. Anxiety and Depression Symptom Dimensions Demonstrate Unique Relationships with the Startle Reflex in Anticipation of Unpredictable Threat in 8 to 14 Year-Old Girls

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Brady D.; Hajcak, Greg

    2016-01-01

    There is growing evidence that heightened sensitivity to unpredictability is a core mechanism of anxiety disorders. In adults, multiple anxiety disorders have been associated with a heightened startle reflex in anticipation of unpredictable threat. Child and adolescent anxiety has been linked to an increased startle reflex across baseline, safety, and threat conditions. However, it is unclear whether anxiety in youth is related to the startle reflex as a function of threat predictability. In a sample of 90 8 to 14 year-old girls, the present study examined the association between anxiety symptom dimensions and startle potentiation during a no, predictable, and unpredictable threat task. Depression symptom dimensions were also examined given their high comorbidity with anxiety and mixed relationship with the startle reflex and sensitivity to unpredictability. To assess current symptoms, participants completed the self-report Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and Children’s Depression Inventory. Results indicated that social phobia symptoms were associated with heightened startle potentiation in anticipation of unpredictable threat and attenuated startle potentiation in anticipation of predictable threat. Negative mood and negative self-esteem symptoms were associated with attenuated and heightened startle potentiation in anticipation of unpredictable threat, respectively. All results remained significant after controlling for the other symptom dimensions. The present study provides initial evidence that anxiety and depression symptom dimensions demonstrate unique associations with the startle reflex in anticipation of unpredictable threat in children and adolescents. PMID:27224989

  13. A threat analysis framework as applied to critical infrastructures in the Energy Sector.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Michalski, John T.; Duggan, David Patrick

    2007-09-01

    The need to protect national critical infrastructure has led to the development of a threat analysis framework. The threat analysis framework can be used to identify the elements required to quantify threats against critical infrastructure assets and provide a means of distributing actionable threat information to critical infrastructure entities for the protection of infrastructure assets. This document identifies and describes five key elements needed to perform a comprehensive analysis of threat: the identification of an adversary, the development of generic threat profiles, the identification of generic attack paths, the discovery of adversary intent, and the identification of mitigation strategies.

  14. A simple strategy to reduce stereotype threat for orthopedic residents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomez, Everlyne; Wright, James G

    2014-04-01

    Stereotype threat, defined as the predicament felt by people in either positive or negative learning experiences where they could conform to negative stereotypes associated with their own group membership, can interfere with learning. The purpose of this study was to determine if a simple orientation session could reduce stereotype threat for orthopedic residents. The intervention group received an orientation on 2 occasions focusing on their possible responses to perceived poor performance in teaching rounds and the operating room (OR). Participants completed a survey with 7 questions typical for stereotype threat evaluating responses to their experiences. The questions had 7 response options with a maximum total score of 49, where higher scores indicated greater degree of experiences typical of stereotype threat. Of the 84 eligible residents, 49 participated: 22 in the nonintervention and 27 in the intervention group. The overall scores were 29 and 29.4, and 26.2 and 25.8 in the nonintervention and intervention groups for their survey responses to perceived poor performance in teaching rounds (p = 0.85) and the OR (p = 0.84), respectively. Overall, responses typical of stereotype threat were greater for perceived poor performance at teaching rounds than in the OR (p = 0.001). Residents experience low self-esteem following perceived poor performance, particularly at rounds. A simple orientation designed to reduce stereotype threat was unsuccessful in reducing this threat overall. Future research will need to consider longer-term intervention as possible strategies to reduce perceived poor performance at teaching rounds and in the OR.

  15. Investigation of a Markov Model for Computer System Security Threats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexey A. A. Magazev

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In this work, a model for computer system security threats formulated in terms of Markov processes is investigated. In the framework of this model the functioning of the computer system is considered as a sequence of failures and recovery actions which appear as results of information security threats acting on the system. We provide a detailed description of the model: the explicit analytical formulas for the probabilities of computer system states at any arbitrary moment of time are derived, some limiting cases are discussed, and the long-run dynamics of the system is analysed. The dependence of the security state probability (i.e. the state for which threats are absent on the probabilities of threats is separately investigated. In particular, it is shown that this dependence is qualitatively different for odd and even moments of time. For instance, in the case of one threat the security state probability demonstrates non-monotonic dependence on the probability of threat at even moments of time; this function admits at least one local minimum in its domain of definition. It is believed that the mentioned feature is important because it allows to locate the most dangerous areas of threats where the security state probability can be lower then the permissible level. Finally, we introduce an important characteristic of the model, called the relaxation time, by means of which we construct the permitting domain of the security parameters. Also the prospects of the received results application to the problem of finding the optimal values of the security parameters is discussed.

  16. Stereotype Threat in Organizations: An Examination of its Scope, Triggers, and Possible Interventions

    OpenAIRE

    Kray, Laura J.; Shirako, Aiwa

    2009-01-01

    This chapter explores stereotype threat in organizational contexts. Building on the understanding that stereotype threat involves concerns about confirming a negative stereotype about one’s group, we begin by elucidating the scope of potential stereotype threat effects in organizations. We first examine the ubiquity of evaluations in organizations, which are at the heart of stereotype threat. Next we specify the potential psychological consequences of stereotype threat on targeted individua...

  17. Cost Consequences of a Port-Related Supply Chain Disruption

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hui Shan LOH

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Port functionality is a significant and important aspect of cargo transportation. Previous studies have identified a list of port-related supply chain disruption threats and developed a management model that seeks to address these threats. This paper adds value to these related studies by comparing four consequences of an example of these threats: (1 avoidance of disruption, (2 mitigation of disruption, (3 deviation of transportation plan and (4 delays and deviation of transportation plan. The impact of these consequences is simulated in a case study using data from a chemical manufacturer based in Singapore. This paper quantitatively measures the impact of a port-related threat on supply chains and thus highlights the importance of port-related supply chain disruption management.

  18. Bomb Threat Becomes Real News.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gastaldo, Evann

    1999-01-01

    Discusses how the staff of the newspaper at Camarillo High School (California) covered a bomb threat at their school. Describes how they, overnight, conducted interviews, took and developed photographs, produced the layout, and published the newspaper. (RS)

  19. Cumulative childhood interpersonal trauma is associated with reduced cortical differentiation between threat and non-threat faces in posttraumatic stress disorder adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Denise A; Bryant, Richard A; Gatt, Justine M; Harris, Anthony Wf

    2018-03-01

    Posttraumatic stress disorder and childhood trauma frequently co-occur. Both are associated with abnormal neural responses to salient emotion stimuli. As childhood trauma is a risk factor for posttraumatic stress disorder, differentiating between their neurophysiological effects is necessary to elucidate the neural pathways by which childhood trauma exposure contributes to increased posttraumatic stress disorder risks. Face-specific N170 evoked response potentials for backward-masked (non-conscious) and conscious threat (fear, angry) and non-threat (happy) faces were measured in 77 adults (18-64 years old, 64% women, 78% right-handed) symptomatic for posttraumatic stress disorder. Differences in N170 peak amplitudes for fear-versus-happy and angry-versus-happy faces at bilateral temporo-occipital (T5, T6) sites were computed. The effect of cumulative exposure to childhood interpersonal trauma, other childhood trauma, adult trauma, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity on the N170 response was assessed using hierarchical multiple regression analyses. T5 N170 peak amplitudes for non-conscious fear-versus-happy faces were inversely related to cumulative childhood interpersonal trauma after accounting for socio-demographic, clinical symptom and other trauma factors. Posttraumatic stress disorder Avoidance was positively associated with N170 peak amplitudes for non-conscious fear-versus-happy faces, primarily due to reduced N170 responsivity to happy faces. Childhood interpersonal trauma exposure is associated with reduced discrimination between fear and happy faces, while avoidance symptom severity is associated with dampened responsivity to automatically processed happy faces in posttraumatic stress disorder adults. Results are discussed in terms of the likely contributions of impaired threat discrimination and deficient reward processing during neural processing of salient emotion stimuli, to increased risks of posttraumatic stress disorder

  20. Parents' perceptions of skin cancer threat and children's physical activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tran, Alexander D; Aalborg, Jenny; Asdigian, Nancy L; Morelli, Joseph G; Mokrohisky, Stefan T; Dellavalle, Robert P; Berwick, Marianne; Box, Neil F; Crane, Lori A

    2012-01-01

    Sun exposure is a major risk factor for skin cancer, but without physical activity, children are at risk of childhood obesity. The objective of this study was to explore relationships between parental perceptions of skin cancer threat, sun protection behaviors, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI) in children. This is a cross-sectional analysis nested within the Colorado Kids Sun Care Program sun safety intervention trial. In summer 2007, parent telephone interviews provided data on demographics, perceptions of skin cancer threat, sun protection behaviors, and physical activity. Physical examinations provided data on phenotype, freckling, and BMI. Data from 999 Colorado children born in 1998 were included in analysis. We used analysis of variance, Spearman's rho (ρ) correlation, and multivariable linear regression analysis to evaluate relationships with total amount of outdoor physical activity. After controlling for sex, race/ethnicity, skin color, and sun protection, regression analysis showed that each unit increase in perceived severity of nonmelanoma skin cancer was associated with a 30% increase in hours of outdoor physical activity (P = .005). Hours of outdoor physical activity were not related to perceived severity of melanoma or perceived susceptibility to skin cancer. BMI-for-age was not significantly correlated with perceptions of skin cancer threat, use of sun protection, or level of physical activity. The promotion of sun safety is not likely to inhibit physical activity. Skin cancer prevention programs should continue to promote midday sun avoidance and sun protection during outdoor activities.